Anti-vaccination rhetoric is often framed by proponents as a sort of medical freedom, the ability to decide what one wants to do with their own body. It’s an argument that can appeal to crunchy granola types and religious zealots alike. But there is also a darker side to this rhetoric that reveals an embrace of eugenic ideas among anti-vax advocates, whose preferred “herd immunity” approach to outbreaks subordinates the interests of older people, those with disabilities, and members of minority groups to others. This episode explores the history of eugenics as it relates to vaccines and unpacks how modern anti-vax politics tends towards eugenic responses to viral pandemics.

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19602363/ 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11700278/

https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/timelines/eugenics

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/29/politics/abbott-migrant-transport-order-covid

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/racist-covid-infection-theories-arent-just-wrong-they-are-deadly/

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/measles-maha-and-soft-eugenics/

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/maha-and-soft-eugenics-revisited-the-autism-tsunami-dr-oz-and-your-patriotic-duty-to-stay-healthy/

https://www.nsdoku.de/en/groups/educational-program/the-nazi-society-of-exclusion

http://www.worldofinclusion.com/res/qca/Lest_We_Forget.pdf 

https://web.archive.org/web/20250213085155/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/11/19/anti-vaxxers-try-rewrite-history-truth-nazis-vaccination-not/ 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/health/hhs-cdc-vaccines-autism 

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5383172/rfk-jr-placebo-vaccine-testing-studies

Anti-vaccination rhetoric is often framed by proponents as a sort of medical freedom, the ability to decide what one wants to do with their own body. It&rsquo;s an argument that can appeal to crunchy granola types and religious zealots alike. But there is also a darker side to this rhetoric that reveals an embrace of eugenic ideas among anti-vax advocates, whose preferred &ldquo;herd immunity&rdquo; approach to outbreaks subordinates the interests of older people, those with disabilities, and members of minority groups to others. This episode explores the history of eugenics as it relates to vaccines and unpacks how modern anti-vax politics tends towards eugenic responses to viral pandemics.
Sources:
<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19602363/">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19602363/</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11700278/">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11700278/</a>
<a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/timelines/eugenics">https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/timelines/eugenics</a>
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/29/politics/abbott-migrant-transport-order-covid">https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/29/politics/abbott-migrant-transport-order-covid</a>
<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/racist-covid-infection-theories-arent-just-wrong-they-are-deadly/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/racist-covid-infection-theories-arent-just-wrong-they-are-deadly/</a>
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/measles-maha-and-soft-eugenics/">https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/measles-maha-and-soft-eugenics/</a>
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/maha-and-soft-eugenics-revisited-the-autism-tsunami-dr-oz-and-your-patriotic-duty-to-stay-healthy/">https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/maha-and-soft-eugenics-revisited-the-autism-tsunami-dr-oz-and-your-patriotic-duty-to-stay-healthy/</a>
<a href="https://www.nsdoku.de/en/groups/educational-program/the-nazi-society-of-exclusion">https://www.nsdoku.de/en/groups/educational-program/the-nazi-society-of-exclusion</a>
<a href="http://www.worldofinclusion.com/res/qca/Lest_We_Forget.pdf">http://www.worldofinclusion.com/res/qca/Lest_We_Forget.pdf</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250213085155/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/11/19/anti-vaxxers-try-rewrite-history-truth-nazis-vaccination-not/">https://web.archive.org/web/20250213085155/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/11/19/anti-vaxxers-try-rewrite-history-truth-nazis-vaccination-not/</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/health/hhs-cdc-vaccines-autism">https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/health/hhs-cdc-vaccines-autism</a>&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5383172/rfk-jr-placebo-vaccine-testing-studies">https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5383172/rfk-jr-placebo-vaccine-testing-studies</a>

It Could Happen Here started as an exploration of the possibility of a new civil war. Now a daily show, it's evolved into a chronicle of collapse as it happens, and an exploration of how we might build a better future. Every day Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, and James Stout take you on a jaunty walk through the burning ruins of the old world and towards a better one that lays just on the horizon.

It Could Happen Here started as an exploration of the possibility of a new civil war. Now a daily show, it's evolved into a chronicle of collapse as it happens, and an exploration of how we might build a better future. Every day Robert Evans, Garrison Davis, Mia Wong, and James Stout take you on a jaunty walk through the burning ruins of the old world and towards a better one that lays just on the horizon.

It Could Happen Here

Anti-Vax America: Soft Eugenics

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ac3927b5-5d87-4995-ba74-b2fe010fa01c/transcript