Frances Farmer and Britney Spears. Two women, decades apart, who found out exactly what happens when you're famous, female, and having a breakdown in public.

Today, from Victorian asylums to Instagram comments, we're talking about how easy it is to brand a woman "hysterical" or "crazy". And what are the consequences?

We explore the treatment of women once labelled difficult - from lobotomies, to hysterectomies and conservatorships and ask: have we really moved on from the days when the mentally ill were seen as entertainment?

Questions or Comments you’d like us to cover?

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Clips used in this episode:

Lobotomy scene from film - Frances (1982) 

Much Interview with Kurt Cobain (1993)

Britney Spears - Oops I did it again

References:

Kenneth Anger - Hotel Babylon (1972)

William Arnold - Shadowland (1982)

You Must Remember This Podcast: 

Episode 4 - (The printing of) the Legend of Frances Farmer. 

Episode 5 - The Lives, Deaths and Afterlives of Judy Garland.

Janet Frame - An Angel at my Table (1984)

The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears (2021)

New Yorker article: Britney Spears Conservatorship Nightmare by Ronan Farrow & Jia Tolentino

Crime Analyst Podcast: Episode 29 - Who Framed Britney Spears? With Dr Jessica Taylor.

Dr Jessica Taylor - Sexy But Psycho: Uncovering the Psychiatric Labelling of Women and Girls

Kevin Federline - You Thought You Knew (2025)

Britney Spears - The Woman in Me (2023)

Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me documentary (2022)

Dr Jessica Taylor Talks About Stuff Podcast: Ep 2 - Medical and Social Model of Mental Health Part 2