"Having a Baby" Is a Misfire
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I have been a subscriber to the podcast from almost the very beginning and I have enjoyed it. I have to write in and say, however, that the episode which appeared this week on "Having a Baby Never Cost So Much" put me off.
I have one child. My wife and I, at the time of our child's birth 9 years ago, were both college graduates with middle class jobs. Combined, we made more than the national median income. We had few extravagances but we tried to make sure our child had nice things. For two working parents decidedly in the middle class, having a child was nevertheless financially almost-ruinous. By the time we were done with diapers and day care, we were heavily in debt. It took a couple years and a big jump in income for us to catch up financially.
That is prologue to say that your episode on having a baby came from such a tremendous place of unacknowledged privilege on such a sensitive topic, that it set me off. Parents want to give their children the very best. They certainly don't want to think they are not giving their children every opportunity to have a fulfilling life. And there is the darker side of "competitive parenting" where people judge each other on parenting styles, sacrifices made, material wealth, etc.
Except in the title, this episode never seemed to acknowledge just how many people are priced out of the world it described. We were middle class, buying Target and Dollar General diapers and still suffering mounting debt. The idea of paying extra for premium diapers and the other things you talked about in this episode would have been ludicrous to us, yet this episode treated it as just another thing conscientious parents do. (And conversely, that non conscientious parents don't do). And to top it off, the very last line of the podcast talked about this being a part of giving your kids the best start in life, intentionally or nonintentionally alluding to the competitive parenting that has plagued American culture in the last decade or so.
I'm going to keep listening, but I would advise the producers to be mindful of checking their privilege.
Note, I would have preferred not to give a rating at all, but iTunes is making me in order to publish this. I would give the podcast 4 stars prior to now but bumped it down because of this episode.”Read full review »
richardatgmail via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
09/21/16
More reviews of Material World
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I've never rated a podcast before, but I have to say thanks to the first podcast I've heard that both demonstrated that artisinal ice cream brands don't matter and informing me that Hanson went into the brewery business.”Read full review »
missusalex via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
06/14/16
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I work in the retail industry, so this podcast is super relatable and informative. Would love a 5 min retail news brief each show as well!”
SsstttaaacccyyyDddd via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
11/03/16
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“Great content! Very interesting take on the Craft industry, loved the show!”
1016pegleg via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
06/02/16
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Listen now
Links
Genres
Artwork or description wrong?
Request an update »
Updates may take a few minutes.
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
