EP 009 Alice Dreger on Galileo’s Middle Finger

In this episode, I talk with Alice Dreger, author of Galileo's Middle Finger and former Professor of Clinical Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University in Chicago. She resigned from the position following a dispute over censorship of an issue of the medical humanities journal Atrium. I first heard about Alice when she livetweeted her son's sex ed class, and in this episode we talk about the state of sex ed today, her work as an advocate for intersex individuals and conjoined twins, how she became interested in studying scientific controversies and contrarians, and answer some questions from listeners. Listeners who have what used to be called a "sensitive constitution" may wish to avoid this episode, as we speak frankly about several adult topics, including genital anatomy, sexual behavior, and academic funding.Due to a higher than normal amount of email this month, any complaints about this episode must be hand-delivered to our Complaints Department, located in the secret caverns underneath Ulaan Bator, Mongolia. Show Links and Notes: Alice's website: AliceDreger.com Her latest book: Galileo's Middle Finger The Bad Girls issue of Atrium Her method of collecting oral histories   The Storify stream of her sex-ed Livetweets   Wikipedia: Intersex Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Cliteromegaly Hypospadias   The Geek's Guide To Dating "The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown" at The O'Floinn Spot, an account of the Galileo affair, in which Galileo's scientific and political acumen comes off less well than in more widely circulated versions of the story, and the Catholic Church comes off somewhat better and less anti-scientific than expected.