About this episode

The episode discusses the concept of Americans being 'underbabied' while exploring the financial challenges of starting a family due to historical Republican policies.

Episode 991 of The Professional Left starts with a question that sounds absurd on its face — are Americans "underbabied"? — and then spends an hour making the case that the people asking that question are the same ones who have spent decades doing everything in their power to make starting a family feel financially impossible. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace the long arc from the post-war baby boom through the Reagan era's war on the social safety net, showing how decades of Republican policy q...

People in this episode

Hosts: Driftglass, Blue Gal

Topics covered

• family planning
• Republican policy
• social safety net
• baby boom
• financial challenges

Keywords

• underbabied
• family
• financial impossibility
• baby boom
• Reagan era
• social safety net
• Republican policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Reagan

More episodes of The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal

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• Ep 995: The Politics of Pronouns · May 28, 2026 · 59 min
• Ep 994: An Epidemic of Recycled Lies · May 22, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Ep 993: Fools In a Burning House · May 19, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Ep 992: Both Sides Don't Have A Budget Surplus · May 14, 2026 · 1h 15m

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