If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that periods are terrifying. Well, men have certainly seemed to think so. All the way back to Roman times, the male chroniclers of the human condition have agreed on one thing: menstruation is unseemly, ungodly and just plain horrible. The resulting taboo means we know really very little about periods, with obvious knock-on consequences for women’s health. Now, researchers are investigating the healing powers of period blood, and how it could hold the key to developing treatments for conditions like endometriosis. In this episode, the Visible Women team asks: what could we gain from breaking the taboo over periods.
Writer and journalist Liv Little and Observer critic Miranda Sawyer get notes from editors all the time – now it’s their turn to hand them out. Every Wednesday morning, Liv and Miranda weigh in on the latest cultural happenings, from reality TV meltdowns and art house films, to gallery openings and TikTok trends. Smart, funny, and full of sharp observations. We Have Notes is culture with commentary.