About this episode

David Runciman discusses the history and implications of hysteria with writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis.

For the first in a new set of episodes about bad ideas with interesting histories David talks to the writer and broadcaster Helen Lewis about hysteria, an ancient idea that became a very modern diagnosis. Why was hysteria associated with both madness and saintliness? How did Charcot and then Freud use hysteria to rationalise otherwise baffling female behaviour? What happens when group hysteria takes hold? And why do we still find it so hard to do without these kinds of labels? You can find out everything you need to know about this podcast – who we are, what we do, plus merch, events and full lists of all episodes including PPF+ bonus episodes on our website https://www.ppfideas.com Next time in The History of Bad Ideas: Narrative History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: David Runciman

Guest: Helen Lewis

Topics covered

• hysteria
• bad ideas
• female behavior
• madness
• group hysteria
• diagnosis

Keywords

• hysteria
• madness
• Charcot
• Freud
• female behavior
• group hysteria
• diagnosis

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Hysteria

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