Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

The Medieval period is sometimes described as the ‘Age of Faith.’ This was a world in which the church dominated every area of life and it was almost impossible to think outside of Christianity. It was succeeded, of course, by the ‘Age of Reason’, a period in which Enlightenment thinkers placed an extremely high premium on rational inquiry. Which era are we living in now? Robert P. George suggests that we have entered an ‘Age of Feelings’, in which people derive their beliefs from emotion, which is now understood as the central source of truth. He makes this case in his new book, ‘Seeking Truth and Speaking Truth: Law and Morality in Our Cultural Moment.’ Robert P. George is a highly esteemed legal scholar and political philosopher, once described in The New York Times as America’s “most influential conservative Christian thinker.” Today we discuss faith, reason, abortion, same sex marriage, repaganisation, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Nina Power about the scandal regarding Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd El Fattah and the degraded legitimacy of the British state. Mentioned in the episode: Telegraph reporting on Abd El Fattah Lucy Connolly interviewMan jailed over anti-immigrant posts viewed only 33 timesSteve Laws speaks to Andrew GoldEmployers to be made liable for staff being offended by third parties, such as customers or members of the publicElectoral Commission condemns postponement of council electionsLabour councillor acquitted of encouraging violent unrest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Murray is a political scientist best known for his work on intelligence, socioeconomics, and the American welfare state. In books including 'Losing Ground' (1984), 'The Bell Curve' (1994), and 'Coming Apart' (2012), Murray has offered an interpretation of the world that foregrounds the role of genetic luck in social outcomes. A lot of people dislike this interpretation, to put it mildly. But I'm convinced by the evidence that genetic luck is important, and that we can't ignore this factor when trying to make sense of the world. One profound problem that we face in the twenty-first century derives from the fact that unusually intelligent people – i.e. people who have lucked out in terms of both their genetics and their environments – are often very bad at understanding how others experience the world. Murray describes a process we've undergone since the end of the Second World War whereby a new cognitive elite has become increasingly isolated – socially and geographically – from the rest of society. This distance encourages feelings of contempt towards people further down the class system, who in turn feel anger at the ways in which they are misgoverned by an elite that feels no sense of noblesse oblige. The result has been bitter political polarisation – one of the many subjects that we discuss in today's episode. Find ad-free and bonus episodes of the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast at louiseperry.substack.com. Discussed in this episode: 'Taking Religion Seriously' by Charles MurrayHelen Andrews on the 'Great Feminisation''The Son Also Rises' by Gregory Clark Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Rob Henderson about Jacob Savage's viral article in Compact on discrimination against white men in creative industries. Discussed in the episode: 'The lost generation' 'The vanishing white male writer''The vanishing''The Daily' episode on media trust Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have seen an extraordinary change in attitudes towards gay and lesbian people over the last half century in the West. Within living memory, homosexuality was criminalised. Now, same-sex couples can get married and share custody of children. This is nothing short of a moral revolution. Plenty of progressives think, not only that this change was inevitable, but also that further liberalisation is inevitable. My guests today are not so sure. They note that, for the first time in a long time, younger people on average are less accepting of homosexuality than are slightly older people. Perhaps this is a result of immigration patterns. Perhaps it's a result of strategic errors made by activists. I'm joined by three people who all agree that something has gone wrong, although they disagree – subtly – on exactly how and why. Ronan McCrea is professor of constitutional and European law at University College London and the author of 'The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom.' Matthew Vines the the Founder and Executive Director of The Reformation Project and the author of 'God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships.' And Julie Bindel is a journalist, broadcaster, author, and the co-founder and co-director of The Lesbian Project. All of these guests share a concern that the wins of the gay rights movement are very fragile. There is a very real possibility that we will look back on the early twenty-first century as an historical blip – a brief moment of victory that was squandered. We ask how that fate might be avoided. Discussed in the show: 'The End of the Gay Rights Revolution: How Hubris and Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom''God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships' 'Lesbians: Where are we now?' The Lesbian Project podcast Stephen Ireland news storyMy interview with Darel E. Paul Operation Spanner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Conservative America gets right about Britain Description: In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about why the American Right is so preoccupied with British decline. Discussed in this episode: The declining lethality of violent assaultChristopher Caldwell on Trump's warnings on EuropeCurtis Yarvin on hobbits and elvesBritish Muslim crime rateLeamington Spa case Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast. I know that there are many people listening to this podcast right now who truly and sincerely want to get married, but can't find the right person. They've done the usual things – they've tried the apps, they've tried going to church, they've asked their friends to set them up. These strategies aren't futile – we all know plenty of people who met their spouses in this way – but they're not a guarantee, either. If we've learnt anything from the social experiment of the sexual revolution, it's that matchmaking is a difficult coordination problem. Earlier this year, I interviewed Christiana Maxion, a professional matchmaker who takes a very intuitive approach to her work. Today, I'm joined by someone who comes at the problem in a very different way. Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychologist, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico, and the author of books including 'The Mating Mind' (2001) and 'Mating Intelligence' (2008). He's also the Chief Science Advisor to a dating platform that claims to be able to match people based on A.I. analysis of reams of data. Things like IQ tests, personality tests, and demographic factors like age and socioeconomic status. Geoffrey believes that this non-intuitive approach to matchmaking is the way to bring happy couples together. Today we speak about the science, and also the issue of expectations. What is it reasonable to want in a spouse? How can single people set themselves up to win in the marriage market? And what role should we give to other people – parents or siblings, for instance – in the process of matchmaking? Discussed in the show: My interview with Christiana Maxion.Keeper matchmaking Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I disagreed strongly with Meghan Murphy on the necessity of housework. Discussed in the episode: ‘Women aren’t nags – we’re just fed up’Thoughts on being raised by a single dad and the advice to “just do less”‘The women quietly quitting their husbands’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No one is under any illusions about how tired mothers are. And fathers, too. Particularly during the early years of sleep deprivation. We're also often overwhelmed by responsibility and financial stress. None of this is in doubt. But does that mean that mothers are unhappy? It's a complicated question to answer. A lot of people assume – particularly, I suspect, people who don't have children themselves – that tiredness and busyness necessarily suggest that a woman's wellbeing is damaged by having children. And there are, of course, feminist ideas that fall out of this assumption. Primarily, the idea that marriage and motherhood are oppressive to women, and that these are burdens that women long to be relieved of. Today I'm joined by two academics who offer their expertise on the question of maternal happiness. Wendy Wang is the Director of Research at the Institute for Family Studies, and Jenet Erickson is a fellow at the same institute. She's also an associate professor at Brigham Young University. I met Wendy and Jenet at a conference organised by the Institute for Family Studies earlier this year at which they both presented their research on marriage, children, and – here's the really interesting bit – the strong correlation between a woman's experience of physical touch and her mental wellbeing. They both argue that mothers – specifically married mothers – are happier on average than other women. Together we examine the evidence. Give the gift of everyday luxury and make every moment comfortable. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code COZYMMM for 20% off sitewide. And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth at the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Nina Power about 'hybristophilia' – a fetish typically found in women that is characterized by sexual attraction to criminals. We discussed what the phenomenon reveals about female sexuality, the insights offered by erotic fiction intended for a female readership, and the tightrope that women have to walk when trying to attract sexual interest from men. Discussed in the episode: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15334175/The-female-police-officers-betray-law-inside-Besotted-women-share-force-secrets-criminal-lovers-share-jail-kisses-them.htmlhttps://www.thesun.co.uk/news/36533018/ex-prison-officer-jailed-parties-onlyfans/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2074301/Woman-with-objects-fetish-marries-Eiffel-Tower.htmlhttps://www.louiseperry.co.uk/p/the-evolution-of-mental-illness-marcohttps://www.louiseperry.co.uk/p/where-do-fetishes-come-from-ray-blanchardhttps://archive.org/details/lovingtosurvives0000grah Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk My guest today is Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, and author of books including ‘iGen’, ‘Generation Me’, and ‘Generations.’ Her latest title is ‘10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World: How Parents Can Stop Smartphones, Social Media, and Gaming from Taking Over Their Children’s Lives.’ We spoke about why smartph… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I spoke about sexual politics and education. Do men care about whether a potential wife has a degree? Is university the best place to find a spouse? And was ‘Princeton Mom’ right? Discussed in the episode: * https://x.com/Rich_Cooper/status/1989676504880386558 * https://x.com/sentientist/status/1991591912881680859?s=46… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I’m joined by Lyman Stone and Diana Fleischman for a debate on eugenics – specifically, Diana’s argument that most people support ‘negative eugenic’ policies to some degree, and that governments ought to go further by encouraging the use of sterilisation or long term contraception among, for instance, drug addicts. Lyman Stone is the Director of Research of the consulting firm Demographic Intelligence, the director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies, and an author on Substack - Diana Fleischman is an evolutionary psychologist, Associate Research Professor at the University of New Mexico, and author of the Dissentient Substack - https://dissentient.substack.com Discussed in the episode: * Diana’s essay ‘You’re probably a eugenicist’ https://dissentient.substack.com/p/eugenicist * Shor, E., & Simchai, D. (2009). Incest avoidance, the incest taboo, and social cohesion: Revisiting Westermarck and the case of the Israeli kibbutzim. American Journal of Sociology, 114(6), 1803–1842. * Gipson, J. D., Bornstein, M., Berger, A., & Rocca, C. H. (2021). Desire to avoid pregnancy and contraceptive use among female methadone patients in Los Angeles. Contraception, 103(5), 322–327 * Donohue, J. J., & Levitt, S. D. (2001). The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(2), 379–420. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530151144050 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about the new data indicating that British citizens are emigrating in much larger numbers than anyone realised. We also spoke about how emigration has shaped the Anglosphere and the proposed reforms to the asylum system. Discussed in the episode: * ONS revised emigration estimates – https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplep… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk My guest today is Melissa Kearney, Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame and author of ‘The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.’ We spoke about the experience of raising children in a low fertility society, why feminists should care about pronatalism, the cause of the massive recent dec… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk In this bonus episode, I spoke with Diana Fleischman about the new Lily Allen album, why most people aren’t well suited to polyamory, why celebrities cheat more often than normal people, whether we should stigmatise polyamory, and the middle aged women taking testosterone to boost their libidos. Discussed in the episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wes… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk My guest today is Joyce Benenson, Lecturer in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and the author of ‘Warriors and Worriers: The Survival of the Sexes.’ We spoke about boys and men – why even very young boys are often obsessed with enemies, superheroes, weapons, and everything else to do with warfare, and how psychological sex differences ar… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed Alasdair MacIntyre’s work and the position of postliberalism in 2025. Is the West excessively individualistic, or actually excessively communitarian? Was the welfare state a terrible mistake? And did liberalism really fail? Discussed in the episode: https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/10/how-to-save-br… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is sponsored by Relay. For a 7 day free trial, go to https://joinrelay.app/maiden and use the code ‘LOUISE’ at checkout. 📰 Subscribe to Maiden Mother Matriarch here to listen to full extended episodes: louiseperry.substack.com My guest today is Joe Alto, a psychotherapist who specialises in men’s issues, particularly sexual impulse control relating to infidelity and porn use. We spoke about the therapy styles that work best for men, why men so often use porn as a self soothing tool, the false assumptions that women make about men’s porn use, why men tend to go to strip clubs in groups, how porn exposure has replaced traditional rites of passage for boys, and practical means of combating porn addiction. The MMM podcast can also be found on Apple, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/maidenmothermatriarch Follow Maiden Mother Matriarch on social media: Twitter: @maiden_podcast Instagram: @maiden_mother_matriarch TikTok: @maiden_podcast #LouisePerry #JoeAlto #MaidenMotherMatriarch This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.louiseperry.co.uk In this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about ‘gooning.’ Discussed on the show: https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.