DoubleX Gabfest: The Are Fathers Necessary? Edition
Listen to Slate’s show about Lauren Sandler’s new book on being and having an only child, fathers (what are they good for?), and the case against wedding presents.
The Waves has moved! Find new episodes here.
Become a fan of DoubleX on Facebook. Leave us love letters and see what other listeners are saying about the Gabfest.
In this week’s Gabfest, DoubleX editor Hanna Rosin joins DoubleX managing editor Allison Benedikt and New Republic staff writer Noreen Malone to discuss Lauren Sandler’s new book about being and having an only child, One and Only; fathers (what are they good for?); and wedding presents—should we stop giving them?
Other items discussed in the show:
- An excerpt from Sandler’s book.
- The New York Times “Room for Debate” on fathers—what are they for?
- Pamela Paul’s 2010 Atlantic story, “Are Fathers Necessary?”
- Timothy Biblarz and Judith Stacey’s influential study on whether gender matters when it comes to parenting.
- Raising Boys Without Men, by Peggy Drexler.
- The Matt Yglesias case against wedding presents.
DoubleX endorsements:
Allison Benedikt recommends Eli Saslow’s beautifully written but grueling Washington Post story about life after Newtown for one victim’s family.
Just in time for Father’s Day, Hanna Rosin wants you to read Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson’s new book, Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City.
Noreen Malone says you should check out Michelle Dean’s New Yorker essay on the friendship between Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy. Oh, and watch The League.
Loyal fans of Slate’s DoubleX, please remember to like us on our Facebook page.