logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2019
8m 58s

The fat acceptance movement

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The National Association to Aid Fat Americans, NAAFA, held its first meeting in June 1969. Its first president was Bill Fabrey, a thin man married to an overweight woman who had realised how difficult life was for fat people in the USA. One of NAAFA's first members Sue Morgan, and Bill Fabrey, have been speaking to Lucy Burns about the early days of fat acceptance.

Photo: Participants in the Million Pound March, 1998 in Santa Monica, California. Sponsored by NAAFA. (Credit: Gilles Mingasson/Liaison/Getty Images)

Up next
Apr 2025
The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their American allies. The tunnel network was a key base and shelter for the North Vietna ... Show More
9m 43s
Yesterday
Chile's 'Penguin Revolution'
In 2006, hundreds of thousands of school children in Chile took over their schools and marched in the streets, in a protest about inequality in education. It was known as the "Penguin Revolution" because of their black and white school uniforms.The students were demanding good qu ... Show More
9m 44s
Jan 27
The liberation of Auschwitz
On 27 January 1945, prisoners at the Nazis’ largest death camp were freed by the Soviet Union’s Red Army.General Vasily Petrenko commanded one of the four units that liberated Auschwitz.The Nazis murdered 1.1 million people at Auschwitz-Birkenau between 1941 and 1945. Almost a mi ... Show More
10m 56s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
The first lesbian couple to get married and World Laughter Day
Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hé ... Show More
51m 43s
Aug 2022
Inflation and the cost of living
<p>A compilation of witness accounts from when inflation and the cost of living were seriously affecting people's lives, among other topics.</p><p>In 1971, inflation was a huge problem in the USA so the President, Richard Nixon, made one of the most drastic moves in economic hist ... Show More
51m 7s
May 2021
Fitness & fatness
Fitness & fatness: Laurie Taylor asks if they are two sides of the same coin. He's joined by Jürgen Martschukat, Professor of North American History at the University of Erfurt and author of a new book which looks at the history of self-optimisation from the Enlightenment to the ... Show More
29m 15s
Jul 2018
Banishing body shame
<p>Body shaming is discrimination against 'non-perfect' bodies and it is usually directed at women. Kim Chakanetsa sits down with a Danish comedian and a British blogger who are challenging society's perceptions of a beautiful female body.</p><p>Chidera Eggerue - aka The Slumflow ... Show More
26m 58s
Nov 2021
The Twisted History of Obesity
Presented by Waterbird Spirits. Fat Shaming, The Heaviest Man, Big Celebs, Sumos, Evil Fats, Presidents, and ...Turkey!You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/tw ... Show More
1h 28m
Nov 2020
Aubrey Gordon (@YrFatFriend)
<p>The BMI, dealing with fatphobia in a doctor's office, and how to have good-faith conversations - all things author, podcaster, and activist Aubrey Gordon (aka @YrFatFriend) discusses with Jameela in this week's episode. They discuss how to talk to people with opposing ideas to ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 2021
The Obesity Epidemic
<p>Over the last 30 years, fatness has been defined as a risk factor for disease, then a disease in itself, then a global epidemic. What caused this rapid shift? Who’s gonna join our group of B-roll vigilantes? And did we just hear Morgan Freeman?</p><p>Support us:</p><ul><li><a ... Show More
59m 19s
Nov 2023
How should we tackle the global obesity epidemic?
Over 1 billion people worldwide are obese, according to the World Health Organization. If current trends continue, half the world could be obese or overweight by 2035. The WHO refers to it as an epidemic. Recent data shows that over 40% of Americans are living with obesity. But o ... Show More
48m 53s
Feb 2024
Special Edition: A Focus on Obesity, Part 1 – February 2024
In this special series on Obesity, our host, Dr. Neil Skolnik will discuss the Obesity epidemic with some of the foremost experts in the world. In Part I we will focus on the epidemiology of obesity, social disparities with regard to obesity, obesity as a chronic disease, the con ... Show More
38m 17s