


The box was the invention of Wilhelm Reich, an unorthodox psychoanalyst and disaffected disciple of Freud who brought his theories of sexual energy to America during World War II. A determined scientist in conflict with a suspicious society, he faced a federal ban on the orgone box, an FBI investigation, a fraught encounter with Einstein (who conducted two weeks of tests on Reich’s invention), and bouts of paranoia that left him unable to defend himself.
Turner’s presentation will elaborate on this surprising story of science, sex, and postwar America, and also feature excerpts from three films: Woody Allen’s Sleeper (1973), Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968), and Dusan Makavejev’s WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971).
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