1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Invention, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: welcome to Invention. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Joe McCormick. In today's episode is going to be on 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: a very important invention in the history of human health 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: and medicine, the condom. Now obvious statement on the subject 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,640 Speaker 1: matter of today's episode, We're not going to be stigmatizing, uh, 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: sex or birth control, but just wanted to give your 8 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: heads up in case this came on in the car 9 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: with the family or something and uh, it's uh and 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: you want to avoid any awkwardness or whatever. But hey, 11 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: if you want to keep listening, that's up to you. Yeah, 12 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: as always, we're gonna tackle the subject matter with decorum 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: here um. But but yeah, it seems like a great 14 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: invention to tackle on the show because it's one way, 15 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: as we'll discussed whether the history is interesting and at 16 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: times not what we necessarily believe it to be in 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: sort of like the pop culture level of just you know, 18 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: vague understanding of of you know, the history oral truth 19 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: regarding things. But then also we we have you know, 20 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: obviously we thought, well this would be kind of a 21 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: potentially sexy episode of Invention to you know, to what 22 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: extent any episode of the Invention podcast is sexy. Um. 23 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: I do think it is an important note, um, that 24 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: that condoms, despite their their clinical history, still have a 25 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: a sexy reality. Uh. And that's one of I mean, 26 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: that's one of the key talking points on material about 27 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: condoms uh, provided by organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Um. 28 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: And we'll come back to that point in a bit. Yeah, 29 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: that's a really good point actually, I mean, despite their 30 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,919 Speaker 1: important you know, their medical significance, I guess if you're 31 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: trying to encourage widespread use of them to you know, 32 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: stop the spread of s t S and and discourage 33 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: unwanted pregnancies, you don't want to treat them as something 34 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: that's like, you know, people associate with like a hospital 35 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: or that you know, like you want people to think 36 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: of them as something that's good to use in their 37 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: recreational sexual activity. Yeah, exactly. I mean human sexuality is 38 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: this mix of the biological, the things that we've evolved 39 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: to do, and you know, basically environmental conditioning, but then 40 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: there's all this cultural and societal conditioning as well. And 41 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: so I think the understanding of the condom and the 42 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: treatment of the condom and ultimately like communication about the 43 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,519 Speaker 1: condom and other you know, contraceptive um efforts as well, 44 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: you know, have to like take those two movements into account. Yeah, 45 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: making the condom sexy is a public health concern. Now, 46 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: before we make it sexy, I guess we should just say, 47 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: what what are the bare physical essential So the modern 48 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: condom is a physical barrier or sheath used during sex 49 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: to reduce the probability of both unwanted pregnancy and the 50 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: spread of sexually transmitted infections. Uh. And of course there 51 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: are other methods and technologies that people have used and 52 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: do use today to try to prevent both of these things. 53 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: But the condom is important to talk about because it 54 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: was one of it has been one of the most 55 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: widely used methods in history and around the world today 56 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: for both of these reasons. Absolutely. Again, one of the 57 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: other important things that we'll come back to is that, 58 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,119 Speaker 1: like the condom doesn't you know, exist all on its 59 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: own within the uh you know, the the the the 60 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: tool chest of contraceptive methods. It can be used, can 61 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: and should be used alongside these other methods as well, 62 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: which we'll get to. Yeah, And so there are two 63 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: main versions of the condom that have been used throughout 64 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: the years. Uh. That I think the terminology that will 65 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: use is the internal condom and the external condom. The 66 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: internal condoms sometimes called the female condom, the external condoms 67 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: sometimes called the male condom. They essentially performed the same 68 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: job that they're worn differently. Uh. And I also want 69 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: to go ahead and side at the top of this episode. 70 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: Probably my main source of for the research today. It's 71 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: an excellent paper on this subject by Jean Jacques Amy 72 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: and Michel Thiery called the Condom A Turbulent History from 73 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: the European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Reproductive Healthcare. From 74 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: that was a really good resource, especially because it corrects 75 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: some previously widely circular related myths about the history of 76 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: the condom. That's right. There are a lot of just 77 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: like basic lists of facts on the internet that that 78 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: you can you know, they're not necessarily dangerous facts or anything, 79 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: but but they're not necessarily correct. And there is a 80 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: lot of stuff too that we'll get into some examples 81 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: of this where there'll be a story about the origin 82 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: of the condom and it sounds perhaps it sounds believable, 83 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: but is there any evidence for it? Uh, we'll discuss 84 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: the details as we proceed here. Yeah. So always on 85 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: this show, when we talk about an invention, we'd like 86 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: to ask the question of what came before this invention, 87 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: And the answer here is well, a lot of s 88 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: t I S and unwanted pregnancy, that's right. Uh. You 89 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: know it's as humans, as Homo sapiens, were continuous breeders 90 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: rather than seasonal breeders. It's the same with with with 91 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: our fellow apes species. Um. There's no breeding season for us. Um. However, 92 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: various environmental factors do influence reproductive rates, so in a 93 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: way you can argue that this can produce so called 94 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: hidden human breeding seasons. Elsewhere in the animal kingdom, we 95 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: have seasonal breeders, of course, Um, there's a certain period 96 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: of the year during which they will breed, and then 97 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: they are also operative, opportunistic breeders who will breed during 98 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: favorable environmental conditions. But humans and other apes can make 99 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: year round and we've been this way for quite a while. 100 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: You know, we've been biologically stable as a species for 101 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: roughly a hundred thousand years in this regard, and sex 102 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: among our ancient ancestors was still sex, right, meaning that 103 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: like there was a lot of it going on, and 104 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: there were a lot of things that sometimes I feel 105 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: like people can strangely think of as like recent additions 106 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: to human life and culture like S T I S. 107 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: Have you ever encountered this belief that it's like that's 108 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: a thing that happened recently. There's yeah, in a in 109 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: a weird way like part of it in terms of 110 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: like like just nostalgia for the past, like the recent 111 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: past like this, Like I've encountered like a vague idea 112 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: that like during the nineteen sixties that were not STDs 113 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: or something, or that certain STDs didn't exist. Um. And 114 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: in granted, you know, there's a you know, there's an 115 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: ebb and flow to to our to both you know, 116 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: illnesses and diseases that are affecting us and more to 117 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: the point, our awareness of said diseases. Um, you know, 118 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: in addition to the the actual spread of them. Uh. 119 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: But but yeah, I've seen like shades of this in 120 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: terms of recent history. I don't know if I've encountered 121 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 1: it in terms of ancient history, um, in part because 122 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: it just seems obvious that there have always been ailments 123 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: of this sort. Well, I just think I think it's 124 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: part of a sort of like naive moralizing that that 125 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: suggests like, uh, you know, sexual morality is not what 126 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: it used to be in the past, was better, and 127 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,239 Speaker 1: therefore it's like this this fantasy that people weren't having 128 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: sex in the past, and part of that fantasy is 129 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: that there wasn't you know, any of the negative consequences 130 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: that can come from unprotected sex. So so kind of 131 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: this um like magic cold belief that that sexually transmitted 132 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: diseases are a product of not only um uh immoral behavior, 133 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: but a product of recent immoral behavior. Yeah, the false 134 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: kind of moral degeneracy theory. You know, the present of 135 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: kids are so bad these days now in terms of 136 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: ancient people though, according to David Buss, professor of psychology 137 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: at the University of Texas, who wrote a book titled 138 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: The Evolution of Desire Strategies of Human Mating, and he 139 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:28,559 Speaker 1: points out that we don't know for sure what sex 140 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: was like for for you know, ancient humans. But he 141 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: points out, you know, something very much in line with 142 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: our past stuff to blow your mind discussions on pain. 143 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: You know that that that human sexuality is a mixture 144 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: of the biological and the social Uh. You know that 145 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: there's a part of it is like what the body 146 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: is doing and how we're we're reacting to the sensations. 147 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: But then on top of that, as with most things 148 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: that conscious humans engage in, there is that conscious understanding 149 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: and how that changes what is going on in addition 150 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: again to culture and society and societal pressures. Now, as 151 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: we've also discussed on stuffable in your mind before, uh, 152 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: other organisms deal with reproduction and environmental demands, but humans 153 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: alone would seem to exercise conscious understanding of and to 154 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: an extent control of their reproductive anatomy. We're also the 155 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,119 Speaker 1: most advanced tool users on the planet, so it's become 156 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: as no surprise that we eventually turned our toolmaking and 157 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: using skills to our own genitals and an attempt to 158 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: manage our desires the emotional aspects of sexuality and the 159 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: purely reproductive side of the act. And again that's just 160 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: the reproductive side of the equation, because humans have also 161 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: had to fight off an impressive parasite load but throughout 162 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 1: their history, throughout their history, and and to deal with 163 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: the risks of diseases that spread through, among other things, 164 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: sexual activity. So it is definitely not effect that sexually 165 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: transmitted infections are recent. This is something we've been dealing 166 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,319 Speaker 1: with as far back as as possible to imagine, right, 167 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: and and and this is another thing that should go 168 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: without saying, but I feel often needs to be stressed. Uh, 169 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: sexually transmitted diseases are not merely a human thing like 170 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: animals have sexually transmitted diseases as well. This is just 171 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:13,479 Speaker 1: part of being an organism. Yeah. Now, in terms of 172 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: of ancient accounts of sexually transmitted diseases to back the 173 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: sort of thing up, uh that there are a lot 174 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: of examples. One of the papers that we were looking 175 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: at in this comes from Frangio at All titled History 176 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: of Anereal Diseases from Antiquity to the Renaissance, and it 177 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: points out that some of our oldest records include details 178 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: of the neereal disease quote clay tablets from Mesopotamia, Egyptian papyri, 179 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: along with mythology, paintings of erotic scenes and the presence 180 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: of prostitutes, gives a sufficient information to assume that some 181 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: form of urethral and vaginal discharge and also herpes genitalis 182 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: were present among people at that time. And that these 183 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: diseases were considered a divine punishment. Oh yeah, bringing the 184 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: magic into it, right, And this has always been a 185 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: you know, the history of of humans understanding their diseases 186 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: and trying to understand their diseases and laying on this 187 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 1: level of society and culture. But on top of that, 188 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: you you look back to the writings and the work 189 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: of physicians throughout history, and the Greeks, the Chinese, the Arabic, 190 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: the Arabics, Indian physicians as well, all wrote about this 191 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: sort of thing. And I think syphilis alone is a 192 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: great study and just how pervasive and influential a given 193 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: venereal disease can be, namely from at least the fifteenth 194 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: century onward in Europe. We've talked about this on again 195 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: our other podcast, Stuff to Blow your Mind in the past, 196 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: about just how widespread syphilis was, how difficult, if not impossible, 197 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: to suppress, and just you know, to the extent to 198 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: which it it affected society. It trickled down into culture too, 199 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: and we've talked about everything. We even talked about the 200 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: ways it may have influenced some vampire lore. Oh yeah, yeah, 201 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: there's some strong theories for that as well. But of 202 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: course without germ theory, there's only so much you can 203 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: do to control STDs, right, and the efforts are going 204 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: to range from herbal treatments which you know may or 205 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: may not have have you know, some degree of validity, 206 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: but two things that are just outright magic and superstition, 207 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,599 Speaker 1: as well as plenty of classist and misogynistic treatments of 208 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: venereal disease. Like even in the twentieth century, as we 209 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: learn more and more about how these diseases actually work, 210 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: you still saw like a lot of pretty awful propaganda, 211 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: especially or at least the main examples I've seen avator 212 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: from US the U. S. Military during the Second World War, 213 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: for the First World War, that that play into the 214 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: notion of monstrous females being like the sole domain of 215 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: sexually transmitted diseases. Yeah, the idea that there are these 216 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: immoral women out there that you don't want your you know, 217 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: your young soldiers going off to war consorting with, and 218 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: you warn them about it, almost treating them like their vampires, right, 219 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,079 Speaker 1: and then ultimately like placing all the blame on on 220 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: one gender. But throughout history, you know, they've also been 221 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: these larger scale social movements, um, you know, involving generally abstinence, 222 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: and they can't stuff the spread of these illnesses as well, 223 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: because humans continue to engage in this sort of sexual behavior, 224 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: this kind of sexual behavior they've evolved to engage in, 225 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: and society. Society continues to provide outlets of accessibility, be 226 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: it in war, prostitution, etcetera. Plus, you also have plenty 227 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: of venerial diseases that can be acquired via other other 228 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: methods such as, uh, the you know the public baths 229 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: in history, you know, but before we really knew how 230 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: to properly maintain them. Uh, and then am ancient romans? 231 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: Yeah that that that that sort of thing. And then 232 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: also in some times in places this sort of these 233 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: baths provide a social outlet for sexuality as well. Uh. 234 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: And then there are other cases where they're gonning to 235 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: be other public health issues that make the spread of 236 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: these illnesses possible. And then also syphilis is an example 237 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: of an STD that can be spread uh congenitally as well, 238 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: so it can spread from a mother to an offspring. Okay, 239 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: So obviously sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies or like 240 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: huge issues that people have been trying to avoid going 241 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: back millennia. Uh So this is one. This is I 242 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: guess where we should bring in the condom, and maybe 243 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: we should take a break, and then when we come 244 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: back from the break, we can explore the question of 245 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: who invented the condom? Alright, we're back. We're discussing the 246 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: invention of the condom. We have not yet gotten to 247 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: the part in the episode we will make condom sexy 248 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,559 Speaker 1: because we're gonna be talking about animal bladders here for 249 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: a little bit. Well, uh so we're asking the question 250 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: who invented the condom. We like to ask this about 251 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: any invention we talked about, and this is one of 252 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: those cases where we have no idea. Uh there is 253 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: no known inventor of the condom. So the use of 254 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: animal tissues such as bladders like the swim bladders of fish, 255 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:58,439 Speaker 1: or the bladder of goats or sheep, or intestines or 256 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:02,839 Speaker 1: scum like the intestines of sheep. Often, uh these types 257 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,439 Speaker 1: of animal membranes and tissues have been used as protective 258 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: barriers during intercourse going way back into history, and we 259 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: don't know for sure how far back. Our first direct 260 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: physical evidence of the use of an animal membrane as 261 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: a as a condom is from the seventeenth century, but 262 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: that's just we have accounts going back farther than that. 263 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: That's just the oldest example we have in the archaeological record, 264 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: and we'll talk more about that later. Um So, it's 265 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: an ongoing debate among historians and archaeologists whether anything like 266 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 1: a modern condom was ever widely used in the ancient world, 267 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,760 Speaker 1: and if if it was used to what extent. There 268 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: were believed to be tons of different methods of sexual 269 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: protection in the ancient world. Of course, there was a 270 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: lot of use of amulets and magic spells and potions 271 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: and things like that. We mentioned a little bit about 272 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: herbal remedies before. There was the use of of pessaries sometimes, 273 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: which would be like an object placed inside vagina. In 274 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: an eighteenth century b CE medical papyrus from ancient Egypt, 275 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: there is the claim that quote crocodile dung mixed with 276 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: honey and placed in the vagina of a woman prevents conception, 277 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: which that sounds gross. That might have actually worked some 278 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: of the time. I don't know. Maybe I don't know 279 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: that there have been any modern studies into this particular. 280 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: We're not advocating, but but yeah, what about condoms? What 281 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: about a protective physical barrier in the form of like 282 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: a sheath. So I've come across some claims that several 283 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: types of protective sheaths in the form of both internal 284 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: and external condoms were used by cultures like the ancient Egyptians, 285 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: the Romans, the Chinese, the people of New Guinea, and 286 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: the people of Japan and some others. As of just 287 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: one example of a claim like this I've come across. 288 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: I was reading apart from a book called The Humble 289 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: Little Condom of History by Anya Collier, and she writes 290 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,239 Speaker 1: that before the fifteenth century in China, quote Chinese condoms 291 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: yin Chia were ultraly made from oiled silk paper and 292 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: lamb intestines. And she doesn't specify how far back this 293 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: is thought to have been used. She does say before 294 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: the fifteenth century, but she writes that this condom only 295 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: covered the top of the penis, and this is actually 296 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: common with a lot of models throughout history. Is not 297 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: common in condoms today, but many models, especially some you'd 298 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: see later in Europe, would only cover the glands. And 299 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: this was employed primarily with an understanding that it would 300 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: prevent pregnancy. It was not aimed at preventing disease, according 301 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: to a. Collier. But whether each of these individual claims 302 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: about condom use or earlier than the fifteenth century are 303 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: correct or not, it's clear that some use of physical 304 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: barrier prophylaxis does go back into the fog of history, 305 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: and there is no known inventor of the condom. Some 306 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: of the people who have been given credit as the 307 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: inventor are definitely not the inventor. And of course I 308 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: think all of this makes sense because ejaculation would have 309 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: been identified as a key event uh in um inmating 310 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: in pregnancy, and therefore a physical barrier between the opening 311 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:08,360 Speaker 1: of the male urethra, if not the entire penis itself 312 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: and female genitals would seem a likely tactic that that 313 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: even you know, ancient people's would have realized. Now, I 314 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: want to talk about mythology, because there are some indications 315 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: of something like a condom in uh in the mythology 316 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: of the ancient world. Here's an example that came up 317 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: in the paper by by Ommi and Tieri. Uh something 318 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: like a condom appears in a fascinating Greek myth as 319 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: told by Antoninist liberalists in the second century CE in 320 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,680 Speaker 1: his work Metamorphoses. Now, this is a prose work that's 321 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: a lot like Ovid's poetry work The Metamorphoses. It's a 322 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: collection of tellings of Greek myths in which God transforms 323 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: a person into something else. And this particular story concerns Minos, 324 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: the king of Crete, and his wife Pacific. So in 325 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: liberalists version of the story, Minos and specific or married 326 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 1: and they couldn't conceive a child because Minos was cursed. 327 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: His semen was apparently full of snakes and scorpions, which 328 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 1: which would kill any woman that he had sex with. 329 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: So on. On that alone, it sounds like you could 330 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 1: look at that is either a possible um you know, 331 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: magical version of sexually transmitted disease like his his semen 332 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: causes some sort of illness that eventually is painful and 333 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: could even you know, bring death. Um Or of course 334 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: it could just be a treatment of infertility. To say that, 335 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: you know, again kind of a mythological exaggeration. Uh. Yeah. 336 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,120 Speaker 1: The method they're going to propose for fixing the problem 337 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,440 Speaker 1: in this story, I think would not really correlate with 338 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,640 Speaker 1: it being modeled on a disease, it would correlate more 339 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: with it just being like a magical convention in the story. 340 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: But then again, even if this is inspired by some 341 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: kind of real experience with the sexually transmitted infection or something, 342 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: you can still see how it could get sort of 343 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,439 Speaker 1: warped and acquire different mythical baggage over time. But anyway, 344 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: so in the story, he's got this problem. His semen 345 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: is full of snakes, it's got scorpions, it's got centipedes. 346 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: It's a problem. So to get around the problem, King 347 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 1: Minos is instructed to put the bladder of a goat 348 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: into another woman's vagina. I think this is uh procris 349 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 1: and uh, and then to have sex with her. And 350 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: after that all the snakes and scorpions would be gone, 351 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: so he and Pacific could safely have sex and conceive. 352 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 1: And the implication is that the goats bladder here serves 353 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: as a protective barrier for this other woman so that 354 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: the serpents and the scorpions don't harm her. Now this 355 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: is straight because you can almost I don't know, could 356 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: they not think about other ways around this problem? Yeah, 357 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: I mean, on one level, it does sound like you 358 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: could also be an example of uh, you know, there 359 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: being some sort of situation, some sort of sexual situation 360 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: that needed to be addressed, and then the solution was here, 361 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: used this uh, this bladder uh in intercourse as some 362 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: sort of a barrier. And then perhaps you just have 363 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: mythological explanations and story making on top of that, almost 364 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: as if like the people generating the stories don't understand 365 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: and or don't care what the original reason was, you know, 366 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: or it could just be a mythical invention. Certain, but yeah, 367 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: um yeah, it's interesting to consider how it could have 368 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: been inspired by some real practice. Like basically, if nothing else, 369 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:33,640 Speaker 1: it shows that during the second century CE, the idea 370 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: of using a physical barrier during a sex act was 371 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 1: at least in the zeitgeist. Right. It's it's at least 372 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: possible indication that there could have been some consciousness about 373 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: this in the culture. Basically, this would be the form 374 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 1: of an internal condom. Now, I do want to say 375 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: something real quick though about the you know, about the 376 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: use of intestines and and bladders in all of this. 377 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: I feel like it seems gross to people today. It 378 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 1: can seem gross to us today, and I think a 379 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: lot of that is because we are so many of 380 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: us anyway, are removed from the culture of butchery and 381 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: can easily forget that animal bladders could be used for 382 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: a number of different things. A dried animal bladder was 383 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: essentially a balloon, well, and these membranes and tissues were 384 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 1: used for all kinds of things in the ancient world. 385 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: I mean, this isn't the only use of a goat's 386 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: bladder or sheep intestine in the ancient world. They were, uh, 387 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,199 Speaker 1: they were very versatile materials that were used in all 388 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: kinds of consumer goods. And we'll come back to this 389 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: in a bit, Okay. So another thing that Ammy and 390 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: Thierry point out in their paper is that a lot 391 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: of sources point to a sixteenth century Italian physician and 392 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 1: anatomist named Gabrielli Fallopio as as the person who published 393 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: the earliest confirmed description of the condom and so Filippio 394 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: lived fifteen twenty three to fifteen sixty two, and he 395 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: was very influential in his discoveries about the human body 396 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: and in overturning some of the misconceptions of physicians from 397 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: antiquity like Galen and through dissection of cadavers, Filipio made 398 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: a lot of important observations about about the human head, 399 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: about the ears, and about the reproductive organs. Uh he 400 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: discovered the tubes that travel between the ovaries and the uterus, 401 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: now known as phillopian tubes. But uh I Mean and 402 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,639 Speaker 1: Terry dispute this tendency to give Filipio credit for the 403 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: first published description of the condom, and they disputed in 404 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: multiple ways. First of all, there is at least one 405 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: known example, much earlier than this, of a published description 406 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: of a condom. In the tenth century, the Persian physician 407 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: al A Kawani published a treatise in which he advocated 408 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: the use of an animal's gall bladder to cover the 409 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,119 Speaker 1: penis during sex, and this was understood to be for 410 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: the purpose of preventing pregnancy. But Amy Interiery also dispute 411 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: the Filipio ever described a condom as a barrier to 412 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: be used during intercourse. Well, then what's this dispute about. Well, 413 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: Filipio did definitely right about a thing that covers the penis. 414 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: According to Ammi Interieri, Philippio wrote about a sheet of 415 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: fabric that would be filled with a concoction of wine 416 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: and wood shavings and bits of copper and antler ashes 417 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,640 Speaker 1: and mercury precipitate whatever that is, um, and that by 418 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: placing this sheet full of stuff over the glands, it 419 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: would protect a man from contracting syphilis. However, what the 420 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 1: authors here point out is that he actually doesn't recommend 421 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:35,720 Speaker 1: using this during intercourse. He recommends using it after intercourse 422 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: has already taken place. Okay, Well, that that makes a 423 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: lot more sense given all the details of the ingredients 424 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: that are placed within. Yeah, and so obviously that's not 425 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: a condom. That's just more like a bizarre home remedy. Uh. 426 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: If Philippio claimed that men had used this method and 427 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: none of them ever got syphilis, I'm suspicious of that claim. Yeah, 428 00:23:56,280 --> 00:24:00,719 Speaker 1: I mean, especially given how confusing syphilis, uh, you know, 429 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,679 Speaker 1: historically was to h to document. It was called the 430 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 1: great imitator, for example, because it could was so often 431 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: misdiagnosed as other things, and then it can of course 432 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: go dormant for long periods of time and seem as 433 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: if it is cured. Yes. So, even though this doesn't 434 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: actually describe the use of a condom during intercourse, some 435 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: historical writings do indicate that by the seventeenth century, animal 436 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: membrane and linen condoms were being used in various places 437 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: throughout Europe. So by the seventeenth century, there's definitely their 438 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: writings all over the place indicating people are using these things. 439 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: They're definitely in fashion by then. And another thing is 440 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: the physical evidence here. So we mentioned a while back 441 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: that the earliest surviving physical evidence of a condom goes 442 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 1: back to the seventeenth century. What is this physical evidence. Well, 443 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties archaeologists found sheep intestine condoms in 444 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: an excavation of an English latrine pit from the sixteen forties. 445 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 1: So it looks like they were used and then thrown 446 00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: in the latrine sometime between sixteen forty two and sixteen 447 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: forty six. The pit was actually covered in sixteen forty seven, 448 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: and we know that. Uh and this was at a 449 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: keep of Dudley Castle in West Midlands, England. Uh So 450 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: if anybody's been there and has seen the famous condom 451 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: pit right in, let us know. Now this brings us 452 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: to the obvious question condom, Like, where does the word 453 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: itself come from? This is a huge debate all on 454 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: its own. Yeah, exactly and uh and and we should 455 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: note that you know that there's certainly the myth out 456 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: there of the British doctor Condom or Colonel Condom or 457 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: colonel yeah who Reverend Condom. Well, I didn't run across reverend, 458 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,959 Speaker 1: but Captain. I mean, as long as we're we're just 459 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: clearly making him up. His holdiness the Pope Condom, Well, 460 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: he said, well, probably not that one, but he was 461 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: said to have lived in the seventeenth century, uh in 462 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: England under the reign of Charles the Second, and he's 463 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: pointed out by Ammy and Terry in Condoms of Turbulent History. 464 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: There there's seemingly no basis for this at all, but 465 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: there is a whole lot of conflicting stories on where 466 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: the term condom comes from. Just be beyond this story. 467 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 1: So if it's not from a non existent English name, 468 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,400 Speaker 1: and that's the thing, like condom is not even an 469 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,680 Speaker 1: English name from that time period, then where did it 470 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,400 Speaker 1: come from? Well, they point to a few plausible theories. 471 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: It could come from the verb um condary, which has 472 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: numerous meanings, including to protect, to protect or to sheath, 473 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: or the corresponding noun condus, which means one who stores 474 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: that which preserves or a receptacle. Or It also could 475 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: derive from the Italian word guantan, which more specifically is 476 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: it's a Phoenician variant gondum, meaning a gauntlet or glove. Yeah, 477 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: I love really. Another thing that's great in this paper 478 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: is a documentation of many of the euphemisms that people 479 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: have had for condoms throughout the centuries, especially in the 480 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, you had these great One thing about euphemisms 481 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:02,360 Speaker 1: for condoms is that almost every national culture puts the 482 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: name of another national culture in the euphemism for the condom. 483 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 1: So like the the French sometimes called them the English 484 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: writing code, and the English sometimes called them quote French 485 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: letters letters What does that mean? The letters apparently comes 486 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 1: from a common word meaning envelope, so like you know, 487 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: the letters would be the envelope. So it's like saying 488 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,920 Speaker 1: the French envelope. Now I wonder where this comes from? 489 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,440 Speaker 1: It is it is it perhaps tied to the invention 490 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,360 Speaker 1: actually you know, entering into the country from say France 491 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: or or from England. You know, are they actually contributing 492 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: the source or is it like this is the kind 493 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: of it's useful, but it's the kind of thing that 494 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: those French would have come up with or correspondingly. This 495 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,400 Speaker 1: is a very useful invention, but clearly the English did 496 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: this there. I wish there was a name for this. 497 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: I know there might be a name for it, I 498 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: don't know of. Yeah, this general phenomenon of um applying 499 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,800 Speaker 1: the name of another country to an object or practice 500 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily come from there, right or you know, another 501 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: way of looking at is that since for so long 502 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: contraception has been you know, unfairly thrust solely upon on 503 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: females in these situations, I guess it's possible that it's 504 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: it could be due to um men traveling to another country, 505 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: say French traveling to England, English traveling to France, uh, 506 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: in a military scenario or outside of a military scenario, 507 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: and then it is, you know, they attribute it to 508 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 1: the nation in which the females are introducing them to 509 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: the technology. Oh that's interesting. Yeah, but that's that's merely 510 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: my guesswork. Okay. So by the nineteenth century, condoms had 511 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: definitely become very popular in Europe for both contraception and 512 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: prophyl access against infections, but they weren't without problems. That 513 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: the most popular condoms were these skin condoms. There were 514 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: linen condoms to There were various materials used, but the 515 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: most popular were the skin condoms made from animal membranes. 516 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: And these could actually be expensive and expenses a problem 517 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,840 Speaker 1: in contraceptives and in uh profile access against infection. Yeah, 518 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: I mean as as well. We'll discuss later. To Like, 519 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: one of the big appeals of the modern condom is 520 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: that they are generally inexpensive and or free. Uh So yeah, 521 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: if you if it's expensive, that is, that's that's not 522 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: good for overall, um, public health and also just overall 523 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: public usage of the technology. In terms of animal membranes, 524 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: like we said, membranes and bladders, they were used for 525 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: a number of different purposes, you know, the creation of 526 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: wine skins or floats. The Aztecs would use inflated bladders 527 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: inflated with air for religious purposes. They were like, you know, 528 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: burned afterwards. And uh you see the sort of sort 529 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,600 Speaker 1: of thing pop up in other people's writing too, sometimes 530 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: the outside of of actual um you know, utilitarian use 531 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: of the bladders. Uh. Leonardo da Vinci wrote of inflating 532 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: intestines as a means of better understanding their structure. Um, 533 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: you know, after you know, after dissecting could havever uh. 534 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: And he also wrote of the vessels and the penis 535 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: that were filled with wind to make it erecked, which wind, 536 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: which isn't exactly how it works, but I guess it's 537 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: the same idea, uh, you know. And by the way, 538 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: having access to rubber, some Mesoamerican cultures used actual rubber 539 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: in the creation of enema bags for the administration of 540 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: smoke or other substances. In other parts of the world, 541 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: such as Africa, animal bladders had to be used to 542 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: create such medicinal devices. Well, it's funny you mentioned rubber there, 543 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: because the revolution in the condom world was definitely insured 544 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: by the introduction of rubber as a material that you 545 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: could use in manufacturing these things. So in eighteen thirty nine, 546 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: when Charles Goodyear invented the process of vulcanization, I think 547 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: I think that was a turning point and this could 548 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: even be the subject of a future invention episode. Um. 549 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: But in short, vulcanization is a process used for improving 550 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: the material properties of rubber by chemically treating it. Specifically, 551 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: you expose rubber to sulfur and other additives and things 552 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: called accelerants at high temperatures, and the sulfur and the 553 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: rubber and the additives they'll combine and they form these 554 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: these chemical cross links, and the final product is much 555 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: more durable and elastic than untreated rubber. And vulcanization opened 556 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: the door to using rubbers of versatile industrial material and 557 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: made it useful in a huge range of consumer products. 558 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: It sort of changed the world of materials, and in 559 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five condoms became one of those products that 560 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: used rubber on the interior. Note that at the first 561 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: World's Fair in Philadelphia in eighteen seventy six you could 562 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 1: buy quote rubbers that people were calling them. They were 563 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: quote handmade and as thick as inner tubes had a seam, 564 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: and being costly, they were sold by the unit, so 565 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: not really selling all the advantages on those early ones. 566 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 1: But the the early model rubber condoms were not extremely 567 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: popular since they were they were expensive, a lot of 568 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: people didn't like how they felt. Some industrial modifications were 569 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: made over the years and how they were molded. But 570 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: another major upgrade was in the nineteen thirties when the 571 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: process of using latex was introduced, and latex rubber is 572 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: made from a dispersion of rubber particles in a water 573 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: based solution, and latex manufacturing made condoms significantly cheaper and 574 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,719 Speaker 1: lead to people widely thinking of them as disposable, single 575 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: use products rather than as like a reusable appliance. Both 576 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: of these ultimately um selling points for the modern condom right, 577 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: and of course today they are also non latex condoms 578 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: you can buy. Some are still made from animal membranes 579 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: actually like lamb secum. Some are also made from materials 580 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: like polyurethane, and this can be useful for people who 581 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: are allergic to latex. Some people are, though I believe 582 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: the scientific consensus is that animal membrane condoms don't protect 583 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 1: against S t I S t I s like latex 584 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: condoms do, and that polyurethane condoms have a lower rate 585 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: of effectiveness at contraception and are more owned breaking than latex. 586 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: All Right, well, on that note, let's take one more break, 587 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: and when we come back, we're going to discuss more 588 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: about the current state of condoms, especially the benefits of condoms, 589 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: some of the statistics backing up why you should be 590 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: using condoms. All right, we're back. All right, Robert, tell 591 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: me what have condoms ever done for the world. Oh, well, 592 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,080 Speaker 1: they've done a great deal for the world and continue 593 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: to do a great deal for the world. UM. I 594 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,440 Speaker 1: was looking up some some good stats on this, and 595 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: one of the great sources you can go to is 596 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: the World Health Organization UM. They point out that condoms 597 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: are safe and they're highly effective in preventing unwanted pregnancy 598 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 1: and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Like, one of the 599 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: take comes from looking at the information is really like 600 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: there's no better time than now to make use of 601 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: condoms in terms of just where the invention is, just 602 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: how well engineered and refined everything is. It's come a 603 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: long way. It's no longer the a ginner tube rubber 604 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: with the seam right. Yeah. And if and like you said, 605 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,480 Speaker 1: if you have one is allergic to latex, uh, there 606 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: are these other options as well. Uh. And also none 607 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 1: of the made The World Health Organization points out that 608 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 1: none of the major manufacturers of male and female latex 609 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: condoms use mb T or ZMBT. This is a chemical 610 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: material that has recently been identified as a potential carcinogen 611 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Again, you 612 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: are not going to find that in being used by 613 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:35,360 Speaker 1: major manufacturers of male and female latex condoms and uh on. 614 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: On top of that, evidence just shows that male let 615 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: aatex condoms have or greater protective effect against HIV and 616 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: other sexually transmitted infections. That being said, we do have 617 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: to stress that condoms are are not one effective. Um 618 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: you know that. And then that can be said for 619 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,759 Speaker 1: for for most contraceptive methods, you know, aside from abstinence. 620 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,080 Speaker 1: Uh and by that I mean absolute abstinence, not a 621 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: striving for abstinence, because I think there is an important 622 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,280 Speaker 1: distinction to be made there. Uh Still, if used correctly 623 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: every time, they are proven means of preventing the spread 624 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: of HIV in women and in men. According to Planned Parenthood, 625 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,760 Speaker 1: which if you if you haven't visited the Planned Parenthood website, 626 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: I recommended planned parenthood dot org. They have a whole 627 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,760 Speaker 1: host of services, uh you know, aimed at at educating 628 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:28,760 Speaker 1: people about reproductive health and reproduction. Uh. And in fact, 629 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: just the other day had a Planned Parenthood representative come 630 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: out and give like an age tailored talk uh to 631 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:41,319 Speaker 1: my son and some of children from from his school group. Um, 632 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: you know, on just like the parts of the body 633 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: and what the official names for these parts of the 634 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:48,399 Speaker 1: bodies are and you know what's different from a boy 635 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 1: and a girl, etcetera. You know, just like a very 636 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: base age level, um uh, you know, talk on on 637 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: on the the realities of our our different bodies. That's 638 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 1: a great service because I think a lot of times, 639 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,400 Speaker 1: you know, if people don't know how to talk about 640 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,839 Speaker 1: reproduction and you know, reproductive organs and stuff with kids, 641 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 1: just like the not having the right words and feeling 642 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 1: awkwardness about it can lead to not talking about it 643 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 1: at all, which can put like a kind of like 644 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: shame or stigma around it that there shouldn't be right. 645 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 1: And that can also be of course the same thing 646 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:26,280 Speaker 1: with the use of contraceptives and condoms. I know, for 647 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 1: for my part um, like, the main bits of sexual 648 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,279 Speaker 1: education that I was exposed to in school were like 649 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: high school level, like highly snickery class environments where like 650 00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:43,720 Speaker 1: a football coach was begrudgingly demonstrating a condom being applied 651 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: to a banana, that sort of thing, and I don't 652 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,239 Speaker 1: think anybody learned anything from it. You know, you had 653 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:50,759 Speaker 1: to sort of hope that that each individual in the 654 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: class had somebody else, some other um you know, group 655 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: or individual in their life taking an interest in explaining 656 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: to them, you know what this was, how it worked, 657 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: and how it fits into into healthy sexuality. Yeah, not 658 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:09,880 Speaker 1: teaching kids about reproductive health and reproductive reproduction does not 659 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,120 Speaker 1: mean they're not going to find out anything. It just 660 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: means they're going to learn mostly like dubious facts from 661 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: their friends. Right, or television which you depending on, or 662 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 1: or the internet nowadays. Right. But again, planned parenthood um 663 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,120 Speaker 1: a really good source for information. Uh. It's a nonprofit 664 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:30,120 Speaker 1: organization that provides reproductive healthcare in the United States and globally. Uh. 665 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,320 Speaker 1: And according to them, condoms are ninety eight percent effective 666 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,040 Speaker 1: at preventing pregnancy if you use them perfectly and use 667 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 1: them every time you have sex, but making a room 668 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,640 Speaker 1: for user air, the rate is actually more like percent effective. 669 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: So statistically, they say, quote, fifteen out of a hundred 670 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,360 Speaker 1: people who use condoms as their only birth control method 671 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: will get pregnant each year. Okay, So, as such, Planned 672 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:56,880 Speaker 1: Parenthood suggests using condoms and conjunction with other forms of 673 00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,400 Speaker 1: birth control in the form of a pill and i 674 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,360 Speaker 1: U D, an implant ring or a shot. Basically, the 675 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 1: combo just increases your odds of preventing pregnancy. And they 676 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,239 Speaker 1: also mentioned that employing a pullout method that means uh, 677 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: pulling the penis out prior to ejaculation with the condom 678 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:18,800 Speaker 1: can also help, though on its own, the pullout method 679 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:23,320 Speaker 1: is not recommended. Also, we mentioned, you know, internal and 680 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:26,400 Speaker 1: external condoms, the male and the female condom, how they 681 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: you know the usefulness of both. However, they should not 682 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,520 Speaker 1: be used at the same time. Likewise, one should not 683 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:36,120 Speaker 1: use more than one condom at once. Uh quote. Condoms 684 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: are designed to be used on their own, and doubling 685 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 1: up won't necessarily give you extra production. One condom used 686 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:45,399 Speaker 1: correctly is all the production you need. But again that's 687 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: just the pregnancy angle. They also helped prevent the spread 688 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,399 Speaker 1: of STDs like HIV, clamydia, and gono rhea. They also 689 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: point out the condoms are a great option for a 690 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: number of other reasons. They're you know, they're inexpensive and 691 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,760 Speaker 1: sometimes free like we mentioned, and they do not require 692 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,720 Speaker 1: a prescription. You can you can buy them or obtain 693 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,240 Speaker 1: them again sometimes for free, from a number of different places. 694 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,439 Speaker 1: And they have no side effects, you know, aside from 695 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:12,239 Speaker 1: you know, some individuals may have a latex allergy or 696 00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:15,280 Speaker 1: have sensitivity to latex. But again, there are other condoms 697 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:18,600 Speaker 1: on the market made of say plastic, and this can 698 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,200 Speaker 1: make is essentially makes this a non issue. And really 699 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:26,360 Speaker 1: the only downsides two condoms that the according to plant parenthood, 700 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:28,239 Speaker 1: or that they do require just a little getting used to. 701 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,080 Speaker 1: But again, I feel like that can be said for 702 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 1: pretty much everything in human sexuality. So it's just one 703 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: more thing to you know, learn the ropes on. But 704 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,520 Speaker 1: but that is but but also they stress that as 705 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:44,160 Speaker 1: part of a like modern human sexual culture, they're actually 706 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:47,160 Speaker 1: part of the excitement of sexual activity and and not 707 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: a like hard stop to the action, you know, like 708 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 1: the the Again, like we said at the beginning of 709 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 1: the episode, like condoms are and should be considered sexy 710 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,000 Speaker 1: and not something that's like this purely clinical, like deeply 711 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,359 Speaker 1: serious thing that's want to you know, take you out 712 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:03,719 Speaker 1: at the moment, right. I mean, yeah, I guess that's 713 00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:06,520 Speaker 1: a really interesting issue. It comes up throughout the history 714 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,319 Speaker 1: of the condom that we were reading, um, you know, 715 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:12,800 Speaker 1: different reports about how the different technologies at different times 716 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:16,560 Speaker 1: were said to feel and how people felt about using them. 717 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:18,839 Speaker 1: Where they you know, excited to use them, where they 718 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 1: disinclined they kind of not really like having to use them. Uh, 719 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,040 Speaker 1: these are the kind of things that I feel like 720 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,760 Speaker 1: from from one type of like medical or clinical approach, 721 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:30,680 Speaker 1: you would look at stuff like that and say like, well, 722 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,400 Speaker 1: that's just extraneous details. You know. What we want to 723 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,600 Speaker 1: know is like how effective is it when it's used? 724 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:40,239 Speaker 1: But whether or not people feel like using something is 725 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:42,399 Speaker 1: an important thing in public health. That's going to tell 726 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: you probably how often it actually gets used in in 727 00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 1: people's real lives. Yeah, and you know, this is an 728 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,280 Speaker 1: area probably where you know, things like portrayal of condoms 729 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:56,719 Speaker 1: and media are ultimately important because if the if the 730 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: scene in which a condom is produced, it is still erotic, 731 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,439 Speaker 1: cortitilating um. You know, that is going to be part 732 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:07,160 Speaker 1: of the overall messaging that this this is, this is 733 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:10,520 Speaker 1: not you know, a deterrent to your sexual activity. This 734 00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: is a part of the sexual activity. You don't want 735 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,000 Speaker 1: people thinking about it as like something you've got to 736 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,320 Speaker 1: do but it's a bummer. Yeah. And it's interesting to 737 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,240 Speaker 1: think about all this too, in in comparison to other inventions, 738 00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:24,440 Speaker 1: because there are probably let their levels of this within 739 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: the invention, like the invention not only we've seen this 740 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:29,359 Speaker 1: in some of the examples we've discussed on the show, 741 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:32,200 Speaker 1: where it doesn't only have to work, Uh, it has 742 00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,279 Speaker 1: to be something that people are you know, have ease 743 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,880 Speaker 1: and using and want to use. You know, see that 744 00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:40,080 Speaker 1: in the history of let's say, you know, the motion 745 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: picture cameras that we've recently discussed. Yeah, that's right. I 746 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 1: mean it's not enough for a technology or technological capability 747 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,520 Speaker 1: to merely exist. It has to be adopted. I mean, 748 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: you know, you can you can lead a horse to water, right, 749 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,759 Speaker 1: but you can't make it wear a giant rubber condom. 750 00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:58,719 Speaker 1: I haven't looked this up, but I wonder what some 751 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 1: of the like mark keting materials on those things said. 752 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,520 Speaker 1: You know, is it like vulcanized for extra strength? Yeah, 753 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:08,799 Speaker 1: or just you know, I can imagine them. Uh, you know, 754 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,400 Speaker 1: like selling this the science of the of the material 755 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:15,440 Speaker 1: you know, I mean because ultimately that the history of 756 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,800 Speaker 1: condoms as the history of material science, because that, again, 757 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 1: the basic concept was was clearly evident to us, you know, 758 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,359 Speaker 1: thousands of years ago. Uh, it's just been figuring out 759 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:28,760 Speaker 1: exactly how they work and then figuring out the best 760 00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:32,040 Speaker 1: uh you know, use of materials to make it possible. Yeah, 761 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:34,719 Speaker 1: But now now that we've had this conversation, it really 762 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,600 Speaker 1: doesn't make sense to me that most of the marketing 763 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:41,080 Speaker 1: you see around condoms is not based on like how 764 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: effective they are and how you know, it's not like 765 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:47,360 Speaker 1: citing statistics about how good they are at stopping the 766 00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:51,240 Speaker 1: spread of diseases and and preventing pregnancy. It's more about 767 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:54,279 Speaker 1: trying to make them sexy, like the brands tend to 768 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,759 Speaker 1: advertise with sexually charged imagery and stuff like that. And 769 00:42:57,800 --> 00:42:59,319 Speaker 1: I mean, on one hand, you could just say, well, 770 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,360 Speaker 1: they're just trying to elder product, which they are, But 771 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:02,799 Speaker 1: on the other hand, you could say, well, in a 772 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,839 Speaker 1: in a way that's actually a public good. Yeah. Yeah, 773 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 1: I guess ultimately you have to have both um streams 774 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:13,160 Speaker 1: of communication going on, Like an individual needs to to 775 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:16,920 Speaker 1: know like the the the hard medical side of the equation, 776 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,239 Speaker 1: but also be exposed to like the you know, the 777 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:24,239 Speaker 1: cultural sexy messaging of it. And uh, I mean it 778 00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:26,120 Speaker 1: would be interesting so to look at, you know, how 779 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:28,040 Speaker 1: you know, what sort of tug and poll goes on 780 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,880 Speaker 1: with these two streams of communication in the media today. 781 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:35,840 Speaker 1: But I'm I'm guessing that we have perhaps a healthy 782 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,520 Speaker 1: balance of the two, I should hope. So anyway, that 783 00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,520 Speaker 1: being said, clearly, like we we still have to have 784 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 1: to push communication on the use of condoms, and they're 785 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:50,040 Speaker 1: put plenty of initiatives around the world in the US 786 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,279 Speaker 1: as well, Uh, you know, to remind everyone, to educate people, 787 00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:56,080 Speaker 1: to keep the you know, the fire burning on this 788 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,560 Speaker 1: topic and make people aware that you know, this is 789 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:01,279 Speaker 1: what they all, this is why you should use them, 790 00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:03,800 Speaker 1: and uh and and this is why they are effective. 791 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,839 Speaker 1: But also some of these caveats like uh, like you know, 792 00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:09,239 Speaker 1: it's better if you use them in conjunction with these 793 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:12,120 Speaker 1: other birth control methods as well. Right now with a 794 00:44:12,160 --> 00:44:13,879 Speaker 1: lot of as with a lot of inventions that we've 795 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:17,359 Speaker 1: talked about on the show, Um, the innovation is not over. 796 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,960 Speaker 1: Oh there are tons of modern variants and it attempts 797 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:25,279 Speaker 1: to continue, Yeah, changing it innovating, didn't the was it 798 00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,920 Speaker 1: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that was investing in 799 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,000 Speaker 1: prizes for essentially I think that they were trying to 800 00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:36,359 Speaker 1: create effective condoms that that we're just like better from 801 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: a sensation point of view. Yeah, that was That was 802 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,440 Speaker 1: one of the facts brought up to us by Scott Benjamin, 803 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:43,880 Speaker 1: who helped us on the research for this show. He 804 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,400 Speaker 1: pointed out that this was in March of Bill and 805 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,440 Speaker 1: Millindi Gates Foundation issued a challenge the public develop econdom 806 00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:52,040 Speaker 1: that was safe and effective while still preserving pleasure for 807 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:55,400 Speaker 1: the user. Uh. Twenty two grants were awarded to organizations 808 00:44:55,400 --> 00:44:58,279 Speaker 1: claiming to have the next generation of condoms. Um. You know, 809 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,240 Speaker 1: so of talking about using things like graphene and nano 810 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:05,040 Speaker 1: fabric and hydro gel, etcetera. Which is which does bring 811 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,560 Speaker 1: to mind the idea of someone creating like the stealth 812 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,560 Speaker 1: bomber of condoms that is perhaps maybe not at all 813 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,759 Speaker 1: you know, practical at this point, but you know, hey, 814 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:18,520 Speaker 1: could lead to just improved material usage in the future. Yeah. Well, 815 00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,680 Speaker 1: but also making them more and more appealing to the 816 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,280 Speaker 1: user makes makes it likely that they will be used 817 00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:28,640 Speaker 1: more often in a greater percentage of cases. Yeah, exactly. 818 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:32,760 Speaker 1: And yes, Scott actually included a list of like various 819 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:37,520 Speaker 1: um uh possible future condoms that are in development, things 820 00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:41,880 Speaker 1: like spray on condoms or the galactic cap, which Scott 821 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:46,360 Speaker 1: just tells us looks complicated. Um, things like the consent condom, 822 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,560 Speaker 1: which requires four hands to open um. Yeah, so there 823 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:52,560 Speaker 1: are a lot of different initiatives out there, both technological 824 00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:56,279 Speaker 1: and again uh, you know, messaging initiatives to uh to 825 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:59,400 Speaker 1: to let everyone know you know about the benefits of 826 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,920 Speaker 1: condom use. All right, So there you have it. Um, 827 00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:05,399 Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember if we've done any any other 828 00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:08,480 Speaker 1: like health related invention episodes. So we did the X 829 00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:11,759 Speaker 1: ray X ray and we did that's the main one 830 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,759 Speaker 1: I'm remembering. Okay, well, I guess the call out to 831 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:18,160 Speaker 1: listeners a toothpaste toothpaste. Yes, So yeah, we would like 832 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 1: to continue to you know, just sort of hit these 833 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,280 Speaker 1: different classifications of invention. So if there's another health related 834 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:25,839 Speaker 1: invention you would like to hear us cover on the show, 835 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,680 Speaker 1: or if there's some angle in this episode that you 836 00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:32,880 Speaker 1: feel like we could explore in another episode, let us know, like, 837 00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:36,480 Speaker 1: for instance, rubber as we discuss um, let us know, 838 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:40,440 Speaker 1: we'd love to explore those topics. And in the meantime, 839 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:42,320 Speaker 1: if you want to check out other episodes of Invention, 840 00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,640 Speaker 1: head on over to invention pod dot com. That's where 841 00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:46,759 Speaker 1: you'll find them. And if you want to support the show, 842 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,360 Speaker 1: here's what you can do. First of all, tell some 843 00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:52,040 Speaker 1: friends about us, spread the good word, uh, and in 844 00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:55,000 Speaker 1: spreading the good word. If you have the ability to 845 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,520 Speaker 1: leave some stars or a few nice comments at wherever 846 00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:01,160 Speaker 1: you get this podcast, do that because that really helps 847 00:47:01,239 --> 00:47:03,560 Speaker 1: us out, helps it helps uh, you know, the almighty 848 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:08,000 Speaker 1: algorithms that rule our our lives. Huge thanks as always 849 00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: to our audio producer Tori Harrison and our guest producer today, 850 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,799 Speaker 1: Maya Cole UH. If you would like to get in 851 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,239 Speaker 1: touch with us directly to let us know feedback on 852 00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:20,600 Speaker 1: this on today's episode, to suggest topic for the future, 853 00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:23,200 Speaker 1: to say hello suggested guest any of that, you can 854 00:47:23,239 --> 00:47:32,600 Speaker 1: email us at contact at invention pod dot com. Invention 855 00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:35,440 Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from 856 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:38,160 Speaker 1: my heart Radio because the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 857 00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:39,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.