‘Nobody’s Normal:’ on autism, stigma and culture

Anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker comes from a long line of psychiatrists—his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather among them—all of whom believed that everyone carries some degree of mental illness.

Grinker’s book Nobody’s Normal traces the shifting history of stigma and acceptance toward people perceived as different. He writes about his daughter, who was diagnosed with autism in the 1990s, when the condition was still considered rare.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Grinker criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump for describing autism as a “tragic epidemic” and a “horrible crisis.”

This week on The Connection, Roy Richard Grinker joins us to discuss the progress made in understanding autism, the ongoing efforts to overcome stigma, and the need to dispel persistent myths that threaten to set back public understanding.

We’ll also explore how war has shaped our understanding of psychological adversity, the limitations of psychiatric diagnoses, and the powerful role culture plays in defining what we consider mentally healthy, or not.