Episodios

  • Masturbation & Pornography

    Masturbation & Pornography
    Jan 12 2026
    Moral panic about masturbation and pornography is nothing new, but in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, numerous conservative groups—many of whom have deep ties to the natalist movement—have started to ring the alarm bell once again. This week, June and Josh take a look at the early history of fear of masturbation, then jump forward to the present day to see how the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) reflects many of these paranoias and introduces problems of its own. There's also a pretty significant detour into talking about the Zootopia abortion comic, if that's your thing. ***REMINDER: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We record bonus mailbag episodes and release them at the beginning of each week. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who founded the Kellogg Company with his brother Will in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1906. Kellogg believed that bland food such as unsweetened corn flakes could aid in reducing the urge to masturbate. He also was a notable eugenicist and co-founded the Race Betterment Foundation in 1914 to discourage interracial relationships. AUDIO CLIPS: 16:07 – Tucker Carlson talks to Milo Yiannopolous about homosexuality FURTHER READING/LISTENING: The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about Every Young Man's Battle (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube) The Zootopia abortion comic SOURCES: The Age-Gated Internet Is Sweeping the US. Activists Are Fighting BackThe far right’s crusade against porn is a red herring – it’s actually a crusade against progressRe-Victimized: When Sexual Assault Gets Uploaded to Porn PlatformsThe Disturbing True Story of Kellogg’s Anti-Masturbation CerealHow Project 2025 Tries to Demonize LGBTQI+ People—and Why It’ll FailNick Kristof and the Holy War on PornhubDelete history: Pornhub changed the world, but its empire faces a reckoningInternet Censorship Bills Wouldn’t Help Catch Sex TraffickersProject 2025 TrackerAge verification regulations in the United States of AmericaHack of Age Verification Company Shows Privacy Danger of Social Media LawsPress release about the passage of KOSA from the office of Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-MD)IHOPKC founder committed sexual abuse, misconduct against 17 women, investigation finds Melissa McCarthy Apologizes for Supporting Charity with Anti-LGBTQ Past FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.comBluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.comTumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.comBluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.worldOther podcast: The Worst of All Possible WorldsStream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beerOther podcast: Kill The ComputerWriting: June's Substack ILL CONCEIVED THEME SONG BY: Caleb (Linktree / Bluesky)
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    1 h y 32 m
  • I'll Be Mailbag For Christmas

    I'll Be Mailbag For Christmas
    Dec 23 2025

    Josh was really sick the past couple weeks so we haven't been able to get new episodes out. But we wanted to get you something before the end of the year, so we talked about sperm racing and read some more mail.

    New episodes in the standard format will resume on a biweekly schedule starting Friday, January 2. Thank you for being our wonderful babies and we'll see you in the new year.

    ***REMINDER: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We record bonus mailbag episodes and release them every other week. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!***

    EPISODE ART: A charming LEGO mailman who is holding a brick of mail.

    AUDIO CLIPS:

    • 13:09 – The official Sperm Racing trailer, as posted to the brand's X account on December 12

    SOURCES:

    • "I Watched Sperm Race With Hundreds of Teens. It Was a Total Sh*t Show." by Jason Rogers (Men's Health, May 7, 2025)

    FOLLOW THE SHOW:

    • Website: illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Tumblr: @illconceivedpod

    FOLLOW JOSH:

    • Website: joshboerman.com
    • Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
    • Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds
    • Stream: Traditional Scrench

    FOLLOW JUNE:

    • Bluesky: @junlper.beer
    • Other podcast: Kill The Computer
    • Writing: June's Substack

    ILL CONCEIVED THEME SONG BY: Caleb (Linktree / Bluesky)
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    54 m
  • Eugenics, IQ, and The Bell Curve

    Eugenics, IQ, and The Bell Curve
    Dec 5 2025
    Charles Murray & Richard Herrnstein's book 1994 The Bell Curve caused tremendous controversy on its publication by positing a link between intelligence and race. But this certainly wasn't the first time someone had made this argument, nor would it be the last. This week, Josh and June take a look at the foundation of the eugenics movement in North America, track its close relationship with the development of IQ testing, and discover some surprising links to German, Italian, and American fascism. ***REMINDER: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We record bonus mailbag episodes and release them at the beginning of each week. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Charles Murray, co-author of The Bell Curve. Murray, a Harvard and MIT-trained political scientist, is strongly opposed to social welfare programs and has made dismantling the welfare state a central goal of his project. He has been in residence at the American Enterpise Institute since 1990 and currently holds the F. A. Hayek Chair Emeritus in Cultural Studies there. SOURCES: “Christianity and Eugenics: The Place of Religion in the British Eugenics Education Society and the American Eugenics Society, c.1907–1940” by Graham J. Baker (Social History of Medicine, 2014)“The Pioneer Fund: Financier of Fascist Research” by Steven J. Rosenthal (American Behavioral Scientist,1995)“The Pioneer Fund: Bankrolling the Professors of Hate” by Adam Miller (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 1994)“Revealed: International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss” by David Pegg, Tom Burgis, Hannah Devlin and Jason Wilson (The Guardian, October 16, 2024)“A Company Says It Can Predict Your Baby’s IQ Before Birth. But Where’s the Science?” by Darren Orf (Popular Mechanics, August 7, 2025)The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life by Charles A. Murray and Richard Herrnstein (Free Press, 1994)Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and our Fight for an Independent Future by Anita Say Chan (University of California Press, 2025)“The Pronatalism of Silicon Valley” by Emma Waters (The Heritage Foundation, August 22, 2024)“The influencers who want the world to have more babies - and say the White House is on their side” by Stephanie Hegarty (BBC, April 1, 2025)“The Education of a Libertarian” by Peter Thiel (Cato Unbound, April 13, 2009) FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.comBluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.comTumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.comBluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.worldOther podcast: The Worst of All Possible WorldsStream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beerOther podcast: Kill The ComputerWriting: June's Substack ILL CONCEIVED THEME SONG BY: Caleb (Linktree / Bluesky)
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    1 h y 51 m
  • PREVIEW - Mailbag & Chill: Balaji Srinivasan

    PREVIEW - Mailbag & Chill: Balaji Srinivasan
    Nov 26 2025

    THIS IS A PREVIEW OF A BONUS MAILBAG EPISODE. For access to the full length version of this and every other weekly bonus mailbag episode, go to Patreon.com/illconceived

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    NYC Subway's Broadway-Lafayette station is now full of apparently eugenicist ads for an IVF and genetic testing company called Nucleus. We're talking about it, plus:

    • The parallels between Balaji Srinivasan's ideas and the novels of Neal Stephenson
    • Other sci-fi that predicts other futures
    • Electrical engineers and why they're Like That

    A screenshot of the embryo selection grid on Nucleus's website: https://imgur.com/a/bfV9Hay
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    21 m
  • What is Childhood?

    What is Childhood?
    Nov 23 2025
    The White House will likely soon release a large set of documents about convicted pedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein further detailing the depths of his crimes. Alongside this, a line of rhetoric seems to be developing in certain right-wing circles: although what Epstein did was morally abominable, not all of it was criminal, and it's certainly categorically different from preying on "real children." But what exactly is childhood, and why are certain reactionaries making this argument now? This week, June and Josh look into the history of the concept of childhood in the United States to try and figure out why. ***REMINDER: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We record bonus mailbag episodes and release them at the beginning of each week. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Richard Hanania, a writer and online right-wing personality whose work includes 2023's The Origins of Woke, published by HarperCollins under their Broadside Books imprint. Hanania is a co-author of Project 2025, previously wrote for white supremacists publications under the pen name Richard Hoste, and recently wrote about how pedophilia is a moral panic. AUDIO CLIPS: 3:11 – Megyn Kelly speaking about Jeffrey Epstein in a recent episode of The Megyn Kelly Show1:05:01 – "Jailbait," a song released by Olivia Nuzzi under the pseudonym "Livvy" in 2009 when she was 16 years old1:14:32 – Neil Sedaka performs "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" on American Bandstand in 1963 FURTHER LISTENING: The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about Fireproof (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Pocket Casts) SOURCES: Republican Wants to Loosen Child Labor LawsWhy is the teen birth rate falling?Child Labor Laws - Facts and MisconceptionsInjuries, death and abuse: The disturbing reality behind Ohio’s rollback child labor lawsA Brief History of Education in the United StatesEpstein files: Who else was mentioned?Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 Million in Privacy Suit Against GawkerThe U.S. Fertility Decline Is Not Due to the Drop in Teen PregnanciesAge of Consent Through the Years in the United States.Hitler, Demi Moore, and Other "Pedophiles" FOLLOW THE SHOW: Website: illconceivedpodcast.comBluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.comTumblr: @illconceivedpod FOLLOW JOSH: Website: joshboerman.comBluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.worldOther podcast: The Worst of All Possible WorldsStream: Traditional Scrench FOLLOW JUNE: Bluesky: @junlper.beerOther podcast: Kill The ComputerWriting: June's Substack ILL CONCEIVED THEME SONG BY: Caleb (Linktree / Bluesky)
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    1 h y 31 m
  • PREVIEW - Mailbag & Chill: Matt Yglesias

    PREVIEW - Mailbag & Chill: Matt Yglesias
    Nov 18 2025

    THIS IS A PREVIEW OF A BONUS MAILBAG EPISODE. For access to the full length version of this and every other weekly bonus mailbag episode, go to Patreon.com/illconceived

    --------------------------

    Dr. Oz expects a Trump baby boom in 2026. We're talking about it.

    Plus, we read your mail from the Matt Yglesias episode, including:

    • Regional visas in Australia and how they compare to Matt Yglesias's city visa concept
    • The U.S. economy's shift toward health care as a core industry in response to an aging population
    • Large families as a status signifier
    • The difference between a Park & Ride and a Kiss & Ride
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    9 m
  • Balaji Srinivasan & Network Natalism

    Balaji Srinivasan & Network Natalism
    Nov 15 2025

    Natalcon 2025 featured a number of high profile speakers whose speeches weren't recorded. One of these speakers was Balaji Srinivasan, a technologist who made his fortune in pre-pregnancy genetic testing and now preaches the gospel of cryptocurrency and decentralized "Network States" to anyone who will listen. This week, Josh and June discover what Balaji's whole deal is and end up deeply confused and repulsed by it.

    ***REMINDER: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We record bonus mailbag episodes and release them at the beginning of each week. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!***

    ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com***

    EPISODE ART: Balaji Srinavasan at TechCrunch Disrupt. After graduating from Stanford and co-founding genetic testing company Counsyl, Srinivasan joined the venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz and later worked at Coinbase. In 2024 he founded Network School, an incubator in Malaysia that seeks to develop applications for his concept of the Network State.

    AUDIO CLIPS:

    • 48:23 – Balaji Srinivasan's "Ultimate Exit" talk at Y Combinator Startup School in 2013
    • 51:56 – ibid.
    • 1:04:11 – Balaji Srinivasan's talk at Natal Conference 2023
    • 1:10:45 – Balaji Srinivasan at Token2049 in Dubai, 2025
    • 1:20:29 – ibid.
    • 1:22:17 – ibid.

    SOURCES:

    • SAAWA 2013 Honorees profile of Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan
    • "NY Physician is Fellow of Royal College of Physicians in London" (The Indian Panorama, July 23, 2016)
    • PDF of the March 2006 issue of State Magazine
    • Balaji Srinivasan's LinkedIn profile
    • Crunchbase profile of Counsyl
    • MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 profile of Balaji Srinivasan
    • "The Blockchain is the Internet of Money" by Tunku Varadarajan (The Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2017)
    • "The Turnaround" by Balaji Srinivasan (Medium, April 16, 2018)
    • Network School website
    • Praxis Nation website

    FOLLOW THE SHOW:

    • Website: illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Tumblr: @illconceivedpod

    FOLLOW JOSH:

    • Website: joshboerman.com
    • Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
    • Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds
    • Stream: Traditional Scrench

    FOLLOW JUNE:

    • Bluesky: @junlper.beer
    • Other podcast: Kill The Computer
    • Writing: June's Substack

    ILL CONCEIVED THEME SONG BY: Caleb (Linktree / Bluesky)
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    1 h y 42 m
  • Matthew Yglesias: One Billion Americans

    Matthew Yglesias: One Billion Americans
    Nov 1 2025

    In 2020, Vox cofounder Matt Yglesias published a book entitled One Billion Americans which ostensibly sought to lay out a liberal argument for dramatically increasing the population of the United States. This week, June and Josh read the book. Hoo boy, do we have thoughts about it.

    ***BIG NEWS: WE HAVE A PATREON NOW! We'll be recording bonus mailbag episodes that will release at the beginning of each week. The main show will continue its regular release schedule at the end of each week and will stay free to all of you, our beloved babies. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!***

    ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com***

    EPISODE ART: Matthew Yglesias, the author of One Billion Americans. In 2014, Yglesias cofounded the news website Vox alongside Ezra Klein and Melissa Bell. He departed Vox in 2020 to join the Niskanen Center, a centrist think tank. Yglesias also publishes a newsletter called Slow Boring.

    SOURCES:

    • One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger by Matthew Yglesias (Portfolio, 2020)
    • “The boring journey of Matt Yglesias” by Dan Zak (Washington Post, January 11, 2023)
    • A Bluesky post about JD Vance by @helldude.bsky.social
    • “MTV cancels ‘Ridiculousness’ after 46 seasons, star Rob Dyrdek’s price tag became public” by Taijuan Moorman (USA Today, March 31, 2025)

    FOLLOW THE SHOW:

    • Patreon: Patreon.com/illconceived
    • Website: illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Bluesky: ‪@illconceivedpodcast.com
    • Tumblr: @illconceivedpod

    FOLLOW JOSH:

    • Website: joshboerman.com
    • Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
    • Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds
    • Stream: Traditional Scrench

    FOLLOW JUNE:

    • Bluesky: @junlper.beer
    • Other podcast: Kill The Computer
    • Writing: June's Substack
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    1 h y 50 m
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