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Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

A podcast about sexual politics <br/><br/><a href="https://www.louiseperry.co.uk?utm_medium=podcast">www.louiseperry.co.uk</a><p style="color:grey; font-size:0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Louise Perry

Something called 'populism' is on the rise across much of the world. It's difficult to pin down exactly what the term means, but most of us have a sense that we know it when we see it. Trump in the United States, Farage in Britain, Hanson in Australia – all of these politicians have adopted a particular kind of posture towards the public and towards the political establishment. Richard Hanania thinks that populism is a very bad thing, since he argues that it reliably leads to 'kakistocracy' – that is, government by the worst, least qualified, and most unscrupulous. Richard didn't always feel this way. He used to be on the far right and, as a pseudononymous writer, endorsed white supremacist and other radically anti-progressive positions. He later disavowed those views and shifted towards a more mainstream conservative position, gaining influence on the MAGA Right. Recently, he's shifted again, becoming one of the most vehement Right wing critics of MAGA and of populism more broadly. Richard Hanania is an UnHerd columnist, the president of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, and the author of a Substack focused on foreign policy, American politics, and social science. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does populism end in disaster? | Maiden Mother Matriarch 209

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.

Is it wrong to get botox?

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.

The children divorcing their parents | Maiden Mother Matriarch 208

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.

English rebels

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.

Children should read fairytales | Maiden Mother Matriarch 207

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.

Louise & Helen review 'Obsession'

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.

In Defence of Stay-at-Home Parents | Maiden Mother Matriarch 206

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.

The Lucky Country? | Maiden Mother Matriarch 205

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.

The loss of Ann Widdecombe

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 politics of the downwardly mobile class

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.

Why we're still obsessed with the fall of Rome | Maiden Mother Matriarch 204

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.

How Hitler replaced the Devil

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.

Who is to blame for the riots?

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.

A Billion Years of Sex Differences | Maiden Mother Matriarch 203

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.

Why Tradwives are hated

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.

How multiculturalism really works | Maiden Mother Matriarch 201

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.

Should Christians fear AI?

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.

"You are not enough people!" | Maiden Mother Matriarch 200

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.

The Windrush Myth

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.

Why aren't more people getting married?

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.

The man who wants humans to go extinct | Maiden Mother Matriarch 198

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.

Divided Britain

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.

The radicalisation of young women | Maiden Mother Matriarch 195

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.

The rise of the cougar

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.

Meet the transwoman opposed to trans activism | Maiden Mother Matriarch 194

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.

What happens when a country embraces assisted death? | Maiden Mother Matriarch 193

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.

Is 'microlooting' cool?

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.

A monster created by the state

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.

The threat of a new dark age | Maiden Mother Matriarch 192

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.

Communism with Anglo characteristics

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.

A manifesto for "good sluts"

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.

Next stop, Mars?

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.

What evolutionary psychology gets wrong

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.

Who's afraid of the big bad manosphere?

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.

So, where are we now?

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.

Lindy West's confession

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.

Could Anglofuturism save Britain?

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.

Where the West is headed

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.

Who doesn't want a better life?

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.

Who cares if Dubai is vulgar?

 "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.

Pagan America

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.

The worldview that makes the underclass

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.

Welcome to the new politics

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.

Aaron Sorkin and the end of history

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.

Why modern parenting feels so hard | Maiden Mother Matriarch 184

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.

A "Wuthering Heights" for the 21st Century

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.

DEBATE: Is it wrong to handpick your baby's genes?

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.

What Epstein revealed

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.

Depopulation is coming. What happens next? | Maiden Mother Matriarch 183

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.

Weimar America?

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.

The anguish of girls | Maiden Mother Matriarch 183

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.

Victorian attitudes towards death

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.The word 'meritocracy' was originally intended as a pejorative. It was coined in a 1958 novel written by the British social scientist Michael Young. In the dystopia that Young imagined, the old order has been overthrown and replaced with a tyrannical system obsessed with merit. Today's guest not only joins Young in his critique of meritocracy, he also takes a further bold step in endorsing some extremely old fashioned ideas about wealth, family, and legacy. In an age when celebrities routinely boast about their plans to disinherit their children and leave them to fend for themselves financially, Johann Kurtz makes a counter-cultural argument for nepotism. Do not give your money to charity, he says. Do not encourage your children to launch themselves into the meritocratic rat race. Learn, instead, from the ancient practices of aristocrats who had very different ideas about how to cultivate virtue in their descendants. Kurtz is the author of the 'Becoming Noble' Substack. His new book is titled 'Leaving a Legacy: Inheritance, Charity, & Thousand-Year Families.'Discussed in the show: 'Leaving a Legacy'Stress induced by downward social mobility'Good Money' podcast seriesSurvey on attitudes towards grandchildren'Toxic Charity''Revolt of the Elites'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.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Case for Nepotism | Maiden Mother Matriarch 182

In this bonus episode, Ed West and I spoke about the mode of British governance that is simultaneously sinister and farcical, from the recent 'Prevent video game' to the police horses sent to re-education because they wouldn't walk over rainbow pedestrian crossings.Discussed in this episode: Conservatives are more accurate in describing the beliefs of liberals"Met police hired black child rapist to boost diversity""Met urges Epping migrant sex offender to hand himself in""The Birmingham Maccabi scandal proves multiculturalism has failed"Garrett Jones book on migration and culture"UAE cuts funds for students keen to study in UK ‘over fears campuses radicalised by Islamist groups'" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mr. Bean Authoritarianism

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.My guest today is George Owers, historian and author of a new book, 'The Rage of Party: How Whig Versus Tory Made Modern Britain.' Owers traces our contemporary culture war back to the end of the seventeenth century, when the conflict between Whigs and Tories was the central drama of English politics. One side was isolationist, opposed to immigration, and preferred a small state. The other was open to the rest of the world, and had ambitious plans for tax rises and state expansion. The two sides differed on the role of religion in public life, and on which ideas and symbols ought to be considered sacred. Does any of this sound familiar? Owers argues that we are still seeing this drama play out, not just in England but across the Anglosphere. Our political conflicts are still theological conflicts, and they are surpassingly important.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taking the culture war seriously | Maiden Mother Matriarch 181

 In this bonus episode, RobHenderson and I discussed the shooting of Renee Good and the role of women in political activism. Discussed in the episode:My WSJ column on Mamdani and communism. Paper on infant psychology and egalitarianism. Amy Chua book on violence against market-dominant minorities. Emmeline Pankhurst photo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The nature of women's activism

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. "So powerful, in fact, is simple string in taming the world to human will and ingenuity that I suspect it to be the unseen weapon that allowed the human race to conquer the earth." That's a quote from 'Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years', Elizabeth Wayland Barber's landmark contribution to archeology, recently re-published in the form of a 30th anniversary edition. Wayland-Barber argues that the creation of string, and later of weaving, was one of the most crucial innovations in human history. And it was the work of women. Up until really very recently in human history, the creation of textiles was an extraordinarily time consuming and important aspect of women's daily lives. If we had not undergone the 'string revolution', we would not have been able to keep ourselves warm in cold weather, to use textiles for hunting, and to develop various complex tools essential for human survival. It's no wonder that spinning and weaving have such a central role in mythology. Today we examine the ancient connection between spinning thread and creating life. For ad-free and bonus episodes of the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast go to louiseperry.substack.com.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Work fit for a goddess | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 180

In this bonus episode, Meghan Murphy and I discussed the online community of young men making every effort to improve their appearances.Discussed in the episode:Clavicular in conversation with Michael KnowlesOlly Murs photosDocumentary on sperm donor, ‘The Man with 1000 Kids’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wisdom of looksmaxxing

The Medieval period is sometimes described as the ‘Age of Faith.’ This was a world in which the church dominated every area of life and it was almost impossible to think outside of Christianity.It was succeeded, of course, by the ‘Age of Reason’, a period in which Enlightenment thinkers placed an extremely high premium on rational inquiry.Which era are we living in now? Robert P. George suggests that we have entered an ‘Age of Feelings’, in which people derive their beliefs from emotion, which is now understood as the central source of truth.He makes this case in his new book, ‘Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment.’ Robert P. George is a highly esteemed legal scholar and political philosopher, once described in The New York Times as America’s “most influential conservative Christian thinker.” Today we discuss faith, reason, abortion, same sex marriage, repaganisation, and more.MMM is sponsored by Cozy Earth. Get a 40% discount at cozyearth.com/maiden or use the code COZYMMM, and in the post-purchase survey let them know you came from the podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The age that abandoned reason | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 179

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Nina Power about the scandal regarding Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd El Fattah and the degraded legitimacy of the British state. Mentioned in the episode:Telegraph reporting on Abd El Fattah Lucy Connolly interviewMan jailed over anti-immigrant posts viewed only 33 timesSteve Laws speaks to Andrew GoldEmployers to be made liable for staff being offended by third parties, such as customers or members of the publicElectoral Commission condemns postponement of council electionsLabour councillor acquitted of encouraging violent unrest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two tier Keir

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.Charles Murray is a political scientist best known for his work on intelligence, socioeconomics, and the American welfare state. In books including 'Losing Ground' (1984), 'The Bell Curve' (1994), and 'Coming Apart' (2012), Murray has offered an interpretation of the world that foregrounds the role of genetic luck in social outcomes. A lot of people dislike this interpretation, to put it mildly. But I'm convinced by the evidence that genetic luck is important, and that we can't ignore this factor when trying to make sense of the world. One profound problem that we face in the twenty-first century derives from the fact that unusually intelligent people – i.e. people who have lucked out in terms of both their genetics and their environments – are often very bad at understanding how others experience the world. Murray describes a process we've undergone since the end of the Second World War whereby a new cognitive elite has become increasingly isolated – socially and geographically – from the rest of society. This distance encourages feelings of contempt towards people further down the class system, who in turn feel anger at the ways in which they are misgoverned by an elite that feels no sense of noblesse oblige. The result has been bitter political polarisation – one of the many subjects that we discuss in today's episode. Find ad-free and bonus episodes of the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast at louiseperry.substack.com. Discussed in this episode: 'Taking Religion Seriously' by Charles MurrayHelen Andrews on the 'Great Feminisation''The Son Also Rises' by Gregory Clark Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sins of the cognitive elite | Maiden Mother Matriarch 177

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Rob Henderson about Jacob Savage's viral article in Compact on discrimination against white men in creative industries. Discussed in the episode:'The lost generation' - Compact Magazine'The vanishing white male writer' - Compact Magazine'The vanishing' - Tablet Magazine'The Daily' episode on media trust Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The lost generation

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.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. We have seen an extraordinary change in attitudes towards gay and lesbian people over the last half century in the West. Within living memory, homosexuality was criminalised. Now, same-sex couples can get married and share custody of children. This is nothing short of a moral revolution. Plenty of progressives think, not only that this change was inevitable, but also that further liberalisation is inevitable. My guests today are not so sure. They note that, for the first time in a long time, younger people on average are less accepting of homosexuality than are slightly older people. Perhaps this is a result of immigration patterns. Perhaps it's a result of strategic errors made by activists. I'm joined by three people who all agree that something has gone wrong, although they disagree – subtly – on exactly how and why. Ronan McCrea is professor of constitutional and European law at University College London and the author of 'The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom.' Matthew Vines the the Founder and Executive Director of The Reformation Project and the author of 'God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships.'And Julie Bindel is a journalist, broadcaster, author, and the co-founder and co-director of The Lesbian Project.All of these guests share a concern that the wins of the gay rights movement are very fragile. There is a very real possibility that we will look back on the early twenty-first century as an historical blip – a brief moment of victory that was squandered. We ask how that fate might be avoided. Discussed in the show: 'The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom''God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships' 'Lesbians: Where are we now?' The Lesbian Project podcast Stephen Ireland news storyMy interview with Darel E. Paul Operation Spanner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The gay rights movement got it wrong - Julie Bindel, Matthew Vines & Ronan McCrea | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 177

What Conservative America gets right about Britain Description: In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about why the American Right is so preoccupied with British decline.Discussed in this episode:The declining lethality of violent assaultChristopher Caldwell on Trump's warnings on EuropeCurtis Yarvin on hobbits and elvesBritish Muslim crime rateLeamington Spa case Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Conservative America gets right about Britain

Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Headto cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if youget a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.I know that there are many people listening to this podcast right now who truly and sincerely want to get married, but can't find the right person. They've done the usual things – they've tried the apps, they've tried going to church, they've asked their friends to set them up. These strategies aren't futile – we all know plenty of people who met their spouses in this way – but they're not a guarantee, either. If we've learnt anything from the social experiment of the sexual revolution, it's that matchmaking is a difficult coordination problem. Earlier this year, I interviewed Christiana Maxion, a professional matchmaker who takes a very intuitive approach to her work. Today, I'm joined by someone who comes at the problem in a very different way. Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychologist, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico, and the author of books including 'The Mating Mind' (2001) and 'Mating Intelligence' (2008). He's also the Chief Science Advisor to a dating platform that claims to be able to match people based on A.I. analysis of reams of data. Things like IQ tests, personality tests, and demographic factors like age and socioeconomic status. Geoffrey believes that this non-intuitive approach to matchmaking is the way to bring happy couples together. Today we speak about the science, and also the issue of expectations. What is it reasonable to want in a spouse? How can single people set themselves up to win in the marriage market? And what role should we give to other people – parents or siblings, for instance – in the process of matchmaking? Discussed in the show:My interview with Christiana Maxion.Keeper matchmaking Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Could A.I. find you a spouse? Maiden Mother Matriarch 176

In this bonus episode, I disagreed strongly with Meghan Murphy on the necessity of housework.Discussed in the episode:‘Women aren’t nags – we’re just fed up’‘Thoughts on being raised by a single dad and the advice to “just do less”‘The women quietly quitting their husbands’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The politics of nagging

No one is under any illusions about how tired mothers are. And fathers, too. Particularly during the early years of sleep deprivation. We're also often overwhelmed by responsibility and financial stress. None of this is in doubt. But does that mean that mothers are unhappy? It's a complicated question to answer. A lot of people assume – particularly, I suspect, people who don't have children themselves – that tiredness and busyness necessarily suggest that a woman's wellbeing is damaged by having children. And there are, of course, feminist ideas that fall out of this assumption. Primarily, the idea that marriage and motherhood are oppressive to women, and that these are burdens that women long to be relieved of. Today I'm joined by two academics who offer their expertise on the question of maternal happiness. Wendy Wang is the Director of Research at the Institute for Family Studies, and Jenet Erickson is a fellow at the same institute. She's also an associate professor at Brigham Young University. I met Wendy and Jenet at a conference organised by the Institute for Family Studies earlier this year at which they both presented their research on marriage, children, and – here's the really interesting bit – the strong correlation between a woman's experience of physical touch and her mental wellbeing. They both argue that mothers – specifically married mothers – are happier on average than other women. Together we examine the evidence. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if mothers are happy, actually | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 175

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Nina Power about 'hybristophilia' – a fetish typically found in women that is characterized by sexual attraction to criminals. We discussed what the phenomenon reveals about female sexuality, the insights offered by erotic fiction intended for a female readership, and the tightrope that women have to walk when trying to attract sexual interest from men. Discussed in the episode: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15334175/The-female-police-officers-betray-law-inside-Besotted-women-share-force-secrets-criminal-lovers-share-jail-kisses-them.htmlhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/news/36533018/ex-prison-officer-jailed-parties-onlyfans/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2074301/Woman-with-objects-fetish-marries-Eiffel-Tower.htmlhttps://www.louiseperry.co.uk/p/the-evolution-of-mental-illness-marcohttps://www.louiseperry.co.uk/p/where-do-fetishes-come-from-ray-blanchardhttps://archive.org/details/lovingtosurvives0000grah  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Female sexuality is stranger and darker than we realise

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, and author of books including ‘iGen’, ‘Generation Me’, and ‘Generations.’ Her latest title is ‘10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World: How Parents Can Stop Smartphones, Social Media, and Gaming from Taking Over Their Children’s Lives.’We spoke about why smartph… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't Give Kids Smartphones! - Jean Twenge | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 174

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I spoke about sexual politics and education. Do men care about whether a potential wife has a degree? Is university the best place to find a spouse? And was ‘Princeton Mom’ right? Discussed in the episode:* https://x.com/Rich_Cooper/status/1989676504880386558* https://x.com/sentientist/status/1991591912881680859?s=46… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Sexual politics & education

In this episode I’m joined by Lyman Stone and Diana Fleischman for a debate on eugenics – specifically, Diana’s argument that most people support ‘negative eugenic’ policies to some degree, and that governments ought to go further by encouraging the use of sterilisation or long term contraception among, for instance, drug addicts.Lyman Stone is the Director of Research of the consulting firm Demographic Intelligence, the director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies, and an author on Substack - Diana Fleischman is an evolutionary psychologist, Associate Research Professor at the University of New Mexico, and author of the Dissentient Substack - https://dissentient.substack.comDiscussed in the episode:* Diana’s essay ‘You’re probably a eugenicist’ https://dissentient.substack.com/p/eugenicist* Shor, E., & Simchai, D. (2009). Incest avoidance, the incest taboo, and social cohesion: Revisiting Westermarck and the case of the Israeli kibbutzim. American Journal of Sociology, 114(6), 1803–1842.* Gipson, J. D., Bornstein, M., Berger, A., & Rocca, C. H. (2021). Desire to avoid pregnancy and contraceptive use among female methadone patients in Los Angeles. Contraception, 103(5), 322–327* Donohue, J. J., & Levitt, S. D. (2001). The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(2), 379–420. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530151144050 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Eugenics Debate - Diana Fleischman vs Lyman Stone | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 173

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about the new data indicating that British citizens are emigrating in much larger numbers than anyone realised. We also spoke about how emigration has shaped the Anglosphere and the proposed reforms to the asylum system. Discussed in the episode:* ONS revised emigration estimates – https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplep… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: The British are Leaving

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Melissa Kearney, Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame and author of ‘The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.’We spoke about the experience of raising children in a low fertility society, why feminists should care about pronatalism, the cause of the massive recent dec… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

High Income, Low Fertility - Melissa Kearney | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 172

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, I spoke with Diana Fleischman about the new Lily Allen album, why most people aren’t well suited to polyamory, why celebrities cheat more often than normal people, whether we should stigmatise polyamory, and the middle aged women taking testosterone to boost their libidos. Discussed in the episode:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Lily Allen & the problem with polyamory

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Joyce Benenson, Lecturer in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and the author of ‘Warriors and Worriers: The Survival of the Sexes.’ We spoke about boys and men – why even very young boys are often obsessed with enemies, superheroes, weapons, and everything else to do with warfare, and how psychological sex differences ar… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warriors and Worriers - Joyce Benenson | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 171

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed Alasdair MacIntyre’s work and the position of postliberalism in 2025. Is the West excessively individualistic, or actually excessively communitarian? Was the welfare state a terrible mistake? And did liberalism really fail?Discussed in the episode:https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/10/how-to-save-br… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: The end of postliberalism

This episode is sponsored by Relay. For a 7 day free trial, go to https://joinrelay.app/maiden and use the code ‘LOUISE’ at checkout.📰 Subscribe to Maiden Mother Matriarch here to listen to full extended episodes: louiseperry.substack.com My guest today is Joe Alto, a psychotherapist who specialises in men’s issues, particularly sexual impulse control relating to infidelity and porn use. We spoke about the therapy styles that work best for men, why men so often use porn as a self soothing tool, the false assumptions that women make about men’s porn use, why men tend to go to strip clubs in groups, how porn exposure has replaced traditional rites of passage for boys, and practical means of combating porn addiction. The MMM podcast can also be found on Apple, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/maidenmothermatriarchFollow Maiden Mother Matriarch on social media:Twitter: @maiden_podcastInstagram: @maiden_mother_matriarchTikTok: @maiden_podcast #LouisePerry #JoeAlto #MaidenMotherMatriarch This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sex Differences and Psychotherapy - Joe Alto | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 170

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about ‘gooning.’ Discussed on the show: https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: The Goon Squad

In this MMM episode, I’m joined by Ann Furedi and Leah Libresco Sargeant to discuss the question “is access to legal abortion essential to women’s flourishing?”Ann is a writer, activist, author of the book ‘The Moral Case for Abortion’ and the former chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the largest abortion provider in the UK.Leah is the author of ‘The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto’ and also of the Substack ‘Other Feminisms.’ She works in family policy in Washington D.C. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Abortion Debate - Ann Furedi vs Leah Libresco Sargeant | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 169’ pls

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, I spoke with Rob Henderson about the ‘Great Feminisation Hypothesis’. Discussed in the episode:https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-great-feminization/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: The Great Feminisation Hypothesis

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Dan Hitchens, senior editor at First Things Magazine. We spoke about assisted suicide: the second and third order consequences of legalisation, why low fertility welfare states are increasingly drawn to this apparent solution to their financial woes, and why Britain’s National Health Service would prove to be a particularly dangerous p… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Case Against Assisted Suicide - Dan Hitchens | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 168

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Rod Dreher and I discussed Pope Leo’s recent comments on refugees and the conflict within Christianity over how to respond to mass immigration.Discussed in the episode:https://firstthings.com/indigenous-london/Thibault De MontbrialJean Raspail Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Christianity and immigration

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Linda Griffith, Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering at MIT and director of the Center for Gynepathology Research in Boston. Linda is a leading world expert on endometriosis, our subject today. We spoke about her own experiences with the disease, why it’s so poorly understood, the challenges of diagnosis, the impact on wo… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Woman's Disease - Linda Griffith | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 167

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Nina and I spoke about the state of ‘the yookay’ – how the colonial instinct turned inwards, how we might interpret class conflict in a non-Marxist way, the deranged individualism of the English, and why generosity can so easily generate resentment. We also discussed Enoch Powell, Harry Potter, and Tolkein. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: the yookay

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukThis episode is sponsored by Relay. For a 7 day free trial, go to https://joinrelay.app/maiden and use the code ‘LOUISE’ at checkout.📰 Subscribe to Maiden Mother Matriarch here to listen to full extended episodes: louiseperry.substack.com My guest today is Samo Burja, founder of Bismarck Analysis, a consulting firm that investigates the political and i… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagining a Low-Fertility Future - Samo Burja | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 166

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Meghan and I spoke about ‘Right wing cancel culture’ – is it a real phenomenon? Is it as bad as the Left wing kind? And how do the Right tend to respond to their own apostates? We also spoke about the reluctance of many pro-choice advocates to debate abortion, whether McCarthyism might have been justified, and the recent rise in p… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Right wing cancel culture

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Christiana Maxion, a matchmaker based in Dubai who specialises in providing bespoke matchmaking services to the ultra wealthy. We spoke about how this kind of modern matchmaking differs from the traditional model, the problem of people overestimating their desirability and how a good matchmaker should respond to that, what rich men are… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matchmaking for the 1% - Christiana Maxion | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 165

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I spoke about downward social mobility and the political instability generated by elite over-production. We also discussed the status anxiety motivating the MAGA movement, whether Mars colonisation would relieve political tension, the role of downward social mobility in the industrial revolution, and why white el… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Revolt Of The Rich Kids

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukThis episode is sponsored by Relay. For a 7 day free trial, go to https://joinrelay.app/maiden and use the code ‘LOUISE’ at checkout.📰 Subscribe to Maiden Mother Matriarch here to listen to full extended episodes: louiseperry.substack.com My guest today is Ed Latimore, a best-selling author, former professional heavyweight boxer, and competitive chess … Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Truth About Addiction - Ed Latimore | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 164

I'm joined today by Kate Phelan and Johann Kurtz to debate the question 'should we encourage our sons to be masculine?' Kate is a lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne and the author of a recent book titled 'Feminism, Defeated.' Johann is the author of the Substack 'Becoming Noble.' We discussed whether the relationship between masculinity and femininity is necessarily hierarchical, the role of men as protectors of women, why aggression is the most difficult and volatile facet of masculinity, and whether traditional gender roles are prudent or tyrannical. The MMM podcast can also be found on Apple, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/maidenmothermatriarchThis episode is sponsored by Relay. For a 7 day free trial, go to https://joinrelay.app/maiden and use the code ‘LOUISE’ at checkout.📰 Subscribe to Maiden Mother Matriarch here to listen to full extended episodes: louiseperry.substack.com  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should We Encourage Our Sons To Be Masculine? | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 163

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Katherine Dee, tech reporter and historian of the internet. We spoke about a recent New York Times article ('They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.') on psychosis induced by ChatGPT, and compared this phenomenon with historic cases of new communication technologies causing outbreaks of mental illness. In… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: AI Psychosis

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Alex Kaschuta, creator of The Garden of Earthly Delights Substack. We spoke about why modern urbanites are so attracted to tradlife, but why (what I call ) unilateral tradlife is so difficult. We also spoke about the peculiarity of Anglo culture from an Eastern European perspective, whether the Right is really capable of good governanc… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Tragedy of the Tradwife - Alex Kaschuta | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 161

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode I spoke with Ed West about the 'flagging' phenomenon in Britain: the government's inability to respond to it, why it's emerged right now, and whether it's just a show or patriotism or a sign of something more sinister. We also spoke about 'colourblind casting' in British historical dramas, the state of Britain's international reput… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Flag Wars!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guests today are Ute Heggen and Emma Thomas, two women whose lives have been deeply impacted by the men in their lives choosing to transition. Ute runs the YouTube channel @UteHeggenTranswidowHeals, and has also authored a memoir titled 'In the Curated Woods.' Emma is founder of the campaign group Children of Transitioners.We spoke about Emma and Ute… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Experiences of Trans Widows - Ute Heggen & Emma Thomas | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 160

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode I spoke about Freya India about the modern pathologisation of personality traits – including virtues like "people pleasing" – and whether a better understanding of psychological sex differences might encourage young people to be less vexed about common psychological phenomena like rumination. We also spoke about parasocial relation… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Pathologising Personality

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Kate Phelan, a Lecturer in the School of Global, Urban, and Social Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, and the author of a new book titled 'Feminism, Defeated.'We spoke about how feminism has changed over the past half century, from the radicalism of the Second Wave to the absorption of feminism into the progressive omnicause. In … Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feminism, defeated - Kate Phelan | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 159

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about the phenomenon of female teachers – typically young and attractive – having sexual relationships with their young male students. Plus we spoke about women behaving like 'female chauvinist pigs', my theory of nonce radar, and whether or not men are now more interested in dating older women. We discu… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BONUS: Lucky Boy

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukMy guest today is Amy Alkon, science reporter and author of a new book titled 'Going Menopostal: What You (and Your Doctor) Need to Know About the Real Science of Menopause and Perimenopause.' We spoke about menopause: what it is, the symptoms, treatment options, and why Amy believes that most menopausal women are being terribly misserved by their docto… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Science of Menopause - Amy Alkon | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 158

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.ukIn this bonus episode, Nina Power and I spoke about '1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story', a new documentary on Channel 4, as well as Kathleen Stock's recent essay for UnHerd about the documentary. Is Bonnie Blue the perfect capitalist? An artist? A demon? A psychopath? A neo-religious symbol? All of the above? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.