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The Daily
The host highlighted that the title argued disabilities clash with the American myth of rugged individualism, often portraying disabled people as a societal drain. It was introduced while discussing a man who filed more than 180 disability lawsuits, and the book’s perspective was presented without strong endorsement. The mention was neutral and informational.
Episode: The Sunday Read: ‘The Man Who Filed More Than 180...
The host noted that Nielsen's book argues disabilities clash with the American myth of rugged individualism, often portraying disabled people as a societal drain.
Disabilities, Kim E. Nielsen writes in A Disability History of the United States, rub up against the American value of individualistic, selfsufficient grit. People with disabilities are thus often cast as a drain.