Do worries about your kids’ safety dominate your parenting choices? How often do you feel pressured to make parenting choices as a result of judgment from others? We are parenting in an age of overwhelming fear and constant judgment. Understanding how we got here, what the dangers really are (and are not), and how we can parent more courageously and wisely, can help us to better navigate parenting in the modern age.

In this episode, Kim Brooks, author of Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear, joins Yael and offers deep wisdom in parenting well in the current cultural climate.

Listen and Learn:

Why parenting culture has devolved into fearWhat some of the important dangers are, and which common worries are not worthy of the attention we give themWhy we judge parents, particularly mothers, so harshlyHow to become a more brave and effective parent in this cultural milieu

About Kim Brooks

Kim Brooks is the author of Small Animals: Parenthood In the Age of Fear. Small Animals was an NPR Best Book of the Year and described by National Book Review as “an impassioned, smart work of social criticism and a call for support and empathy.” Kim’s writing has appeared in NYT, NY Magazine, Salon, and Buzzfeed. Kim has appeared on CBS This Morning, GMA, NPR’s All Things Considered, 20/20, among others.

Resources

Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear, by Kim BrooksKim’s WebsiteFollow Kim on TwitterMotherhood in the Age of Fear, New York Times essay by Kim BrooksWhat a Horrible Mother, Salon essay by Kim Brooks

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