White Picket Fence

Jun 12 2024 324

White Picket Fence Podcast artwork

White Picket Fence interrogates the structures of inequity affecting women since America’s founding. On the newest season, host Julie Kohler investigates the institution of marriage to uncover what’s behind this latest push for the return of a traditional family structure. Join us in exploring where America—and Americans—have fallen short and what we can do to create a better future.

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The Marriage Panic

Jun 12 2024 26 mins

Maybe you’ve noticed it -- we're in the midst of a moral panic about marriage. Pundits and politicians have become awfully concerned that people are marrying later, and less often. That a growing number of adults are living alone, without a spouse or partner. That divorce remains relatively common. That many women are having and raising kids as single mothers. Now, conservatives

Season 5 Coming Soon!

Jun 06 2024 2 mins

This season, we're diving into the hallowed institution of marriage. We want to know why so many people are getting so whipped up over the ways that Americans are — or are not — forming relationships and building families. Why marriage is becoming, once again, the catch-all policy solution for all of our country's challenges. And what becomes possible when we broaden our imagin

Beyond Maternalism

Apr 12 2023 35 mins

Organizing around motherhood works. It can activate women politically by helping them tap into a powerful identity. But maternal activism can also have some unintended consequences that don't advance justice. So in the final episode of the season, we're asking this season’s guests: should the left still be playing into maternalist politics? Or can we evolve beyond it — to a kin

Shared Fate

Apr 05 2023 28 mins

Much of the motherhood activism that is lifted up in our politics portrays women in a certain way: as uniquely moral, even apolitical, actors who were compelled to take action because they fear for their children’s safety. It’s a myth that's highly racially coded and obscures the realities of motherhood. The truth? Motherhood is political. Moms are political. And when we start

The Spark

Mar 29 2023 31 mins

The political identity of "mother" is not owned by the right. There's also a rich history of mothers working to advance progressive change. Yet the framing of much of this activism—a mother spurred to action when awakened to a threat to her child's safety—remains grounded in an image of motherhood that is riddled with race and class privilege. Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms

Tradwife, Tradlife

Mar 22 2023 34 mins

In the summer of 2022, Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, flew to Texas to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Onstage, his tirades against immigration, gender studies, and LGBTQ rights were met with roars of approval. Orban has made it his mission to codify traditional family values into law—and dismantle democracy in the process. American conserva

The Mothers of Conservatism

Mar 15 2023 33 mins

Moms for Liberty didn't appear out of thin air. They're building on a long history of white, conservative women who, for decades, have used their motherhood as a tool for political credibility. And it all started in 1960s California, where thousands of middle-class moms transformed into suburban warriors and helped build the modern-day conservative movement.

Mama Bears

Mar 08 2023 33 mins

In the fall of 2020, a group of mothers gathered around a kitchen table. They were concerned that public school administrators were making decisions about their children's health and education that overstepped their bounds. It felt like they were losing control over their kids. So they decided to band together and fight for their parental rights. Pretty compelling, right? It's hard

Season 4 Coming Soon!

Feb 22 2023 2 mins

The image of mothers — particularly white suburban mothers — has always carried a lot of weight in American politics. But why? This season, we’re exploring the political potency of motherhood. We'll investigate how right-wing groups like Moms for Liberty are making headlines by calling for classroom restrictions on discussions of race, gender, and sexuality. Their agenda is h

Universal Pre-K and the Path Ahead with Rep. Manning

Mar 29 2022 39 mins

Although the Build Back Better Act could not deliver on all the care economy issues, there is still reason for hope. With a bipartisan oriented strategy, some of these issues can still get through the House and the Senate – universal pre-k being one of those. On our final episode of the series, Jenny and Julie are joined by Representative Kathy Manning to discuss the importance o