CLASSIC: That Time Kansas Imprisoned Women For Having STDs

Summary

Ridiculous History: CLASSIC – That Time Kansas Imprisoned Women For Having STDs

Release Date: March 22, 2025
Hosts: Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown
Producer: iHeartPodcasts
Description: Delving into one of Kansas's darkest and most ridiculous historical policies, this episode explores the imprisonment of women for possessing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) during the early 20th century.

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Introduction

Ben Bowlin opens the episode by setting a somber tone, acknowledging that while history is often fascinating, it can also be brutally unjust. He introduces the topic: the reprehensible policy in Kansas that led to the mass incarceration of women diagnosed with STDs.

Ben [00:00]: "Sometimes evil things are ridiculous as well. And this episode is about a very ridiculously evil policy in our good state of Kansas."

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Historical Context

The hosts provide a backdrop of the 1920s America, a period marked by the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918). Returning soldiers brought not only cultural influences but also diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea, which became a public health crisis.

Noah [07:23]: "Things like syphilis, gonorrhea, things that genuinely posed not only a national health risk, but also a national security risk."

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Legislation Details: Chapter 205

In response to the STD outbreak, Kansas enacted Chapter 205 in 1917, granting public health officials extensive powers to quarantine individuals suspected of possessing sexually transmitted diseases. This law disproportionately targeted poor women, reflecting the era's entrenched gender biases and moral policing.

Noah [09:16]: "Anyone suspected of having a sexually transmitted disease... public health officials an insane amount of leeway."

Ben emphasizes the gendered nature of the enforcement, noting that while the law theoretically applied to all genders, in practice, it was predominantly women who were incarcerated.

Ben [09:25]: "STDs transmit across the entirety of the gender spectrum. So this means that if Kansas... they should be locking up everyone who has one, right?"

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Impact and Consequences

The implementation of Chapter 205 led to a dramatic increase in the number of incarcerated women. Initially, the Kansas State Industrial Farm, a working farm listed as a prison, housed approximately 17 women. However, following the law's enactment, this number swelled to nearly 400 by the end of 1917 and eventually affected around 5,000 women by 1942.

Noah [21:15]: "How many people did chapter 205 affect? ... around 5,000 women being imprisoned at the farm while the law was on the books between 1917 and 1942. Insane."

These women were often arrested under charges like vagrancy, a tactic that masked the true intent of moral retribution. The conditions were harsh, and the punitive measures were more about social control than public health.

Ben [12:12]: "By the end of that year ... the law stayed on the books and they kept using it to persecute women."

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Personal Stories and Research Insights

Researcher Jennifer Moyer from the University of Kansas uncovered stark historical photographs of the incarcerated women. These glass plate negatives provide a poignant glimpse into the personal lives and tragic circumstances of these women, highlighting the human cost of such discriminatory policies.

Noah [20:09]: "I'm looking at this one of a woman... it's very easy to look at these faces and kind of identify and see yourself in them because they really, you know, other than the dress, these are humans."

Moyer’s findings reveal that women were not only victims of the law but also of societal stigma, with many turning themselves in due to the inability to afford safe and effective treatment for their conditions.

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Modern Comparisons and Reflections

Ben and Noah draw parallels between the 1920s STD panic and other instances of moral panic in American history, such as the internment of civilians during World War II and the stigma surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s.

Ben [22:37]: "The US does have a history of quarantining, detaining, or interning citizens on its own soil."

They discuss how societal fears often lead to the persecution of vulnerable populations, emphasizing the importance of learning from past injustices to prevent their recurrence.

Noah [23:55]: "It's a similar situation... it's seen as a potential public health crisis. So, you know, people do stupid stuff when they panic."

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with a reflection on the progress made since the 1920s, noting the abolishment of Chapter 205 and the ongoing efforts to destigmatize STDs. Ben and Noah urge listeners to remain vigilant against moral panics and to advocate for compassionate public health policies.

Noah [25:06]: "We have a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel... we're making progress not just as a society, but as a species today."

They underscore the enduring relevance of historical awareness in shaping a more just and informed future.

---

Key Statistics

• Imprisonment: Approximately 5,000 women were incarcerated in Kansas under Chapter 205 between 1917 and 1942.
• Public Opinion (AIDS Epidemic): In 1991, 34% of Americans supported quarantining individuals with HIV; by 1997, this dropped to fewer than 17%.
• Current STD Statistics: According to the American Sexual Health Association, 1 in 2 sexually active individuals will contract an STD by age 25, with the CDC estimating around 20 million new STD cases annually in the U.S.

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Notable Quotes

• Ben [00:00]: "Sometimes evil things are ridiculous as well. And this episode is about a very ridiculously evil policy in our good state of Kansas."
• Noah [09:16]: "Anyone suspected of having a sexually transmitted disease... public health officials an insane amount of leeway."
• Noah [21:15]: "How many people did chapter 205 affect? ... around 5,000 women being imprisoned at the farm while the law was on the books between 1917 and 1942. Insane."
• Noah [20:09]: "It's very easy to look at these faces and kind of identify and see yourself in them because they really, you know, other than the dress, these are humans."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of Ridiculous History shines a light on a largely forgotten dark chapter in Kansas's history, underscoring the importance of vigilance against discriminatory laws and societal fears. Through meticulous research and empathetic storytelling, Ben and Noah educate and engage listeners, ensuring that such injustices are neither repeated nor forgotten.

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For more episodes from Ridiculous History, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Ben]

Fellow ridiculous historians, thank you for joining us in this week's classic episode. We're gonna be honest, we take a lot of license with the word ridiculous. Sometimes evil things are ridiculous as well. And this episode is about a very ridiculously evil policy in our good state of Kansas.

[Noah]

That's true. Why, might you ask, did Kansas decide to imprison women for having sexually transmitted diseases? How long did last? And why have so few people heard about this in the modern day?

[Ben]

Let's roll it. Breaking news.

[Casey]

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[Noah]

And timely redemption required.

[Casey]

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[Kevin Smith]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Ow.

[Ben]

Go slower.

[Kevin Smith]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person. Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Maria Tremarke]

Hey, kids, it's me, Kevin Smith.

[Ben]

And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith.

[Maria Tremarke]

That's my daughter, man. Who my wife has always said is just a beardless d? Ckless version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless Me.

[Noah]

I'm the old one, I'm the young one.

[Maria Tremarke]

And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adult adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

[Ben]

It's a work in progress.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to Beardless me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Ben]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Noah]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Ben]

Each Season, we explore a new theme. From poisoners to art thieves, we uncover.

[Noah]

The secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Ben]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app.

[Noah]

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartrad. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for tuning in. We would like to begin today's show with an acknowledgment of something that may have befuddled some of you, our fellow ridiculous historians. Hi, I'm Ben.

[Noah]

Hey, I'm Noah. What are you talking about?

[Ben]

I'm talking, Noel, about the fact that we double Oregoned.

[Noah]

Yeah, that's true.

[Ben]

On our quest to do one episode for every state in the US it's.

[Noah]

Almost like we haven't been really thinking this through.

[Ben]

It's almost as if we were winging that one. It's true. Well, we. We thought both stories regarding Oregon were interesting and important, so much so that we didn't really decide which one was our official Oregon episode. So we have two.

[Noah]

Should we address right up front our double mispronunciation of the Malheur y Wildlife reservation? Casey, apparently you really peed the bed on that one, my man.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Well, I'm unclear on this because the comment. Okay, so there's the way they say it there, which is the American way of saying it, which is quote, unquote wrong if you're going by the French standard. I don't know if people are saying my French pronunciation was also offensive.

[Noah]

Oh, no, I don't. I don't think they're saying that at all. And I'm giving you a hard time, Casey, so.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

But yes, by sort of saying that's how French people would say it, then you guys started saying it that way. And of course, that's never how it works out when an American city is named for some other country.

[Noah]

So what's the real way? What's the real Oregonian way?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

It's like malheur or something.

[Noah]

I think the H is silent, right?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Malheur. I don't know. Malheur. I withdraw from this discussion entirely. Those folks can pronounce it however they like.

[Ben]

Okay, well, just to verify we did find it, Noel, do you want to give it a shot?

[Noah]

Yeah, hang on.

[Casey]

Mal here.

[Noah]

Malheur. That's. Doesn't. That. Isn't that. This is that. Yeah, Mal here.

[Ben]

Well, it's just. It's Just a different way of approaching it. And as we know, with proper nouns, pronunciation can be, you know, very much on a case by case basis and obey the rules of grammar and phonetics in absolutely no shape, fashion, or form.

[Noah]

Maller, Oregon. See? Forvo says it's Mallorc Malheur, Oregon. See.

[Ben]

Right. Three different ways.

[Noah]

Three different ways. So I don't know not to get a bee in our bonnet right up at the top of the show.

[Ben]

Don't let it get to you.

[Noah]

I'm not gonna let it get to you. But this episode today is about a state that's not Oregon. That's sort of the whole point of this.

[Ben]

Right, right, right, right. Also, we would be criminally remiss if we didn't do one of my favorite things to do on this show, Friends and Neighbors, super producer Casey Pegram. I just love the sound cue.

[Noah]

I love it too. But I've noticed we've drifted into a thing where Casey will be on mic and it's not necessarily on the case, so it doesn't have to be. It's a brave new world.

[Ben]

It's a brave new world. It's just like English is a living language that continually evolves. This show and the country in which we record it are continually evolving as well.

[Noah]

Hey, I see where you're going with this. Yeah.

[Ben]

Because today our journey takes us to Kansas in the 1920s. And we want to warn everybody, this is not a super happy, fun, feel good story.

[Noah]

No, no, it's really not. Really. Nothing good comes of this other than the fact that it stopped happening eventually.

[Ben]

Right. That is the happy ending.

[Noah]

The it in question, Ben.

[Ben]

The it in question, though, is the imprisonment of thousands of innocent people. Well, they were innocent by what we would consider criminal standards today, but morally, they were considered quite guilty.

[Noah]

But not just people, Ben. Women specifically, and poor women. So what's the Scoop?

[Ben]

So the 1920s in the US sees the influx of many international influences because of people returning from World War I, which started in July of 1914 and went to November of 1918. And not to cast aspersion on these returning soldiers, but a lot of them didn't just bring an appreciation for foreign food or new sorts of architecture music back home with them. They also brought some diseases.

[Noah]

That's right. Because they couldn't keep their D's in their peas.

[Ben]

Right. We're a family show. So what ended up happening is they returned home to their significant others or they met people in the States and they transmitted some of these diseases they had picked up.

[Noah]

Yeah. Things like syphilis, gonorrhea, things that genuinely posed not only a national health risk, but also a national security risk. I read this. The idea of it potentially preventing soldiers from being effective in battle.

[Ben]

Right.

[Noah]

Some of these diseases are no joke. They debilitate you, like severely, especially as.

[Ben]

They progress, things like syphilis. Right. And then, you know, as we mentioned, there are a couple of other diseases in the mix. Chlamydia, the clap as well. And when this spike happened, it was noticeable, it was an outbreak. It wasn't just like two people in a town all of a sudden showed symptoms of gonorrhea when they were tested. And states started to panic. And usually, unfortunately, when human communities panic, we often tend to target the people with the least agency or the least power in a community or that.

[Noah]

And when we panic, we tend to screw up and overshoot the mark a little bit. Right?

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Noah]

So in an effort to quash these potential outbreaks, in Kansas in particular, it was in 1917 that there was a law passed called Chap 205, known as the State of Kansas Quarantine Law. And what this essentially meant was anyone suspected of having a sexually transmitted disease. It basically gave public health officials an insane amount of leeway in terms of. Hey, you there, Ben. You're looking a little peaked today. I think you probably have gonorrhea into the cells with you.

[Ben]

So before we go any further, let's clarify here. STDs transmit across the entirety of the gender spectrum.

[Noah]

That's right.

[Ben]

So this means that if Kansas and other states are so very concerned about the threat posed by STDs, they should be locking up everyone who has one, right?

[Noah]

Yeah, that's right. Except we were just desperate for able bodied men to fight in this, you know, horrific conflict. So it would be kind of counterproductive to lock up every man suspected of having one of these diseases, especially since the testing at the time, very inaccurate.

[Ben]

The testing was nowhere near as sophisticated as testing methods today. Additionally, there was this huge sexual double standard. You know what I mean? Talk about victim blaming this. We should also say a lot of this information is coming from Nicole Perry, a University of Kansas researcher who dug into the story behind chapter 205. So we've established the gist, right, the general way in which this occurred. But we should probably also mention that when they were taking women to court for these situations, they would find excuses to intervene and then find out that they had STDs and then punish them like they would. They would use charges like vagrancy that's right.

[Noah]

No, for sure. And the thing about this, too is these women didn't go to the state penitentiary because the idea was that they would be abused by the male inmates. So nearby there was actually another facility called the Kansas State Industrial Farm, which was in fact a farm, actual working.

[Ben]

Farm, but is officially listed as a prison.

[Noah]

That's right, exactly. And the notion was that social reformers, as is discussed in this article from kcur, the faces of long gone women tell a new story of the Kansas State Prison. Social reformers believed that women that went there had the potential to be rehabilitated. But here's the thing. In this article, there's a woman named Jennifer Moyer who got a grant from the state to set up a exhibit at the Lansing Historical Museum, which is this very small place in a former train depot on the actual prison grounds. And she got a hold of all these amazing intake photographs of inmates when they, you know, when they were admitted, I guess, male and female when they were incarcerated. Booked. Exactly. And she noticed that following the opening of this separate women's prison in the spring of 1917, it only had about 17 inmates total. And that was pretty common in Kansas. But when chapter 205 kicked in, it rose significantly to almost 400 women in.

[Ben]

The facility by the end of that year.

[Noah]

By the end of that year. And that continued to grow because, you see, after the war ended, this statute stayed on the books and they kept using it to persecute women.

[Ben]

Right. And in her research, Jennifer Meyer finds short write ups of interviews that the inmates, that the inmates had with the authorities. And this is how she learned that several things were happening as a result of this moral panic. One of those being that women were being rounded up in raids, and then some had been turned in by jilted lovers.

[Noah]

Right. And just in general, they were profiled because, like we said earlier, because those tests for these diseases were so inaccurate, sometimes you might have a public health official that says, oh, you're sexually active, therefore you must have an std, therefore, to the prison farm with you.

[Ben]

And then also, this magnifies the tragedy. Some women turn themselves in of their own accord because they had been exposed to an std, and treatment at the time was very expensive, not to mention often not safe.

[Noah]

Yeah, I think the term toxic came up a few times. What are we talking here?

[Ben]

Well, we have to remember this is the age before the widespread use of penicillin. Right. So there are treatments of things like sulfanilamide on gonorrhea.

[Noah]

And.

[Ben]

And these things could work, but they could also be dangerous. You know you're poisoning your body in some cases.

[Noah]

Yeah. I saw another one too for pre penicillin treatment of gonorrhea. That was something called cubebs, which is an Indonesian pepper that was turned into a powder and applied to the affected area. And if you can imagine rubbing a hot pepper on your genitals, that's not a fun sounding experience at all.

[Ben]

I mean, to each their own, but yeah, I would say in general, that's not for me at least.

[Casey]

Is this a good time? It's me, Dylan Mulvaney, and my dear friend Joe Locke from Heartstopper. And Agatha all along is my very first guest on my brand new podcast, the Dylan Hour. It's musical mayhem and it is going to be so much fun. I like a man. You like a man. What do I like, Joe? You like a man too. We often. There's quite similar. There's some cross pollination happening in here. Not like.

[Ben]

No.

[Casey]

Have we? No. No, not yet. Never say never. I cannot wait for all you girls, gays and they's to join me on this extremely special pink confection of a podcast. There is so much darkness in this world and what I think we could all use more of is a little joy. Listen to the Dylan hour on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Love ya.

[Maria Tremarke]

Hey, kids, it's me, Kevin Smith.

[Ben]

And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith.

[Maria Tremarke]

That's my daughter, man. Who my wife has always said is just a beardless d ckless version of me. And that's the name of our podcast. Beardless Dick was me. I'm the old one, I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

[Ben]

It's a work in progress.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to Beardless me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or where you get your podcasts.

[Kevin Smith]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Ow.

[Ben]

Go slower.

[Kevin Smith]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person. Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Hmm. Pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup.

[Noah]

Now take a big whiff, my bruh.

[Kevin Smith]

Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Noah]

Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new.

[Ben]

Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall. Hi, I'm Tia Sircar. I'm Taylor Gray.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

And I'm John Lee Brody.

[Ben]

But you may also know us as.

[Noah]

Harrison Doula's Specter 2, Sabine Wren, Specter 5, and Ezra Bridger, Specter 6 from Star Wars Rebels.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place?

[Ben]

Absolutely.

[Noah]

Each week we're going to rewatch and.

[Ben]

Discuss an episode from the series and share some fun behind the scenes stories.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve blume voices Zaborillio's Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco voices Jai Kel and many others.

[Noah]

Sometimes we'll even have a lively debate.

[Ben]

And we'll have plenty of other fun.

[Casey]

Surprises and trivia too.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Oh, and me, well, I'm the lucky Ghost cruise stowaway who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kinda like how Kanan guided Ezra in the ways of the Force. You see what I did there?

[Noah]

Nicely done, John.

[Ben]

Thanks, Tia. So hang on, because it's gonna be a fun ride.

[Noah]

Cue the music.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

So these people, if they were not well off financially, had no place to go to get treatment. Not to mention the shame that could spread around town. Right. Your reputation being key, especially in small town. And the state of Kansas itself did not invest in free public health clinics at this time. So the closest many people could get to a free public health clinic is the farm.

[Noah]

That's right, yeah. No, I mean, it really is pretty dire situation when you have someone in genuine need who has done nothing wrong and potentially, you know, had intercourse with someone who may have even known they had the disease and decided to keep that from the partner. You know, this happens all the time.

[Ben]

Right?

[Noah]

So you're literally victimizing people who are already victims.

[Ben]

Exactly. Exactly. And not only victimizing them in this legal sense, but also in this, again, this moral sense, that you are a woman of ill repute and so on. And as you said, and I think this is an important point, they were not held there for the rest of their lives. They were typically in for a matter of several months. Right. Two or three months. We don't know what happens to a lot of them after they leave because there's just no paper trail. Right. Except for in a few very isolated cases. And these are young kids too, like 16 to 20, 22, I think.

[Noah]

Yeah. And if you want to see some of these women, you know, and you're in the area, I highly recommend that you check out this exhibit at the Lansing Historical Museum, because these images are incredibly stark. They're captured using very high quality glass plate negatives, which I believe is still like a fine art photography method that's used today. And they yield these very stark black and white images. And in the article, the curator of this museum, this exhibit, talks about how surprising it is that these images are so old and that it's very easy to look at these faces and kind of identify and see yourself in them because they really, you know, other than the dress, these are humans. And it's very striking to kind of see them because they. I'm looking at this one of a woman and she's in her profile shot, she's kind of like looks a little timid and is looking away, but in her head on shot, she almost has like kind of a grin on her face.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Noah]

And you know, and really, some of these, the clothes aren't even that dated looking, other than just the little, you know, what do you call it? The prison number and the, you know, the little tag that you hold up look very much like a mug shot you might see today, only black and white.

[Ben]

So, yeah, the slate. There's a very emotionally charged human element to this and it's tough to. It's tough to overestimate the importance of these photographs in history. Right. Because I don't know about you, Noel, but I'm pretty sure neither of us knew about this practice before we started examining it for this episode.

[Noah]

No, absolutely not. And we mentioned this at the top of the show and I think it goes without saying because of the military situation. But Meyer was asked how many men she found that had been incarcerated because of chapter 205, and she says she couldn't find any. So I think that kind of goes without saying that men were kind of able to just get away with Murder. There's even a story about, you know, oh, I got a disease from my husband and he reported me just to, like, get rid of me. It's this kind of witch hunt kind of situation.

[Ben]

And the question that many of us are probably wondering at this point is how far did this go? How many people did chapter 205 affect? Well, we can say that number of people at the penitentiary rose from 17 to 400 in the space of the year. Eventually, it led to around 5,000 women being imprisoned at the farm while the law was on the books between 1917 and 1942. Insane.

[Noah]

Yeah. That's wild. Cause, you know, if it was designed to, or at least intended to, you know, help with this war situation, it's interesting that it stayed on the books for so long after as a means of kind of rounding up what might be considered as sinful women in the eyes of, like, a possibly puritanical rule of law.

[Ben]

And you can read some great articles about this, particularly on the University of Kansas website. There's a great article titled Researcher Documents Gender Class Bias and Quarantine Law Measures. And one thing that was pretty important to us in our research and with our research team looking at this was to note that the US does have a history of quarantining, detaining, or interning citizens on its own soil.

[Noah]

Right, exactly. The Justice Department actually oversaw the internment of more than. What was it, Ben? 31, 30,000. More than 30,000American civilians during World War II.

[Ben]

Yeah. And this included more than 11,000 people of German descent.

[Noah]

Yeah. Just because of their ancestry.

[Ben]

3,000 due to their Italian ancestry. And then, of course, there were the US citizens who were in Japanese internment camps as well.

[Noah]

And not to mention the fact that in the 80s and 90s, during the HIV AIDS epidemic, or when it first kind of came into the public consciousness, there was actually suggestion, consideration of rounding up those affected by that into some kind of quarantine situation.

[Ben]

And we know that ultimately that did not occur. But the scary number for that is in 1991, 34% of the US public supported the idea of quarantining people who had HIV.

[Noah]

I mean, it's a similar situation to, you know, with the STD panic that we're talking about in the 20s, where it is seen as a. It's something new that they haven't experienced before, and it's seen as a potential public health crisis. So, you know, people do stupid stuff when they panic.

[Ben]

But we do have a, I guess, a little bit of, let's say, light at the end of the tunnel of moral panic here. Because that 1991 stat we just mentioned changes over time.

[Noah]

And these stats are from a report from the psychology department of UC Davis. There was another stat from 91 saying that as many as 29% of the population believed that names should be named. So talk about a witch hunt for those suffering from aids, and they should be made public. But in the span of just a handful of years, by 97, only 1 in 6 endorsed these kinds of policies, and fewer than 1 in 5 supported AIDS, doxxing these people, for lack of a better expression, putting out these names. So, you know, and certainly the stigma surrounding STDs has similarly changed in this country from the way it may have been in World War I. Yeah, one.

[Ben]

Would hope that we are making progress not just as a society, but as a species today. As we said, this law is no longer on the books in Kansas. But it is important to remember that things like this, crazy as they sound, really did occur.

[Noah]

It's true. And if we're doing a few stats, I think we should wrap with a pretty interesting one today. According to the American sexual Health association, one in two sexually active people will contract an STD or STI infection by the age of 25.

[Ben]

Of some sort.

[Noah]

Of some sort, Exactly. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that in somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 million new instances of STDs occur every single year.

[Ben]

The good news is, however, that there are multitudes of resources that can help you. If you have any concerns, you can go get free tests right in. In a city near you to steal a line from that Men's Warehouse guy. I guarantee it.

[Noah]

And of course, you hear it all the time. Just practice safe sex and just be smart about it. There's all kinds of resources, like Ben said, and there's all kinds of ways to protect yourself from getting one of these things. So, you know, there you go.

[Ben]

You know, Noel, it occurs to me that we have completed our Kansas episode, but there's so many other interesting stories about Kansas. Are we gonna end up doing a thing where we have, like, four episodes about one state and one episode for other states?

[Noah]

Well, I mean, we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but, you know, some states are greater than others in terms of the stories. But we're trying to dig for all of them, man. We're not. We're not going to discriminate against the states up front, but.

[Ben]

Discriminate, yeah.

[Noah]

That's good, Ben.

[Ben]

That's not that great. That's not that great.

[Noah]

I liked it though. I liked it. It was worth it, as you would say.

[Ben]

And so we need your help. Let us know about the strange little known historical oddities you have discovered researching a particular state in the us. You can tell us about it on Instagram, you can tell us about it on Twitter. We would love tell us along with your fellow ridiculous historians about your research on our community page. Ridiculous Historians.

[Casey]

Is this a good time? It's me, Dylan Mulvaney, and my dear friend Joe Locke from Heartstopper. And Agatha all along is my very first guest on my brand new podcast, the Dylan Hour. It's musical mayhem and it is going to be so much fun. I like a man. You like a man. What do I like, Joe? You like a man too. We often. There's quite similar. There's some cross pollination happening in here. Not like. No. Have we? No. No, not yet. Never say never. I cannot wait for all you girls, gays and they to join me on this extremely special pink confection of a podcast. There is so much darkness in this world. And what I think we could all use more of is a little joy. Listen to the Dylan hour on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Love ya.

[Maria Tremarke]

Hey, kids, it's me, Kevin Smith.

[Ben]

And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith.

[Maria Tremarke]

That's my daughter, man. Who my wife has always said is just a beardless D? Ckless version of me. And that's the name of our podcast. Beardless D? Ckless Me. I'm the old one, I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

[Ben]

It's a work in progress.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to Beardless me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or where you get your podcasts.

[Kevin Smith]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Ben]

Ow. Go slower.

[Kevin Smith]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person and sleep with everyone he knew, Obviously. Hmm. Pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup.

[Noah]

Now take a big whiff, my bruh.

[Kevin Smith]

Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Noah]

Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new.

[Ben]

Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast.

[Noah]

I'm Vanessa Marshall.

[Ben]

Hi, I'm Tia Sircar.

[Noah]

I'm Taylor Gray.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

And I'm John Lee Brody.

[Ben]

But you may also know us as Harrison Doula, Spectre 2, Sabine Wren, Specter.

[Noah]

5, and Ezra Bridger, Specter 6 from Star Wars Rebels.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Wait, I wasn't on Star Wars Rebels. Am I in the right place?

[Ben]

Absolutely.

[Noah]

Each week we're going to rewatch and.

[Ben]

Discuss an episode from the series and.

[Casey]

Share some fun behind the scenes stories.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve blume voices Zaborillio's Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco voices Jai Kel and many others.

[Noah]

Sometimes we'll even have a lively debate.

[Ben]

And we'll have plenty of other fun.

[Casey]

Surprises and trivia too.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Oh, and me. Well, I'm the lucky ghost crew Stowaway, who gets to help moderate and guide the discussion each week. Kinda like how Kanan guided Ezra the ways of the Force. You see what I did there?

[Noah]

Nicely done, John.

[Ben]

Thanks, Tia. So hang on, cuz, it's going to be a fun ride.

[Kevin Smith]

Cue the music.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

And before we go, you know what, Noel, we've been on a kick about this lately. I say we double down and do some more listener mail.

[Noah]

Is it? Episodes have been running short.

[Ben]

It's because this episode is shorter.

[Noah]

Yes, that's true, but it's a good one. You know, it's absolutely worthwhile, very important, and it certainly was a darker time in this country. But, you know, lest history repeat itself, always a good idea to kind of keep on top of the trends of the past.

[Ben]

Yeah. And now, without further delay, Casey, could you set us up for listener mail? So this is not our usual listener mail kind of thing, but I thought this was hilarious. And if you haven't seen it on Ridiculous Historians, we wanted to share this with you first. Welcome to Nicole P. Nicole, you are a new member on the group and you recently said. Does anyone hate these Starbucks ads as much as I do? I feel like they're on every podcast and they make me want to flip over tables and burn down a Starbucks.

[Noah]

Well, the joke's on you because the tables at Starbucks are bolted down, my friend.

[Ben]

They thought about it and just reading the descriptions of this opprobrium is so amazing. Melissa F. Responds, not just you, I hate them with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.

[Noah]

Here's the thing, folks. We don't always have control over which ads get in our show, especially when they're ones we don't ourselves read or endorse. But you know what? They keep the lights on and they keep our mouths talking into these here microphone thingies.

[Ben]

Just one more, though. This is. I'm reading these because as a lover of language, I really respect a good turn of phrase. So Jerry M. Agrees and says, yes, annoying and somehow semi inappropriate. To which Nicole P. Says, right? It's like being told I have to pee by someone trying to seduce me.

[Noah]

Oh, wow. Oh, whoa. Oh, my good gracious.

[Ben]

That's as close as we can get as a family show.

[Noah]

I really hope Starbucks isn't listening today.

[Ben]

I hope they make an ad about it.

[Noah]

Hey, you know what? It's fun. We love Starbucks, actually. I go, I go. I get my Starbucks. I get my bucks on. On the reg.

[Ben]

And your point, Your point about ads is right. We just. We want to thank everyone listening for being so supportive of our show and also being so consistently hilarious.

[Noah]

Agreed. Okay, the next one is. I don't know, I'm not walking it back, but it's a little mea culpa for me. We've got one from Cameron A. Hi, my name is Cameron. Let me just say, I love your show. I wait every episode you guys put out. If I social media, I would join your groups, but I'm too busy for social media at the moment. However, regarding your latest episode, at the time, this was the British soccer game where the Brits gave the Nazi salute. I was a little sad to hear you guys compare the United States to Nazi Germany. I do respect that you first began with not to get political, but it still made me feel a bit unwelcome as a listener of the podcast. Not a huge Trump fan, a conservative libertarian, but he is still our commander in chief and I wish him the best I can in his term as president. So I do just want to say that my statement there and our statement, I mean, it was. I'm the one who said it, and Ben backed me up it was mainly just the idea of watching history repeat itself in terms of appeasement. I was not comparing America to Nazi Germany. I was more saying the pieces that were laid that led to something like the Nazis being able to take power are strangely similar to what we're seeing with our administration right now in terms of letting things slide. That there's like sort of an escalating effect that you can kind of get a sense of and maybe compare the two historical circumstances. I'm in no way implying that Donald Trump is one to one with Adolf Hitler at all and we are not a political show, but it was a parallel that I could not help but notice and felt compelled to comment on.

[Ben]

I see also, also this. This was interesting to me. First, Cameron, thank you for your well worded and pretty respectful email. But this reminded me of Godwin's Law. Do you know what that is?

[Noah]

Gladwin's Law.

[Ben]

No Godwin, no relation. Okay. G O, D W, Y N. It's a weird thing that you may have heard if you're familiar with the Internet. Godwin's law, also called Godwin's rule of Hitler analogies, is this Internet adage that says as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches one. Which this guy's argument is, no matter who you talk about, no matter what you talk about, if it's online, you talk about it long enough. Yeah, at some point Nazis are going to come up.

[Noah]

Have you seen this, Teddy Ruxpin? This new online, Teddy Ruxpin? It's just like Nazi Germany.

[Ben]

It's pretty. The pieces are there. Yeah. So, okay, if you're cool with it, maybe we end with a funny email.

[Noah]

Yeah, I think that's smart. I think that's smart. We go funny. Heavy funny.

[Ben]

Yeah. Like npr. Which is true. That's their formula. We are also big NPR fans.

[Noah]

It's true.

[Ben]

So this email, everybody get your ears ready for this. This email is called how could you do it?

[Noah]

That should be a segment from Noelle L. Oh, cool namesake.

[Ben]

N O, E, L, L, E. Oh, well, whatever.

[Noah]

Forget her.

[Ben]

I'm sure you'll be famous friends. So, Noel, you wrote in to say I want to to know how you could do a show on the epic song Louie Louie and speak of its supposed debauchery and impact on America's youth. And not even mention one of the greatest covers of it, John Belushi in Animal House. That one scene defines everything that the mothers and fathers were worried. The song was encouraging. Guys, it was a great show, but I Kept waiting for you to at least mention this piece of American film history in connection with the song. You blew it, guys. Double secret probation for you, Noel.

[Noah]

L. I don't get the reference. I haven't seen Animal House.

[Ben]

Animal House is great. Casey, have you seen Animal House?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

No, I haven't. But I do know the double secret probation thing, because that was also, like, on the special edition when it came out. It was the double secret probation edition.

[Ben]

So I've got to get you guys. We've got to have a pizza party and watch Animal House.

[Noah]

I've never seen the Blues Brothers either. So I've got some real holes in my comedy film.

[Ben]

You know, I watched the Blues Brothers when I was a kid with, I guess, some relatives, and I think I just didn't get it. You know what I mean? I think a lot of it went over my head. But thank you so much for writing in Noelle. And everyone else, let us know if I've got to take Casey and Noel to a movie night sometime soon. Should we go for Animal House? Or should we go for Blues Brothers?

[Noah]

Or what about Blues Brothers 2000?

[Harley Quinn Smith]

I saw that one in the theater.

[Ben]

Yeah, I heard it was quite bad.

[Harley Quinn Smith]

And, yeah, you guys don't need to catch up on that one.

[Ben]

Cool.

[Noah]

There's actually an episode of how did this Get Made About It? If you want to check that show out with Paul Scheer and June Diane Rayfael and Jason Manzukas. Paul Scheer, who has actually been a guest on our Sister Brother Peer Peer podcast Movie Crush.

[Ben]

Yep. And Blues Brothers 2000 is ridiculously cameo heavy. So I guess it depends on how you feel about cameos, but.

[Noah]

Or what about the band Cameo Word app?

[Ben]

Yeah, the band Cameo themselves, they don't get enough mentions. And that's why you tuned into Ridiculous History, so you can hear Cameo get the passing mention they deserve.

[Noah]

Okay, I know we're in Tangent City right now. We need to wrap this up. But I have to say this because I was standing around the airport, I was listening to Comedy Bang Bang, which I love.

[Ben]

Sure.

[Noah]

And there is a character. You know, the show, they have different improv actors playing characters coming on the show, talking to Scott Aukerman. And one of them was. His character was. It's the guy from Cameo. And every. He just speaks like, hello, Scott. Hello, Ben. And just, like, that's how he speaks. And I'm like, I recognize that voice. Who is it? It was Carl Tartt, who used to be one of the co hosts of our other cohort, Podcast Culture Kings. Oh, he's the guy that got away.

[Ben]

He's on Comedy Bang Bang.

[Noah]

He also plays the chief on Comedy Bang Bang.

[Ben]

Oh, wow.

[Noah]

He's the Carmen Sandiego character.

[Ben]

Yeah, I know. He.

[Noah]

Yeah. Pretty awesome.

[Ben]

Congratulations, Carl. Maybe we could have him come on our show at some point.

[Noah]

Who knows?

[Ben]

I mean, we are pretty friendly with each other.

[Noah]

We do seem to be. Check out the recent episode with Robert Evans. I actually listened to it myself in the Wild. That was a fun little discussion about the racist origins of Oregon.

[Ben]

Yeah, Robert Evans, the mastermind behind the new podcast behind the Bastards.

[Noah]

True. Check it out.

[Ben]

Check it out and let us know what you think. And tune in for our next episode when we explore Oscar Wilde, the morals of Victorian England, the incredibly complicated fashion.

[Noah]

Required of the time, and an infamous pair of cross dressers who set the hoity toity world of late Victorian England ablaze.

[Ben]

Thanks to our super producer, Casey Pegram, thanks to Christopher Haciotes, our research assistant.

[Noah]

Thanks to Alex Williams, who composed our theme, and most importantly, thanks to you for putting up with us two knuckleheads and digging the show. We'll see you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Kevin Smith]

Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here?

[Ben]

Ow. Go slower.

[Kevin Smith]

From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and EM20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi and what's the way to find a missing person. Sleep with everyone he knew, Obviously. Listen to the hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Maria Tremarke]

Hey, kids, it's me, Kevin Smith.

[Ben]

And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith.

[Maria Tremarke]

That's my daughter, man. Who my wife has always said is just a beardless version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless Me.

[Noah]

I'm the old one, I'm the young one.

[Maria Tremarke]

And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

[Ben]

It's a work in progress.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to Beardless me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get.

[Ben]

Your podcasts welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Noah]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Ben]

Each season we explore a new theme, from poisoners to art thieves.

[Noah]

We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching.

[Ben]

And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Noah]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Casey]

Hey y'all, it's your girl, Cheekies.

[Noah]

And I'm back with a brand new.

[Casey]

Season of your favorite podcast, Cheekies and Chill. I'll be sharing even more personal stories with you guys, and as always, you'll get my exclusive take on topics like love, personal growth, health, family ties, and more. And don't forget, I'll also be dishing out my best advice to you on episodes of Dear Cheekies.

[Noah]

It's going to be an exciting year.

[Casey]

And I hope that you can join.

[Noah]

Me me listen to Cheekies and Chill.

[Casey]

Season 4 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[Ben]

Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.