Not too long ago, America's elite thought they could stamp out the bad genes by closing our borders and sterilizing some people. This was the era--Er-ahh--of eugenics, the idea that people inherited traits like shiftlessness from their parents. The Nazis would take the eugenicists theories to their logical conclusion. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly talk about the racism and classism underlying policies passed under the eugenics banner, which will make you cry out for more protoplasm. Or probably not because that would be weird.

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

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Cohen, Adam. Imbeciles: the Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck. Penguin Press, 2017.

Epstein, Kayla. “'Over Our Dead Bodies': Lindsey Graham Vows Congress Won't Extend Additional $600 Coronavirus-Related Unemployment Benefits, as US Death Toll Crosses the 60,000 Mark.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 30 Apr. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/lindsey-graham-congress-coronavirus-unemployment-benefit-over-our-dead-bodies-2020-4.

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Franck, Thomas. “Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Says 'We Can't Shut down the Economy Again'.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 June 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/06/11/treasury-secretary-mnuchin-says-we-cant-shut-down-the-economy-again.html.

Montopoli, Brian. “S.C. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer Compares Helping Poor to Feeding Stray Animals.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Jan. 2010, www.cbsnews.com/news/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-helping-poor-to-feeding-stray-animals/.

Okrent, Daniel. Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and... Other European Immigrants out of America. Scribner, 2020.

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