Rachel Cohen
Appearances
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
And Bethea told us Steele seems to have almost the opposite values of Combs, or at least the public's perception of Combs, who branded himself as a bad boy. Steele, meanwhile.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Bethea says that reputation might help Combs in the courtroom.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
The list of witnesses has not yet been made public. But according to CNN, former sexual partners, a business associate, and a male sex worker are among those expected to appear. So is Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura. A video of Combs brutally attacking her in a hotel back in 2016 was made public by CNN last year.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
The New Yorker also mentions other lawyers on Combs' legal team, including Mark Agnifilo. In the past, he's represented Keith Ranieri, the founder of the NXIVM sex cult, and Martin Shkreli, the so-called pharma bro. He is also, along with his wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, currently representing Luigi Mangione, who's charged in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Jury selection starts today, and opening arguments are next week. Now to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who is stepping down from his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway after 60 years with the company. In a surprise announcement at the company's annual meeting over the weekend, Buffett said he's recommending that his vice chairman, Greg Abel, take the mantle next, starting in 2026.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
On Sunday, the board of directors approved Abel as his successor and voted to keep Buffett on as chairman of the board next year. Buffett told the crowd over the weekend, although he won't be the final word on business matters, he remains loyal to the company.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting is an event that's become so popular in the world of investing that it's been nicknamed Woodstock for capitalists. Every year, it attracts thousands of investors and fans who flock to Omaha and millions more who watch from home. Investors, politicians, and industry leaders quickly reacted to the news.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon released a statement saying Buffett, quote, represents everything that is good about American capitalism and America itself, and that he's learned so much from the 94-year-old titan of industry. Republican Representative French Hill, who is the chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, spoke with CNBC.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
He said he's been attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings since the 90s.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
In his announcement, Buffett also made his most pointed comments yet about President Trump's trade policy, calling punitive tariffs a mistake.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
But Buffett said he's not particularly concerned about recent market volatility brought on by Trump's tariffs, telling shareholders he's lived through far worse.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
He faces federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. Prosecutors say he ran a criminal enterprise that included kidnapping, drugging, and threatening women into sexual activity. Combs denies all the accusations against him, and last week he turned down one last chance at a plea bargain. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Buffett's run as CEO is among the most iconic in American financial history. He transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textile business into a powerhouse with companies that do everything from insurance to manufacturing to retail. But he's perhaps most celebrated for his deep knowledge of the stock market.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
He famously bought his first stock at the age of 11 and studied the markets intensely ever since. He became known for buying up large holdings of obscure companies that would far outperform the S&P. Investors of all kinds follow his stock trades and advice to grow their portfolios.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig described Buffett in an article this weekend as brilliant with an incredible memory and estimated that Buffett has probably read more than 100,000 financial statements in his career. And he writes, there will never be another Warren Buffett. It is extremely expensive to have a child in the United States.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
In the first year alone, it costs on average around $20,000. And that doesn't include the cost of childbirth, which can run tens of thousands of dollars even with insurance. Childcare is more expensive here than any other developed country. And all of these costs are highly dependent on where you live, what you earn, and whether you have insurance.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Good morning. It's Monday, May 5th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, at 94 years old, Warren Buffett is stepping down. The Trump administration's plan to convince more Americans to have babies and a little history behind tonight's Met Gala theme. But first, the trial of Sean Combs, the music mogul known as Diddy, starts today.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Some experts have warned parenthood will only get more expensive with President Trump's tariffs. The cost of big ticket items like cribs, car seats and strollers, many of which are made in China, are expected to go up. At the same time, some people in Trump's inner circle, like Elon Musk and Vice President J.D.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Vance, have been outspoken about their concern that the birth rate is falling in the United States. Vance has said the government should make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids. In recent weeks, Trump officials have been considering a number of proposals on how to do this.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Rachel Cohen covers policy at Vox. Some of the ideas being floated involve funding programs that educate women on their menstrual cycles. Another reserving 30 percent of Fulbright scholarships for applicants who are married or have children.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Another idea Trump has praised involves paying every mother $5,000 after giving birth.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
It's not clear which of these ideas, if any, the administration might ultimately pursue. But ProPublica points out Trump's team has already, in many ways, made it harder for families to expand in the U.S. with other policy decisions. Doge made significant staffing cuts at the agency that promotes health and safety standards for child care programs.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Recently, the New Yorker profiled one of the lawyers on his defense team, a man named Brian Steele. He first got on Combs' radar after defending the rapper Young Thug in a racketeering case. Last fall, Steele helped Young Thug secure a plea deal for probation and community service, far better than the alternative, which could have been decades in prison.
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The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
It also helps states reduce the cost of child care for families. Cohen cited a few others.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
So it's not clear how the administration plans to square its ambitions of boosting the birth rate in the United States while making cuts to programs that support that very same goal. Also, Cohen told us it's important to keep in mind the U.S. is not an outlier when it comes to declining birth rates.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
This is a global trend, and it's impacting even the countries with policies that are much friendlier to families. So there are experts who are saying there's more to this story than just cost. Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. Israel's security cabinet has voted to approve a new ground operation that includes occupying the Gaza Strip.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
It also proposed a plan to take over aid distribution to address its claim that Hamas is intercepting aid. Israel has already cut off all deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza. No food, water or medicine has entered the enclave since March 2nd.
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The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
The new war plan, approved early this morning, is a formalization of an idea that's been considered more seriously in recent weeks, ever since Israel broke the ceasefire agreement and resumed attacks.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Al Jazeera reports Hamas rejected Israel's plan to bypass international aid agencies and distribute aid directly to Palestinians, saying aid should not be used as a, quote, tool of political blackmail.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
The UN and international humanitarian groups have also condemned the plan, warning that essential supplies and food and water are running seriously low in the Gaza Strip, reaching a dangerous new crisis point.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Over the weekend, President Trump said in an interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker that he's not sure if it is his job to uphold the Constitution, even though that's part of the oath every president takes when being sworn in. And Trump said he does not know whether every person in this country is entitled to due process.
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The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
It seems it might say that. The Supreme Court has long recognized that non-citizens have due process rights. Trump went on to say that if the U.S. were to have a trial for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongly sent to a prison in El Salvador, that we would have to have trials for all the people he wants to deport.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Later, when asked about the impact of his tariffs, the president encouraged Americans to make do with less.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
And finally, tonight is the Met Gala, and this year celebrities walking the carpet will be honoring Black Dandyism. National Geographic breaks down this legendary fashion movement, which has been popularized in the modern era by drag superstar RuPaul, stylist Law Roach, and Andre Leon Talley, the former creative director of Vogue.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Nat Geo spoke to an assistant professor of black visual culture at Parsons School of Design, who said black dandyism is so much more than just style. He calls it a profoundly political act, quote, the strategic and often subversive use of style by people of African descent to assert individuality, challenge stereotypes and reimagine black identity.
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The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. Is your new colleague actually an operative from North Korea? Reporting from Wired uncovers the fake workers who are infiltrating American companies.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
Charles Bethea spent around four months reporting on Steele's career and courtroom style for The New Yorker.
Apple News Today
The reason Americans aren’t having more babies
If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I am forced to hope that our lack of response to the Trump administration's attacks on our peers is rooted in feelings of fear and powerlessness as opposed to tacit agreement or desire to maximize profit.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
We do not have time. It is now or never, and if it is never, I will not continue to work here.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
The breaking point was a combination of two things. The first was feeling confident that I had done everything in my power other than resigning. But what was ultimately the triggering event was Paul Weiss's decision to capitulate to the Trump administration to get him to rescind an executive order that he had issued against them.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I think it's important to note that the Paul Weiss executive order was issued after a judge had already issued a temporary restraining order for a very, very similar executive order levied against the law firm Perkins Coie. In a normal functioning American legal dynamic, you would never issue a near identical executive order to one that had just been functionally enjoined.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
And a law firm certainly would not then refuse to fight that executive order.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
There's two pieces of the settlement that troubled me, and you've identified them. The first is this agreement to provide the $40 million in pro bono legal services. And so you have associates at a firm that has always held itself out to be kind of at the cutting edge of important pro bono work and justice work in addition to their billable obligations.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
You have these associates that are now being told that their firm is going to provide millions of dollars worth of free legal support to the Trump administration to advance its aims. So that's the first thing. But the second thing that troubled me is that they committed to a – I think I have to trust that they are and be proactive here. Yeah.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I think if I hear that and I'm a client, I'm questioning why I'm paying $3,000 an hour for a law firm that doesn't think it can win a legal battle over an executive order that has functionally already been enjoined.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I think that picking a fight with big law is one prong of his multi-pronged attack on the judiciary system. He's intimidating judges. He is ignoring judges' orders and deporting people over them. And I think that his goal here is to kneecap effective pro bono representation and public interest representation challenging him.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
Trump administration's telling us, I don't care how the courts decide, but also it's even easier for me if there aren't lawyers willing to go there in the first place.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I think that the first step collectively is going to be rhetoric. It's going to be putting out a statement saying we're committed to continued representation, whether it is representation that the Trump administration views as supportive of it or adverse to it. But then the next step of collective action has to be putting their money where their mouth is.
Consider This from NPR
Trump targets Big Law, and Big Law appears intimidated
I'm not focused on that piece at this moment because right now I can't even get their mouth there.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And within the first week, it hit over a million views. And my first 10 videos that I uploaded collectively have over 100 million views.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'm very driven by kindness, positivity, and I live each day with gratitude, motivation, inspiration, and manifestation.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I agree with you 100%. And if you were to talk to my girls and ask them, they'd be like, yeah, you know, you know, because we do every morning we practice gratitude in the car. We do self-love also because I want them to always find something good about themselves that they love. I think that's especially as girls.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I think that's very important for me when I was going through that bullying situation with my daughter. I felt very alone. People didn't want to hear about it if they weren't going through it. There was really no one to talk to and no one to help me feel understood. And I was handling it on my own with my daughter.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And I decided I don't want when I go through certain situations, I always tell myself I need to remember like certain key points because I don't want anyone else to ever have to feel that kind of pain. So I put as much effort in myself to ensure that if I see someone's going through a hard time or someone's dealing with a bullying situation, I can be empathetic, sympathetic.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I can talk to them and try to figure out how to make it better. So my idea with the bracelets was it says kindness matters on it. And it's really more like a reminder for people to just think. think before you speak because the slightest thing you say can turn someone's entire day around for the negative or the positive.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'm good. Thank you for that really lovely introduction.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And my ultimate goal, you know, was to be able to get into schools and start clubs and not only for the children who are being bullied, but for the kids who are bullying, because it stems from somewhere, whether something's going on at home or there's an inner struggle taking place. And a lot of times these children just don't feel seen or heard.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I want to be able to create a safe space for everybody and,
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
to be able to speak you know their truth and have a level of understanding so even though I you know I wish everyone always tells me you're never going to stop bullying completely and maybe I won't but even if I make a little change you know that that goes a long way and like you said it creeps into adulthood and it's it's sad that adults can't be kind to each other
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'm a big proponent on making moves and taking steps because people can think and think and they can talk and talk. But when you actually start motion, momentum, you need momentum, create motion. And I always say when your should becomes a must, that is when change happens. Like you can talk and talk and talk. But if you tell yourself, well, I must do this, it has to get done.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
You're going to figure out a way to make it happen.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yes.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yes, absolutely. Let's talk about I get so excited about it.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yeah, I'm so excited about zip towels. And like I said before, my mind is always on overdrive. So I have a list of inventions and ideas that I've come up with and that I have, you know, waiting to come out. But for zip towels, it really started with my now nine-year-old. She kept coming out of the bathroom.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
every day for like a week she's like mommy there's no towel I can't dry my hands I'm like I just hung a towel up she's like it's on the floor I'm like I just did the laundry now I have to rewash the towels again and she's like I'm not it was every day because I'd hang it up kids would pull it it would
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
leave it on the floor and my little one couldn't reach the bar to be able to hang it back up so the towels were continuously on the floor and it was it was more just like frustrating and I thought to myself there has to be a way to come up with a solution there needs to be a resolve so that it makes it easier for parents and for kids and it wasn't only in the bathroom it's over the kitchen oven falling on the floor off the gym the gym bag the treadmill anywhere you go the stroller it just
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Towels are falling. So I started thinking and I went through a few different ideas. I, you know, I thought of different, I was thinking like a fabric glue, then a Velcro. And my first thing I thought of was like some sort of pulley thing. And I was like, all I pictured was my daughter yanking it and watching the towel fly. I was like, that's not going to work.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And then it was probably like a few months after. And I was still like, you know, my mind was trying to come up with what would be the best solution. It has to be safe for kids. It has to be washer and dryer safe, be able to withstand the heat of the dryer. And it was one January night out of nowhere. I'm like a zipper, a zipper.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I like I ran to pick up to grab like one of the hand towels I have in my house. I started measuring. I made my first prototype myself. I ran to the store. I bought zippers. I got a little handheld sewing machine. I was sewing. I was putting it through the wash. I was doing everything that I can try to figure out to make sure that it would work.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And then from there, it was a whole journey because to think of an idea and then create it into a shoppable product. There's a lot. That goes into it. And I've been doing this all my own and figuring it out. I've been going through the ups and downs, losing money, you know, hitting the barriers where most people would have stopped.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
But I believed so much in the product that I told myself, no, this this is happening and I'm going to make it happen. So I created my prototype and a few people saw it and they were like, this is genius. I was like, OK. So then I just started figuring out how do I find a manufacturer, trademarking barcodes.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I went through the entire process and it was about a year and a half for the whole thing until I did my soft launch a couple of months ago. Scariest thing I ever did. And I was petrified. But it's also patent pending, which I'm excited to say as well. Yeah, so it's been a journey. And I'm not done yet. I have a lot more envisioned when it comes to my zip towels.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
But what they do is when you put it over the rod, it zips at the bottom, and therefore the towel will no longer fall on the floor. So that is that's my zip towel.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
That's my favorite color.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I have.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I have you covered.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Thank you. I appreciate the support. And I also did just get it launched on Amazon the other night. So it's officially up on Amazon. It can be ordered from there as well. So, yeah, I'm very excited about it.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Amazing. Thank you.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
All right.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'm currently manifesting shooting around with Caitlin Clark. I'm going to make that happen. I mean, Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yeah. Kobe Bryant. And who would I say your third one is?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I did give you three. You are correct. I gave you three. I did. You are correct. Yes.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Three.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
The pizza hack, the water hack, and the spaghetti hack.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I have some holiday hacks in mind. So I can't say exactly what, but figure maybe some Christmas stuff and some Thanksgiving ideas.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So it's interesting because my mind is always on overdrive. I'm a very outside the box thinker and I come up with Ideas all the time. And it never occurred to me to do TikTok or social media specifically for food videos or to ever think I'd even go viral. And it really started back. I have three little girls and it started back when I was homeschooling them the year after quarantine.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So it's interesting because I get this question a lot and I made a rule of myself when I started my social media. I said, I'm going to use social media. I'm not going to let social media use me. I don't want to get caught just scrolling, scrolling, scrolling for hours. So there's not a lot of people that I follow, but I would say influential.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I mean, Les Brown, I can't not, he has transformed my mind. Another it's okay. This is going to be tough because I don't, I don't really follow so many people and,
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Oh. Here we go. Wow.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'd make chicken on the stove top, like a breaded chicken with a honey mustard dip and some rice, roasted veggies, maybe some salads. Okay.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Zero. The only thing I edit is me running from one, running to get the ball and then go back to shoot. That's it.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I'm going to go shoot hoops later.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
All right.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yeah, I think it really comes to believing in yourself. You have to really trust yourself. Also, trust the process. Don't rush the process. So this is something I had to do because my mind goes a thousand miles an hour. I had to really discipline my mind and it took a lot of work. For me to tell myself and make myself just focus on small steps.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
A lot of times people look at people's success and they think, wow, that was so easy for them or they're so lucky. What they fail to look at is the journey that it took to get to that point. So. If you take things and even if it's slow motion, you know, as long as you're taking little steps, do self love, do gratitude, make vision boards, because that's also helpful.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And just tell yourself, like, I'm possible, it's possible, you have to build up a level of confidence for yourself, like, don't let the naysayers in. And despite what everyone says behind you, For me, it builds a fire, like it pushes me to try that much harder. So I really think it comes to figuring out how to believe in yourself first.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And once you have that down, then you'll realize that your limits are endless because anything you firmly believe you can do, you will figure out a way to make it happen.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I am on Instagram. And TikTok, Facebook. I'm on all the platform. My Instagram is underscore Rachel Cohen hair underscore. And it's interesting you mentioned a salon in the beginning because I'm actually a certified hairstylist. And that's how my account started with hair. Like I do updos and all of that. And then my videos took off and I was like, yeah, forget the hair. Okay.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And my little one was talking about how much he loves bananas. And then I went out and bought a bunch of bananas. And the next day, she's like, I'm so hungry, like 30 seconds after lunch, you know, I'm like, you just ate. And I was like, oh, here's a banana. And this is where my catchphrase when your kids say they don't like because that's how everyone in my videos start.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
We're just going to go with food hacks. TikTok, my handle name is 3rocky4. And then Facebook, it's just Rachel Cohen.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Thank you. Same here. I appreciate you taking the time.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
She's like, well, I don't like bananas. So I decided to make it fun for her thinking she would eat it if I kind of put chocolate on it. And I ended up randomly, I don't know what made me think to just, I'm going to record this. And I recorded the content and I'm very techie.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I try to remind myself and tell people that when you're going through a challenging time, it's not necessarily happening to you, but it's happening for you. It's at least once a month or once every two months is I'll stop and I'll reflect. I look back, where was I a month ago? Where did I want to be where I am today?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I love the video footage, you know, taking, I love editing and I just had fun editing the video and I kind of doused it in chocolate. And I decided, let me just throw this up on TikTok thinking like, okay, this is just a fun little treat for kids. Nothing of it. And within the first week, it hit over a million views.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And more so than the views, I'm reading through the comments and I'm both mortified and historically laughing because people, they got so emotionally pulled into it. The comment section was raging and I took it as, huh, I'm going to have fun with this. So I was like, this went viral. People are so, you know, entertained and both...
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
There was a sense of amusement, entertainment and frustration that was coming from my commenters. So I just started creating more videos when your kids say they don't like and for everything I can find pretty much. And my first 10 videos that I uploaded collectively have over 100 million views. It just went crazy viral. So I took those videos and I converted them into Instagram reels.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Then my Instagram blew up. I started getting millions of views on Instagram. And people would tag Gordon Ramsay, Lionfield, like all these big...
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
tiktokers and even youtubers I have big youtubers who have duetted my videos and it somehow got picked up by Gordon Ramsay and he duetted it and then there are a few articles written on me that are sometimes funny to go and read and I just kind of continued going with it for me it was more so it brought me a sense of enjoyment it brought a weird sense of fulfillment because it made me laugh I would think of these ideas and I would just chuckle to myself I'm like oh this is funny you
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
That's just my quirky sense of humor, you know? So I would create it and post it and people just go wild over it.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yeah, you know what? It's funny because I get asked a lot of questions. I have three of my top questions that people ask me are, do your kids really eat this? Have you ever tried it? And then I get some random, you know, other odd questions that people throw at me. But I did go live on TikTok.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Back when I first started my channel about a little over three years ago, and I ate my pizza hack and my water hack. And then when we started talking and you were like, there's no way I was like, you know what? It was so much fun doing that live. I'm going to do it again. And I, it was so exciting to do it with you. And it really didn't taste that bad.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. Money comes and goes.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
But there is video footage. It's on my feed. People can watch it. They can see me eating it. And I told my children about it and they were like, you ate that? They were mortified. I was like, yeah, it wasn't too bad.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
It's funny because they say to me, they're like, why do people think we would really eat that or that you would really feed that to us? But yeah. Yeah, it's fun.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Wow. Yeah. How much time do we have? It's a long story. Let's go. 37 seconds. I could speed talk. No. How did I get to this point in my life? Like a little mix of everything.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Okay, I love that. I in the core of who I am. And it's it's interesting, because I always tell people that I want them to understand my soul, like the person that I am inside. And I'm very driven by kindness, positivity. And I live each day with gratitude, motivation, inspiration and manifestation. I believe in all of that. And I've been through a lot of hurdles in my life there.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
For me, I try to think about where I was, say, a month ago. And I think about the challenges that I went through. So for me, it's important to try to...
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I mean, for my childhood, growing up in my home, through getting married at 21, I was young, I was married for 15 years, I endured different levels of abuse, you know, but I got my three beautiful little blessings, which is my proudest, you know, thing in life. And Through those moments, I always felt like I didn't feel fulfilled.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
I was like, I have to have a purpose to be able to do something more to help people. And it's really interesting to me because I firmly I try. It's very hard in the moment when you're going through a tough time. But I try to remind myself and tell people that when you're going through a challenging time, it's not necessarily happening to you, but it's happening for you.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And what I find important to do, and I try to do this at least once a month or once every two months, is I'll stop and I'll reflect. I look back, where was I a month ago? Where did I want to be where I am today? And what did I go through that helped me overcome that? certain obstacles and challenges.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And when I look back now, there are different obstacles that I went through, whether it's in my marriage or my oldest daughter went through some really bad bullying in school. And I remember after that specific situation happened, I told myself, how can I take a negative situation and turn it into a positive situation?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
to help other people so you probably don't know but I actually started a kindness initiative I wanted to help raise awareness for bullying and I have these bracelets that I made that I sell but I really try to I feel like my purpose in life is to just help people. I want to people ask me all the time, what's your goal when it comes to your business?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Like, I want to be able to be financially independent to the point that I have all the time in the world to shoot hoops and volunteer my time, because that's really what I want to do is just figure out how to inspire and uplift other people.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So one of my favorite quotes is success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. And I think about that all the time. It's very easy for people, and it's happened to me at times, to kind of get pulled into the day-to-day grind and the bills and the money. But I always think at the end of the day, you know, when I'm older, money comes and goes.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
The ultimate fulfillment for me is my quality of life is love, happiness, my children. I want to be able to turn around and be like I filled my days and my life with joy and happiness. I didn't get stuck in the victim mentality or the negative space because it doesn't allow you to be productive and to figure out how to move forward.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So materialistic things, I always say if I could be the most minimalist person on the planet, you know, I would be happy. It's the little things that bring me joy. And I want to know that every day I feel fulfilled by knowing that I could put a smile on someone's face. I can bring joy to somebody.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
And for me, that's worth millions of dollars more than the actual physical bills that can come my way because that can come and go so easily.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Yeah. So for me, I try to think about where I was, say, a month ago. And I think about the challenges that I went through. And for me, it's really important to take because everyone goes through difficult times. You know, everyone has challenges. But if you can look at it and you figure out how to use it almost as a guidebook to drive you forward.
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
If you tell yourself, this is not the space I want to be in. This is a space I want to be in. This is what I went through. How can I now make a little switch to ensure that I use that challenge to guide me in the better direction?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
So I sit and I think about and that's also why I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, because why wait for one day of the year to decide then that this is when I'm going to do something good. You should decide that every day for yourself and make yourself better every day. So for me, it's important to try to dig into what did I learn from that experience? Did it make me upset?
Mick Unplugged
Rachel Cohen | Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: From Personal Struggles to Entrepreneurial Success
Did it make me happy when I was upset? How did I handle it? And then figure it makes me learn more about who I am as a person, because then I do a deep dive into myself. And I'm like, but if I wasn't happy with that, then I don't really enjoy that, which means that I need more of this. And how do I get to that space? And then the wheels start turning and I start thinking of other ways to
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Well, when I was growing up, I did volunteer. You know, I have these clear memories of bagging food at food pantries, of cleaning up parks. I actually asked my mom about this recently. Okay, Mom, fact check me. What do you remember of me volunteering growing up?
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Yeah. And then I went to college in 2010. And that was this time when all these critiques of individual action were just becoming really prominent both on campus and in society. It was the era of Occupy Wall Street. All city, all week. Occupy Wall Street. Systemic change. Bernie Sanders.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
And I was reading writers like Naomi Klein who were saying that climate change just wasn't going to get solved by whether you recycled enough. And I really believed it.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
And it wasn't just that I felt doing the little stuff wasn't going to be helpful, but it was that actually it might be harmful. And that donating to charity or volunteering your time with these smaller things, changing your diet or, you know, focusing on your shopping bag material, like that was a real distraction from the important work that we needed to be doing to...
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
upend the system and change things. And I think we saw also after 2020, there was this really big national focus on systemic change and structural problems. And all of this, I think, really compounded to having people just become more skeptical, cynical, doubtful about the value of volunteering.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
No. And I mean, if you think about who really resonated with the Bernie Sanders campaign and a lot of these ideas and climate activism, it was young people. It was my generation. And it's continued to follow with Gen Z. Volunteering is complicated to study, but we know it's been falling off, even with the rise of all these virtual opportunities that really exploded in the pandemic period.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
You know, just as one stat, just 20% of Gen Z volunteered per AmeriCorps data compared to almost 30% of Gen X. And there's actually this newish group called the Generosity Commission that formed a few years ago.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Jane Wales, the vice president of philanthropy and society at the Aspen Institute, she served as the co-chair of this commission.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
She's in her 70s. She's had a long career. She's a very polished and accomplished woman, lives in San Francisco, has a little yappy dog.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Hi, it's Rachel with We Are Family. I have groceries and produce.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
She spent many years working primarily with rich people, trying to get them to give more money. And she says that rich people today are not really the real problem.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Well, Jane's group with this generosity commission, they told me that their research suggests that the decline in volunteering and, you know, charitable giving, that it's all downstream of other themes that we have sort of heard about, you know, rising social isolation, church attendance is down, less trusted institutions, we're all bowling alone.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Well, I got that reader question about a year ago, and it made me think, you know, am I making the world a better place by not doing this stuff? Am I happier by not doing this stuff? You know, I'm busy, but I'm not that busy. I always find time for fitness classes and traveling and seeing my friends and popular TV shows. I just hadn't been carving out much time for or any time for serving others.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
It's, you know, it's the strange feeling to feel busy. We're always running around with errands and juggling work and social gatherings, but at the same time kind of disconnected from our local community. And... Yeah, so I started thinking about this loneliness recession we're always talking about. The U.S.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
And I work from home most of the time. And I know, you know, federal data shows Americans spend more time alone at home than they did 20 years ago. So all of this just led me to do some hard thinking about my life and my own schedule. And I was like, I need to make some kind of change.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Well, I didn't really know what to do. But I was like, I'm going to start with a New Year's resolution. So at the start of 2024, I just set a New Year's resolution to volunteer.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Well, it was also a little harder than I expected. I'm not really religious. I didn't have a faith institution to plug easily into. Vox doesn't facilitate this sort of thing. We don't have corporate volunteering events on the weekend to go to. I sent out some... emails of inquiry on sites like VolunteerMatch.org, but I didn't hear anything back.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
So I was kind of at a loss for a while, and eventually I stumbled on a couple of groups, including one called We Are Family in D.C. It's this nonprofit that's been around for 20 years. They deliver groceries once a month to low-income seniors. Hi, Mr. Diaz.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
How are you? I've been out with them a few times now. The people are really sweet. Have your produce.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Oh, that's great. Yeah, you too. I'll see you next month.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Me too. It's it was really nice. He's really nice. And they all are just I mean, not everyone wants to talk, you know, for a while, but many of them do. And many of them seem, you know, it's nice to see people come and show care.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
The group was co-founded by this guy, Mark Anderson. He directs it now, but he originally started out as a volunteer.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
I asked Mark after the last time I went what he's learned about recruiting and retaining volunteers, since for so many other groups, it seems like it's gotten harder than it used to be. But We Are Family has kind of been able to buck the trend, and they really do seem to continue to be able to engage loyal volunteers.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
And I mean, the experience has been meaningful to me and I've been coming back. It definitely caught some sort of charitable bug through this. I have donated blood three times this year after having never donated before. And I recently accepted an invitation to join a local nonprofit board, which I'm really excited about as kind of a new way to get involved.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
So, yeah, it's been a really positive shift. And I just I feel better prioritizing these things and actually making time for them.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
I'm 32 years old, and I'd say really since I was in late high school, junior, senior year, I started to see volunteering as kind of pointless. It wasn't going to make a big difference on the things I cared about. It wasn't going to move the needle. So I just stopped doing it.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
I think one of the ways that I've come to think about this question is I just don't think we're actually better off when people withhold their time and their generosity. It's not an either or. It's definitely not about giving up political work or collective change. But I think for me, I think I was wrong.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
I think we've been wrong in concluding that those smaller acts of service were really the stealthy impediments to the broader world we want to build. And I think actually they go together. And demonizing individual action as inconsequential or harmful was a mistake. These things do matter. I'm not solving our blood shortage, but it means someone who needs it can get help that week.
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Overall, I think it helps to not look at volunteering as something where you need to find that absolutely perfect activity that fulfills all your virtuous desires and perfectly utilizes all your skills. And maybe you won't even really like the first thing you do, but maybe through that you discover something else that you really do find meaningful. And, I mean, contrary to what...
Today, Explained
Why volunteering is worth it
Mark Anders said earlier about how it has to be transformative. I think there's value in just doing something in that, you know, broad world of service, care and volunteering. And yeah, I think that's absolutely worth your time.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
So there's a few reasons we're hearing about it more lately. One is that birth rates are falling pretty much everywhere, including in some of the countries we used to associate with really high birth rates, like India, Brazil or Mexico. And yes, the United States. It's happening worldwide at such a fast rate that last year the U.N.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
announced the number of people on Earth will probably peak in the next 75 years, which is a pretty big change from even what they were projecting a decade ago when experts thought the population peak was still well over a century away. And the other main reason people are talking about it in the U.S., at least, is that you have people like Elon Musk and J.D. Vance.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
They're speaking out about it a lot lately. Musk calls falling birth rates the biggest danger civilization faces by far.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
And J.D. Vance, who opposes abortion rights, notoriously blasted, quote, childless cat ladies.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
So pro-natalists, it's essentially this broad ideological movement driven by concerns that the world is not producing enough children and that society should work to change that. Now, not all pro-natalists are politically conservative like Musk and Vance, and not all conservatives are... Particularly pronatalists. Some self-identified pronatalists really support abortion rights.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
They would never want to force women into having children they don't want. But given the power and influence of people like Musk and Vance, their sort of interest and involvement in the movement has definitely caused a lot of people to feel pretty afraid. Yeah.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Not exactly in the same way. Like Donald Trump campaigned for president and said he wanted a new baby boom.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
No Democratic politician is talking like that. And that makes sense because abortion rights remain very much under attack and people want to be really careful in how they talk about both falling birth rates and reproductive freedom. But I think a political change is happening with the Democrats as we are seeing more of an effort lately from them to emphasize being, quote, pro-family.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Democrats rightly recognize that they don't want to cede all the family-friendly political rhetoric to conservative pronatalists. So that was a really big part of the Harris-Walls campaign. They framed a lot of their care policy ideas as being more pro-family than the GOP.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Right. So people do debate whether falling birth rates are problems. And the case for why it is essentially goes like this. Most people on Earth right now live in a country below what demographers call the, quote, replacement rate, meaning each woman on average would have 2.1 children.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
That's essentially the mathematical amount of children needed to maintain a population's current size in a generation or two. So... Whether or not that's a problem, the idea is as the number of babies goes down, the number of workers will shrink, too.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
And that means there can be fewer people paying taxes, fewer people available to do important jobs, less money going into welfare and pension systems.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
This could lead to all sorts of problems. economic and political challenges, more poverty, less investment. And you can also imagine some real intergenerational political conflict in the situation where there are fewer resources to care for the elderly, but they still have more political power.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Is there any proof of that? Demographers have been really wrong in the past. There have been population panics the other way that the world was producing too many people. And that led to really horrible policy responses like mass sterilization campaigns and forced abortions and eugenics. So I think we should be humble in these moments as we're making predictions about the future.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Exactly. Now they're stigmatizing childless women in China and trying to figure out how to get people to have more babies.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
I think this is a key question. We know that most women, even those who do really want to be pregnant, Parents tend to prefer smaller families, which, you know, they're easier to balance with jobs, hobbies, friends, and of course, less expensive. Most people don't really want five to 10 kids anymore. I think the real fundamental question is whether women with zero kids might be
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
have wanted at least one or two if they had felt more supported either by society, their government, or a partner or both. So one of the big arguments that pronatalists make, including progressive liberal ones, is they point to surveys that suggest some people would be open to having more kids if it were easier and more affordable.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
So from that perspective, I think pronatalism has some overlaps with the reproductive justice movement, which says we should build a society that supports people having however many or how few children that they want. But it is complicated.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
Well, you know, in the U.S., we do have debates around the child tax credit, which is supposed to help ease the burden of raising children. And there's been some efforts over the last 25 years around the world to try and boost birth rates with things like more affordable child care and other sort of family policies.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
But even in all these countries, including the U.S., birth rates continue to decline.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
I spend a lot of time writing about attacks on abortion rights in the US and attacks on IVF. And I think your question gets at some of the most uncomfortable parts of this whole discourse. Because if it turns out it's not possible to use policy to voluntarily boost birth rates politically or otherwise, the question is, will leaders start then to talk about involuntary ways to do it?
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
And it doesn't seem inconceivable to me at all that if you make the issue of falling birth rates more salient, if you get people really activated around this idea that it's a huge problem and a threat to humanity, that you are going to see some people become more open to old reactionary ideas about controlling women's body.
Today, Explained
No kids on the block
That you might see people saying, oh, women not having more kids are being selfish to human civilization. This, I think, is the real fear that rhetoric like from Elon Musk and J.D. Vance create.