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Kara Kennedy
Kara Kennedy is a freelance writer with work appearing in The Times, The Spectator, GQ and others.
Series
Recent Episodes
Does having two under two make you a real parent? Bethany and Kara explore that and Kara brings the surprisingly sympathetic details of attending "SlutCon."
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Bethany and Kara dive into the Cornell case, and what it says about sex. This isn’t an episode to listen to around your kids or our family members!
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September 2026
This week, Kara and Bethany are joined by Dixie Dillon Lane, the author of the book Skipping School: A history of American homeschooling and how it went mainstream. They talk... homeschooling, you guessed it.
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August 2026
This week, Bethany is joined by Alex Adams, Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), to discuss changes to the Head Start program and address critics of the announcement. They also discuss progress on the work to prevent states from seizing the Social Security survivor benefits of children in foster care, updating a piece Bethany wrote about the practice last year.
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This week, Bethany is joined by Katharine Birbalsingh, Britain’s Strictest Headmistress and the host of the new podcast Strictly Education. They discuss parenting philosophy and how parents can tighten the reins at home and school to create a more pleasurable experience for the entire family.
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July 2026
This week Bethany sat down with Adina Shmidman, the Director of the Orthodox Union's Women's Initiative and the queen of a daily learning program called "Nach Yomi" to discuss daily Bible study and how moms and all women can delve into text learning, Jewish or not! Bethany has been participating in one of the OU's programs called Nach Yomi, and you can learn more about it here.
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Bethany and Kara have the honor to sit down and talk to Glenn Beck (yes, that Glenn!) about his incredible new initiative for patriotic families, The Torch, and about what families need to do to equip their kids to grow to love America, especially in our 250th year. Happy Fourth of July! Excerpt from "Five in the First," ©2026 Mercury Radio Arts, Inc. Used with Permission.
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June 2026
Bethany sat down with Professor Matt Mehan, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Government at Hillsdale in DC, to discuss his new book, The American Book of Fables, released last month. We have a wide-ranging conversation about the importance of fables, homeschooling as the Founders might have, and the importance of literature for all ages. He's the author of three books, including Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals and The Handsome Little Cygnet.
With guest MMMatthew Mehan
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Kara makes a triumphant return to the podcast after her chaotic maternity leave, ready to talk about the birth of her second daughter, Sloane. She and Bethany discuss life with two under two, and how life with two feels somehow harder than life with six.
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April 2026
Bethany is joined this week by Emily Elkins, Vice President of the Cato Institute and a mother of three. She dives into reams of data she's acquired about how kids these days are doing. Buckle up, it's a bit depressing.
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This week Bethany is joined by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to talk about her new book, Poisoned Ivies, about how parents can navigate *these times* with their toddlers and young adult children alike, and what it it's like as a young mother serving as a Member of Congress. You can read Bethany's piece interviewing Stefanik at the New York Post here.
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In this episode, Bethany is joined by writer and comedian Bridget Phetasy to talk about how becoming a late-in-life mother was transformative, and how our culture gets the narrative wrong on motherhood. Phetasy is the host of the podcasts Walkins Welcome and Dumpster Fire.
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Bethany is joined this week by a fellow mother of six, Katie Carney, to talk about growing up in a big family and deciding to have one as well. Katie is married to the pro-natalist crusader Tim Carney, author of Alienated America and Family Unfriendly.
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March 2026
Bethany is joined this week by the Free Press's Kat Rosenfield to talk about the situation in young adult publishing and the polyamarous craze, and her column on Lindy West.
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In this episode, Bethany spoke with Christina Smith, a mom of 1.75 and the Consumer Center Director for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, about how American moms who are MAHA can also stay sane.
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In this week's episode, Bethany sits down with Senior Political Correspondent at Jewish Insider, Lahav Harkov, talking about what it's like to be a mother in Israel amid yet another war. With her husband serving in the military reserves, Lahav is juggling parenting 3.75 children while also reporting on the war that's sending her to a bomb shelter in her home several times a day.
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February 2026
It’s Bethany’s first episode driving solo with Kara out on maternity leave. Mazal tov and welcome to Sloane! Bethany sits down with Leigh Fitzpatrick Snead, author of the new book, Infertile but Fruitful. A Catholic adoptive mom of three, Snead talks about her infertility journey and her advice for other mothers facing the same challenges. You can follow her on X at @SneadLeigh or her Substack, Catholic Conversations with TCA.
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Bethany and Kara welcome in Ericka Andersen, author of the new book Freely Sober, how a former "Wine Mom" came to the realization that she needed a way out of a habitual and destructive relationship with alcohol.
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January 2026
This week's episode was inspired by a couple of pieces Kara wrote, including "The British Baby Bust" for The Free Press. Bethany's book link this week: Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting by Jennifer Traig
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Pediatrician Dr Ali Carine rejoins the show where we discuss and break down the new CDC vaccine schedule changes and the controversial updated food pyramid emphasizing meat and whole milk with reduced grains. The Moms and the Doctor are in.
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We're back to answer some burning questions, such as "Should you date someone you don't want to marry?", "Is it ok to hate prenatal yoga?" and more importantly, "Did you pick up my keys?" The ladies recap their holiday trips as Kara does "A Pregnant Woman's Christmas in Wales" and Bethany embraces Catholicism for 45 minutes in a back alley in Nazareth on Christmas Eve. Really.
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December 2025
Bethany is packing six kids for Greece and Israel, Kara has just imported sausage rolls via Belgium and sent her husband to Alaska on a whim, and somehow that all leads to… Grandma Jan and the daughters-in-law she tries to leave at home during her family vacay. The moms unpack the viral “grandma camp” reel, mother-in-law drama, and what it’s really like to be a boy mom watching your sons emotionally edge away.
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November 2025
In this week’s episode, we kicked things off by swapping midwife horror stories and debated the question every expectant mother eventually faces: to doula, or not to doula?
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In the latest episode of The Mom Wars, Bethany talks us through her weight-loss journey with Zepbound, and the girls discuss the latest postpartum body discourse.
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