Lunacy: Mind Control From The Sky
On December 5th, 2012, a bill landed on President Barack Obama\u2019s desk, meant to do one thing: remove the word \u201clunatic\u201d from the federal code. This is because in 2012, you could still find the word in laws about banking and controlling estates, among others. And not only was it offensive, it was antiquated\u2014ancient, in fact. The word lunacy comes from luna\u2014Latin for moon. This is because there was a time when we thought the power to change our moods and minds came from the sky.\nGuests:\xa0\nMiena Hall is a Family Medicine Resident at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.\nJo Marchant is a science journalist and author of The Human Cosmos.\nFootnotes & Further Reading:\xa0\nFor a deep history on \u201cmadness,\u201d check out Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity, from the Bible to Freud, from the Madhouse to Modern Medicine by Andrew Scull.\xa0Meta-analyses and literature reviews haven\u2019t backed up \xa0a lunar effect on human behavior, but more recent studies have found intriguing patterns.\nCredits:\xa0\nScience Diction is hosted by Johanna Mayer. This episode was produced by Johanna Mayer, Chris Egusa, and Elah Feder. Elah is our editor and senior producer. Daniel Peterschmidt composed all the music and designed sound for this episode. Chris Wood mastered. We had fact checking by Danya AbdelHameid. Nadja Oertelt is our Chief Content Officer. Special thanks to Andrew Scull, Chiara Thumiger, who studies ancient medicine, and Janet Downie, Associate Professor of classics at UNC Chapel Hill.\n\nThis season of Science Diction is supported by Audible.