About the Episode
In this fABLEd episode of lABLEd, we dive deep into Ken Kesey’s groundbreaking novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” with special guest Julia Miele Rodas, a professor of English specializing in disability studies. Join us as we explore the complex world of psychiatric disability, institutional power, and individual resistance through the lens of this iconic book and film.
Julia unpacks the nuanced representation of psychiatric patients, the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, and the rebellious Randle McMurphy, revealing how the story critiques societal norms and the treatment of people with mental health conditions in the late 1950s. We’ll discuss themes of Mad Pride, the anti-psychiatry movement, and how the narrative challenges perceptions of disability.
Expect candid personal reflections, academic insights, and our trademark mix of humor and serious discussion. Trigger warnings apply – this episode tackles intense themes of institutional control, misogyny, and psychiatric treatment.
Partly recorded on location at the Story Museum in Oxford, this episode promises to be both enlightening and provocative. Tune in for a deep dive into a landmark text that continues to challenge our understanding of mental health, individuality, and power.
Transcript of this episode
About our Guest
Julia Miele Rodas is a Professor of English at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY). She specializes in disability studies and Victorian literature.
She holds a Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center.
Her publications include “Autistic Disturbances: Theorizing Autism Poetics from the DSM to Robinson Crusoe” and co-edited works like “The Madwoman and the Blindman: Jane Eyre, Discourse, Disability”. She also co-edits a book series on Literary Disability Studies for Palgrave Macmillan.
Rodas has held leadership roles, including co-chairing the Columbia University Seminar in Disability, Culture & Society and founding co-chairing the CUNY Disability Scholars.
She has also been a Visiting Scholar at The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing. Her work has been published in academic journals. She is the lead consultant for the Metropolitan Museum’s Crip the Met initiative.
Follow Julia
https://press.umich.edu/Books/A/Autistic-Disturbances2
The Madwoman and The Blind Man
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