A Horrible Inheritance

What is the worst thing you can imagine receiving as an inheritance or “legacy gift”? What if the worst your parents could give you was their shared DNA? Sure, we know we’re going to get a combinations of physical traits, for better or worse, from our parents but some people have terrible genetic odds due to the close relations of their parents! From Neanderthal discoveries found in modern day Siberia to the royal affairs (and marriages) of royalty in Egypt and Spain and ending with the modern Colt family incest cult in Australia, this episode gets around! Co-hosts Curtis Bender and Eric Slyter will be filling this Horrific History Podcast with the tragic details on what can happen when you keep the genes inside the family!

Hapsburg’s jaws, club feet and cleft palates, we’ll be including the physical deformities which were, at certain times in history, attributed to curses and witchcraft by the superstitious before the effects of inbreeding were understood by science! Just remember: No squeam allowed!

Join us through one of your favorite podcast services (iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and more) as we delve into this Horrific History episode, and come back again in two weeks to learn about human trophies!

You learn more about Kenny the Tiger, referenced in our podcast, here.

Some of our favorite resources from this week’s episode (you can find more in our store here!):

• Daily Mail, and here
• National Geographic, and again
• Live Science
• Providentia
• MedicineNet.com
• Too Much Information
• The Tech Museum of Innovation
• National Center for Biotechnology Information
• West Virginia University
• ABC News
• PubMed.gov
• US National Library of Medicine, here, and here
• National Organization for Rare Disorders
• Owlcation, and here
• Time
• Science Daily
• The Express Tribune
• Smithsonian Magazine
• New York Times, and here
• Seeker, and here
• Popular Science
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Independent
• Express
• Gizmodo
• Vice
• Discover Magazine

Please note: this episode does discuss more modern case of generational inbreeding and familial abuse. If you are a victim of any form of domestic abuse, there is help available. Some of the resources which are available to our listeners will be linked at the bottom of this episode description.

*We’d also like to recognize that one of our co-hosts misspoke by saying all humans have 46 chromosomes; this is true for the majority of the population, but there are exceptions. Some people do have more or less than the average and, depending on the nature of the variance, those differences may or may not impact how the individual’s body develops. If you are interested in learning more, you might find this article about a man with 44 Chromosomes interesting.

Commercial break music by Dead but Dreaming.

Slideshow photo of adult club feet from vsa.org, creative commons license

Blog post photo from AbroadintheYard.com, creative commons license

Resources for Victims of Domestic Violence:

National Domestic Violence Hotline (USA). If you know of a resource for your country which should be listed, please send us a message so we can update our list.

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