Shows
Reset with Sasha-Ann SimonsThe Government Wants You To Have More Kids…But Why?The Trump administration is rolling out a series of proposals aimed at reversing America’s declining birth rate — from a $5,000 “baby bonus” for new mothers to symbolic awards for large families. But critics say these incentives miss the mark, arguing that what families really need is long-term support like paid leave, affordable child care, and access to early education.Reset explores the politics behind the push, what’s driving lower birth rates, and whether government perks can really influence such a deeply personal decision with author and history professor at University of Chicago Peggy O’Donnell Heffington
For a full archive of R...2025-05-1519 min
We Own This TownThe Realist
This episode introduces the next of 12 letters from their collaborative visual arts project “Letters to Our Unborn Children: An Exploration of a Woman’s Decision to Remain Child-Free by Choice.” They discuss the “Realist” archetype behind this Letter, and share their research and insights around the themes in the letter. They are joined by guest Peggy O’Donnell Heffington, author of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother.
Peggy is a Senior Instructional Professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, where she teaches historical research and writing methods and a little about...2024-11-0857 minLetters to Our Unborn ChildrenThe Realist
This episode introduces the next of 12 letters from their collaborative visual arts project “Letters to Our Unborn Children: An Exploration of a Woman’s Decision to Remain Child-Free by Choice.” They discuss the “Realist” archetype behind this Letter, and share their research and insights around the themes in the letter. They are joined by guest Peggy O’Donnell Heffington, author of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother.
Peggy is a Senior Instructional Professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, where she teaches historical research and writing methods and a little about...2024-11-0857 minWe Own This TownThe Realist
This episode introduces the next of 12 letters from their collaborative visual arts project “Letters to Our Unborn Children: An Exploration of a Woman’s Decision to Remain Child-Free by Choice.” They discuss the “Realist” archetype behind this Letter, and share their research and insights around the themes in the letter. They are joined by guest Peggy O’Donnell Heffington, author of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother.
Peggy is a Senior Instructional Professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, where she teaches historical research and writing methods and a little about...2024-11-0857 min
RelationscapesMINI EPISODE: Return of the Childless Cat Ladies
"We are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too. And it's just a basic fact, if you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it."
—J.D...2024-10-1537 min
Let’s Try That AgainChildless Cat Ladies and Other Women Without ChildrenIn today's episode I speak with Peggy O'Donnell Heffington, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, and author of "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother." There has been a long history of women without children being stigmatized, pitied, reviled, envied, and ignored. Within today's political climate - especially with the upcoming Presidential Elections - we have also seen examples of the trope of "the child-less cat lady" being rallied against so-called "non-mothers." With time, understandings and practices of Mothering are shifting to increasingly narrow definitions, where a Mother, today, is understood as a...2024-09-231h 08
Big BrainsWhy Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonMore and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. Alarmingly, in 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenomenon, nor did it come out of the modern feminist movement. For centuries, women have made choices about limiting births and whether or not to become mothers at all. This history is documented in a new book, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother," by University of Chicago Assistant Instructional Professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington.Heffington writes about the...2024-09-0532 min
RelationscapesThe Many Reasons Women Don't Have Children (with Peggy O'Donnell Heffington)
History is full of women who never gave birth to children, whether because they couldn't or even didn't want to. Historian Peggy O'Donnell Heffington says her research about women without children made her feel more settled about her own choice not to have kids, but it also surprisingly made her feel greater solidarity with women who make the opposite choice. She joins us to talk about her book Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Peggy O'Donnell Heffington is Assistant Senior Instructional Professor and Associate Director of U...2024-09-031h 28
We are ChildfreeHow do you decide to be childfree?How do you decide whether to have kids or not? That's the question from a self-proclaimed fencesitter that we put to the We are Childfree community for this classic episode of Ask WAC! (Originally published as a bonus episode on August 28, 2023)How can you even imagine life as a parent? How do you separate external pressures from your own inner feelings? Listen to find out!If you have a problem you'd like the community's help with, email hello@wearechildfree.com with "Ask WAC" as the subject line.Questions from We are Childfree members...2024-08-0648 minWe are ChildfreeHow do I tell my partner I'm childfree? (Re-release)How do you decide whether to have kids or not? That's the question from a self-proclaimed fencesitter that we put to the We are Childfree community for this classic episode of Ask WAC! (Originally released as bonus episode on July 28, 2023)How can you even imagine life as a parent? How do you separate external pressures from your own inner feelings? Listen to find out!If you have a problem you'd like the community's help with, email hello@wearechildfree.com with "Ask WAC" as the subject line.Questions from We are Childfree members get...2024-07-2335 min
A Generational ThingMother(hood) MusingsSend us a textMother’s Day is a perfect occasion for intergenerational processing! Nat and Ang take full advantage of this opportunity to explore a disconcerting array of topics: the evolutionary contributions of grandmothers, the panic over plunging fertility rates, the changing expectations of motherhood, how expensive kids are, etc. They even tackle (but fail to answer) the “to be or not to be (a mother)” question. Don’t worry about whiplash. A little artsy/litsy talk helps smooth out the ride.Resources:Kristen Hawkes, “Grandmothers and Human Evolution” "US Fert...2024-05-121h 01
Skipped HistoryWhy Choosing to Have Kids Feels Harder Than EverThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit skippedhistory.substack.comIn Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother, and in conversation, Professor Peggy O’Donnell Heffington traces the collapse of once-common communal methods of childrearing. Her words contextualize why having kids — or choosing not to — feels so challenging for Americans in particular.Professor Heffington teaches gender and women’s history…2024-03-2227 min
Studio NDítě? Nechci. O dobrovolném životě bez potomkůMít, nebo nemít dítě? Této otázce čelí páry a hlavně matky po celém světě. Aktivní snahy o bezdětnost nebo omezování počtu dětí můžeme napříč historií sledovat v rozličných kulturách. Historička a autorka Peggy O’Donnell Heffington ve své nové knize popisuje evropskou i americkou historii bezdětnosti a hovoří o různých důvodech, které ženy v průběhu historie od mateřství odrazovaly. Proč tedy máme, nebo nemáme děti? S O’Donnell Heffington vedla rozhovor redaktorka Deníku N Karolína Klinková, se kterou Filip Titlbach2024-02-0824 min
lyndisrorabookREAD/DOWNLOAD#( Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother PDF EBOOK DOWNLOAD**Download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Full Edition,Full Version,Full Book**by Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonReading Now at : https://happyreadingebook.club/?book=1541675576ORDOWNLOAD EBOOK NOW![PDF] Download READ/DOWNLOAD#( Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother PDF EBOOK DOWNLOAD Ebook | READ ONLINE Download READ/DOWNLOAD#( Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother PDF EBOOK DOWNLOAD read ebook online PDF EPUB KINDLE Download READ/DOWNLOAD#( Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a...2023-10-0900 min
ellicahelerieth[K.I.N.D.L.E] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Read Online**Download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Full Edition,Full Version,Full Book**by Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonReading Now at : https://happyreadingebook.club/?book=1541675576ORDOWNLOAD EBOOK NOW![PDF] Download [K.I.N.D.L.E] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Read Online Ebook | READ ONLINE Download [K.I.N.D.L.E] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Read Online read ebook online PDF EPUB KINDLE Download [K.I.N.D.L...2023-09-2700 min
The Milk Minute- A Lactation PodcastHow to Support your Breastfeeding Friends: Interview with a Childless-AuntieJoin Heather and Maureen for a feminist frolic to Spinster City as they interview Heather's single, childfree friend Abigail. They ask the hard-hitting questions and break it down to the heart of our weird cultural war between parents and non-parents. The gals talk building community and finding support from childfree friends in unexpected ways - especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding. This episode is a wild ride with your two favorite midwives & lactation ladies. Venturing into the socio-political sphere, Heather and Maureen kvetch about the patriarchy, 19th century Supreme Court decisions, and why everybody has to poop at B...2023-07-071h 13
NBN Book of the DayPeggy O'Donnell Heffington, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother" (Seal Press, 2023)In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast majority, then and now—who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. In Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother (Seal Press, 2023), historian...2023-07-0250 min
New Books in SociologyPeggy O'Donnell Heffington, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother" (Seal Press, 2023)In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast majority, then and now—who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. In Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother (Seal Press, 2023), historian...2023-07-0250 min
New Books in Women's HistoryPeggy O'Donnell Heffington, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother" (Seal Press, 2023)In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast majority, then and now—who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. In Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother (Seal Press, 2023), historian...2023-07-0250 min
New Books in Sex, Sexuality, and Sex WorkPeggy O'Donnell Heffington, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother" (Seal Press, 2023)In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast majority, then and now—who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. In Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother (Seal Press, 2023), historian...2023-07-0250 min
New Books in GenderPeggy O'Donnell Heffington, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother" (Seal Press, 2023)In an era of falling births, it’s often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others—the vast majority, then and now—who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. In Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother (Seal Press, 2023), historian...2023-07-0250 min
Thrive SoloThe One Where I Talk To Professor & Author, Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonSend us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode, I talk to history professor and author, Peggy O’Donnell Heffington. Peggy O’Donnell Heffington is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, where she teaches courses on gender and women’s history as well as historical research and writing methods. When she’s not answering email, you can usually find her trail running, baking gluten free cake, and looking at clothes on the internet. Peggy lives outside of Chicago with her husband Bob and two pugs, Ellie and...2023-06-201h 02
Converging Dialogues#227 - Without Children: A Dialogue with Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonIn this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peggy O’Donnell Heffington about women’s rights, choice, and children. They talk about some of the reasons why women don’t have children, Millennials having children later, and structural aspects of choice. They discuss the history of abortion, contraception laws, Roe V. Wade, Dobbs ruling, the history and origins of the nuclear family, grandmother hypothesis, public perceptions of people without children, and many more topics. Peggy O’Donnell Heffington is an Assistant Instructional Professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago. Her interests are on histo...2023-05-182h 00
We're Not KiddingChildfree Blessings with Diliana GadjovaDiliana Gadjova is the creator of the Instagram account Childfree Blessings. Within the last two years, Diliana came to the realization that she didn't want to have kids. This inspired her to create an account and help others realize that parenthood is a choice.
I've loved getting to know Diliana through WNK-Club and it's an honor to share her story with you all here on the podcast.
Mentioned on this Episode
Childfree by Choice by Dr. Amy Blackstone
Without Children: The Long History of Not...2023-05-0341 min
mas liling[EPUB] [Download] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington audiobook Full Page [EPUB] [READ] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonDownload at https://dekatkandiri.blogspot.com/61918857 2023-04-2500 min
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mas lalang[EPUB] [Download] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington audiobook Full PageDOWNLOAD [epub] Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington Download at https://dekatkandiri.blogspot.com/61918857 [PDF] Download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother Ebook | READ ONLINE Download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington read ebook online PDF EPUB KINDLE Download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother PDF - KINDLE - EPUB - MOBI #ebook #pdf #mobi #kindle #audiobook #epub #free #download Without Children: The Long History of Not Being...2023-04-2500 minWe're Not KiddingWithout Children: The Long History Of Not Being A Mother with Peggy O'Donnell HeffingtonIn this episode, I sit down with the brilliant Peggy O'Donnell Heffington to discuss her new book, Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother. Peggy shares her insights from researching and writing this fantastic book. She also shares a bit about her own childfree story. I learned so much both from reading the book and having this conversation. Enjoy!
About Peggy:
Peggy O’Donnell Heffington is an Assistant Instructional Professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago, where she teaches historical research and writing methods and a bi...2023-04-191h 03