Why childhood protections matter politically

The White House will likely soon release a large set of documents about convicted pedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein further detailing the depths of his crimes. Alongside this, a line of rhetoric seems to be developing in certain right-wing circles: although what Epstein did was morally abominable, not all of it was criminal, and it's certainly categorically different from preying on "real children." But what exactly is childhood, and why are certain reactionaries making this argument now? This week, June and Josh look into the history of the concept of childhood in the United States to try and figure out why.

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EPISODE ART: Richard Hanania, a writer and online right-wing personality whose work includes 2023's The Origins of Woke, published by HarperCollins under their Broadside Books imprint. Hanania is a co-author of Project 2025, previously wrote for white supremacists publications under the pen name Richard Hoste, and recently wrote about how pedophilia is a moral panic.

AUDIO CLIPS:

• 3:11 – Megyn Kelly speaking about Jeffrey Epstein in a recent episode of The Megyn Kelly Show
• 1:05:01 – "Jailbait," a song released by Olivia Nuzzi under the pseudonym "Livvy" in 2009 when she was 16 years old
• 1:14:32 – Neil Sedaka performs "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" on American Bandstand in 1963

FURTHER LISTENING:

• The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about Fireproof (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Pocket Casts)

SOURCES:

• Republican Wants to Loosen Child Labor Laws
• Why is the teen birth rate falling?
• Child Labor Laws - Facts and Misconceptions
• Injuries, death and abuse: The disturbing reality behind Ohio’s rollback child labor laws
• A Brief History of Education in the United States
• Epstein files: Who else was mentioned?
• Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million in Privacy Suit Against Gawker
• The U.S. Fertility Decline Is Not Due to the Drop in Teen Pregnancies
• Age of Consent Through the Years in the United States.
• Hitler, Demi Moore, and Other "Pedophiles"

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