Ill Conceived

Within the last few years, women portraying themselves online with a “trad wife” aesthetic have skyrocketed in popularity. This new trend embraces long dresses, traditional gender roles, cooking homemade meals, and raising massive families. Josh and June take a look into what the Trad Wife life experience is all about, what’s so appealing about it to some women, and the aspects that make it more than just a harmless apolitical lifestyle. ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Abby Shapiro Roth, a "traditional lifestyle" content creator who formerly published videos on YouTube as Classically Abby and now writes a newsletter called The First-Gen SAHM. She's also Ben Shapiro's sister. AUDIO CLIPS: 21:54 – Nara Smith's homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch TikTok 23:52 – Estee Williams prepares for her husband 29:59 – Alena Kate Pettit in a podcast interview about being a #TradWife 39:19 – Abby Shapiro on five lies the Left tells women from her YouTube channel, Classically Abby SOURCES:  A Trad Wife Tragedy Why the resurgence of trad wives is more alarming than you think The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife Tradwife life isn't as good as it looks on TikTok — just ask former tradwives Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children) Is the Tradwife just a kink? Don't underestimate the happy housewife's power Florida Says It Plans to End All Vaccine Mandates The #tradwife Movement and Christian Womanhood Opinion: How Mormonism Churns Out the Most Influential #TradWives The Four Levels Of Manliness What it’s like to be a trad kid FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Kill The Computer Writing: June's Substack

Purity is a load-bearing concept in the conservative Christian ideal of family and reproduction. From as young as five years old, Christian girls are told to guard their hearts and bodies against men with bad intentions. But what about a positive model of masculine pursuit? This week, Josh and June take a look at the men who believe the best way to teach their daughters about their worth is to take them out on dates and pledge to guard their virtue in elaborate ceremonies known as purity balls. ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Randy Wilson, field director for the Family Research Council and creator of the concept of the purity ball AUDIO CLIPS: 13:41 – Dr. James Dobson talks about father/daughter dates in a Dr. Dobson Minute 19:42 – Dennis Rainey and Bob Lapine talk about father/daughter dates on an episode of FamilyTalk 50:54 – Hannah Lane and her father Ken in an interview from the documentary The Virgin Daughters  53:55 – Lisa Wilson in an interview from The Virgin Daughters 57:45 – Randy Wilson in an interview from The Virgin Daughters 1:00:44 – Interview from The Virgin Daughters 1:10:36 – Clip from Virgin Tales (2012) 1:16:35 – Jody Hice & Randy Wilson in an interview about Mike Johnson for the Family Research Council's Washington Watch SOURCES: "'Purity Balls' Get Attention, but Might Not Be All They Claim" by Mark Oppenheimer (The New York Times, July 20, 2012) "Daddy’s Little Girls: On the Perils of Chastity Clubs, Purity Balls, and Ritualized Abstinence" by Breanne Fahs (Frontiers: A Journal of Woman Studies, 2010) 88 Great Daddy-Daughter Dates by Joanna & Rob Teigen (Revell, 2012) Daddy Dates: Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts by Greg Wright (Thomas Nelson, 2011) "Would You Pledge Your Virginity to Your Father?" by Jennifer Baumgardner (Glamour, December 31, 2006) "The Purity Ball: A promise I didn't understand" by Eboni Statham (Cipher, March 13, 2017) "Women’s Bodies Are Bearing the Brunt of Purity Culture" by Karen Alea (Jezebel, September 20, 2022) Saving Sex: Sexuality and Salvation in American Evangelicalism by Amy DeRogatis (Oxford UP, 2014) The Virgin Daughters dir. Jane Treays (Channel 4, 2008) Virgin Tales dir. Mirjam von Arx (Ican Films, 2012) FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Kill The Computer Writing: June's Substack

Josh is still really tired from his trip to Europe so we talked about James Dobson for a bit and then read some listener mail. Our regular programming will resume Friday, and we thank you for all of your thoughtful feedback! ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** FURTHER READING: "AI: The New Aesthetics of Fascism" by Gareth Watkins, New Socialist FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Kill The Computer Writing: June's Substack

The era of the Christian political agenda and conservative cultural hegemony took a backseat after Obama ushered in a time of progressive social optimism. For a moment, it felt like conservatives would never win again, especially on social issues. But they did. This week, June and Josh explore how the Obama administration rolled back abstinence-only sex education while advancing liberal social causes. Then they discover how the Christian right strategized to take back over politics and successfully redirected culture toward conservatism through the Heritage Foundation and its signature document: Project 2025. ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** AUDIO CLIPS: 47:13 - Former US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in a PragerU video about Title IX SOURCES: Elucidating the relationships between shame, anger, and self-destructive behaviors: The role of aversive responses to emotions Omnibus Appropriations Bill Advances Reproductive Health Care (2019) New Trump teen pregnancy approach stresses abstinence (2018) Trump Has an Abstinence-Only Vision for Federally Funded Family Planning Programs (2019) The link between book restrictions and sex education (2023) Conservative and Cultural Clashes with Comprehensive Sexuality Education Birth rate among U.S. teenagers aged 15-19 years from 1991 to 2023 Biden's New School Rules Protect LGBTQ Students Why Conservatives Want New Title IX Rule Blocked Trump administration to audit California sex education curriculum for ‘medical accuracy’ (2025) Mandate For Leadership: The Conservative Promise (Project 2025) How Project 2025 Would Devastate Public Education Impact of the Executive Order Redefining Sex on Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex People Judge blocks Trump’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood Timeline of Abstinence-Only Education in U.S. Classrooms Department of Education Reverts to Trump’s Title IX Rule More older women becoming first-time moms amid U.S. fertility rate declines Project 2025 Tracker FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Kill The Computer Writing: June's Substack

There's one guaranteed way to never get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted infection: not having sex. In the 1990s, the United States government expanded efforts to fund programs that taught adolescents this fact. Unfortunately, that funding came with a few restrictions—most notably, the programs weren't allowed to promote or demonstrate any type of contraception whatsoever. This week, June and Josh try to figure out how these abstinence-only until marriage sex education initiatives got so much traction for so long. ***IN EDINBURGH THIS WEEK? Get tickets to the play Josh is directing, THE BOY FROM BANTAY, by clicking here!*** EPISODE ART: A graph from a report commissioned by the United States government to study the effectiveness of four abstinence-only sex education programs. There is no meaningful difference in outcomes between those who participated in the program and those who didn't. SOURCES: "Budget Widens Teen-Pregnancy-Prevention Efforts" by Laura Meckler (The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2009) "Clinton Fires Surgeon General Over New Flap" by Paul Richter and Marlene Cimons (Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1994) History of Dedicated Federal Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs FY 1982-2019 from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) "Context counts: Long‐term sequelae of premarital intercourse or abstinence" by Nicole M. Else-Quest, Janet Shibley Hyde & John D. DeLamater (The Journal of Sex Research, 2005) Full text of Section 510, the Separate Program for Abstinence Education "Whatever Happened to the Adolescent Family Life Act?" by Rebecca Saul (Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 1998) "Clinton Frees $250 Million for Sex Abstinence Teaching" by Melissa Healy (Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1997) "Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Programs" report, published by HHS in 2007 "Consequences of sex education on teen and young adult sexual behaviors and outcomes" by Laura Duberstein Lindberg & Isaac Maddow-Zimet (The Journal of Adolescent Health, 2012) "Funding for Abstinence-Only Education and Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention: Does State Ideology Affect Outcomes?" by Ashley M Fox, Georgia Himmelstein, Hina Khalid & Elizabeth A. Howell (American Journal of Public Health, 2019) "Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBT Indoctrination" by Cathy Ruse (Family Research Council, 2020) "The History of Federal Abstinence-Only Funding" fact sheet (Advocates for Youth, 2007) "Abstinence Education: Assessing the Evidence" by Christine C. Kim and Robert Rector (Heritage Foundation, 2008) AUDIO CLIPS: 29:58 - Rush Limbaugh talking about Joycelyn Elders on an episode of the Rush Limbaugh Show ca. 1994 35:30 - Joycelyn Elders in an interview with the National Visionary Leadership Project 1:04:03 - "Learn Gun Safety with Eddie Eagle" children's training video from the National Rifle Association (NRA) FOLLOW THE SHOW: Send us an email: illconceivedpod@gmail.com Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Kill The Computer Writing: June's Substack

With natalism coming to the forefront of American politics in recent years, people who have long been writing about the declining birth rate have begun to take center stage in the larger political discourse. Many of these thinkers skew toward a conservative ideology. This week, Josh and June read through the writings of a modern conservative natalist writer, Lyman Stone, to get a better picture of where the natalist movement stands and better understand the political demands of the conservative natalist in the era of Donald Trump. EPISODE ART: Lyman Stone press photo from Demographic Research  SOURCES: As women have far fewer babies, the U.S. and the world face unprecedented challenges Lyman Stone on America’s falling birth rate Now Political Polarization Comes for Marriage Prospects You can’t even pay people to have more kids President Trump’s First 100 Days, April 2025 How Politics Drive Our Personal Relationships – and Even Where We Live Arranged and non-arranged marriages have similar reproductive outcomes in Nepal Promise and Peril: The History of American Religiosity and Its Recent Decline The Declining U.S. Birth Rate: A Demographic Shift with Far-Reaching Implications What Workism Is Doing to Parents Now Political Polarization Comes for Marriage Prospects Hungary’s Demographic Failure How to Fix Our Falling Fertility Rate (with Lyman Stone) Want More American Babies? Make the US More Livable More Thoughts on Falling Fertility AUDIO CLIPS 21:12 / 25:44 - Lyman Stone in an interview with Vox Media's Today, Explained  FOLLOW THE SHOW: Send us an email: illconceivedpod@gmail.com Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Western Kabuki Writing: June's Substack

In the history of the evangelical Christian family movement, one figure stands tall above the rest: a children's psychologist from Louisiana named James Dobson. For three decades, Dobson built up his media empire, Focus on the Family, on the back of his plain-spoken traditionalist approach to child rearing. Then, as the broader cultural tide shifted in favor of normalizing homosexual relationships, he got kicked out. This week, Josh and June take a look at why Dobson's approach resonated with so many parents in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, how his work institutionalized the natalist project among evangelical Christians, and how religious fundamentalism, no matter how polite, corrodes a healthy society. SUPPLEMENTAL LISTENING: Listen to I Hate James Dobson: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Pocket Casts / YouTube Listen to The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about the James Dobson/Ted Bundy interview: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Pocket Casts / YouTube EPISODE ART: Focus on the Family press photo of James Dobson c. 2007 SOURCES: Focus on the Family's official historical timeline Focus on the Family 2015 financial disclosures, ProPublica Dobson's 1999 announcement of the leadership succession plan Dobson's 2003 announcement of Don Hodel's appointment as CEO Focus on the Family's Guiding Principles as enumerated on their website in November 2002 Focus on the Family's Guiding Principles as enumerated on their website today Family Research Council list of Family Policy Councils AUDIO CLIPS: 33:52 - James Dobson interviews Ted Bundy on death row 1:00:24 - James Dobson in a Focus on the Family Radio broadcast, October 6, 2005 1:04:03 - Guy Raz interviews Jim Daly on NPR All Things Considered (February 12, 2012) 1:11:16 - James Dobson interviews Ken Harrison, former Promise Keepers chairman, on Family Talk Radio 1:15:38 - James Dobson talks about declining birth rates on Family Talk Radio FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Western Kabuki Writing: June's Substack

When the first human baby was born through the use of a blossoming treatment called in vitro fertilization in the late 1970’s, society largely viewed this as a miracle of science that gave those struggling with fertility a chance to start a family. Catholic leadership, believing that taking procreation out of pregnancy went against God’s will, aligned themselves against the practice. Evangelicals, meanwhile, have still to this day not found solid guidance from their leaders on whether this procedure should be embraced or condemned. This week, Josh and June explore the history of in vitro fertilization and the complicated relationship many on the religious right have with it. EPISODE ART: Bishop Richard Burbidge, Catholic anti-IVF advocate SOURCES: The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling on Frozen Embryos Alabama legislature votes to restore IVF access The History of IVF: Origin and Developments of the 20th Century In Vitro Fertilization Comes of Age INSTRUCTION ON RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE IN ITS ORIGIN AND ON THE DIGNITY OF PROCREATION REPLIES TO CERTAIN QUESTIONS OF THE DAY Begotten Not Made: A Catholic View of Reproductive Technology Bishop Burbidge Writes against a Federal IVF Mandate Despite church prohibitions, Catholics still choose IVF to have children Abortion Viewed in Moral Terms: Fewer See Stem Cell Research and IVF as Moral Issues Pope Francis calls for a universal ban on surrogacy. He says it exploits mother and child Protestant Denominations Need Stronger Leadership on Assisted Reproductive Technology IVF: Moral and Ethical Considerations IVF is life-changing for infertile families. But the Christian right says it’s not in ‘God’s plan’ How the Christian Right Became So Hostile to IVF Republicans are rushing to defend IVF. The anti-abortion movement hopes to change their minds. Americans overwhelmingly say access to IVF is a good thing Republican IVF bill fails in U.S. Senate In vitro fertilization bills from both Democrats and GOP blocked in U.S. Senate Trump has signed an executive order on IVF. Here’s what you should know about the procedure What Trump’s IVF executive order means for access to fertility assistance for Americans Alabama IVF ruling looms over 2026 statewide elections VIDEO CLIPS Bishop Burbidge talking about the immorality of IVF  From the archives: Pope Francis explains why he's against surrogacy

Opposition to legal abortion wasn't always a consensus matter across the Christian Right. In fact, as recently as the early 1970s, Protestants mostly considered it a "Catholic issue." But against a backdrop of paranoia about government overreach into religious affairs and fear of demographic decline, a Catholic named Paul Weyrich and an evangelical named Jerry Falwell joined hands to turn abortion into the signature mobilizing issue of their new Moral Majority. This week, June and Josh look at how this historical moment was primed for exploitation, why Christian rhetoric and policy toward abortion shifted so quickly, and what the long-term durability of this unholy alliance means as Americans continue to see their civil rights rolled back by the Trump administration. CLICK HERE AND DONATE TO AN ABORTION FUND IN YOUR AREA TODAY EPISODE IMAGE: Paul Weyrich, cofounder of the Moral Majority, in a Heritage Foundation portrait from 1982 SOURCES: "Creating the Litmus Test: Abortion, Mainline Protestants, and the Rise of the Religious Right" by Sabrina Danielsen "Family Values" and the Formation of a Christian Right Agenda by Seth Dowland Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right by Randall Balmer “How the Right Uses Abortion Restrictions to Reinforce Racist and Gendered Hierarchies” by Cassie Miller, Southern Poverty Law Center “Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching” from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Historical Abortion Law Timeline: 1850 to Today from Planned Parenthood Action “The Religious Right and the Abortion Myth” by Randall Balmer, POLITICO "Here's how much the ICE budget would increase under Trump's megabill" by Grace Deng, Snopes AUDIO CLIPS: 42:55 – Ronald Reagan delivers an address to religious leaders at the 1980 National Affairs Briefing FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Western Kabuki Writing: June's Substack

Josh and June look into the past of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current Health and Human Services secretary, and how his history led to him getting involved with the MAGA movement. Once a liberal and advocate for environmental issues, Kennedy took a turn into anti-science and pseudo-health political movements later in life and gained notoriety within Trumpworld. Now that this conspiracy theorist holds the reins of America’s largest government health institution, we zoom into how these beliefs inform what he has done, what he still intends to do with this power, and why his long-standing emphasis on children's health resonates so strongly with people who are invested in the natalist agenda. SOURCES: RFK Jr. Suggests Not Enough Teens Are Getting Pregnant, Rails Against Youth Testosterone Levels Inside RFK Jr.'s nonprofit's legal battles over vaccines and public health 'RFK'ing the french fries': Steak 'n Shake becomes a MAHA darling RFK Jr.: I’m fighting chronic disease, slashing unhealthy fat at HHS RFK Jr. says autism database will use Medicare and Medicaid info How R.F.K. Jr. Went From Environmental Champion to Trump Backer AUDIO CLIPS: 16:29 - Bernie Sanders asks RFK Jr. if he is supportive of these onesies in a Senate hearing (C-SPAN, January 29, 2025) FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.com Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com Tumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.com Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds Stream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beer Other podcast: Western Kabuki Writing: June's Substack