{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Premise","title":"Breaking the Silence: Susan Osborn on Incest, Language, Power, and Patriarchy","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3622,"description":"Episode Summary\nIn this thought-provoking episode of The Premise, Jeniffer and Chad Thompson welcome award-winning author, educator, and cultural critic Susan Osborn to discuss her groundbreaking book, She's Such a Liar: Incest, Knowledge and Power—A Manifesto. Drawing on decades of research, Osborn explores how language, institutions, and cultural narratives have historically silenced survivors of incest while protecting systems of power.\nThe conversation examines the importance of naming difficult realities, the role of history in shaping public understanding, and why language itself can determine what society chooses to acknowledge—or ignore. Susan also shares surprising historical research, personal experiences from academia, and her hopes for creating meaningful cultural change through education and dialogue.\nIn This Episode\nWhy Susan Osborn intentionally uses the word \"incest\" instead of euphemisms.\nThe origins of the book title She's Such a Liar and how credibility is often weaponized against women.\nThe relationship between patriarchy, knowledge, and institutional power.\nHistorical examples of how medical, legal, and cultural institutions dismissed reports of incest.\nThe story of Sigmund Freud's reversal of his early research on childhood sexual abuse.\nWhy language shapes public awareness—and what happens when there are no words to describe a perpetrator.\nHumor as a tool for discussing difficult subjects.\nSusan's experiences being discouraged from researching incest during graduate school.\nWomen's rights, historical progress, and recurring cultural backlash.\nHow naming social problems is often the first step toward addressing them.\nThe historical medical response to childhood gonorrhea epidemics and what it revealed about institutional denial.\nSusan's next research project on the historical construction of female shame.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/nj4fk5WnTrxbJiBHxxgBejYoW3Lo0-RQxX8S5sNajMA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NmE4/ODc3NDcwNmY5NWZl/ZWYyYjZiZmU4MGFj/YmI4NC53ZWJw.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}