Guest Thinkers — December 14, 2009

A Stimulating History

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Rarely has so much buzz surrounded a Big Think guest. It was our pleasure today to have historian of technology Dr. Rachel Maines in to discuss her bestselling 1999 volume, “The Technology of Orgasm: ‘Hysteria,’ Vibrators and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction,” as well as her participation in a recent New York Psychoanalytic Institute roundtable on “Love and Pleasure in the Age of Electricity.”

Upbeat and good-humored, Dr. Maines also discussed her new book on “Hedonizing Technologies”—that is, the technologies that have turned formerly productive tasks like hunting and gardening into leisure activities. Her interview will be posted in January.

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

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