Episode 55 – Idioms of Normality hosted by Dr. Paul H. Mason

In this episode of Idioms of Normality, Paul Mason speaks with Dr Sarah Chaney from the Centre for the History of Emotions about her book, Am I Normal? published by Profile Press and the Wellcome Trust. Sarah’s work spans the nearly 200 year history of the conception of normality as a statistical concept in the early 19th century through to its psychological impact on modern populations. Sarah shares with us stories about normality’s key proponents and their eugenic pusuits. Through the story of two 1940s statues called Normman and Norma, Sarah shows that even when evidence was provided to show that normal didn’t exist, people still persisted with the false understanding that normal was object, rational and real. Sarah encourages us to question normality, to consider what people really mean when they use the word normal, and to be critical about the work done by this word when deployed by various specialists.