Story Archives of 'Discrimination'

We’ve all heard of Tom Thumb, the Elephant Man, the bearded lady and the Siamese twins. Legendary entrepreuner P.T. Barnum charged admission to catch a glimpse of them at his traveling carnivals. Audiences also flocked to theaters in 1932 for Tod Browning’s film Freaks, considered a masterpiece of the grotesque. People marvelled at the sight of an armless woman using her feet to eat with a fork, or Prince Randian using only his mouth to light a cigarette.

We’ve become a more compassionate society since then – we no longer lock people up and force them to parade around for our own amusement. Yet our fascination with nature’s flukes hasn’t diminished. Mark Blumberg says we shouldn’t look away from them – in fact, we could learn a lot about ourselves from studying these so-called freaks. Blumberg is a professor of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience and developmental science at the University of Iowa, and is editor-in-chief of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience. His new book is called Freaks of Nature: What Anomalies Tell Us About Development and Evolution.

The scientist Charles Stockard, who studied the development of bird embryos in the early part of last century, wrote that the “important matter of a few hours’ difference in egg-laying time lies between the successful class of birds and a hopelessly unfit monstrous condition.” So even extreme anomalies, like two-headed animals, can be produced with just subtle adjustments.

Blumberg writes that “the embryo’s potential to produce two heads is no less ancient, and no less fundamental, than its potential to produce just one.” So basically, if our species finds it useful to have babies with two heads, our bodies can begin to do that. Also, we try to “correct” what we see as abberations, like fitting a three-legged dog with a prosthetic leg, which is often times not the best soultion. These questions arise when babies born with both make and female genital organs. Often, doctors and parents will make a choice for the baby. But in the animal world, sexual ambiguity and plasticity are just an ordinary way of life.

And while we have made strides in preventing some developmental anomalies, new environmental conditions could make these anomalies more likely. Chemical dumping, climate change, and nuclear accidents like Chernobyl could lead to a world in which mutations are more widespread.

Also, we travel with producer Caitlyn Kim to New York’s Coney Island, where she found that the sideshow freaks of today have a little more say in how they're treated than the residents of Victorian-era freak shows. She produced this piece for B-Side radio. Click here to listen and click here to visit B-Side Radio.

In New Hampshire African American children between the ages of 10-17 are three times more likely to be arrested as white ten to seventeen year olds.

That’s according to the most recent statistics from the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice.

A committee made up of police officers, judges and advocates has begun to dig into the root causes of the disparity.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee took up a bill that would create a study commission to examine the death penalty.

The House has already passed the measure.

But New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports the Attorney General warns passing the legislation could affect the two capital cases her office is pursuing.

Attorneys for Michael Addison are going to court Thursday.

Addison’s been charged with the 2006 murder of Manchester police officer Michael Briggs. And the state is pursuing the death penalty.

But when his lawyers stand before the judge, they’re going to argue that their client can’t get a fair trial in this state. And they are asking the court to dismiss the indictment.

NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm reports from Manchester.

Tonight at midnight, the world will enter a new year, and New Hampshire will enter a new era.

As of January 1st, civil unions will be legal in the state, allowing gay and lesbian couples to be recognized in state law.

Ceremonies and celebrations are planned across the state, but one of the largest is scheduled to take place on the State House Plaza.

State Representative Gail Morrison, from Sanbornton, is one of the organizers.

She tells NHPR's Amy Quinton that tonight's ceremony will mark the instant that civil unions are legal in New Hampshire.