Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

In this bonus episode, I spoke to former radical feminist (well, sort of) Meghan Murphy about beauty treatments. How should feminists think about, for instance, botox? How should individual women navigate this issue? And what have we, personally, had done? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 2013, the Obama administration endorsed an ad campaign that came to be derisively known as the “pajama boy” campaign. “Pajama boy” was actually an adult man who encouraged young adults to make the case for Obamacare over Thanksgiving dinner with their relatives. “Wear pajamas. Drink hot chocolate. Talk about getting health insurance.” was the tag line. Most people thought it was pretty silly and the image survives now as an online meme.In retrospect, “pajama boy” was actually a little bit sinister because it was symptomatic of a shift in the culture. While families have always fallen out over personal conflict, it is now increasingly common for relationships to break down over politics. This is directly downstream of a new expectation that confronting relatives about political disagreements at the family dinner table is not just acceptable, but actually virtuous.My guest today has written a book about the rise of family estrangement, and particularly of adult children going ‘no contact' with their parents. The proximate trigger for this new kind of divorce is often political: arguments about Trump, or Covid, or gender identity are common. But behind these individual conflicts, Noelle Mering argues, is a profound shift in our attitudes towards the family, and the mainstreaming of a troubling idea: that some members of our own families are expendable.Noelle Mering is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington D.C. and author of the new book ‘No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them.' She is also a wife and mother of six children. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Nina Power about the English village that is seeking independence from the UK in protest at a local asylum seeker accommodation centre. We discussed the issues with asylum policy, the growing spirit of rebellion in sleepy rural places, and whether the UK government is guilty of institutional misogyny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Humans love stories. Long before writing was developed, stories helped people to preserve knowledge, transmit moral ideas, warn against danger, and psychologically prepare for future ordeals. The most enduring stories are those that organise experience into meaningful patterns, communicating through symbolism that often operates on a subconscious level. My guest today argues that these old stories do something important to us, particularly as children.Today we discussed fairytales and the Bible. We also discussed a lot of modern stories: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, American Psycho, The Wizard of Oz, Christopher Nolan's new adaptation of The Odyssey, and many more stories that play with symbolism. These cultural products have moral messages that we ought to pay attention to, particularly in an era when the subversion of old stories has become a part of the progressive political project.Jonathan Pageau is a Christian artist. You can find his podcast, writing, and teaching courses by going to thesymbolicworld.com, where you can also buy Jonathan's illustrated editions of classic fairytales. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this bonus episode I spoke with Helen Roy about the new cult horror movie ‘Obsession.' Helen can found at Helen Roy Writes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feminists have been arguing about the politics of homemaking for a long time. In her 1963 feminist classic, The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan famously compared the suburban American home to a “comfortable concentration camp”, arguing that homemaking was not just a waste of a woman's talents, but a form of degradation.Maternal feminists reject this characterisation. But they also highlight the ways in which stay-at-home parents – mostly, but by no means exclusively, mothers – are made vulnerable, particularly financially. My guest today is focused on how public policy can best reduce this vulnerability.Ivana Greco is a homemaker and homeschooling mother of four. She has a degree from Harvard Law School and practiced law for ten years. She now writes about issues impacting homemakers, women, children and families. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've just moved to Australia. I wrote a column about our move in the Wall Street Journal, which was also published in The Australian, but I haven't otherwise spoken about our reasoning, and a lot of listeners have been asking. So today's episode is about Australia: the issues the country is facing right now, why British people are so often attracted to moving here (including yours truly), the cultural differences between Britain and Australia, and the big political challenges that both countries are facing: immigration, economic stagnation, ageing populations, housing crises, and the rise of the populist Right.I'm joined by the perfect commentator with whom to discuss the state of Australia right now. Claire Lehmann is the founding editor of Quillette and also a columnist at The Australian newspaper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Ed West and I discussed the apparent murder of Ann Widdecombe, the role that she played in British public life, and the responses to this atrocity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I discussed a recent viral article in The Cut titled ‘It's Hard to See My Parents Live So Lavishly While We're Struggling' and the broader issue of wealth inequality within families. Is it really true that millennials have it harder than boomers? Are downwardly mobile younger generations right to feel resentful? And how should wealthy parents protect their children from becoming spoilt and entitled? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The empire that once controlled all or part of forty modern European, Asian, and African countries no longer exists. Rome didn't fall all at once, and it didn't fall for any one simple reason. But it did fall. And people down the centuries have been drawn to the story of Rome's decline and fall with a mixture of fear, curiosity, and an irresistible desire to draw parallels between the fate of the Roman Empire and the present day.Today I'm joined by Edward J. Watts, professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of many books, including ‘The Final Pagan Generation' and ‘The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alec Ryrie argues that the age of Hitler is not the 1930s and 1940s, it is our own lifetimes. As the influence of Christianity receded from the 1960s onwards, the figure of Hitler stepped into the breach – the most potent possible symbol of evil, around whom the Western moral imagination was structured.But as the Second World War recedes into history, this anti-Nazi moral consensus is unravelling, which means that our whole system of morality is coming under pressure. What happens when the Age of Hitler comes to an end? Alec Ryrie is Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University and author of ‘The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed recent events in Britain, including the announced ban on social media use for under 16s and last week's rioting in Belfast and elsewhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The science of sex differences is intensely political. Traditionalists tend to exaggerate the innate differences between men and women, while progressives tend to minimise them, arguing that the behavioural differences we see between the sexes are a product of nurture, rather than nature. Steve Stewart-Williams wants to offer a more cautious assessment. There are a lot of average differences between the sexes, some of them very pronounced. There are also a lot of small to moderate differences that are visible at the population level, but not necessarily at the individual level. This is a controversial subject, but also an enormously interesting one, with obvious relevance to all of our lives. Steve Stewart-Williams is a professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia and author of books including 'Darwin, God, and the Meaning of Life' and 'The Ape That Understood the Universe.' His latest book is titled 'A Billion Years of Sex Differences: How Evolution Shaped the Minds of Men and Women.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Helen Roy about Caro Claire Burke's bestselling novel ‘Yesteryear' and we tried to explain why the ‘tradwife' phenomenon attracts such strength of feeling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Western elites tend to be xenophilic. They love the cultural other, and they abhor the dullness and small mindedness they see in their own countrymen. But, as Chris Bayliss points out, this is typically combined with what he describes as a “studiously parochial” attitude towards what the cultural other is actually like.In his writing for The Critic Magazine, Chris often draws from his experiences of living and working overseas, including as a diplomat. Today we discuss the many areas of British public life that have been radically transformed by mass immigration from parts of the world in which very different cultural assumptions prevail. What happens when one of the most individualistic cultures in the history of the world invites large numbers of immigrants from some of the least individualistic cultures? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode for paid subscribers, I spoke with Mary Harrington about Pope Leo's encyclical on AI, whether it should be regarded as 'normal technology' or as something entirely different, and how the digital revolution might transform politics long term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The institution of marriage has changed a lot over the last few centuries. As Eli Finkel explains in ‘The All of Nothing Marriage' – truly one of my favourite social science books – Americans of the early nineteenth century would look with confusion on our modern attitudes towards what a spouse ought to be. An economic partner, sure. A co-parent, obviously. But a best friend, even a soul mate?Today, Eli and I track these changes across American history, and we ask whether our modern attitudes towards marriage have some significant downsides. It seems that the best marriages are now better than ever. But it also seems that the institution as a whole has become more fragile.Eli is a social psychologist at Northwestern University and also the co-host – along with Paul Eastwick, another MMM guest – of the podcast ‘Love Factually', which analyses movies through the lens of relationship science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about why the story of the HMS Windrush has become so important in modern Britain, despite its historical inaccuracies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Rob Henderson about the link between the decline in marriage rates and the decline in fertility rates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Ehrlich was the author of the 1968 book 'The Population Bomb' - a book that made him into a celebrity. His message was a horrifying one. “In the 1970s and 1980s” he announced in the opening lines, “hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.” Thankfully, that prediction was not realised. But Ehrlich's influence lives on after his death, not least in the work of my guest today. Les Knight is the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT). His goal is that humans should, as the movement's motto puts it, “live long and die out.” If he got his way, all humans would vanish within a century or so. Today I ask Les to explain his worldview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed the local elections in Britain and what the results indicate about political polarisation, especially with regards to age, ethnicity, class, and sex. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've all heard of the manosphere. We've all come across commentators who blame it for the radicalisation of young men. Political leaders express immense concern about manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, who are blamed for the alienation of their young fans from mainstream society. We hear a lot less about the femosphere. In a recent New Statesman cover story, titled 'Meet the Angry Young Women', journalist Emily Lawford and pollster Scarlett Maguire broke fresh ground in outlining just how radicalised young British women are. This is partly a story about the internet, specifically the femosphere. It's also a story about declining economic prospects for young people, elite over-production, and the increasing hostility directed against men. Emily Lawford is the online editor at the New Statesman. Scarlett Maguire is the founder and director of Merlin Strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about the apparent rise in the eagerness of young men to date older women. Is it because of politics? Anti-ageing skincare? Money? A lack of interest in fatherhood? Or something else? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MMM is sponsored by 321 - a new online introduction to Christianity, presented by former MMM guest Glen Scrivener. Check it out for free at 321course.com/MMM. Just enter your email, choose a password and you're in — there's no spam and no fees. Brianna Wu is a transwoman and a passionate Democrat who wants people with gender dysphoria to be protected from discrimination and given access to sex reassignment medical treatments. But only if this treatment has proper safeguards, and is never offered to children. To achieve this compromise – a centrist position, Brianna argues – trans activists must get their house in order by marginalising the misogynists and the fetishists who have taken over the movement. Today we discussed whether this is really possible. Is there a future in which trans activism is not at odds with feminism? Or is the backlash against this movement already too entrenched? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury by going to cozyearth.com and using my code COZYMMM for 20% off site wide. And if you get a post-purchase survey do please mention that you heard about Cozy Earth from the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast. Whether you're buying for yourself, or for somebody else, Cozy Earth creates the comfort that makes a house feel like home. Philosopher Kathleen Stock is careful about terminology in her new book. Her argument is not against assisted suicide, or euthanasia, but specifically against assisted death services. That is, "formal structures for helping consenting people to die with the aid of clinicians." It's these "formal structures", she argues, that end up transforming health services into something very different from what we're used to. Legalising assisted death services is often represented as progressive, freeing, and compassionate. But when we normalise this manner of death, and when we give the state power to control these death services, we risk crossing over into what Kathleen describes as a "moral darkness." Kathleen is a contributing editor at UnHerd and the author of the bestselling 2021 book 'Material Girls.' Her new book is titled 'Do Not Go Gentle: The Case Against Assisted Death.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I discussed a recent controversial New York Times podcast featuring Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino speaking in defence of so-called 'microlooting' and other criminality. We spoke about the backlash to this episode and whether the Left is now pivoting away from peak-woke priorities like language policing and towards something more militant and more masculine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with the Telegraph's Poppy Coburn about the Southport Public Inquiry, and the ideological factors that led state agencies to treat Axel Rudakubana like a victim, rather than a threat to the public. We also spoke about Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane and the protests last week over a gang rape reported in the Surrey town of Epsom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MMM is sponsored by 321 - a new online introduction to Christianity, presented by former MMM guest Glen Scrivener. Check it out for free at 321course.com/MMM. Just enter your email, choose a password and you're in — there's no spam and no fees. Nigel Biggar has personal experience of the cultural revolution that has come to the universities of the Anglosphere. In 2017, he found himself in the middle of a heated controversy over a project he was leading on the morality of empire, and he quickly discovered that there are some questions that you are not supposed to ask in universities today.In a new book, he warns us not to dismiss the culture wars as trivial, or as something that will blow over without any special effort. Nigel sees this, not only as a political conflict, but also as a spiritual one. What is the university actually for? How does one identify what is true and what is not?Nigel Biggar is Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford, and last year he entered the House of Lords as a Conservative peer. His new book is titled ‘The New Dark Age: Why Liberals Must Win the Culture Wars.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed the rise of a new style of Leftism in the Anglosphere, embodied in figures like Zack Polanksi and Zohran Mamdani. Discussed in this episode: Rupert Lowe statement on the Greens. Times of London analysis of the Green vote. Akhmed Yakoob on the Greens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's safe to say that Zoe Strimpel and I don't entirely agree on whether the sexual revolution was a good thing for women. Where I have a somewhat tragic analysis of the trade offs inherent to our new sexual culture, Zoeargues that women have never had it so good. Her new book, titled 'Good Slut', is a passionate defence of sexual freedom, including of promiscuity and hedonism. In today's episode, we debate the consequences of the sexual revolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this bonus episode I joined the hosts of the Anglofuturism podcast, Tom Ough and Calum Drysdale, to discuss the Artemis II mission to the moon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury by going to cozyearth.com and using my code COZYMMM for 20% off site wide. And if you get a post-purchase survey do please mention that you heard about Cozy Earth from the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast. Whether you're buying for yourself, or for somebody else, Cozy Earth creates the comfort that makes a house feel like home. My guest today doesn't reject evolutionary psychology as a discipline, but he is critical of many popular interpretations of the research on human mating. Of course there are psychological differences between men and women, of course some people are more beautiful than others, and of course some people struggle to attract dates. But it's easy to exaggerate when talking about the psychology of sex and relationships. If you look around you'll quickly notice that not every rich man is married to a penniless beautiful woman half his age, and being below average in terms of atttractiveness does not actually condemn someone to a lifetime of loneliness. What Paul Eastwick is offering is something like a purple pill. It's not that the red pill narrative is completely wrong, but it misses some important nuance about how people actually behave in the real world. Paul is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. He's the co-host of the 'Love Factually' podcast. And his new book is titled 'Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I discussed Louis Theroux's manosphere documentary for Netflix.Discussed in the episode:MMM episode on ‘Adolescence'Peep Show, “I'm Louis Theroux, I'm Louis Theroux”‘When Louis met... Jimmy'Louis Theroux on Modern Wisdom Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury by going to cozyearth.com and using my code COZYMMM for 20% off site wide. And if you get a post-purchase survey do please mention that you heard about Cozy Earth from the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast. Whether you're buying for yourself, or for somebody else, Cozy Earth creates the comfort that makes a house feel like home. MMM is sponsored by 321 - a new online introduction to Christianity, presented by former MMM guest Glen Scrivener. Check it out for free at 321course.com/MMM. Just enter your email, choose a password and you're in — there's no spam and no fees. The queen of reactionary feminism, Mary Harrington, is now hosting a monthly YouTube show with Socrates in the City. I was one of her first guests and the Socrates team were kind enough to let me share our conversation with you here. We discussed the disappointments of postliberalism, arguments over the feminisation of public life, the loss of male status in the modern world, conflict within the gender critical movement, and the debate over ethno-nationalism in Britain. To watch more of Mary's interviews head over to Socrates in the City on YouTube. She's also recently spoken to Jonathan Pageau, Nina Power, and Justin Brierley, all conversations that I'm sure will be of interest to MMM listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about Lindy West's new memoir, Adult Braces, and her account of polyamory, fat activism, and mental illness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain is in a bad place at the moment. The country that gave the world the Industrial Revolution is now visibly deteriorating. "Managed decline" is the popular phrase, although there is a debate over how "managed" it really is. Tom Ough says that none of this is necessary. Britain could – and should – pursue a programme of innovation that benefits its people materially, but that also feels psychologically comforting in its cultural familiarity. The term for this vision is "Anglofuturism", our subject today.Tom is a senior editor at UnHerd, co-host of the Anglofuturism podcast, and author of 'The Anti-Catastrophe League: The pioneers and visionaries on a quest to save the world.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this bonus episode I went on Against the Grain podcast with Matthew Schmitz and Julia Yost. We talked about the migration boom in Britain, birth rates, religious revivals and more.https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/against-the-grain/id1823575411 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Lionel Shriver's new novel, a family with a large and lovely house in Brooklyn invite a Honduran asylum seeker to come and live with them. The young woman is pleasant and helpful. But the adult son of the family – unemployed, idle, and disagreeable – is deeply opposed to her presence in his home. This being a Lionel Shriver novel, the drama soon goes in an unexpected direction. 'A Better Life' is a novel about immigration, gender, and political polarisation – all topics we discuss today. Lionel is the author of nineteen novels, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction for the massive bestseller 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', and a columnist at the Spectator Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with The Telegraph's Poppy Coburn about the ongoing threat to Dubai, and the city's (very revealing) role in the British cultural imagination. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"It's not that it's fake, it's that it's evil." That was what today's guest replied when I asked him to describe the nature of paganism. It's a term that we usually associate with Ancient Rome. But John Daniel Davidson uses a more expansive definition of this particular outlook on the supernatural, and he warns against it in the strongest possible terms. John is a senior editor at The Federalist and the author of 'Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come.' Today we speak about the dangers of re-enchantment, and why John believes that the dark side of the supernatural must be regarded with the utmost seriousness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthony Daniels, also known by the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, has spent a career doing something very unusual for someone of his class: talking at great length to thousands and thousands of people at the very bottom of the socioeconomic heap. Daniels is a doctor, as well as the author of dozens of books. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of perhaps his most famous, 'Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass', a collection of essays about Daniels' time working as a doctor at both an inner-city hospital and a prison. One of his tasks in this role was to interview something in the region of 10,000 people who had attempted suicide. They would tell him about their lives, and about the lives of the people closest to them. "From this source alone," Daniels writers, "I have learned about the lives of some fifty thousand people: lives dominated, almost without exception, by violence, crime, and degradation." Today we talk about what he surmised from these conversations – about the true nature of poverty, of domestic abuse, and the social fallout from the sexual revolution. We also talk about what the British elites fail to understand about the so-called underclass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about the Gorton and Denton by-election, the Islamo-gauchist coalition, and Rupert Lowe's new Restore Party. Discussed in this episode: Serial series on the Trojan Horse affairHannah Spencer on NewsnightTony Blair documentary seriesPimlico Journal article on Restore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I discussed the legacy of Aaron Sorkin, and the end of the political era that his work represented.Discussed in the episode:Sorkin interviewed on the BBC.Rob's NYT piece on The West Wing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.We are all descended from thousands of generations of parents who successfully raised their children to adulthood. But, unlike those parents, we all have access to plentiful food, indoor plumbing, effective medicine, and all of the other technologies that make modern life so comfortable. You might expect, therefore, that the modern experience of parenthood would feel easy. Why doesn't it? My guest today first started thinking about the unnaturalness of modern parenting when she became the mother of two little kids, born close together in age. She was spending much of her time alone with them and feeling acutely stressed. It set her thinking about the evolutionary mismatch between this very isolated existence, and the way in which our ancient ancestors raised their children. Elena Bridgers is a science writer and author of the substack 'Motherhood Until Yesterday.' Today we spoke about the many ways in which modern parenting is historically strange – from co-sleeping to alloparenting to birth spacing. What can hunter gatherers teach us about how to make parenting easier? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I reviewed Emerald Fennell's new film "Wuthering Heights." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MMM is sponsored by 321 - a new online introduction to Christianity, presented by former MMM guest Glen Scrivener. Check it out for free at 321course.com/MMM. Just enter your email, choose a password and you're in — there's no spam and no fees. Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.Testing a foetus or an embryo for some medical conditions is now a routine part of the modern pregnancy experience. Prenatal Down's Syndrome tests, for instance, are now so widespread that in some Scandinavian countries almost 100 per cent of women choose to abort a foetus diagnosed with the condition, or – if using IVF – not implant the affected embryo. The result is a visible change to these populations: there are simply no more people with Down's to be seen on the streets of Iceland and Denmark.New technology is now available – at a high price – for those who want to go further. So-called polygenic embryo screening can give a very full picture of the adult that the embryo could become, including his or her vulnerability to an enormous number of diseases – heart disease, diabetes, cancer – and also the physical and psychological traits that he or she would likely possess: height, hair colour, athletic ability, conscientiousness, altruism, intelligence. Is this a good thing? Should we welcome a world in which parents are routinely selecting their embryos in this way? I'm joined today by two guests who take a very different view. Emma Waters is a policy analyst at the Center for Technology and the Human Person at the Heritage Foundation. Her work focuses on family, biotechnology, and reproductive medicine.Jonathan Anomaly is a philosopher, author of the book 'Creating Future People: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Enhancement', and is also the director of scientific research and communication for Herasight, a genetics startup that offers polygenic embryo screening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Mary Harrington about the latest tranche of Epstein files, and what the scandal reveals about politics, power, and men. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.On the cover of their new book, authors Dean Spears and Michael Geruso have a graph of the global population over time. The population is small and roughly stable for pretty much all of human history. It rises after the advent of agriculture, some ten thousand years ago, but that bump looks rather minor now. It's only after the industrial revolution that we see this enormous spike, taking us from a world containing 1 billion people in 1800 to over 8 billion today. So far, so familiar. But what Spears and Geruso are interested in is what happens next. Their book is titled 'After the Spike' because they foresee an imminent addition to the familiar population graph: a descent just as steep as the ascent. An exponential decline that might even take us back to a global population smaller than that of 1800. I speak to Dean Spears today about what demographic research indicates is imminently in store for us as a species, and what might be on the horizon 'after the spike.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Rod Dreher about what he describes as the 'Weimarisation of the West' – an increasingly atomised and economically precarious society that valorises transgression for its own sake. We also discussed whether World War II still has a central place in the cultural imagination, why the Online Right puts so much emphasis on humour, and the ongoing civil unrest in Minnesota. Article in 'The Point' on heteropessimism'The Harry Potter generation needs to grow up'Tucker Carlson interviews Nick FuentesFuentes on Red ScareRod's Substack post on nurses' comments on ICE agents'The Radical Right Is Coming for Your Sons'Ezra Klein on Trump Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.Teenage anxiety isn't a new thing. Our mothers and grandmothers also worried about beauty, and friendships, and boys.What is new, however, is the role of technology in teenage anxiety. We see an inflection point in the early 2010s: a sudden drop in mental wellbeing among teenagers, particularly girls. The beginning of that drop coincided with the arrival of image-based social media like Instagram.My guest today argues that this was not a coincidence. Freya India is the author of the Substack GIRLS, where she writes about the challenges girls and young women face in the modern world. She's also a staff writer for Jonathan Haidt's newsletter, After Babel.Her new book is about the ways in which communication technology has given us a world in which teenage girls end up commodifying themselves – selling their lives on social media, advertising themselves on dating apps, and packaging themselves into personal brands. All at the cost of their own sanity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Stone Age Herbalist about an essay he recently published on Victorian attitudes towards death. We discussed the cultural impact of Jack the Ripper, the terror of body snatching, the practice of postmortem photography, and the Spiritualist movement's preoccupation with electricity. Discussed in the episode:'How The Victorians Eroticised Death, From Ophelia To Salome'More on the anatomical venus More on body snatching and Georgia Medical College Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.