Forced Identity: The Story of David Reimer (Part 1)

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Hear ye, hear ye.

Kristin Caruso (0:03)

You are listening to An Old Timey Podcast. I'm Kristin Caruso.

Norman Caruso (0:08)

And I'm Normie C.

Kristin Caruso (0:09)

And on this episode, I'll be talking about a terrible accident and an even worse fix.

Norman Caruso (0:16)

Ooh, I'm intrigued.

Kristin Caruso (0:19)

You should be, you should also be horrified. This is gonna be a wild ride.

Norman Caruso (0:23)

Ooh, Mr. Toad's wild ride?

Kristin Caruso (0:25)

You wish Mr. Toad was involved.

SPEAKER_1 (0:26)

He's nowhere near this story. Nothing fun is near this story.

Norman Caruso (0:31)

Speaking of fun, have you all considered supporting this small, sexy, independent podcast on Patreon? Because for just $5 a month, you get access to our entire back catalog of bonus episodes. Kristin, last month we talked about a guy who strapped a bunch of balloons to his lawn chair and flew into the sky.

And if you want to hear it, please sign up on patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast or youtube.com/oldtimeypodcast.

Kristin Caruso (0:58)

How many members do we have on our YouTube channel now?

Norman Caruso (1:00)

17

Kristin Caruso (1:01)

Holy shit, wait, I thought we had 18

SPEAKER_1 (1:03)

Did someone drop out?

Norman Caruso (1:05)

No, I don't know, maybe.

Anyway, the KFC bucket is out of the question. We cannot split it. Maybe even the party sub is a little too small now. We might have to order custom catering. Wow.

Kristin Caruso (1:23)

It's really becoming a party on YouTube.

Norman Caruso (1:26)

So join us, won't you? And with that, Kristin, take it away. Tell us about a horrible accident and an even worse fix, you said?

Kristin Caruso (1:33)

That's right.

Norman Caruso (1:34)

Yeah. I mean, I've gotten into situations like that myself.

SPEAKER_1 (1:37)

No, you have not.

Norman Caruso (1:38)

Oh, OK. I guess I should wait to hear the story.

SPEAKER_1 (1:41)

You really should.

Norman Caruso (1:41)

I'm just thinking about something broken in the house and I'm like, Oh, I can fix that. And then things go horribly wrong and I make it worse.

SPEAKER_1 (1:48)

No, Norm, this is not a lighthearted tale.

Norman Caruso (1:50)

Oh, man. OK.

Kristin Caruso (1:52)

Folks, just a heads up, this two part series is going to be fascinating. It's going to be deeply shocking and very, very upsetting. And if you're anything like me, you'll be thinking about it for hours after the story ends.

But I do have to warn you that especially in this episode right here, I'm going to be talking a lot about genitals.

SPEAKER_1 (2:18)

And just when you think I'm done talking about genitals, I'm going to talk about genitals some more. And then some more!

Kristin Caruso (2:24)

So keep that in mind if you, for example, like to listen to An Old Timey Podcast on full blast while going through the drive-through. Because let me tell you, I will say penis the second that window pops open, and you'll never be able to show your face at Arby's again.

Also, shout out to John Colapinto at Rolling Stone for his 1997 article, The True Story of John Slash Joan. The article didn't age perfectly, but it is the basis for this story, and he did a hell of a job.

Norman Caruso (2:57)

Okay.

Kristin Caruso (2:58)

Picture it! Winnipeg, Canada, 1965

Janet and Ron Reimer felt so lucky. They were young, newlyweds. Janet was 18, Ron was 20, and they were just grabbing life by the horns. Because, legit, nine months after they got married, Janet gave birth to identical twin boys, David and Brian.

Norman Caruso (3:22)

I'm surprised you didn't say grab life by the balls, since we're talking about genitals.

Kristin Caruso (3:27)

You know what?

SPEAKER_1 (3:28)

We had to cut back on the genital talks somewhere, and I think I was wise to do it there.

Norman Caruso (3:33)

Fair.

Kristin Caruso (3:34)

Janet had always dreamed of having twins.

She and Ron took the boys back to their little one-bedroom apartment and settled into their new life as a family of four.

And things went well for a while, but when the boys were about six months old, Janet became concerned. The boys were having trouble urinating. As it turned out, they had a somewhat common condition called phimosis.

Norman Caruso (3:58)

Ah, yes. Very familiar with phimosis.

SPEAKER_1 (4:02)

Why do you seem excited? Folks, I'm going to give you the definition, and you're going to be like, why was Norm thrilled to hear this?

Kristin Caruso (4:08)

This is where the foreskin becomes so tight that it can't be pulled back.

SPEAKER_1 (4:12)

It's very painful and can cause problems. Norm, why did you have a confetti cannon out for this one? You're just a big fan of tight foreskin.