Kids These Days

How do we help children step outside of the heteronormative box?

About the Show

Outward, Slate’s queer podcast, is a whip-smart monthly salon in which hosts and guests deepen the audience’s understanding of queer culture and politics, delight them with unexpected perspectives, and invite listeners into a colorful conversation about the issues animating LGBTQ communities.

All episodes

Hosts

Rumaan Alam is the author of the novels Rich and Pretty and That Kind of Mother.
Christina Cauterucci is a Slate staff writer.
J. Bryan Lowder is a Slate associate editor and the editor of Outward. He covers life, culture, and LGBTQ issues.

Episode Notes

This month, Christina and Bryan are joined again by writer and Slate advice columnist Rumaan Alam to talk about children. First, the team invites this month’s straight studies correspondent, Slate executive editor Allison Benedikt, to talk about the ways children learn about queerness and sexuality, what we can do to teach and be an example, and how kids often pick up this stuff without us. Then they interview clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper about a recent case in Texas involving a trans child, the best routes for handling pre-adolescent trans care, and how affirming a child’s gender identity can only help. And, of course, we’ve got our usual rounds of gay agenda and prides and provocations.

Items discussed on the show:

• A Song for You: My Life With Whitney Houston, by Robyn Crawford

• “What the Battle Over a 7-Year-Old Trans Girl Could Mean for Families Nationwide,” by Katelyn Burns in Vox

Gay Agenda

Rumaan: The new Charlie’s Angels

Christina: One Day at a Time, and Lumberjanes

Bryan: The Birdcage

This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com.