Episode Summary
In this thought-provoking episode of The Premise, Jeniffer and Chad Thompson welcome award-winning author, educator, and cultural critic Susan Osborne to discuss her groundbreaking book, She's Such a Liar: Incest, Knowledge and Power—A Manifesto. Drawing on decades of research, Osborne explores how language, institutions, and cultural narratives have historically silenced survivors of incest while protecting systems of power.
The 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.
In This Episode
- Why Susan Osborne intentionally uses the word "incest" instead of euphemisms.
- The origins of the book title She's Such a Liar and how credibility is often weaponized against women.
- The relationship between patriarchy, knowledge, and institutional power.
- Historical examples of how medical, legal, and cultural institutions dismissed reports of incest.
- The story of Sigmund Freud's reversal of his early research on childhood sexual abuse.
- Why language shapes public awareness—and what happens when there are no words to describe a perpetrator.
- Humor as a tool for discussing difficult subjects.
- Susan's experiences being discouraged from researching incest during graduate school.
- Women's rights, historical progress, and recurring cultural backlash.
- How naming social problems is often the first step toward addressing them.
- The historical medical response to childhood gonorrhea epidemics and what it revealed about institutional denial.
- Susan's next research project on the historical construction of female shame.