It might seem as though the way we think about race now is how we’ve always thought about it—but it isn’t. Race was born out of the Enlightenment in Europe, along with the invention of modern western science. And it was tied to the politics of the age—imperialism and later slavery. This episode traces the origins of race science to the Enlightenment, examines how the Bible influenced racial theories, and considers how we still have a hard time letting go of the idea of race.
About Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race“Origin Stories” is Episode 1 of Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race, a podcast and magazine project that explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine. Published through Distillations, the Science History Institute’s highly acclaimed digital content platform, the project examines the scientific origins of support for racist theories, practices, and policies. Innate is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
CreditsHosts: Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Assistant Producer: Padmini Ragunath
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
"Innate Theme" composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Special thanks to our colleagues, Jacqueline Boytim and James Voelkel, for their help with this episode.
Archaeology under the Blinding Light of Race, by Michael Blakey
Breathing Race into the Machine: the Surprising Career of the Spirometer from Plantation to Genetics, by Lundy Braun
Divine Variations: How Christian Thought Became Racial Science, by Terence Keel
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century, by Dorothy Roberts
"Jesus Loves the little Children," song by Cedarmont Kids
Medicalizing Blackness: Making Racial Differences in the Atlantic World, 1780-1840, by Rana Hogarth
The Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann Schedel
Superior: The Return of Race Science, by Angela Saini
Find the full transcript here.
Atomic Power and Promise: What's Become of Our Nuclear Golden Age?
Episode 181: Chemotherapy
Episode 180: Best of Distillations #12
Episode 179: Best of Distillations #11
Episode 178: In the Air
Episode 177:The Old Show
Episode 176: The Adult Show
Episode 175: The Kid Show
Episode 174: Water Webs
Episode 173: Power Up
Episode 172: On Beauty
Episode 171: Underground Worlds
Episode 170: Urban Agriculture
Episode 169: Neighborhood Preservation
Episode 168: So Argon Walks Into a Bar...
Episode 167: Cold War Chemistry
Episode 166: Alchemy After Dark
Episode 165: In Good Taste
Episode 164: Bones
Episode 163: A Day in the Life - Night
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
The Rest Is History