39: The Pill, The 2 Highest Points on Earth, and Period Products

Episode notes

What are the myths and facts around the hormonal birth control pill?  Why are there two highest points on Earth, and does that teach us about our planet?  And what are all the ways period products affect the world we live in?

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Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:04) The Pill
(00:52:01) The 2 Highest Points on Earth
(01:28:28) Period Products
(01:49:10) Outro

We also learn about: Now that’s a rabbithole I can go down, taking half the pill makes you bi, LLe now played in health classes across the nation, the Ebers papyrus, they weren’t just using contraception they were communicating it, ancient Egyptian RAs, can’t get pregnant when you’re dead from mercury poisoning, the witch bull, bundling is the x games of abstinence, Tom definitely knows how the pill works, it’s not that men don’t know about women’s health it’s that women have to know about men’s health too, 1827 we discover the egg, 1843 confirmed conception happens when sperm enters the egg, the worlds fair of contraception, the American Birth Control League, Ella has a revelation, if I were a contraception and you took me I’d be an oral contraception, the original pill was 66x stronger to try to prove it was effective, bogus bad faith birth control studies, don’t well me, the Earth is squished because it spins, Team Everest vs Team Chimborazo, what the fuck is sea level, NERD I KNOW YOU’RE DOING MATH, nonbinary sex ed is just learning about mountains, 8,000 meters above Church, the air-sea interface, the metonic cycle of 19 years, carrying sea level, that’s what Tom gets for planning a joke, the geoid, a slide from Everest to Chimborazo, the death zone, our third ancient Egypt reference, Hypatia throws a pad, i got you a 100 rock that’s what you need right? the black hole of period history, you can’t abstinence periods, if you’ve used a sanitary belt join the discord! using WWII bandages, menstrual products vs the environment, the menstrual cup recommended by 3/3 members of the podcast, period poverty, the pink tax and the tampon tax, menstrual contact “turns new wine sour” “hives of bees die”, the stigma and cost of menstrual products, efforts to reduce period poverty, sniping review corner.

Sources:
Paper: The history of contraception: From ancient egyptians to the “morning after”
NYT: In Ancient Times, Flowers and Fennel For Family Planning
NHS: Sex and contraception after birth
The Bull of Innocent VIII
Mercury Policy MIT: History Of Mercury Use in Products and Processes
Book: Encyclopedia of Motherhood, Volume 1
Paper: Resisting Reproduction: Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South
UN: Contraceptive Use by Method
PBS: The Timeline of the Pill
Vox: Where The Pill is Free
Planned Parenthood: History of the Pill
Paper: Return to fertility following discontinuation of oral contraceptives
Paper: “They Destroy the Reproductive System”: Exploring the Belief that Modern Contraceptive Use Causes Infertility
The Guardian: Contraceptive Pill ‘Can Lead Women to Choose Wrong Partner’
Paper: MHC-correlated odour preferences in humans and the use of oral contraceptives
Paper: The impact of combined oral contraceptives on ocular tissues: a review of ocular effects
Paper: Oral contraceptive use in women changes preferences for male facial masculinity and is associated with partner facial masculinity
Paper: Relationship Satisfaction and Outcome in Women Who Meet Their Partner While Using Oral Contraception
—
NOAA on the Tallest Mountain
Nat Geo on Sea Level
Britannica Definition of Sea Level
Bradshaw’s History of English Levelling
NOAA on the Metonic Cycle
Vox on the GeoPolitics of Surveying
NOAA’s New Datum for 2025
GIS Geography on the Geoid
ESRI on the Geoid
Everest’s Death Zone
Scientific American on the Geoid
Ciro Pabon on the Practicality of Sea Level
—
Menstruation Products in the Science Museum
History of The Tampon
The Evolution of Menstrual Products
Enviromenstrual Fact Sheet
Which Period Products Are Best for the Environment?
The Tampon Tax: Everything You Need to Know
Tampon Tax Abolished
Action Aid: Period Poverty