Before the Obesity Epidemic: How Fat Has Been Viewed Through History

💬 A historian’s look at how fat, body size, and health have been understood across different periods of history.

We’ve long thought overweight bodies were seen, historically, as a sign of power, authority and wealth. And that’s true - to an extent. But the reality is much more complex. It turns out our modern way of understanding body size started being shaped thousands of years ago.

⚡ In this episode we’re joined by Chris Forth, author of Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life. Together, we explore the way overweight bodies have been viewed throughout antiquity.

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🎧 Stay tuned to learn about:

➡ Whether the pre-modern time really was a “time before fat”

➡ How the size of an authority figure could be viewed very differently, depending on context

➡ How shaming of fat bodies may serve as a proxy for other forms of prejudice

➡ Why humans struggle with the simple fact of having a body - at all

➡ How our view of fat is linked not just to our bodies, but to the fats we consume too

➡ How GLP-1 weight-loss jabs are set to change the way we view weight forever

Check out Chris’ book: https://amzn.eu/d/0cdQrUuY 

About the podcast:

What We Did Before is a podcast where we chart the history of modern inventions, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI.

About your hosts:

Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers.

Matt Pyle is a lead software developer and tech enthusiast with a keen interest in media, and a love for interesting conversation and learning.

Connect with Ollie:

Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou 

Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk