This week Nancy and Sarah riff on a fascinating essay in UnHerd by David Samuels, “The March of Kamala’s Brides: Miserable young women are the Democrats' foot-soldiers.” The story lays out damning statistics on happiness and liberal women. They’re childless, unmarried, on anti-depressants: Hey, Sarah ticks all the boxes!
Nancy and Sarah try to diagnose how we got here. Their discussion covers vibrators and dating apps, Obamacare and social security, politics and the patriarchy, social justice and social media, pets vs. children, and the ocean of meaning that lies underneath the phrase, "I'm fine." Also discussed:
Nancy’s new book Forty Bucks and a Dream now on presale!
Fifth Column live event tonight, WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. Livestream here
When will Wikipedia acknowledge that Nancy dated Eddie Vedder?
Kneejerk Nancy asks, “Do I need to know everyone’s effing feelings?”
Sarah asks, “If my cat is not a baby, why is he baby-shaped?”
The “compare and despair” trap of social media
Feminism and happiness: It’s complicated!
Men on women’s tears: It’s annoying!
The whole SSRI thing
Fault vs. responsibility
WE MISS THE ‘90s
Camille Paglia, aka Sarah’s fake Italian grandmother, brings us home
Also: A (short) debate on Miranda July, how Andy Warhol turns out to be fascinating, Nancy drops a bomb about women’s happiness and birth control — and MORE!
REMINDER: “Through her affectionate and laceratingly honest portraits, Rommelmann captures a city in transition, powered as ever by the intoxicant of fame, and populated by people finally having their stories told by someone with eyes big enough to take them in and then, bring them to us.” CLICK HERE.
Episode Notes:
Video of “I’m fine” woman angry at her husband: Is this satire?
“The March of Kamala’s Brides: Miserable young women are the Democrats' foot-soldiers,” by David Samuels (UnHerd)
County Highway, America’s ONLY Newspaper
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins (Amazon link)
“The Paradox of Choice” is a book and commonly cited concept that more choice creates more anxiety
Jean Twenge is a psychologist and researcher. Some of her great work includes “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” (The Atlantic)
The phrase “context-dependent” will always make Sarah think of this:
Jill Filipovic on Substack: “Fear of a Female Body”
Happy, a documentary by Roko Belic:
Sarah personal chef is named Amy. Thanks, whoever you are:
“All of these problems today are the direct consequence of women’s emancipation and freedom … This great thing that’s allowed us to accept women as independent agents has produced all this animosity between men and women.” — Camille Paglia
What’s in your hot box?
Sarah: All Fours: A Novel by Miranda July (Amazon link)
Nancy: Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA
Sarah picks the outro, because Lana is our girl:
155. Liberal Women Are Miserable, Let's Discuss