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Everyone has to make the decision to have or not have kids. There are good reasons for both.

Are you sick of dating? Terrified of how expensive everything is? Frustrated with America's so-called social safety net? Horrified by the state of healthcare? If you answered yes to any of these, you might be one of the many people deciding to go childfree.

Host Brittany Luse is joined by Sarah McCammon, Senior Fellow at Third Way, and Emma Gannon, author of the novel Olive, to explore the reasons people feel like life might be better without a child -- and how that impacts everyone.

(0:00) Why women choose to go childfree
(1:53) The economic & ideological responses to declining birth rates
(6:01) Pushing back against negative assumptions of childfree women
(10:39) How to deal with society's judgment of family size and choice
(17:33) How childfree women shape modern society
(25:45) How culture and policy lag behind women's expectations of life
(31:02) What true childbearing freedom looks like for everyone

Want to hear more about modern womanhood? Check out these episodes: 
Enough is enough. Is it time to leave America?
Why are people freaking out about the birth rate?
The myth of modern "adulthood"

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Why is the government obsessed with whole milk?

In January, the USDA account on X posted a picture, possibly AI generated, of President Trump with a milk mustache. The caption was, “Drink up America. #DrinkWholeMilk.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted what seems to be an AI video that shows him being transported to a nightclub when he drinks milk. The caption is, “when you take that first sip of whole milk.” Whole milk is also at the top of the new food pyramid. But what’s all this for? How do we make sense of this push for whole milk, especially when milk has some unsavory ideological associations?

Brittany gets into it with Yasmin Tayag, staff writer for The Atlantic who covers science and the future of food, and Andrea Freeman, Second Century Chair Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School and author of the book Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch.

Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes:
Were Americans actually healthier in the past?
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy" 
Is tech making us too obsessed with our bodies?

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What happens when tech billionaires control the media you consume?

With the help of his father, Paramount CEO David Ellison's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery has gained him a roster of franchises and networks, from Looney Tunes to CNN. But the sale hasn't come without serious concerns, from data privacy to the rising costs of streaming services to what this means for workers in the entertainment industry.

Brittany is joined by Mandalit Del Barco, NPR culture correspondent, and David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent, to cut through the corporate drama and figure out what this deal means for all of us.

(0:00) Why Brittany thinks you should be interested in the Paramount/Warner Bros deal
(4:12) How this deal will impact journalism and what you watch on TV
(7:19) Who are the Ellisons? And what's their relationship to Trump?
(11:49) Why cuts to the entertainment industry impact the entire country
(16:45) Who really controls American culture: the people or the rich & powerful?

Interested in more TV conversations? Check out these episodes:
Sinners vs. One Battle After Another: who should win Best Picture?
Melania Trump’s multi-million dollar “infomercial”

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It's easier than ever to cheat and to catch a cheater, but is that a good thing?

For example, there are apps and social media groups dedicated to outing a cheater. But what if that paranoia about cheating is actually hurting our relationships? And on top of that, definitions of "cheating" vary widely. How do you decide for yourself what really counts as cheating? And what's really fueling our fear of being cheated on?

Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer of the Brooding column from The Cut, and Shannon Keating, freelance culture journalist, to get to the bottom of why fear of infidelity haunts our culture and our dating lives.

Want more about modern dating? Check out these episodes:
The embarassing truth of dating men
Is he a good guy? Or is he manipulating you?

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The Epstein Files have revealed social and financial relationships throughout the beauty industry - and a toxic veneration for youth. Is it time for the public to reckon with what the powerful tell us is and isn't "beautiful?" 

Host Brittany Luse wonders: can society let go of decades old obsession with youthfulness? Luckily, Jessica DeFino, reporter, critic, and author of the FLESH WORLD substack, joins the show to answer that question and unpack how we’ve made beauty our God.

(0:00) How the beauty industry shows up in the Epstein Files
(3:24) Why the language of "self-care" is hypocritical post-Epstein
(6:06) The beauty industry's obsession with youth
(11:55) The secular religion of beauty
(19:59) America's Next Top Model & the internalization of beauty standards
(24:30) Tyra Banks & the power you lose in pursuit of power

Correction, March 19, 2026
A previous version of this episode incorrectly said that the 1970s tagline “because innocence is sexier than you think” was used to promote Maybelline products. It was used in advertisements for Love’s Baby Soft products.

Want more about beauty and power? Check out these IBAM episodes:
"Looksmaxxing" is teaching men that pretty hurts.
Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body
The privilege of being "skinny"

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Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

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