Raising Primates

Are We WEIRD Parents? with Alma Gottlieb

Alma Gottlieb, PhD, anthropologist and author of A World Of Babies, and I sit down to talk how our WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic) culture can differ from many others around the world with regards to ideas and practices surrounding child rearing. We discussed: -why the Western notion of attachment theory doesn’t hold up around the world, and how the nuclear family in the West is a historically novel situation -how parenting ideals/values/practices differ from our own around the world, particularly with regards to infants and teenagers -why anthropologists shy away from the word “universally” -how cultural ideals are transmitted through child rearing, and the impact this has on the way children view themselves and their role in society -some ideas about ethics, infant mortality, and prenatal testing -creating a village in our modern technological world Check out Alma’s website: www.almagottlieb.com Different Faces of Attachment: www.amzn.com/131661798X Alma’s book A World Of Babies: www.amzn.com/1316502570 Alma’s Facebook page for A World of Babies: https://www.facebook.com/WOBBook/

Life With the Aka (And Their Exceptional Fathers) with Barry Hewlett

Barry Hewlett, PhD, professor of anthropology at Washington State University and I sit down to talk about his time spent with the Akas in Central Africa. We discussed: -How Barry’s career in anthropology evolved and how he came to spend time with the Akas (a nomadic foraging society he lived with off and on for over 40 years) -Among other things, Barry talks about the high amount of touch provided for infants, who are often held by various members of their extended family throughout the day -Egalitarian and autonomous values within the Aka society -Ideas (or lack thereof) about “personal space” with the Akas -The Aka fathers and their heavy involvement in child rearing - what about their lifestyles allows their fathers to be so present with their offspring? -Lessons Barry learned from the Akas Check out Barry’s book about the Aka fathers here: www.amzn.com/0472082035 Find out more about his work here: https://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/people/hewlett/ RATE, REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE to the podcast Check us out online: www.raisingprimates.com

Parenting Culture & Intensive Mothering with Charlotte Faircloth

Charlotte Faircloth, PhD, anthropologist and author of "Militant Lactivism? Attachment Parenting and Intensive Motherhood in the UK and France", and I sit down to talk about "parenting culture" and how attachment parenting fits into the larger ideology of intensive mothering. We discuss: -Charlotte’s work and how it influenced her own journey through motherhood (and vice versa) -How developmental psychology in the 1970's played a key role in creating “parenting culture” - and what that means -the idea of the “natural” being held up as ideal (is/ought problem), and some of the problems this may create for new parents trying to sort out their unique relationship with their child -defining intensive motherhood and looking at attachment parenting as a subset of this dominant cultural ideology -our very human need to belong to groups, and find support and validation around the parenting practices we employ -the difference between criticism and critique - or, how can we analyze various behaviors of parents without necessarily attaching a moral judgment to them? -how social media can both help and perhaps harm our perceptions of ourselves as parents -the idea of optimizing “parenting” or “attachment”, and how neurobiological research can be appropriated to inform “best” parenting practices More of Charlotte's work can be found here: https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=CFAIR39 The book Militant Lactivism?: www.amzn.com/0857457586 The book Parenting Culture Studies: www.amzn.com/1137304634 The Center for Parenting Culture Studies at Kent: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/parentingculturestudies/ RATE, REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST!! Visit us online: www.raisingprimates.com

Can Children Learn Without Us Hovering? with David Lancy

David Lancy, PhD, anthropologist and author of "Raising Children: Surprising Insights From Other Cultures" and I sit down to talk about our incessant desire as parents to teach children everything. We discussed: -David's own journey through fatherhood as an anthropologist who was raising his daughters in a vastly different culture from the US -Our adult-driven teaching tendencies (think baby flash cards, kindergarten readiness obsession, singing/reading/playing with our children), and how these differ vastly from many other culture's beliefs about how children learn (and how adults' time should be spent) -What we may be missing out on when we focus exclusively on teaching academics (think basic skills like budgeting, laundry, etc.) -The important role that older children play in the lives of younger children, particularly with regards to modeling appropriate cultural behavior/skill sets -how we can relax a bit more and trust that our children don't necessarily need explicit instructions for every task, and may benefit from being allowed to figure things out on their own Here are my favorite books by David Lancy: The Anthropology of Childhood: www.amzn.com/B00N4PM61E Raising Children: www.amzn.com/1108415091 More of David's work can be found here: http://www.usu.edu/anthro/davidlancyspages/index.html

Less Is More: The Case for Baby-Led Movement with Chris LoRang and Abbie Sawyer

Chris LoRang (DC) and Abbie Sawyer, co-founders of Building Your Baby From the Ground Up, and I sit down to talk about baby-led movement from a bio-physiological standpoint. We discuss: -what typical gross motor development looks like in the first 2 years of life -baby-led movement: what it looks like, why it's important, and how parents can easily incorporate it into their lives -the increase in infant containers in recent decades, and how these may contribute to delayed gross motor development and unstable "biomechanics" -how returning to a minimal approach to baby gear and movement can free up your baby and your wallet and lead to optimal gross motor development Use the code "raisingprimates" for 10% off anything in their store at www.buildingyourbaby.com Share Chris and Abbie's super informative and easy to digest Instagram account with anyone you know who has/will have babies! www.instagram.com/buildingyourbaby RATE, REVIEW & SUBSCRIBE to the podcast to never miss future episodes! www.raisingprimates.com BECOME a PATRON at www.patreon.com/raisingprimates