This is an incredible episode for the history buffs or anyone who's just curious how we came to decide that marriage was the right way to form a family. Dr. Coontz is the Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Familie, emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and the author of five books on gender, family, and history. I found her work through Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage, which was cited in the US Supreme Court decision on marriage equality. 

We cover so much ground—we literally get from the paleolithic era to now—but a few highlights are why we’ve developed views about what a “traditional” marriage looks like, why those views are often wrong, and what we can learn from the past about how to rethink marriage in the future. I was particularly captivated by the discussion about how a traditional 1950s view of marriage a) only existed for about a decade and b) was also bad for men, not just women. 

This interview blew my mind, and I hope it does yours, too. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

Marriage, a History: https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-History-How-Love-Conquered/dp/014303667X

All of Dr. Coontz's work: https://www.stephaniecoontz.com/books

Essay on Season 2 of Raising Questions: https://ginnyhogan.substack.com/p/raising-questions-the-rebrand