Producer/Host: Amy Browne
According to a recent study* the decrease in carbon footprint from reduced reproduction is “huge” compared to lifestyle changes and conservation efforts. Yet people who choose not to have children are almost universally considered to be selfish or social outcasts. Despite this, the “childfree by choice” movement seems to be growing.
Guests:
Dr. Amy Blackstone, University of Maine Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department. Professor Blackstone studies childlessness and the childfree choice, childfree families, workplace harassment, and civic engagement. Her work has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including American Sociological Review, Law & Society Review, Sociology Compass, and Gender & Society. Professor Blackstone’s research has been featured by various media outlets including the Katie show, MPBN Radio, NBC, Fox, Today.com, MSNBC, Marie Claire, Dame, Huffington Post, and other local and national venues, including WERU’s “Reproductive Left” with Abbie Strout (Listen to an archive of that program here: archives.weru.org/reproductive-left/2015/03/reproductive-left-3315/ ) Dr. Blackstone is also a founding Advisory Board member of Feminist Reflections, a blog hosted by The Society Pages. She has served as a Consulting Editor for Contexts and is author the textbook Principles of Sociological Inquiry: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. She and her husband Lance, who is also with us today, blog about the childfree choice at werenothavingababy.com/
Lance Blackstone’s day job is managing software development. He enjoys all things tropical – in particular, snorkeling and scuba diving on tropical islands and, when not on a tropical island, propagating coral in his home reef aquariums.
Karen Marysdaughter is a war tax refuser, climate activist, and the Office Manager at the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine. Larry Dansinger, in addition to being the host of the WERU short feature “Outside the Box”, has been an organizer for many years on justice, peace, and environmental issues and formerly paid staff for Resources for Organizing and Social Change. He and Karen Marysdaughter have lived together as a couple since 1982.
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