Up Next
Back to Show
Origin of Everything
Why Does "Straight" Mean Heterosexual?
Season 3
Episode 4
When did we start defining sexual orientation and how did that result in "straight" becoming a synonym for "heterosexual"? Today Danielle follows the winding history of the word through medical terms, lavender linguistics, and community slang.
Support Provided By
8:24
Why Do We Drink Milk in School?
9:42
Why does the government care about race?
8:37
How Did Edison Invent Christmas Lights?
10:49
Hijabs, yarmulkes, habits, and dastars — why do so many religions have rules about hair?
9:16
When did makeup ads become less about beauty and more about science?
8:05
When did tattoos shift from counterculture to mainstream?
9:10
Why does the Minimum Wage exist at all?
8:39
Why do we think there are only two genders? And how are sex and gender different?
8:00
Why did humans start domesticating animals as pets and not livestock?
6:46
What do the Great Depression and farm subsidies have to do with eating popcorn at movies?
7:23
Why was it illegal for women to wear men’s clothing and for men to wear women’s clothing?
11:11
How did money come to be such a driving force of modern life?