Science
Almost three hundred years ago, a woman called Mary Toft was interrogated a bunch of doctors in London. She was interrogated after having given birth to a litter of rabbits. Or so she claimed. But, in that era, one of the strangest things about the case wasn’t just the rabbits: it was that doctors — “male midwives” — were muscling into the giving birth business. Amelia Dale teaches at Sydney University and talked about Toft in her PhD thesis. Links from this episode: Learn more about Mary Toft here, or listen to the BBC’s take on her story. What Hogarth print where? William Hogarth was a visual satirist, who made fun of the scandal around Toft with this engraving Songs from Midwives, Doctors and Rabbits: Ojos Del Sol — Y La Bamba Akogare — Super Magic Hats Copza Luca — Adrian Simionescu and Orchestre Marin Ioan (Gajo Dilo soundtrack) Slip Away — Kim Boekbinder See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.