Mary Eberstadt sifts through the Sexual Revolution’s wreckage—and finds hope

Since the 2012 release of her first book on the Sexual Revolution, Mary Eberstadt has engaged in what she considers an often thankless task—honoring the suffering of those who have been victimized by the massive changes that have rocked society since the 1960s. The Pill, no-fault divorce, and plummeting marriage rates have not made us freer, happier, or healthier, Eberstadt has argued; instead they’ve ushered in an era of unprecedented loneliness, mental health problems, and weakened support systems for the most vulnerable.

In this episode, Eberstadt speaks with Andrew Petiprin about her newest book, Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited, which looks at how the damaging forces of the Sexual Revolution have accelerated in the last decade, leaving more victims in their wake, often in the name of tolerance, acceptance, and freedom.

Eberstadt also sees many reasons for hope. More and more secular voices have begun to question the pieties of the Sexual Revolution, recognizing the chaos that has accompanied the dismantling of traditional family structures and articulating a yearning for connection and interdependence, rather than radical autonomy and isolation.