(There was a very short period in Mike’s life where he thought he could handle his teaching job, write a book, host The Politics Guys, and start a new podcast – Politics Plus. It soon became evident to Mike how insane trying to do all this at once was, and so he quickly shut down Politics Plus. But before he did, he’d posted four interviews – all of which he thinks are pretty good and are worth sharing with you as Politics Guys bonus episodes.)
Mike talks to Mona Charen, one of the most prominent conservative voices in the United States. She writes a syndicated column that appears in more than 200 newspapers, she’s a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and is the author of the books Useful Idiots, Do-Gooders,and the recently released Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense.
Topics they cover include:
- differences between pioneering feminists and the ‘second-wave’ feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s
- feminism and the Marxist concept of ‘false consciousness’
- what science tells us about biological differences between the sexes
- whether women can ‘have it all’
- how sexual empowerment was a wrong turn for the feminist movement
- the rise of ‘no-fault’ divorces and the damage they’ve done
- whether ‘my body, my choice’ and ‘safe, legal, and rare’ is a reasonable approach to abortion
- the ‘Campus Rape Industrial Complex’
- the transgender movement
Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com/support.
I love your show and listen regularly! I was disappointed with this episode though. The arguments against a lot of what she said wasnt really presented. For example, with the “have it all” discussion, there was no discussion on the basic inequality that men dont have to choose between work or family; that they truly can “have it all” and arent guilted for it. I felt the left wasnt given fair representation on this elisode.
Forgot to mention I also believed her assertion that unwanted groping shouldnt be considered sexual harrassment should have received more pushback. Also on the gender identity discussion, what about things like Klinefelters or Turners syndrome where chromosomally one is not neatly on one side? I feel any discussion on gender should include biological examples that kick against the false binary presentation.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! You raise a number of points in this and your previous comment, and I’d love to feature them in an upcoming listener mail episode of the show. Would you be willing to put together a comment that encompasses all of your issues with the Mona Charen episode that I could read on the air? If so, you can either post it as a reply or email it to me at mike AT politicsguys.com. Thanks!
Hi Mike!! Thanks for emailing me. Sorry for the late response; i started a new job and its been insane. But yes I’d be happy to itemize my thoughts on the episode and send them to you. I will do this as soon as i get some down time. Thanks again and keep up the great dialog?