Author: Carol A. Seidl
A Look at Cancel Culture’s Trashing of a Remarkable Filmmaker

This week I listened to an interview with Meg Smaker, a gutsy yet empathetic filmmaker whose documentary, Jihad Rehab, was initially hailed by numerous film festivals and critics, then condemned and dropped like a hot potato. The claim that the film was Islamaphobic is behind its sudden death sentence. After…
My 10 Best Nonfiction Picks from 2022

Since it’s “Nonfiction November” I thought I’d spend some time reviewing my favorite nonfiction reads from this year. I’d say that on the whole, 2022 has been a better-than-usual year for nonfiction—basing that statement on nothing other than my personal experience. I feel like this year I broke through a…
A Walk in Paris, the City that Inspires
Jerome Lejeune, the Saint who Stole the Scientific Spotlight

My last post featured the bitter story of Marthe Gautier, a young female doctor betrayed by her male colleagues. In 1957, Gautier was a promising intern in the field of pediatric cardiology. While working in a research lab studying children with intellectual disabilities, Gautier’s ingenuity and dedication led to the…
Marthe Gautier, Forgotten by the Misogynistic March of History

In the 1950s, a young doctor named Marthe Gautier happened to be the only scientist in Paris who knew how to grow human cell cultures. Gautier had perfected the new, cutting-edge technique after receiving a highly-coveted scholarship that sent her to study at Harvard University for a year. Upon returning…