A (Happy) Family-Free Holiday Special with Meghan Daum

Author, podcaster, and childfree OG Meghan Daum on finding meaning and fulfillment when biological family is not the center of your life. In the episode we discuss:

Why we are so sentimental about family - and why it’s so hard to remove our rose-tinted spectacles when it comes to the subject of family life

-The historical risk to life of both “going to war” (for men) and “childbirth” (for women) - and how these experiences are romanticized

-The loneliness and the gifts of being an outlier, and making life choices that diverge from the “norm”

-The influence of Meghan’s upbringing - and her basic personality - on her choice not to become a mother

-What made her question this decision, and how she navigated her ambivalence

-Why choosing not to have kids is an acknowledgement of how hard it is to be a parent

-Meghan’s feelings about the miscarriage she experienced at age 41

-How lucky she feels to derive enough meaning from her work in “the world of ideas” not to feel the need to procreate

-Her experience of working in the foster care system, and her wider thoughts about fostering and adoption

-How rapid progress in terms of technology and globalization have widened the “generation gap” and

-Meghan’s thoughts on aging without kids, and why we need a more progressive conversation about how to manage the aging population

You can find links to all Meghan's books HERE, listen to her podcast HERE, subscribe to her Substack HERE, and learn more about The Unspeakeasy, a new community for free-thinking women, HERE.

Pre-order your copy of Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood HERE - and enter your order number to receive a FREE reading group guide top accompany the book.