Divorce Podcasts

Dr. J's divorce podcasts will help listeners understand how divorce harms the marriage ecosystem.

(October 10, 2011) Topic: divorce, family structure, etc. Elizabeth Marquardt speaks at the Conference for the Priests and Deacons of La Crosse, Wisconsin on divorce, donor-conceived persons, alternate family forms, and alienation. Listen here.

(September 16, 2011) Topic: divorcing because of Alzheimer's? Dr J appears on the Drew Mariani show to discuss Pat Robertson's recent pronouncement that contracting Alzheimer's is grounds for divorce--because it's "a kind of death." Listen here.

(June 6, 2011) Topic: divorce from the father's perspective. Dr J hosts "From the Front Lines of the Culture War" on Catholic Radio of San Diego. Today she's interviewing Dr Warren Farrell, author of several books, including Father and Child Reunion. They're discussing divorce, viewed through the lens of fatherhood, and how different parenting styles can create friction in a divorce situation. Listen here.

(May 10, 2011) Topic: easy divorce and how it changes the nature of marriage. Dr J and Todd Wilken meet on Issues, Etc to discuss the baby boom generation's easy access and propensity to divorce (aka no fault divorce), and the way it changes how we approach marriage in the first place. Listen here.

(July 28, 2010) Topic: divorcing later in life. Dr J appears on Issues, Etc to discuss "grey divorce"--couples who divorce in later life after being married for a long time (decades). There's a lot of information out there on how to re-enter the singles scene and get on with your life, but why are these break-ups happening in the first place? Listen here.

(August 3, 2010) Topic: staying married when not in love. The New York Times ran a piece on upper-middle-class married couples who have grown apart but choose to remain married for...convenience? Tax purposes? Inertia? This definitely isn't an ideal, but is it a bad thing? Dr J unpacks the idea and some of its ramifications. Listen here.

(July 6, 2010) Topic: is divorce contagious? Can it matter to your marriage if your friends are getting divorced? According to a new study by Drs Rose McDermott, James H. Fowler, and Nicholas A. Christakis, the answer is yes. Dr J has some insights into why this is so. Listen here.

(April 20, 2010) Topic: same sex marriage via same sex divorce? The latest attempt to get same-sex marriage laws on the books ironically centers around the dissolution of same-sex relationships. In the state of Texas (Texas!), where SSM initiatives were rejected by a 3-1 margin at the voting booth, this tactic has surfaced. Dr J and Todd Wilken have more of the story. Listen here.

(March 26, 2010) Topic: divorce rates not falling during recession. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the divorce rate is falling as the recession discourages couples from setting up separate households to deal with their differences. Since economic hardship usually nudges the divorce rate up, Dr J finds this very interesting. Listen here.

(March 9, 2010)Topic: lowering the divorce rate. The state of Oklahoma wants to lower its divorce rate, and its legislature is currently considering several ways to encourage couples to stay married (some of the solutions include preparation for marriage as well). Is this a good thing? When is it too much? Dr J has some insights and examples of what other states have done. Listen here.

About Marriage-Ecosystem.org:

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse is the president and founder of the Ruth Institute, and Marriage-Ecosystem.org is a project of the Ruth Institute. These divorce podcasts are only one aspect of what's happening to the marriage ecosystem - we have a whole library of podcasts on a variety of subjects. All of them help listeners understand why we think of marriage as an ecosystem.

Our divorce podcasts are unique because Dr. J talks about divorce from a large-scale, public policy perspective.

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