A Childfree Look at True Crime (Podcast)
Introducing a new series, plus the latest in childfree podcast episodes.
Hey there!
We’d like to thank everyone who has submitted a speaker application for the 2023 Virtual Childfree Convention. The response was magnificent, and now we have the pleasure of organizing the topic panels. We will be contacting selected speakers in March. The convention takes many months to organize with the variety of countries and time zones represented by the speakers. The childfree community has always been global, and we are thrilled with the reach that Childfree Convention has going into its third year. Replays from 2021 and 2022 are available now on the main website.
LeNora Faye, co-founder of Childfree Media Ltd.
New podcast spotlight
And the Cradle Will Fall: A Childfree Look at True Crime
Is it nature or nurture? That is the eternal true crime question. Jenn, aka Childfreesista, has never been able to turn away from the dark side. While many girls of her generation were reading books like The Baby-Sitters Club, she was buried in books by Robert Cormier, the Stephen King of Young Adult literature. Then came Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Alice Sebold’s memoir Lucky. Her fascination with exploring what true crime stories can teach us about our human condition was born.
Childfreesista is an award-winning poet, short story author, and essayist holding a BA in Anthropology and a Masters in Library and Information Science. She is a librarian and Jamaican American atheist raising two pandemic puppies in the DC Metro Area.
Is it safe to say you're a podcast junkie? What sparked the idea to explore true crime from a childfree perspective?
Yes, I am indeed a podcast junkie. I've always been able to connect more with voices than with visuals. So, I often listen to a podcast or an audiobook rather than sitting in bed and watching TV. Unless, of course, a new season of Servant or Emily in Paris comes out! 😊 I'm also an unabashed true crime fan: I live, eat, sleep, and breathe true crime all the time! But, what may set me apart from the mainstream true crime crowd is that I'm childfree by choice, and I've decided to use a childfree perspective to explore true crime cases.
So as a childfree woman who is also a true crime junkie, I can't ignore how much we normalize the unchallenged goodness and entitlement of parenthood in our narratives about true crime. That is why the tagline for my podcast is, "If it breeds, it leads," because, in true crime journalism, pronatalism is supreme even though it claims to be objective. And I have news for you, most true crime media is drinking that pro-parent koolaid.....and from a sippy cup!
What can the audience expect from this podcast?
When I first started to think through the concept of a childfree look at true crime, I immediately thought of what we in the childfree community call bingo-ing or being bingo-ed.
This is when people with children or those who buy into the norm of having kids say certain things to us because we have decided to opt out of parenthood.
Being bingo-ed is how the pro-natalist agenda gets its point across, that parenthood is a right and not a privilege, that children are always a blessing that makes a family complete!
So, Imagine a childfree bingo for each of these awful cases:
Bingo: "Nothing is better than that 'new baby smell!'" – Megan Huntsman, a Utah mother sentenced to life in prison for killing six of her newborn babies.
Bingo: "It's different when it's your own!" -- Chris Watts, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their two young daughters.
Bingo: "What about the family name?" – The OG of family annihilators John List, who in 1971 killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared.
Bingo: "It's all worth it!" – Carola Arnau, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania mother that shot her 10-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son multiple times in a murder-suicide.
Bingo: "People who don't want kids are selfish!" – The alleged patron Saint of Shady and Selfish Casey Anthony, whose acquittal for the disappearance and murder of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee sparked national confusion and outrage.
Bingo: "Your child could grow up to cure cancer!" – Killer twins Jasmiyah and Tasmiyah Whitehead, 16-year-old sisters convicted of killing their mother.
This podcast will look at an assortment of cases and explore the questions that remain taboo even for stories often drenched in the blood of families: Which childfree bingo applies, and how does society's obsession with having kids at any cost contribute to these kinds of tragedies?
Each episode will center around a bingo.
I've only shared a few but trust me, there's more!
I'll select a few cases to reveal a childfree perspective's unique value and revelatory power.
I'll listen to other true crime podcasts; I'll watch documentaries, and of course, cuz I'm old school, I'll read books.
I'll discuss my thoughts on true crime from the perspective of a childfree true crime junkie.
And now, even more childfree podcast episodes…
Childfree Media Podcast
The finale of this four-part series exploring whether pronatalism has cult-like tendencies, using cult expert Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control! LeNora and Laur discuss how Emotional Control is used in pronatalism. This conversation is a replay from a previous live stream recorded in 2022.
A replay of the Childfree & Single panel from the 2021 Virtual Childfree Conference, which live-streamed on July 31st, 2021.
On this episode, Evan and LeNora laugh a lot! Evan laughs when LeNora asks if having kids is the best thing he will do in his lifetime. LeNora laughs when Evan does an impression of adult kids asking parents for money. Evan talks about losing his identity after becoming a parent and gaining it back. Sibling banter moment: Why does LeNora have to bake Evan a cake?
Accidental Parenthood is created in allyship with the childfree community.
Cody (Founder, Childfree Family) and Dr. Jay, CFP (Founder, Childfree Wealth) discuss the financial decisions that are unique to the Childfree lifestyle. This episode will cover: F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) and F.I.L.E. (Financial Independence Live Early) from a Childfree viewpoint.
Claiming Zero
Claiming Zero returns later this week for season THREE! And with a new logo! Congrats!!
No Bibs Burps Bottles
Dr. Rimiko Thomas is a happy-go-lucky, caring licensed psychologist with over 10 years of experience counseling adults in various settings in life and cultural backgrounds overcoming various difficult issues. She is currently in private practice and teaches remotely at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Thomas was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, lives with her partner, and is the only child. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and is unapologetic about being happily childfree! Dr. Thomas' personality shines through the airwaves with boldness, laughter and truth!
We’re Not Kidding
Jewel Hohman is a life coach who specializes in helping people feel secure and confident while also teaching them how to create deep, meaningful friendships. In this episode, she shares what she calls the connection formula, an intentional way to build fulfilling friendships. Did you know that research shows that roughly half of our friendships change and shift every seven years?
Closing remarks
If you’re on LinkedIn, the professional networking site, and you want to weigh in on the topic of being childfree in the workplace, be sure to join private group, Childfree Professionals.
Remember to send us your childfree member spotlight submission, new childfree-themed content or event! And for all other inquiries, please email us: ChildfreeMedia@gmail.com.