Body Positivity vs. Medical ‘Truths’: Obesity and the Cultural Production of Shame

Blog by Tanisha Jemma Rose Spratt In August 2019 US television host Bill Maher stated on national television that in order to tackle the US’s growing “obesity problem” fat-shaming needs to make a “come back”. Arguing for a greater emphasis on personal responsibility when it comes to food consumption and exercise, Maher claimed that “some […]

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Their theatre: stories of redemption, hope, and reform

Zeina Daccache, a Lebanese film maker, discusses her strategic reform campaign in Lebanese prisons and lobbying for other disadvantaged populations Interview by Khalid Ali, film, and media correspondent Zeina Daccache has been advocating for marginalized groups in Lebanese prisons since 2006. Her calling followed the realisation that ‘mainstream theatre’ excludes and marginalises further society’s outcasts. […]

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September Issue: Cancer and the Emotions

In our September issue, Dr. Noelle Dückmann Gallagher (Department of English, American Studies, and Creative Writing, University of Manchester) brings us Cancer and the emotions in 18th-century literature. Below we provide both a text summary and a video summer from Dr. Gallagher. Summary In this essay, I suggest that the rhetoric of today’s breast cancer […]

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From September: Minecraft as metaphor for UK Depression Guidelines

Appearing in our September issue, Susan McPherson’s paper, A NICE game of Minecraft,” addressed the “philosophical flaws underpinning UK depression guideline nosology.” Dr McPherson is a researcher in the field of mental health and social care at the University of Essex in the UK, on Twitter variously as @SMhuirich @HHS_Research @ResearchEssex. SUMMARY This paper uses […]

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The Dawn of Healer-Therapist in South Africa

Blog by Mzikazi Nduna, Stanley Molefi, Kamogelo Sefanyetso and Boitumelo Oliphant Department of Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand This blog is part one of a two-part sequence. Read the second part here. In his online profile, Anele Siswana introduces himself as a psychologist with an ‘isintu’ flavour and so does Nompumelelo Prudence Kubeka from uKhamba […]

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From September’s issue: Enhancing Care through Gratitude

From our September issue: Giskin Day’s open access “Enhancing relational care through expressions of gratitude: insights from a historical case study of almoner–patient correspondence”  explores how gratitude was central to the remarkable success of Brompton Hospital almoners tasked with keeping in touch with patients who had received sanatorium treatment for tuberculosis. Hear more about the […]

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Paper Chain Nation

Blog by Katy Giebenhain On this side of the pond access to medicines is called “complicated” and that’s no accident. As Fran Quigley points out in his introduction to Prescription for the People: An Activist’s Guide to Making Medicine Affordable, calls for reform get bogged down in technical terms and acronyms. Furthermore, he writes, “[T]his […]

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Accessibility Isn’t a New Coat of Paint: Chris Higgins on His Film ACCESS

Podcast with Chris Higgins, a writer and filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon and Brandy Schillace, EIC On today’s podcast, Editor Brandy Schillace speaks with Chris Higgins, a writer and filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, This American Life, and Mental Floss, and his most recent book is The Blogger […]

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From the September Issue: “You shall bury him”

In the just released September Issue, we are happy to present “You shall bury him: burial, suicide and the development of Catholic law and theology” by Ranana Leigh Dine (@MacLeanEthics). You can hear a short audio of Ranana describing her work here: SUMMARY People often assume that religious traditions simply offer a blanket condemnation of […]

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