Laurie Lee Hall was a promising college student studying architecture, and she was known to the world as a man. When she encountered The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she saw a well-defined path that fit the gender she was assigned at birth. So she buried her past to become the perfect Mormon man.  Wearing her male disguise, she married, had children, and rose to the position of chief architect for the LDS Church, overseeing its most sacred building projects. But her past...

Trump's 2018 zero tolerance policy which separated immigrant children from their parents at the border with no plan for reuniting them shocked the American conscience. And even though he claimed to cease the practice within weeks, zero tolerance is rooted in American law that dates back 100 years and remains on the books today. It can easily happen again.  Efrén Olivares was on the front lines defending immigrant families, and the work was personal. Efrén himself is an immigrant, and he...

In this mini episode, historian Peggy O'Donnell Heffington returns to talk about how women without children became a focal point of the 2024 presidential election. Plus: Listener Voicemail Bonus preview of the terrific podcast, "Refamulating." 

As a Black woman growing up in England, Catherine Joy White sometimes felt out of place at home and also disconnected from the place of her Jamaican ancestors. Until she began connecting with the stories of remarkable but often forgotten Black woman from history. Their stories helped her re-envision what beauty means, how silence can also be strength, and what courage looks like. Such fortitude, like a thread of gold, can connect all of us to the past, and point us toward a better...

Abi Maxwell's daughter wanted the pink shoes. She wanted to dress as a witch on Halloween in kindergarten. She wore her hair long and envied the dance costumes other girls got to wear for the recital. The problem was that Abi's daughter was "known" to her, and to their conservative New Hampshire town, as a boy. Suddenly, Abi's beloved hometown became engulfed in a hurricane of controversy with her daughter right in the eye of the storm. In this episode, Abi tells the story of how her own...

History is full of women who never gave birth to children, whether because they couldn't or even didn't want to. Historian Peggy O'Donnell Heffington says her research about women without children made her feel more settled about her own choice not to have kids, but it also surprisingly made her feel greater solidarity with women who make the opposite choice. She joins us to talk about her book, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother."

Up to 90% of women and trans men experience menstrual abnormalities or pelvic issues at some point in their lives. Dr. Karen Tang says too many people are suffering in silence, and that's why she wrote a comprehensive guide called It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (but Were Never Told). We're talking all about reproductive health, so if you've ever met with a gynecologist, this one's for you. And if you haven't, this one is also very much for you! 

Bella DePaulo has been single her entire life, but she doesn't want anyone's pity about that. This social psychologist loves being single, and she always has. In her latest book Single At Heart she highlights the lives of people who are thriving not in spite of being uncoupled, but because of it. She joins us to talk about what her research uncovers about the "Power, Freedom, and Heart-Filling Joy of Single Life."

Lauren Sandler is an "only child" expert. She is one. She has one. And as an award-winning journalist, Lauren dug deep to answer some of the most pressing questions about singletons. Are they more lonely? Are they more selfish? Would they be better off with siblings? She answers these questions and more in her book, One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One. 

As an ultra-Orthodox Jew, Sara Glass was raised to believe her purpose in life was to marry a righteous man and bear children, all to the glory of God. On the outside, she was following that plan to perfection. But on the inside, something was pulling her in a very different direction. It was traumatic, and she would have to risk everything to find healing. Sara joins us to discuss her new memoir, Kissing Girls on Shabbat.

What does it mean to be a man? Depends on who you ask. Depends on *when* you ask, because masculinity has always been a moving target. In this episode we travel back to ancient Rome, where manly men loved war, violence, and sexual conquest. Mike Pope says this history has powerful relevance for us today. We're talking about his book, "Lucretius and the End of Masculinity."

Eris Young wrote the go-to book on everything non-binary. They break down the basics of how we experience gender to paint a more expansive, inclusive, and accurate picture of human identity. What's it like to be nonbinary? What challenges do they face? What about healthcare? Pronouns? All this and more with Eris Young, author of "They/Them/Their: A Guide to Nonbinary and Genderqueer Identities."

Maggie Smith wrote a poem that went viral, but that wasn't the cause of her divorce. It was just one moment in a much bigger story about infidelity, raising children, and learning to live in a haunted house. Need some divorce catharsis? Join us. 

Jessica Pryce believed a career at Child Protective Services would be a rewarding way to help keep kids safe. What she learned on the job completely changed her mind, as the system itself kept getting closer and closer to home. So she became a scholar of the system and now works as a public advocate to help change it for the better. 

Caregiving for aging and dying parents can be tough for anyone, but it's even tougher when it forces you to confront longtime family dynamics of abuse. Sociologist Deborah Cohan blurs the lines between academic research on family caregiving and violence, and her own personal story about a father she calls both adoring and abusive. Her memoir is called Welcome to Wherever We Are: A Memoir of Family, Caregiving, and Redemption.

The path to becoming a parent is complicated for LGBTQ people. Dr. Abbie E. Goldberg has evidence-based advice to help make it happen, debunking stereotypes and increasing the visibility of queer families. Her work can benefit all families. Including yours.

Many white men in America have long been raised to expect certain social and economic privileges. As inequality rises and women and minorities enter the chat, many white men are reacting with rage. Sociologist Michael Kimmel says aggrieved entitlement is fueling a dying fire of white male anger that won’t be fully extinguished on its own. We're talking about his book, "Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era."

Divorce can be a difficult process today, but it's nothing compared to what it used to be. In the late 1800s, women from around the country had to fight for the right to separate from their husbands on their own terms. April White tells their stories and how they still impact us today in her fascinating book, "The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier."

When Angela Tucker was adopted into a white family it couldn't sever her from her Black roots. Today she advocates for open adoptions and mentors transracial adoptees. In this episode we discuss her book, "You Should Be Grateful."

There was more than one closet in Jessi Hempel’s church-going family. And after she came out of hers, the doors kept bursting open. Jessi joins us to talk about her memoir, "The Family Outing."

One hundred years ago, a bright new age for children was dawning in America. Child labor laws were being passed, public education was spreading, and more. But Adam Benforado says America stopped short in its revolution of children's rights. Today, more than eleven million American children live in poverty. We deny young people any political power, while we fail to act on the issues that matter most to them: racism, inequality, and climate change. That's why Adam is calling for a new...

Your family is...loving? Your family is...hurtful? Your family is...all this and more? If you feel overwhelmed when you think about your family, this episode will help you understand your anxiety and give you evidence-based tools to repair it.  Dr. Mariel Buqué is a leading specialist in trauma psychology. She says our physical and mental health challenges can be rooted in family trauma passed down through the generations—not just culturally, but even biologically.  We're talking about her...

When Cat Bohannan was working on her PhD, she noticed something was missing from the story we usually hear about human evolution. Specifically: women. Time to fix that.

She dreamed of being a mother. Reality had a wakeup call for her.