Despite some technical issues this week, the crew plowed through to bring you another great episode of TRC! On today’s show, Darren takes an in-depth look into the controversial story behind Rachel Dolezal and leads the panel in an interesting discussion about the definition of Race. Adam relays his experience looking at cancer treatment options for his sick cat Cheese and the woo he encountered in the process. Finally, Cristina dives into a myth about whether or not stockbrokers really jumped out of windows during a financial crisis.
Download direct: mp3 file
If you like the show, please leave us a review on iTunes!
SHOW NOTES
Rachel Dolezal and Transraciality
CBC The Current (excellent podcast on the topic)
Alternative Cancer Therapies for Pets
Evidence Update-Most Homemade Cancer Diets for Dogs are Inadequate
Everything We Eat Cures Cancer! (or Causes it?)
The Dangerous Allure of Alternative Therapies for Pets with Cancer
Tumexal: Wonder Drug or Snake Oil?
Artemisinin-Is It a Useful Drug for Cancer Treatment in Dogs?
Did Stockbrokers Really Jump Out of Windows?
Cracked: 6 Ridiculous History Myths You Probably Think Are True
One other thing to consider in the segment on race and self identity is the legal history of racial identification in the US. Within the lifetime of people still living, there were laws on the books that determined, irregardless of appearance or personal identification, whether you were black or white. Loving v Virginia in 1967 overturned bans on interracial marriage, but also the use of the “one drop” rule. Efforts in the 40s in Louisiana and Virginia reclassified many people into different groups. See wikipedia articles on “one drop rule” and “hypodescent” for more information.
This doesn’t affect Dolezal’s case, but it does shape reaction to it.
I was listening to the trans-racial segment, and found it very well put together. One thing I noticed was that there was comparison to transgendered persons. Whenever there was similarity between the two. One thing I think differentiates the two is that there is a difference between the gender and the sex of the person. Sex is determined by the DNA, whereas gender is not so genetically coded but is seen more as a social construction. Nevertheless there are two different terms for these concepts. Race, at this time, has no current differentiator and so it seems that we are caught jumping between the two concepts (genetic/social). I think the two concepts in your segment suffered from this blurring of the lines. Had it been specifically called out, it may have made the issue clearer.