August Bonus: The Tradwives Are Defecting

Idk if anyone else mentioned but those who are deeply interested in this would probably enjoy the podcast series (not an ongoing one I don’t think) called Truly Tradly Deeply. Highly recommend.

CLAIRE SAFFITZ MENTION

Related so hard to "You know I love learning about something and then immediately having an opinion about it"

Okay as someone who is not chronically online I genuinely have only seen Nara smith twice and each time I thought it was a satire. Also for a palate cleanse please watch lex Delarosa’s stuff when doing the actual research for the future episode

Holy fuck, the bit where she's talking about changing her voice, and Mike and Aubrey talk about the type of man who wants someone who makes herself so submissive... my ex-husband was like that. I divorced his ass in 2000 and listening to that brought it all back in a way I thought I'd forgotten a long time ago. Straight into a panic attack. (Which is not a slam on Mike or Aubrey! I'm glad you talked about it!) Just.... hoooo boy.

Lowkey I wonder if those bad names are cover ups for their real names so their privacy isn’t violated

God the sound of her ASMR voice is nails on a chalkboard 😬 amazing episode!

genuinely don't understand how nara or call her daddy has an audience at all. both are brain dead, holy sht

As I’m listening about Nara, all I can imagine is Natalie from Yesteryear. Reality and satire have officially merged…

All of this reminded me of Phyllis Schlafly and her taking advantage of the feminist movement while also decrying it.

I would loooove to see an episode on Medbed and other wellness conspiracy theories omg: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/09/medbeds-conspiracy-theory-donald-trump-origins.html

Can you do a bonus episode on medbeds?

Also, sorry, I'm not on TikTok and I REFUSE to give these women engagement so you guys are getting my rage: I'm a therapist and I've had women sitting on my couch say "I just think feminism has gone too far." It takes everything in me not to completely derail the session by asking "Oh really? Which part? The part that allowed you to leave your deadbeat ex? Or the part that allowed you to be sitting on my couch wearing pants? Or the part that allowed you to have a job and a credit card? Or the part that allowed ME to have a job to help you work through stuff?" Like if you're pissed that you can't rely on men the way we were taught we would be able to, that is 100% the result of patriarchy, not feminism. If you're pissed that both parents have to work to keep a roof over their families head, that's a result of capitalism, not feminism. We are barely 50 years into women being able to have our own credit cards in the US and there is still a wage gap (which increases significantly based on a woman's race), sexism, rape culture, inequality in housework, etc. Feminism has not gone far enough.

Ugh, I grew up with Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh on in my house CONSTANTLY.

the opening killed me i had to re listen three times to get my laugh out of my person

If Nara Smith has lupus she is absolutely keeping traditional medicine in the house. I don’t believe for a second she’s not on plaquenil. Saying that as someone who also has lupus.

Top chef for the pure of heart 😆 no. Its for Kristen Kish.

Omg the binchtopia crossover!

Oh sweet, innocent Michael. I guarantee trad wife porn that straight men like will not be wholesome.

ASMR whisper talking triggers my misophonia rage hard

Am I the only one who wants an MP video ep? I know Michael would be terrified... Sorry Michael 😔

I just finished Yesteryear. It was a trip that's for sure.

Can I find show notes? I’d like to hear that interview with the ex-trad wives

That ramen video is the worst thing I've ever heard. Who the FUCK is watching these??

I do know that there is a large crossover in fandom between this podcast and Material Girls, and perhaps the Tradwives X Eugenics episode is already linked in this comment section, but here it is anyway. https://www.patreon.com/ohwitchplease/posts/159929788?utm_campaign=postshare_fan This episode pairs nicely and they discuss ballerina farms (@ Michael Hobbs)

Spoiler alert- the narrator of Yesteryear is an influencer who faces front as if she does it all while a support staff runs real life, who goes crazy and in the end we see it is her own hell she created. I was thinking before you brought it up that that book might have dashed some illusions about how fab tradlife can be. But the Nara Smith reveal was the best. I swear I once saw a spread about her and hubbie where she espoused submissive wife values.

You guys should do an episode on genetically modified food! Do you remember when there was a moral panic about it? I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t resurfaced in the wake of tradwives and right wing politics

me too! also, I can’t handle the recent increase in lisping by podcast hosts. are they trying to talk around Invisalign,?in which fas,,take the darned things OUT while you’re recording the show. I’m going to have to stop listening soon. it’s that bad.

I love the intro music so much. ☺️

Alyssa grenfell mention! She's my fave youtuber

Michelle Duggar is a prime example of "the voice". Also, I think her TLC show cam be considered early Trad Wife content.

I think they’re also trying to bring back dying in childbirth

Nara Smith is guesting on project runway 😶

Love how neither Alex Cooper nor Nara Smith has heard of a Chipwich. She's not an innovator, they've been around for decades!

Re: is being a trad wife a real trend / aspiration for gen-Z women? I teach teacher education at a flagship state school in a blue state, and it’s extremely common to hear from students that they don’t expect to actually teach in a school or have a full-time teaching job. The idea that it’s important to have a college degree before having kids is clear, but the path for many is a clear MRS degree (although they never call it that), and they do with education because they like / want to have children. There is quite a lot of tension between students with different views on their future in teaching.

Please do an episode on Steven Gundry

I knew a kid whose last name was Head and for some reason -- sadism I'm guessing -- his parents decided to name him Richard.

I didn't have "prion disease joke" on my bingo card omg 🤣

If y’all ever need or want an exvangelical perspective, I happily volunteer to share info. Sadly, the tradwives on social media are just the most visible of a group of women that has continued apace in conservative circles—I personally know so many women who got married when they were too young to truly choose, had a lot of kids, and are now/still stuck in the trade off they made as an older teen, or very young adult. And while in countries and cultures with the ability to leave a marriage, there may be a critical mass of leaving, and every woman who divorces or leaves shows others that it can be done!! Sadly, since the churches and cults and our wider culture is still raising girls to think that our only and best life is to be a wife and mother… there’s always another generation of young girls to get got 😔 and the cycle starts again. To me, this is one of the huge ways we as a society fail girls and young women. We all have to learn what the world is: how are they supposed to make good choices for themselves, if we let patriarchy run wild as it does? I feel a burden in the best sense of the word to make sure that every girl I interact with, the girls in my life, know they are so so much more than a future wife or mother.

Can someone clip Aubrey saying “Hi, I’m a Republican now” 😂

It’s always so interesting to me to hear y’all, who weren’t raised in conservative Christian circuses (circles, but I’ll leave the typo) find out that young women are still getting married and pregnant by age 20. It happens every day in our horrible nation… and they’re usually marrying ugly men who are or will be abusive. It’s so so fucking sad. I wish I could do more for them, but all I could do was get out myself, and be as loud, powerful, intimidating as I truly am.

"Rumble Honey Smith" is this a child or a jellical cat?

I am at an at-capacity science panel at Dragon Con, and Maintenance Phase just got a call out by the panelists when they were talking about the Paleo diet!

I LOVE Alyssa Grenfell. Highly recommend to anyone interested in Mormon gender politics.

It was around two years ago, when Nara Smith pretended that she could create an EXTRUDED PRODUCT (in this case, cocoa pops and cookie crunch cereal) by overworking the dough & then baking it on a pan in the oven… and that it wouldn’t be hard enough to crack her kids teeth (they conveniently did not show anyone eating it lmao), I knew she was so very unserious as a baker 😭🫩 it’s been downhill since then.

So who else has ready Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke yet?? It’s a novel, it’s new, and it beautifully deals with the trad wife of it all. Highly recommend.

If you guys are going Ballerina Farm you should also do an episode on the Mormon diet code, Word of Wisdom! There’s a lot of interesting history behind it

This episode pissed me off because I’ve been assuming Nara Smith was satire 😭😭😭😭😭

Love to see Nara Smith being like, “I don’t like it but I know AMERICANS are OBSESSED with chocolate chip cookies” like that’s our great cultural failing when she named a human being SLIM EASY or WHIMSEY BELL or TINKER TOY. Oh to be 24 (fucking never again thank god).

We know conservative christians have an unhinged obsession with sex since they’re constantly thinking about everyone else’s sex lives. How much of the tradwife trend is just them yearning for BDSM/power dynamics play?

I didn’t realize she invented the chipwich!

None of these modern tradwife influencers could handle a single day living with Tasha Tudor

I always thought Nara was satire and realizing now it’s not is kinda horrifying

Omg I thought she was a satire account!!!

Jason Statham would NEVER

I keep getting so hung up on “my husband burns everything… apart from a good steak” - it’s so trad! If he can cook a steak, he can cook. It’s either lying to make him sound more masculine or he’s lying through weaponised incompetence.

haha laughing that you're so surprised at the approved baby names list, we have the same here in czechia and i was just as surprised you can call your baby literally anything in the usa

aaaah a Hobbes closing joke about making your own vaccines and no rejoinder about Nara Smith's homemade *sunscreen* recipe?? I shriek into the void

I’m kind of proud of myself that my only context for these videos is that I do get parody videos on my feed. There’s one where the woman takes three days to get her kid a glass of water and it’s hilarious

Ohhh yeeeesssss! I could listen to another several episodes breaking down the quaking of tradwife influencers

the way Aubrey says “tradwifery” is my new favorite word

Teacher here - I can guarantee you that Patience is not patient!

I absolutely thought Nara Smith was satire. I’m with Mike.

I just did ramen-themed art with a bunch of early elementary school kids for summer art camp and it took less time to wrangle 19 5-7-year-olds into each making a fairly complex ramen-themed collage than it did for Nara Smith to apparently make DIY top ramen.

Wait, Mike is in three podcast??? I thought he was Justin if Books could kill in maintenance phase! What’s the third one???

I would like to point out that the Danish first name system has separate name lists for girls and boys and you can’t give a girl a boy name or vice versa. Don’t love it.

I will be waiting not-so-patiently for the Ballerina Farms episode! I had babies when the trad wife movement was really starting (2015) and it’s been insane to watch it rise and fall now.

Was there a big call for Mike to talk more about porn this month or something?

“I’m a Republican now” 😭😭😭😭😭

Whimsy Lou sounds like what a D&D GM would come up with on the fly if they had to name a halfling stripper.

loved this ep and you two. making bean burgers from scratch rn LOL

So interesting that Michael said “it’s not like she’s giving her kid chemo” but one of her children actually had cancer… I wonder if any apprehension to modern medicine was challenged when she realized how necessary it is

So Nara did the 'If you think I was endorsing XYZ then that's on you what's wrong with you that you thought that' thing. Love that.

Omg! Fangirling big time! I’m one of the former tradwives on the CNN segment, and listening to your podcast is what helped get me out! Full circle moment.

they are cranking it to the subjugation of women but. love you guys so much <3 thank u for another great episode

I know it’s correct, but I’m always amused when I hear “trad-wiferey” pronounced trad-WIFF-erey, I giggle.

Caro’s gonna freak at the mention that you listened to diabolical lies

You're joking about the homemade vaccines, but I'm just waiting for someone to go "So I gathered all these organic ticks by hand, put them in a blender..."

I was sitting here the whole podcast like you gotta mention Yesteryear you gotta lmao

Someone doesn't understand the point of Ramen.

Why does Nara Smith sound a little bit like the burger king foot lettuce guy if he tried to do ASMR

My cousin in law in 19 and engaged to a oil rig guy. Her life goal is to finish her associates in nursing but then not get a job and be a stay at home trad wife instead.

in czechia, we also have a pre-approved names and if you want a name that's not there, there's one old lady who decides. and there are rules like it can't be something insulting or dehumanazing. it was a huge thing in czech media some 20 years ago when some people wanted to name their daughter Midnight Storm (in czech)

On aspiring tradwives: I think there's a lot of people who are aspiring tradwives, but the economy is so dogshit that next to no one can make a one income house work. I think it's a goal for a lot of young women, unfortunately, but it hinges on finding a high-earning husband.

We need a cross over episode with Diabolical Lies and tradwifery!

I want to defend Nara Smith! I always thought her page was widely accepted as satire the whole time, she even makes little jokes about it. She has loads of TikTok videos where she shows herself travelling for work and talks about being a working mother. She talks about Lucky and what he does around the house and shows him with the kids etc. I agree that it’s harmful to promote stuff like raw milk or only using natural medicines but I don’t think it’s fair to say she is presenting herself as this ideal feminine tradwife.

Oh my god, Nara’s voice makes my brain itch.

when she added msg to her ramen that was when i knew it was ragebait because all the true maha believers are “allergic” to msg

Abby Cox did a video a while ago where she lampooned the Nara Smith-style short and it's amazing. She also made fun of the men's wellness/maga podcasts in it, too. It's her "Actual History of Eating Mummies" video.

That brief conversation about The Atlantic reminded me that I would be very excited about a bonus episode outlining in detail why you hate The Atlantic. I have a vague overarching dislike for it, but sometimes have trouble putting that into words when I’m trying to convince other people. I would be so into a classic, thorough Hobbesian take down of the publication if you’re ever looking for a bonus episode, on either of your podcasts :)

I’m an Elder Millennial woman that grew up with a working mom. Listening to Nara Smith say “why can’t we have it all?” just makes makes me wanna vomit. Dear God, baby, please read even a single book.

Aubrey I feel like you would love my favorite satirical trad wife lex Delarosa. She’s hilarious and really highlights the absurdity of it all while being funny and still doing it all perfectly in a beautiful gown

Kids names are pretty crazy these days, but if you go back far enough, you'll also see names like Chastity or, even further back, Maygodhavemercy and other names that are almost full sentences coming from the Puritans

"This is why those of us who are pure of heart just watch Top Chef" is going to be my new refrain.

A journalist in Australia recently named her baby Methamphetamine Rules to test the Births, Deaths & Marriages registry, which is supposed to look over and approve every baby name. They didn't pass the test. Welcome to the world little baby Meth Rules 🫶

Weirdly missed opportunity to shout out the Yesteryear author’s excellent feminist podcast - called Diabolical Lies for those interested in more conversations like this one.

I really do hope that those aren’t really her kids’ names because she wants to protect their privacy but I think my expectations are too high there

I just wanted to say I’m watching My Fat Friend right now, I purchased it on Apple and I’m just again so thankful to have found Aubrey and her fantastic work.

I was a tradwife who got married at 19 and now I’m a queer 30 year old openly nonbinary person with 2 kiddos

🤣me listening to this as I’m canning apple sauce and juice… but in a proud single cat lady way🐈‍⬛

I very rarely hate women’s authentic voices - give me vocal fry, give me deep voices, I’m fine with squeaks or pitchiness - I honestly enjoy vocal fry lol - but I cannot. Stand. Nara Smith’s fake TikTok voice. It’s nails on a chalkboard. It’s probably a bit of a reaction to growing up conservative and hearing women put on fake high or placating soft tones that weren’t their natural pitch at ALL. It just feels like watching a bad play lol

The Australian government release a list of rejected baby names every year. It’s hilarious! https://www.timeout.com/australia/news/the-89-illegal-baby-names-that-have-been-officially-banned-in-australia-033125

I hate these names so much I had to take a breather

Ah, as a queer ex Mormon I can answer the gay porn question. Ex Mormon gays have a lot of religious trauma. They’re processing it XD

As someone with a ridiculous name, I support the approved names registry. Too many parents don’t think about the fact that their child will have to apply for jobs with that name and interact in the world with that name. It sucks.

Had to rewind when Mike says his grandma is 101 and grew up on a farm in Missouri....because my granny is also 101 from Missouri. That woman has had a crazy fucking life and she always tells me to be independent.

Corollary to the labor market sucking: In many places (at least in the u.s.), it takes basically the whole of a second income to cover the costs of childcare for kids not old enough to be in school yet. So if you plan on having multiple kids, it makes more sense to have a stay-at-home parent anyway.

The ramen-making video was insane, but the cough drops one was truly rage bait for me as a parent of a young kid. Because, as any parent of young children has heard from their pediatrician, the recommended remedy to alleviate the discomfort of sore throats/coughs for kids over 1 year old is to give them a spoon of honey. JUST HONEY. Something that any tradwife influencer would certainly have in her kitchen, but it wouldn’t take 12 hours to prepare. I sure as heck wouldn’t have given my toddler a cough drop, hello choking hazard!

Baby bangs aka man-hating bangs lol

Hobbes talking the opposite stance that he took on Palin's kids' names

Appreciate y’all highlighting the genuine horror of these situations that these women get stuck in.

You have a lot more grace for Nara Smith than I do, Aubrey. Calling her videos rage bait is exactly correct and she has to know what she's doing. But part of the performance is also the "Well I never! I'm a regular person!" Just. GIMME ME A BREAK, NARA SMITH

i grew up in the suburbs of nyc and in 2023 when i was 26 i was at a bachelorette party where half the girls who grew up in a similar area were talking about how they wanted their husbands to be "traditional" and were basically describing this aesthetic.

Tradwifery is a word I’d never considered but it’s excellent and it works

This episode reminds me of a meme: 1950s guy who had six martinis for lunch, getting back into his cadillac: i wonder what my bitch wife is making for dinner Housewife, completely zoomed out on lithium: [encasing a whole ham in jell-o]

Why is this woman talking like she’s recording for an app to fall also faster? I almost dozed off in my lunch 😆

I don't really watch tradwife content at all, but I know many liberal, feminist women who do, and I think at least part of the appeal is that it seems like an escape from the most dehumanizing parts of late-stage capitalism. (Not saying it IS, but it SEEMS like.) In a vacuum, baking bread and making beautiful things slowly seems 1,000% more meaningful than writing one more goddamned email. Anyway, back to work 💀

Is it just me or does Nara Smith sound suspiciously close to "narcissist"

Whatwhatwhat?!?! Mystery has an AI girlfriend?!?!

This episode coming out the day i finished Yesteryear is making me feel very #blessed

Another banger from A&M! 👏👏

What I've learned from all this is to avoid Call Me Daddy like the plague.

when caro is back from maternity leave i DEMAND a diabolical lies x maintenance phase crossover

A) The discussion of how this is really just a type of content creation just clicked something for me - I absolutely love *historians* who do stuff like this, like Ruth Goodman. It is actually quite interesting to see how people used to make all their own shit, but with a historical lens rather than crypto republican propaganda B) I never pass up an opportunity to share this classic Onion article, from (sigh) 25 years ago when Martha Stewart reigned. https://theonion.com/grueling-household-tasks-of-19th-century-enjoyed-by-sub-1819565927/

This is delightful. I'm currently reading the horror novel TradWife by Saratoga Schaefer so I was up too late so when the west coast time episode dropped I got a notice of this while reading about TradWives gone wrong.

Love to hear an Alyssa Grenfell reference!!

Umm - truly a perfect podcast in every way. Loved it. Thank you!

Those are some real Jellicle Cat names Nara has for her kids

Great episode! As an Ex-Mormon, I have so many thoughts. The de-programming you have to do is very real. Also, I didn't realize that so many people know about talk about and have opinions about Mormons. But yeah, there are a lot of TV shows out there right now, so it makes sense. For a long time, the "outside world" thought that all Mormons were polygamists (probably because of the Sister Wives TV show, and others like it) so I think the LDS Church had to get in front of that, and start controlling the narrative.

Go listen to this right now! All will be explained. And listen to their other stuff, too. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-34-the-secret-lives-of-mormon-wives/id1696774612?i=1000672374912

Unbelievable rant about childrens names coming from the man who stated he thinks "Trig" is a cool name in the Sarah Palin ep of IBCK

Turns out I had seen Nara Smith’s content before AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A SATIRE!

OMG I am beggingggg for a ballerina farm episode!!

I had to start making ice cream sandwiches this way because my addiction to them was getting too expensive

There has got to be an extension of this conversation that includes the Duggar children leaving iblp and becoming content creators!!!!!

I cackled at Michael’s “the gender politics being pushed on us by the right is ASS” 😂😂

Oh man I was struggiling to find motivation for my long run today and voilá. New episoode. I totally agree with Mike. Im from Estonia and we also have a list of approved names and you have to send an inquiry about stupid ass names. Some are still confirmed but still.. So Im with Mike on this one and would send parents to jail! 😂

This was perfect! Thank you !!

A lot of European countries have list systems for names and they are super xenophobic. A lot of Irish people who were stationed in Brussels for EU stuff found out they couldn't give their children Irish names. Most countries with lists have gradually expanded the lists to include other names from within the EU but from outside Europe... for some reason.

I felt like it was a little cringe to hear "it's not like chemotherapy" when discussing the cough drops. Didn't their child need/get chemotherapy?

Nara Smith’s husband “burns everything apart from a good steak.” Riiiiiight. Because everyone knows steaks are the easiest thing to time and get perfect when it comes to cooking. She’s so committed to traditional gender roles that it would be funny if it wasn’t so incredibly bleak. The gaslighting by her and Alex Cooper is insane. Also, the weird “shouldn’t we know this is a performance” defense of her in the comments here is ridiculous. C’mon, guys. You don’t have to enthusiastically co-sign the lunacy. This is blatantly harmful on so many insidious levels.

Omg this lady sounds so miserable in the clip. Like she’s about to start crying. I think I’m only partly projecting.

I have dual U.S. and Swedish citizenship and I changed my last name in the U.S. when I turned 18. When I contacted the Swedish govt to be like “hey! I’ve changed my name so I need to change it on my Swedish records to get a new passport” they were like absolutely not, we don’t recognize your new name and it doesn’t follow our name rules. They have a list of popular Swedish last names to choose from so that’s what I had to do. And that’s how I started my career as international super spy with 2 passports that say 2 different names. So I am 100% with Aubrey when I’m like “Nordic country name laws make me a republican” 🦅🦅🦅😂😂😂

These recipies timelines though!!!! Like I'll dump something in crockpot, but 9 hours for homemade ramen is TOO MUCH. I want to spend 30 minutes tops to make dinner.

I really hoped that the Smith’s 4th kid would’ve been named Todd or whatever. Like, “uggh, I don’t have the energy to come up with another one of those names”

Listening about the Denmark list of approved names and Aubrey outrage was really funny 😂 In Spain we have kind of a mixed system. Parents can choose their children's name, but names that are clearly derogatory or insulting are not allowed (and if parents are not able to agree on a name, the register worker can choose for them). But traditional Spanish names such as Angustias, Dolores, Martirio, Soledad... (Anguish, Pains, Martyrdom, Loneliness...) are considered perfectly fine, so... Not a perfect system

Here for the Yesteryear reference! If you enjoyed this episode, I highly recommend picking up that book. You guys should consider releasing this bonus to the general public. I know it’s a bit off-topic for the main channel, but I do think it is an important societal issue to talk about.

My Nana grew up on a dairy farm in rural Connecticut in the 40s and 50s. I told her in passing that I'd found a local dairy to get our milk from, she made a point to say "but none of that raw milk nonsense, right?"

As an Idaho historian, all my interests are aligning! I love Alyssa Grenfell's content and talking about pop culture understandings of history and the rise of extremism within mormonism and evangelical spaces. Tie Levings content is fascinating as well as she explains leaving high control religion.

The disappointment and rage quitting I did when Project Runway had Nara Smith as a guest judge last week. The apology tour that isn't an apology BS enraged me.

As far as the trade wife influencers, isn't it a bit on the viewer to understand that what they are seeing is a performance?

The monotone ASMR voice makes me so viscerally angry 😂 I’ve always assumed Nara’s content was satire lol

Google Nara Smith and you immediately see that she's a professional model. That's what she's doing in her videos: modeling an aspirational lifestyle. I agree that she's not a tradwife, and also that she protests too much. All of it is performance for the algorithms. We all know this, so why are we so mad?

This is by far the best bonus content of any podcast I subscribe to

Hey! My grandmother is also 101! Hell yeah, centenarian grandmas!

DR. LAURA MENTIONED! cue all my latent rage! I used to love hatelistening to her and yelling at the radio 😆

Tradwife homemade vaccine = step by step video on how to inoculate yourself with cowpox.

I’m exmormon and we called the fawning voice “general conference voice” when I was growing up. There aren’t very many women who are permitted to speak at the LDS general conferences twice a year and those who do almost always sound like that. It’s strange, because the way women speak in the church is simultaneously encouraged/required to keep yourself safe and also mocked and used by men as a reason to not listen to you. I left the church years ago when I was 19 and can still speak that way on command, it’s absolutely wild how engrained that style of speech is among Mormons, especially Utah Mormons. Nara feels so Mormon to me, like everything I was taught to be in Mormonism taken to the logical end point.

This episode made me realize that ASMR makes my skin crawl.

When I listened to the making of the Ramen segment, I thought of all the Trad wives who take for granted the availability of all the ingredients. Another great episode. Thanks!

Nara Smith and her husband are also known Trump supporters. They aren’t super vocal about it, but 🤮

These tradwifes are just ripping off Claire Saffitz, who did this series called Gourmet Makes on the Bon Appetit YouTube channel and now does something similar called Claire Recreates on her own YouTube channel. It's less insane because a) she doesn't regularly do this (though I don't think tradwife influencers do either) and b) she doesn't do videos in that fundie baby voice.

The "Fundi-Voice" reminds me of the "Hippy" voice I was dealing with in college. Whenever I heard that Hippy voice I knew I was in for some passive-aggressive shit some night at a bar, or breakfast in the dorm...

Omg so glad you brought up Yesteryear! I've read tons of trad wife books this year (lots of them horror!) and it is amazing how this topic has seeped out to pop culture and books

I just want you to know that I watch Alton Brown for recipes I want to make at least part of the time. His breakfast carbonara is delicious!

Not the point of the episode, but to Michael’s offhand comment about Mormon missionary enactment in gay porn . . . The short answer is that Mormon missionaries are to gay porn what Catholic school girls are to straight porn. The long answer becomes more of a deep dive into the number of gay porn studio owners and pre-OF actors who come from a Mormon background and the impact that has on the content that gets created.

Tradwife content as porn 100%

Needless to say, fantastic episode! I also read Yesteryear over the summer and loved its take

Men like Mystery want the ego boost of crushing the spirit of independence and rebellion in baby bang girls

Yesteryear/Diabolical Lies mention!! <3

“Like a bellows for my depression” 😭

Gonna make her ramen recipe. Should be ready for next month's bonus ep

In many cases, the allowed name lists exist as a response to perceived threats from marginalised communities. I would be interested to see how many traditional Greenlanders names are on the Danish one, for example.

I discovered @memphisbakery on Instagram recently, and it’s my new favorite social media snack. Beautiful baking in a nice kitchen (focus on the food), paired with audio of unhinged men. Also, thank you, MP, for helping to improve my media literacy—it’s the powerhouse of my digital diet.

The timing on this could not be more perfect (for me, specifically). I listened first thing today, then returned to playing catch-up with my massive pod backlog and next up? The Material Girls episode on Tradwives x Eugenics. Perfect listening companions. ... And now I'm off to churn my own butter while I wait for my from-scratch macaroni and cheese to finish dehydrating!

ISTG this is fetish content for conservatives.

Okay, the digital mission thing, that's a little misleading. Full time missionaries are being encouraged to use social media more, your average Mormon does not hear a lot about that. This is not a direct line.

On the subject of names, I remember a news story from years ago about a family that gave their kids hardcore Nazi names. They made national news when the dad tried to order a birthday cake for their son Adolf Hitler's 3rd birthday and the grocery store refused to do it. Child services ended up getting custody of the kids, not for that but because all the scrutiny brought attention to other issues in the home.

The whole ‘not really a tradwife’ thing definitely has a similar feel to me of the ‘it’s a joke/sarcasm’ about racist sexist jokes. She has hung out repeatedly with Ballerina Farms. Like what she’s doing is not a bit, it’s genuine, until it’s more convenient or monetarily advantageous for it to just be a bit, and like duh shouldn’t we all have not been so stupid. It’s backfiring because most people don’t like being treated like they’re dumb.

I legitimately thought Nara Smith was a joke when I first stumbled upon her. Like a Lisandra Vasquez type satire. I am gobsmacked by this episode

pls tell me i'm not the only one whose misophonia is activated by ASMR Voice™ 🙉

Off topic but yall, Aubrey’s movie is now streaming on Apple. I’m so incredibly excited!

Nara Smith’s voice is making me nauseated, how could you do this to us 🥴

I love the soft "sexy" voice when the gal was talking in detail about making ramen. It feels almost like that weird food fetish content.

You joke, but someone mentioned that since most consumers of tradwife content are dudes, tradwives do actually make a type of non-nude porn

“I’ll trust it when Claire Saffitz does it” re Nara Smith bubblegum cracked me up

"How would you define tradwifery?" I'm DYING

I LOVE these episodes. I actually just finished a binge of Vanderpump Rules without previously seeing anything because of your episode about it! I had the best time watching it. Truly genius editing.

As a teacher, I agree with Mike. No one should be allowed to name their kid slim. The poor kids hate it!!!

As a teacher I am on Michael’s side. Some parents give their kids TERRIBLE names and their poor kids have to go by nicknames or they get made fun of

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I really can't stand things like trad wives and secret lives of Mormon wives. They're very what we call "Utah Mormons" and that's a completely separate culture from the rest of us. It's very keeping up with the Jones's and performative piety. I think their digital content as missionary work does more harm than good. One of my church friends is an OG feminist and she just recently learned about trad wives. She said, "don't they know we fought so they don't have to have a subservient relationship? Why are we doing this again?" In reference to how women in the church back in the 50s were often told things like "the best way for you to serve the Lord is to serve your husband." Which isn't true, and is contrary to the actual doctrine. But I could write a whole book on how Mormon Culture™ and our doctrine are in conflict.

I was surprised she was German until we got to the "I don't like this but I know you Americans love chocolate chip cookies." My brief experience living with a host family in Germany included multiple instances of the mom talking about how American desserts were too sweet or too much. In my German baking cookbook, the author says plain white rolls were treated "like dessert" in her house. These were both women of the older generations so I'm sure it's different now and isn't everyone but that one comment brought me back lol.

The ramen sound bite is auditory torture

Mike for president!!!!👍🏼

I'm 6 minutes in and I'm scared that Michael and Aubrey are going to gloss over the White Nationalism aspect of tradwives. I am a SAHM/W and I absolutely despise when someone calls me a TWx and I explain in painstaking detail about the Third Reich "3K Movement" and how TW is just a return to Nazism with a Donna Reed mask.

Don’t know why i wasn’t expecting the voice to be human barbiturates

Nara’s husband looks like if Kirk from Gilmore Girls was born a model.

The Netherlands and Italy also have those lists, which can be an issue in the German speaking parts of Northern Italy because "Andrea" is a very usual girl name in Austria and South Tyrol, but you're not allowed to name a girl Andrea in Italy bc its a male name in Italy 🥲

I feel like it's ok to get noodles at the store when it takes two days to make from scratch at home

1 min in and we’ve already reached new peaks of whistle laugh from Aubrey lol

"Making your own cereal"...Lucky Charms from scratch is insane. Granola is pretty normal, at least among the hippy culture I was raised in. It's fairly simple, definitely easier than a yeasted bread.

That was a very heartening listen. As an ageing feminist, I had been finding the whole tradwife trend pretty dispiriting. I am all for women being able to have exactly the sort of life they want and I am a keen cook and knitter myself, though I gave motherhood a firm swerve. So watching younger women apparently fall for this shit was pretty depressing. Thank fuck for people like Monte Mader! To hear that the tide may already be turning is very pleasing. I hope you're correct and that it continues.

Husband died on the Oregon trail waiting for bespoke ramen. Top Ramen takes 3 minutes Nara. Murderer

ok when i saw that ramen video a while back i DID assume it was a bit, and i assumed we all KNEW it was a bit. hearing her actually speaking was way more infuriating than cough drops from scratch lol

I saw some real tradwives (you know by the white passenger van) at the playground yesterday and I must admit I was admiring their husbands' impeccably ironed pants.

Compromise on baby names—no approved names list, just banned names list. https://www.timeout.com/australia/news/the-89-illegal-baby-names-that-have-been-officially-banned-in-australia-033125

Omg please do a Top Chef episode

YYYEEEESSSSSSSSSS

OMG, does Nara(?) Smith always talk like that? Completely flat? FFS! How does anyone listen to that crap?

Here in New Zealand baby names are reviewed and can be denied approval. There's a list of names that it's known will get denied but people keep coming up with new ones and sometimes they make the news. My favourite name on the denied list was Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

Can't wait for Mike Haters to clip that one line lmao

the voice in that tiktok is triggering

Omg that ramen noodle thing was painful to listen to, howww is this popular

Have learned so much about even-crazier-than-you-think Mormonism from Alyssa Grenfell’s YouTube channel* [*after getting embarrassingly addicted to Secret Lives of Mormon Wives 😳]

I used to teach a kid that was called Heavenly Angel. She was absolutely not.

Aubrey has officially brought Alyssa Grenfell into the Hobbes extended universe.

Great, can't wait to listen! :)

I don't want to assume women's eating habits by their bodies, but knowing how models eat, or how thin women who are in the public eye eat, there's a chance Alex Cooper literally didn't know that fresh baked cookies and ice cream are delicious when combined. It sort of eats away at her "Relatable" image that she seems to present, but I do think there's a decent number of women who never allowed themselves to just enjoy high calorie foods until they're pregnant.

I would just like Mike to know that I really appreciated the comment about English tradwives and prion disease. Actually laughed out loud 🤣

My mom used to listen to Dr Laura’s call in show in the car. I referred to her as “the mean lady” as a child, I’m glad I had an early, clarifying perception on her

I was in A Bit Fruity’s patreon chat begging Matt Bernstein for an episode on this and here is Aubrey answering the call!! We have been blessed 🙏🏼

Was literally struggling to get to the gym this morning because I had nothing good to listen to and Lo! A new episode hath dropped.

YES!!

Hell yeah