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PODCAST

Raising Questions

Raising Questions is the podcast in which I raise some questions about why we live the way we do. Season 1 was about how and why people choose to become or not become parents. It seems like once someone becomes a parent, it was an inevitability - that"s who they were always meant to be. But that can"t possibly be true, can it? And if not, what happens in the several years before someone makes that choice? I wanted to to explore what it’s like to experience both the ticking of a biological clock

society & culture

All Episodes

36:59

S3: Friend Breakups, Repairing a Broken Friendship

Raising Questions ·

2023/10/17

This episode is fantastic! Austin is so kind and vulnerable, and the amount that he cares about his friend really shines through. He details fixing a friendship after a friend breakup, reconciling with himself what he'd done wrong, and appreciating the way it's changed his friendship. He's so introspective and focused on personal growth, and it was such a treat to discuss friend breakups with him. You'll also catch a glimpse of his very sweet dog.

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43:58

S3: The Difference between Friend & Romantic Breakups...

Raising Questions ·

2023/10/05

My guest this week is wonderful. Kattoo tells a really juicy story about a friend breakup with a college friend, who she later lived with as an adult (for the second time). We talk friend breakups when there's a large group of friends, friends who grow apart as their lives diverge, how friend breakups are different from romantic breakups (for better & for worse(, and what we can learn from them. Kattoo is so funny, but she's also not afraid to be sincere and vulnerable about the challenges of friend

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45:14

S3, Friend Breakups: A Fake Robbery

Raising Questions ·

2023/09/29

Welcome to Season 3 of Raising Questions! In this season, I'm investigating friendship—and to start with, friend breakups. My guest this week is FANTASTIC. I asked people to shares stories of friend breakups, and Aaron delivered. His breakup happened many years ago, but the details are so specific and vivid that you will feel like they're happening to you. It involves a faked robbery, rotted food, a sudden move out, and a friendship that grew apart—first slowly, then all at once. Aaron is so easy to

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25:34

S2: Don't Think About Masculinity, with Jason Adam...

Raising Questions ·

2023/09/23

This week, brilliant cartoonist & satirist Jason Adam Katzenstein joins me to discuss his own masculinity—something he tries not to think about. We discuss what distinguishes someone as a man, why it's hard for masculinity not to be toxic, and what he learned from his college friends. Jason is so funny and thoughtful, but he's also open to having his mind changed, which I really appreciated. He's the creator of my all-time favorite cartoon, which he discuss at length. For more from Jason, find him

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44:57

S2: Harry Styles is a Masculine Role Model, with...

Raising Questions ·

2023/09/13

This episode is so fun! I invited Blythe Roberson on because a) she's one of my favorite writers b) I consider her an expert on men. She's the author of How to Date Men When You Hate Men, which means she has a very well-informed opinion on how women can turn men into the best versions of themselves (for everyone's benefit, not least of all, those of us who date them). We discuss how to help men embrace positive masculinity, odd reactions she's gotten to her writing, her great American road trip, and

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53:00

S2: Larry David is a Masculine Icon, with Will Hines

Raising Questions ·

2023/09/08

This episode is enlightening. Comedian Will Hines does something impressive—he presents a very clear, specific example of what's harder about being a man, and he explains exactly what men are useful for. In many ways, this is exactly what I'm seeking with this whole season, and he manages to do it in a way that's 0% obnoxious. He talks about learning from his mistakes, being called out, and the trouble with men who identify as "nice guys." We also discuss Larry David and why he should be a liberal

en

41:18

S2: Positive Masculinity, Working With Your Hands,...

Raising Questions ·

2023/08/29

This episode is fantastic! Andrew is so open with me about his career in construction, why he loves it, and how fatherhood changed his views on masculinity. He discusses the need to make the construction industry less toxically masculine, while also acknowledging that he's able to succeed in a variety of work environments—which means he has a distinct role to play in helping improve the industry. Towards the end, we get into some much deeper conversations about spirituality, faith, and of course,

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43:55

Can You Lose Your Masculinity?

Raising Questions ·

2023/08/23

This week's guest is wonderful. Nick comes on the show to discuss how cancer took away certain parts of his masculinity, and how that changed the way he thought about it. We talk personal growth, fatherhood, journalism, how to unlearn the messages of toxic masculinity, and why women are better listeners (we all know they are...but why?). Nick is so open and vulnerable in discussing his regrets and mistakes he'd made. I was really touched by his honesty, and I feel so grateful that he came on the

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42:36

S2 Positive Masculinity: Redefining Manhood with "The...

Raising Questions ·

2023/08/20

This week’s episode is awesome. My guest is Alex Manley, the author of The New Masculinity: A Roadmap for a 21st-Century Definition of Manhood— a guidebook for men today who want to escape the shackles of toxic masculinity. In this episode, we discuss this book extensively—why Alex wanted to write it, how coming out as non-binary influenced their perspective on masculinity, what challenges men today face, who they hope to reach with this book, why it’s important to write for people who don’t agree

en

37:03

S2, Positive Masculinity: The Problem with Modernity,...

Raising Questions ·

2023/08/14

This episode is so fun! Brilliant comedian Django Gold joins me to talk all things masculinity, including how his hippie upbringing influenced his ideas about masculinity, why he doesn't think there's anything hard about being a man, and why Mr. Rogers is an iconic masculine role model. We also discuss Django's new comedy special, which is dropping in September, and all the problems modernity creates. Find him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/django or on his website here:

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42:16

S2: Expansive Masculinity with Miriam Clayton-Erickson

Raising Questions ·

2023/08/07

This week's episode was amazing! The brilliant Miriam Clayton-Erickson comes on to discuss "expansive masculinity"—the topic of her PhD thesis. She tells me about how traditional ideas of masculinity are limiting to men, and when we expand the idea, we can create a type of masculinty that works better for everyone. We discuss how an unequal distribution of housework got her interested in the topic, what the most interesting findings in her research were, what parts of the conversation about

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51:43

What Men Think About Right Before Sex, with Dan Rosen

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/31

The hilarious and very insightful Dan Rosen joins me to discuss all things positive masculinity. He prepared a lot for this interview, and it shows—he's very knowledgable and offers some great reading recommendations. We cover a lot, including: how younger men don't have good positive influences, who those influences could be, the effects of testosterone, and why he doesn't often think about being a man. Unrelated to positive masculinity, I also inquire about what men think about immediately before

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40:49

S2: Positive Masculinity: Why Nepo Babies Should Be...

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/25

This episode is so fun! Camille & I talk all things positive masculinity, from her childhood in Atlanta, the intersection of racism & misogyny at the University of Alabama (and other places), her Fulbright Scholarship in Turkey, and her career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. We discuss the current strike (and as she predicted, the actors did go on strike to join the writers), and what men in Hollywood need to do to get their act together. Camille does have hope for positive masculinity, and we

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43:01

S2: Positive Masculinity: Captain America with Mayor...

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/16

This episode, I have the absolute pleasure of talking to Mayor Joe Signorello of Roselle Park, NJ! We cover how he got into politics, what both the left & the right (but mostly the right) get wrong about positive masculinity, what positive masculinity means to him, why men with cats do poorly on dating apps, and why Captain America is a masculine icon. We also discuss his campaign for Senate, which has morphed into a very exciting campaign for Congress—and why America needs its male political

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48:00

A History of Marriage with Historian Stephanie Coontz

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/10

This is an incredible episode for the history buffs or anyone who's just curious how we came to decide that marriage was the right way to form a family. Dr. Coontz is the Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Familie, emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and the author of five books on gender, family, and history. I found her work through Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage, which was

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45:37

S1—To Baby or Not: We Are Childfree Founder Zoe Noble!

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/06

I'm so excited to close out this season with We Are Childfree founder Zoe Noble! She came on the pod to discuss her amazing storytelling community of childfree people all over the world. Zoe is a photographer by trade, and after a ride with a particularly intrusive cab driver, she realized the world needed to see what a life without children actually looks like—so she started taking photos. In this interview, we discuss being childfree in different cultures, misconceptions about being childfree, the

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36:33

S1—To Baby or Not: Is it Stockholm Syndrome?

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/03

This episode is amazing! Laura details her journey to not becoming a mother, including how she knew at a young age that she wanted to be childfree, what effect her Midwestern upbringing had on the decision, how happy she is to not have children, and what society expects of women without children. We discuss how the pressure her husband faces pales in comparison to hers, and why she often sugarcoats her choice. She also tells a horrific story of a doctor forcing her into a more invasive procedure to

en

21:29

S1—To Baby or Not: An Engraved Invitation from the...

Raising Questions ·

2023/07/01

This is the first episode I ever recorded! Miraculously salvaged by my brilliant editor Brendan Weathers, as I didn't know anything about audio recording at the time. Josh told me about his path to becoming a father. He discussed all the concerns he had ahead of time, and why he decided to go ahead with it anyway. We discuss overthinking, the service industry, doing your 20s in your 30s, waiting for signs from the universe, and why women shouldn't write off DJs! (Well, he says he's a DJ, and that

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51:35

S1—To Baby or Not: A Room of One's Own with Noel & Maude

Raising Questions ·

2023/06/26

This week's ep is a double header! The hilarious duo Noel & Maude join me to discuss how to fit a baby into a creative lifestyle. Noel is a hilarious comedy friend (and frequent collaborator) of mine, and Maude is a new friend who's worked in TV, podcasts, ads, and more. We discuss fears about how having a child might inhibit our crafts, how our childhoods affects our thoughts on starting a family, whether or not women need to achieve their goals before having children, what we're looking forward to

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55:25

S1—To Baby or Not: No One Is Ever Sure, with "Spare...

Raising Questions ·

2023/06/16

This episode is amazing! Andrea Bartz, one of my favorite thriller writers, joins me to discuss being childfree, coming out at age 34, how our culture/media tells women what lives to want, and how scary it is to upend that heteronormative status quo. We discuss her new thriller, The Spare Room, and how Andrea's life inspired the story. We also talk about how badly reviewers react to work that lets women not have children— everything from Sex and the City to Andrea's own work. I LOVED the Spare Room,

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