S4 Ep4: Anna Louie Sussman: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty

Why is having a child so increasingly out of reach, economically, socially, and emotionally? And for those who choose to have children, why does the burden feel so massive?

Political realities influence our most intimate of choices, whether we want them to or not. Journalist Anna Louie Sussman is interested in how, when, and why people become parents, and in the political decisions that affect our experiences of parenthood.

In her new book, Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty, she traces the factors that make parenthood so difficult through the stories of several people weighing the choice to become a parent.

We cover a lot of ground in this interview, including:

How economic uncertainty puts parenthood out of reach for so many. This is a political choice, not an inevitability. So why is it the one we make?

Whether parenting really is harder now than it was a generation or two ago.

The shame of struggling in a culture that makes parenting feel impossible.

Anti-child bias, its role in cultural life, and how child-free spaces exclude mothers and therefore women.

How motherhood as an identity so often undermines everything else women do.

The sickness of busyness: both the display and performance of busyness as a status symbol, and also “greedy jobs” that force us to be busy just to remain afloat.

How the pressure to earn money turns our closest relationships into financial commodities, and forces us to put a dollar value on everything we do.

As always, you can find Anna’s book, and all books I recommend on the podcast, in the Liberating Motherhood Bookshop.