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Rachel Louise Moran

@rachellouisemoran.bsky.social
3.8K followers 1.5K following 200 posts

Historian & Professor at TAMU. Author of Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America (Chicago 2024) & Governing Bodies (Penn 2018). Posting as a private citizen.

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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hello #HistMed & folks! AAHM education committee is putting together our hist of medicine week for the end of Oct & I am organizing a virtual panel on incorporating med history into survey/general history courses. Is this something that you can speak on? Or do you know someone great? Let me know!
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Christine Slobogin @slobogin.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
We've finalized the schedule for this year's Corner Society lectures! Can't wait to welcome these speakers to Rochester - on topics from disability in the Civil War to the intersection of dermatology and Cubist art.
Flyer for the George Washington Corner Society for the History of Medicine, 2026-2027 Season.

5:30 p.m. Lecture 
6:30 - 7:15 p.m. Social Gathering 
Rochester Academy of Medicine 
1441 East Avenue, Rochester, NY

Wednesday, September 9
Rachel Louise Moran Texas A&M University
“From Baby Blues to Postpartum Depression: A History of Maternal Mental Health”

Wednesday, October 28
Pablo Gómez
The University of Wisconsin–Madison
“The Early Atlantic Slave Trade and the Invention of Modern Corporeality”

Wednesday, November 18
Sarah Handley-Cousins University at Buffalo
“Disability and the American Civil War”

Wednesday, February 24
Mical Raz University of Rochester
“Lessons from the Past for the Future of Child Abuse Prevention”

Wednesday, March 24
Kathleen Pierce Smith College
“Cubism, Dermatology, and the Reimagining of Corporeal and Artistic Surface”

Wednesday, April 14
Merlin Chowkwanyun Columbia University
“Local Action and Community Health: The View From History”

For more information or to become a Corner Society member, please contact Christine Slobogin, PhD, at Christine_Slobogin@URMC.Rochester.edu
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I received a personal email, from someone I know well, asking me if I thought a certain Texas democratic candidate had any chance of winning. With zero prompting, google AI drafted a reply in which fake-me declined to comment on the subject. Umm? I def do not decline. What is the end game with this?
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
A come and take it flag with an egg potato and cheese taco
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
You thought you heard a roll of thunder, but it was actually thousands of medical historians cracking their knuckles and rolling up their sleeves to revisit centuries of “dirty immigrant” canards.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
This lovely obit for Paula Doress-Worters of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective was in the WaPo last week. There is an inane quote from me about her, and a much better quote from an oral history I did with her, but more importantly great stories from others about her spunk and fearlessness.
washingtonpost.com
Paula Doress-Worters, who helped break the silence on postpartum depression, dies at 87
She co-wrote “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” a 1970s touchstone conceived by and for women. The book offered information about abortion, pregnancy and postpartum life.
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Rosa Campbell @rosavcampbell.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Such an honour to have my book 'The Book that Taught the World to Orgasm and then Disappeared' written up in the @newyorker.com. I've loved this mag since I was 12 and made my dad explain the articles to me. A thoughtful, voicey review by Margaret Talbot: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Sexologist Who Unlocked the Female Orgasm
Fifty years ago, a controversial writer named Shere Hite taught us how to talk about sex and pleasure, selling books by the millions. Why do so few people know her name today?
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
My new article for the Social History of Medicine is online! 'Perk Up Your Looks and You Along With It’: Postpartum Depression and the Body in 1980s and 1990s US Self-Help Books will be in print later this year, in a special issue edited by the amazing @fabiolacreed.bsky.social and Hilary Marland.
doi.org
‘Perk Up Your Looks and You Along With It’: Postpartum Depression and the Body in 1980s and 1990s US Self-Help Books
Abstract. Using four postpartum self-help books published in the 1980s and 1990s US, I examine the advice that women could improve their ‘unruly’ postpartu
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Chris Warren @christian-s-warren.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
SHORT-LISTED! So proud to learn that AAHM has short-listed "Starved for Light" for the George Rosen Prize, along with books from @bethlinker.bsky.social , @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social , @xtinaramos.bsky.social , @travisaweisse.bsky.social , and Harry Yi-Jui Wu. histmed.org/2026-george-...
An array of six book covers:
Beth Linker, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America
Rachel Louise Moran, Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America
Christina Ramos, Bedlam in the New World: A Mexican Madhouse in the Age of Enlightenment 
Christian Warren, Starved for Light: The Long Shadow of Rickets and Vitamin D Deficiency
Travis A. Weisse, Health Freaks: America’s Diet Champions and the Specter of Chronic Illness
Harry Yi-Jui Wu, Mad by the Millions: Mental Disorders and the Early Years of the World Health Organization
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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
Ensures that all the diseases covered by the previous immunization schedule will still be available to anyone who wants them through Affordable Care Act insurance plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. Families will not have to purchase them out of pocket. Among peer nations, the U.S. will continue to offer the most childhood vaccines for free to those who want them.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
“This year’s flu vaccine has proved an imperfect match to the currently circulating strains. New shots, based on mRNA technology, would have one day enabled us to avoid this kind of misfire. But the nation’s leaders have imperiled that future with the decisions they made this year.”
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Is the Damage Kennedy Has Done in Less Than a Year
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Come be my colleague at Texas A&M! I am excited to share this ad for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of U.S. History (any period) with expertise at the intersection of law and science, technology, or medicine. Please share widely with qualified folks jobs.h-net.org/jobs/69627
jobs.h-net.org
Tenure-Track: Assistant Professor of U.S. History, Law and Science/Technology/Medicine | H-Net Job Guide
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Sam Bailey @gazelessstare.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Oxford University Press @academic.oup.com is pleased to announce that the First Book Prize will open for submissions in Jan 2026. The prize offers up to 10 early-career researchers the opportunity to publish their first academic book fully open access on Oxford Academic, with the full OA fee waived.
A banner that reads: Early Career Researcher: First Book PrizeOxford University Press proudly announces that submissions for the annual First Book Prize for Early Career Researchers will be open between 1-31 January 2026.Explore the information page for submission details.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Come be my colleague at Texas A&M! I am excited to share this ad for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of U.S. History (any period) with expertise at the intersection of law and science, technology, or medicine. Please share widely with qualified folks jobs.h-net.org/jobs/69627
jobs.h-net.org
Tenure-Track: Assistant Professor of U.S. History, Law and Science/Technology/Medicine | H-Net Job Guide
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The audiobook for Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America is $2.41 on audible, at 86% off… rough for my ego BUT amazing news for anyone who hasn’t bought it yet!
Image of Blue audiobook at its sale price
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Just learned about a couple books I NEED rn via this great list.
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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 19/11/2025
Humans are bad at big numbers. Which makes it easier for billionaires (and trillionaires) to get away with hoarding wealth. Because most people just can't comprehend how much money that is. So, I appreciate this WaPo effort to help people visualize what ridiculous amounts of wealth really mean.
Elon Musk is set to make more than every U.S. elementary teacher combined
See how your profession stacks up against Musk’s pay.

By Alyssa Fowers and Leslie ShapiroEvery elementary school teacher
On average, Musk will make $3 billion more per year than the 1.4 million elementary school teachers in the U.S. combined.

Each figure  represents 1,500 elementary school teachers. Together, they made $97 billion last year
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 17/11/2025
The vast body of research that Ken Burns relied upon to make his new documentary on the American Revolution would be practically impossible to be produced today, what with the defunding of humanistic scholarship, the collapse of stable academic jobs, the attack on public history & academic freedom.🗃️
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Sharing my recent article from the Journal of the History of Sexuality, "The Politics of Penetration: Sexual Self-Fulfillment and the G-Spot in 1980s America." It is the first piece I have published from my new project, and it is great to have it out in the world (such as the world is).
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - The Politics of Penetration: Sexual Self-Fulfillment and the G-Spot in 1980s America
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Mark's new book is real! Willing Warriors: A New History of the Education Culture Wars. It's an entertaining and smart take on the last 75 years of political fights over American education. @schoolfuss.bsky.social press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
I serve on the AAHM's Outreach and Education committee, and we are about to launch an exciting 2025 History of Medicine Week series! We have events all next week, a couple are only for AAHM members but most are open to anyone interested.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Historians, please share these two exciting new positions in the Texas A&M History Department: careers.historians.org/jobs/2167991... careers.historians.org/jobs/2168299...
careers.historians.org
Tenure-Track, Assistant Professor of Environmental History in College Station, TX for Texas A&M University, Department of History
Exciting opportunity in College Station, TX for Texas A&M University, Department of History as a ...
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Great read
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
U Chicago Press has a sale on history books with the code history2025, including 30% off mine (& whoa at the incredible company it is in here!)
Page of U Chicago press history catalog
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
When working on my postpartum depression book I met folks so excited about therapy chat bots (& now genAI therapy). New parents in the US struggle to find mental health providers, struggle to afford them, and don’t have childcare to see them. This doesn’t solve those problems. It just accepts them.
theguardian.com
‘Sliding into an abyss’: experts warn over rising use of AI for mental health support
Therapists say they are seeing negative impacts of people increasingly turning to AI chatbots for help
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
First academic journal review of my book Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America! Thoughtful (and positive, phew!) review in the Journal of Social History, from the amazing Wendy Kline.
Journal of Social History book review, title page of a journal review
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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Wow: tenure letter writers’ publication records (h-index) are better predictors of tenure decisions than candidates’ own publication record.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Going over page proofs for an article coming out this fall! First piece from my new project. I am super proud of my recent book on postpartum depression but I can't lie, this has been a less depressing project so far...
The Politics of Penetration: Sexual Self-Fulfillment and the G-Spot in 1980s America, Rachel Louise Moran
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
I thought every public pool was required to blast pop or pop country, but my they are blasting The Smiths at kids swim lessons in freaking College Station, Texas and it is all so gloriously wonderfully weird
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
A fun interview I did with Laura McClaw Helms, with way less editing than I am used to so you can read me just jumping around topics like a hyper squirrel (albeit a squirrel with a lot of enthusiasm for the history of postpartum depression)
laurakitty.substack.com
Uncovering the History of Postpartum Depression
A Conversation with Historian Rachel Louise Moran
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University Press of Mississippi @upmississippi.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Michael Steudeman joins @NPR’s Throughline to explore the 19th-century roots of the Dept. of Education—drawing from his upcoming book ABSENCE OF NATIONAL FEELING. Listen + catch the book mention at the end! 🔗 buff.ly/TccdOzc #UPMississippi #Throughline #EducationHistory
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Zodi Addams 🍁☕️🎃 @zodi777.blacksky.app · 19/06/2025
Many people don’t know that there are #oralhistory collections that provide firsthand accounts of the experiences of Black Texans. Take a moment to explore them today. Here’s one collection: #Juneteenth #TexasHistory #BlackTexans #BlackTexasHistory bn.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2...
bn.web.baylor.edu
Juneteenth memories from Baylor’s oral history archives
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
So this review calls Blue "a magnificent, comprehensive, and long-overdue history of postpartum depression in the US," which is incredible. More incredible is the author weaves her own postpartum depression/psychosis story into the academic review in thoughtful and moving ways.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
My daughter's camp counselor described her as "a whole vibe," and I am too old to know if this is a compliment, an insult, or a little of both.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Haunted by this 30-year-old postpartum depression self help book I bought used, that came with the questionnaires filled in.
Postpartum depression inventory in used book with check mark next to “I am afraid that I might harm myself in order to escape this pain”
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
targeted ads really going for the jugular
greeting card congratulations on all your citations sorry they only temporarily quell the feelings of inadequecy and despair
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Completely beyond capacity (aren't we all) but was asked to blurb a book of poetry related to postpartum illness and of course had to say yes. I earned a minor in English 20 years ago and FINALLY I can cash that baby in.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
just accidentally put my annual gyno appointment on the department calendar, so that's how today is going
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
It is my first official day as a full professor (the regents decision was yesterday) and I am struggling to figure out how to change my outlook signature. So, already leaning hard into the professor brand.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Text from a colleague who taught my book Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America this semester! If you use Blue or a chunk of Blue in a syllabus this fall let me know, and I am always super happy to zoom in to your classes to talk about it too.
Text that a student loved my book; shameless self promotion because academia and capitalism
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
My second grader learning citation warms over my chatGPT-embittered academic heart
Citation for book about Texas watershed
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Did an AMA about my book on reddit, which was a really neat way to share some of its ideas with a way bigger audience, even if I felt like a total dinosaur!
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
We all know the thing where we culturally don't care about women at/after menopause, but cancelling an expansive and influential 34 year study of postmenopausal women is really saying the quiet part aloud.
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Nursing Clio @nursingclio.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
📢📢📢 We are looking for contributors to respond to RFK’s recent eugenic-laden speech, his response to the measles outbreak, or any of his other policies. If you are interested you can DM this account or send us a pitch via our website. Please share widely! nursingclio.org/write-for-us...
nursingclio.org
Pitch Nursing Clio
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Katie Barclay @katieebarclay.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Finally got a hold of my new book. Loneliness in World History. Learn about loneliness but also how we do comparative emotions research.
Pictures of the book and content page.
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
I can’t recommend being department chair enough. Like, I am giving a talk in Santa Barbara tonight and so I am at a coffee shop where I have an amazing view of the ocean and the mountains and also most importantly of the excel sheet on my laptop where I am busily justifying budget lines. The dream!
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Rachel Louise Moran @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
The amazing This Podcast Will Kill You uses my book Blue for historical context in this episode on the postpartum. And they call it "really fascinating"! (They call Leavitt's Brought to Bed fascinating 2x, very fair, so I'm deeming myself half as fascinating as that book & I'll take it).
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Lauren K @violetconflict.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Ahhhhhhhhh "Blue" by @rachellouisemoran.bsky.social is one of the sources shouted out by Erin for the history section of Pregnancy part 4 by @tpwky.bsky.social! This is the best possible crossover in my life and I am SO THRILLED
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