When we talk about the politics of motherhood, it's often around isolated topics, such as the cost of childcare. But, in her new book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood, academic and writer Helen Charman argues that this isn’t enough to understand the inherently political act of mothering.

Jen chats to Helen about bodily autonomy, the paradoxes around our understanding of motherhood, why we should all be interested in mothering, and why Margaret Thatcher wouldn’t have much liked Jen.

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