Maiden Mother Matriarch: BONUS Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry

The loss of Ann Widdecombe

Louise Perry — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:02:03 GMT

In this bonus episode, Ed West and I discussed the apparent murder of Ann Widdecombe, the role that she played in British public life, and the responses to this atrocity.

The politics of the downwardly mobile class

Louise Perry — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 18:00:40 GMT

In this bonus episode, Rob Henderson and I discussed a recent viral article in The Cut titled ‘It’s Hard to See My Parents Live So Lavishly While We’re Struggling’ and the broader issue of wealth inequality within families. Is it really true that millennials have it harder than boomers? Are downwardly mobile younger generations right to feel resentful? …

Why we're still obsessed with the fall of Rome | Maiden Mother Matriarch 204

Louise Perry — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 18:00:57 GMT

The empire that once controlled all or part of forty modern European, Asian, and African countries no longer exists. Rome didn’t fall all at once, and it didn’t fall for any one simple reason. But it did fall. And people down the centuries have been drawn to the story of Rome’s decline and fall with a mixture of fear, curiosity, and an irresistible desi…

The demonisation of the working class | Maiden Mother Matriarch 203

Louise Perry — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 18:00:48 GMT

When ‘The Likes of Us’ was published almost twenty years ago, the book’s author Michael Collins was described by one critic as a “poetic hooligan.” Despite a fair bit of criticism along these lines, the book went on to win The Orwell Prize, Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing. ‘The Likes of Us’ is a micro-history of Michael’s family, …

How Hitler replaced the Devil | Maiden Mother Matriarch 202

Louise Perry — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 20:57:22 GMT

Alec Ryrie argues that the age of Hitler is not the 1930s and 1940s, it is our own lifetimes. As the influence of Christianity receded from the 1960s onwards, the figure of Hitler stepped into the breach – the most potent possible symbol of evil, around whom the Western moral imagination was structured.

But as the Second World War recedes into history, t…

Who is to blame for the riots?

Louise Perry — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 18:00:57 GMT

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed recent events in Britain, including the announced ban on social media use for under 16s and last week's rioting in Belfast and elsewhere.

A Billion Years of Sex Differences | Maiden Mother Matriarch 201

Louise Perry — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 20:20:59 GMT

The science of sex differences is intensely political. Traditionalists tend to exaggerate the innate differences between men and women, while progressives tend to minimise them, arguing that the behavioural differences we see between the sexes are a product of nurture, rather than nature.

Steve Stewart-Williams wants to offer a more cautious assessment. …

Why Tradwives are hated

Louise Perry — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:01:13 GMT

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Helen Roy about Caro Claire Burke’s bestselling novel ‘Yesteryear’ and we tried to explain why the ‘tradwife’ phenomenon attracts such strength of feeling. Helen can found at Helen Roy Writes.

How multiculturalism really works | Maiden Mother Matriarch 200

Louise Perry — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:01:21 GMT

Western elites tend to be xenophilic. They love the cultural other, and they abhor the dullness and small mindedness they see in their own countrymen. But, as Chris Bayliss points out, this is typically combined with what he describes as a “studiously parochial” attitude towards what the cultural other is actually like.

In his writing for The Critic Maga…

Should Christians fear AI?

Louise Perry — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:01:07 GMT

In this bonus episode for paid subscribers, I spoke with Mary Harrington about Pope Leo's encyclical on AI, whether it should be regarded as 'normal technology' or as something entirely different, and how the digital revolution might transform politics long term.

"You are not enough people!" | Maiden Mother Matriarch 199

Louise Perry — Sun, 31 May 2026 18:01:11 GMT

The institution of marriage has changed a lot over the last few centuries. As Eli Finkel explains in ‘The All of Nothing Marriage’ – truly one of my favourite social science books – Americans of the early nineteenth century would look with confusion on our modern attitudes towards what a spouse ought to be. An economic partner, sure. A co-parent, obviou…

The Windrush Myth

Louise Perry — Wed, 27 May 2026 18:01:30 GMT

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Ed West about why the story of the HMS Windrush has become so important in modern Britain, despite its historical inaccuracies.

How children got hooked on dopamine magnets | Maiden Mother Matriarch 198

Louise Perry — Sun, 24 May 2026 18:01:27 GMT

That’s an insight from Michaleen Doucleff, a science reporter for NPR and the author of the bestselling book ‘Hunt, Gather, Parent’, which we discussed on a previous MMM episode back in 2024.

In a new book, ‘Dopamine Kids’, she returns to the idea of children’s evolved natures, and the warping effect of a new force in all of our lives, what Michaleen cal…

Why aren't more people getting married?

Louise Perry — Thu, 21 May 2026 18:01:27 GMT

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Rob Henderson about the link between the decline in marriage rates and the decline in fertility rates.

The man who wants humans to go extinct | Maiden Mother Matriarch 197

Louise Perry — Sun, 17 May 2026 18:11:11 GMT

Paul Ehrlich was the author of the 1968 book ‘The Population Bomb’ - a book that made him into a celebrity. His message was a horrifying one. “In the 1970s and 1980s” he announced in the opening lines, “hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now.”

Thankfully, that prediction was not realised. But …

Divided Britain

Louise Perry — Wed, 13 May 2026 18:01:39 GMT

In this bonus episode, Nina Power and I discussed the local elections in Britain and what the results indicate about political polarisation, especially with regards to age, ethnicity, class, and sex.

The radicalisation of young women | Maiden Mother Matriarch 196

Louise Perry — Sun, 10 May 2026 17:55:20 GMT

We’ve all heard of the manosphere. We’ve all come across commentators who blame it for the radicalisation of young men. Political leaders express immense concern about manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, who are blamed for the alienation of their young fans from mainstream society.

We hear a lot less about the femosphere. In a recent New Statesman c…

The rise of the cougar

Louise Perry — Thu, 07 May 2026 18:01:42 GMT

In this bonus episode, I spoke with Meghan Murphy about the apparent rise in the eagerness of young men to date older women. Is it because of politics? Anti-ageing skincare? Money? A lack of interest in fatherhood? Or something else?

Meet the transwoman opposed to trans activism | Maiden Mother Matriarch 195

Louise Perry — Sun, 03 May 2026 18:01:03 GMT

Brianna Wu is a transwoman and a passionate Democrat who wants people with gender dysphoria to be protected from discrimination and given access to sex reassignment medical treatments. But only if this treatment has proper safeguards, and is never offered to children. To achieve this compromise – a centrist position, Brianna argues – trans activists mus…

What happens when a country embraces assisted death? | Maiden Mother Matriarch 194

Louise Perry — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 20:39:35 GMT

Philosopher Kathleen Stock is careful about terminology in her new book. Her argument is not against assisted suicide, or euthanasia, but specifically against assisted death services. That is, “formal structures for helping consenting people to die with the aid of clinicians.” It’s these “formal structures”, she argues, that end up transforming health s…