logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2020
40m 54s

The Invention of Race

NPR
About this episode
The idea that race is a social construct comes from the pioneering work of anthropologist Franz Boas. During a time when race-based science and the eugenics movement were becoming mainstream, anthropologist Franz Boas actively sought to prove that race was a social construct, not a biological fact.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Mar 12
3 key moments that led to the U.S.-Iran war
Military confrontations, early-morning attacks, and digital warfare: the story of Iran and the U.S. from the 1979 Iranian revolution to the fraught moment we're in today. This episode originally ran in 2019 as Rules of Engagement. You can find more of Throughline's coverage into ... Show More
48m 6s
Mar 10
Everyone should have a voice
The story of Frederick Douglass’s fight for universal suffrage from the Civil War to the rise of Jim Crow.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.To manage podcast ad preferences, ... Show More
22m 9s
Mar 5
Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war
Israel and Iran have been in almost constant conflict for nearly 50 years. Media tends to frame the violence as endemic, and inevitable — but it’s not. Between the creation of Israel in 1948 and Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the countries cooperated, if cautiously. And the b ... Show More
51m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
209: The Science of Race (with Jamp)
After 4 years of Sci Guys we’re tackling our biggest topic yet! This week we’re asking whether race exist biologically or is it just a social construct? So strap in & get ready for decades of nonsense to be debunked! Grab yourself some merch! You can WATCH the podcast over on our ... Show More
1h 50m
Nov 2016
Colour
<p>The philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations. </p><p>He tells the story of Anton Wilhelm Amo Afer. He was five years old when he was brought from the Gold Coast to Germany in 1707, educated at a royal court and became a ... Show More
56m 33s
May 2023
Why You Can't Tell Your Race From A DNA Test
Race is a social construct — so why are DNA test kits like the ones from 23andMe coded like they reveal biological fact about the user's racial makeup? This episode, Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber talks to anthropologist Agustín Fuentes about the limits of at- ... Show More
12m 37s
Aug 2017
AnthroBites: Scientific Racism
Rachel Watkins discusses the origins and legacies of scientific racism for AnthroBites, the podcast that makes key concepts in anthropology more digestible. 
16m 42s
Apr 2000
Human Origins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolution of the human species. Where did we come from - we being Homo Sapiens? Let’s not go back to the Big Bang or in search of Genesis, but sift through the evidence from biology, palaeontology, climatology and anthropology.The story of huma ... Show More
28m 6s
Sep 1999
Genetic Determinism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the theory of Genetic Determinism. In the middle of the last century two men - Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, and Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, established the central theories of modern biology and changed the world forever. Darwin’s On ... Show More
28m 9s
Nov 1965
Contemporary Racial Moods
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Robert Gardiner discusses the issues of race in his Reith series entitled 'A World of Peoples'. Born in Ghana, he has worked as the Head of the Ghana Civil Service, is a former Deputy Executive Secretary for ... Show More
29m 37s
Apr 2020
White v. White?
A city council candidate says he's black. But his opponent accuses him of being a white man pretending to be black. If race is simply a social construct and not a biological reality, how do we determine someone's race? And who gets to decide? We tell the story of a man whose raci ... Show More
1 h