Ill Conceived

Josh Boerman & June Sternbach

A podcast about natalism. Hosted by Josh Boerman (The Worst of All Possible Worlds, Traditional Scrench) and June Sternbach (Kill The Computer, The Onion).

  1. Simone & Malcolm Collins

    19 hr ago

    Simone & Malcolm Collins

    In mainstream media coverage of natalism, one specific couple keeps popping up. Their eccentric appearance and apparent ironclad commitment to the principles of tech natalism make them catnip to curious reporters, who have profiled them exhaustively. But who are Simone and Malcolm Collins, and what are they actually trying to sell you? This week, Josh and June do their best to find out. ***GET TICKETS TO JOSH'S SHOW IN CINCINNATI HERE AND THE ILL CONCEIVED JUNE 4TH LIVE SHOW IN CHICAGO HERE!!!*** ***WANT MORE ILL CONCEIVED? Every other week, we release B-side supplements to the main episodes where we read your e-mail responses and discuss things further. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WORLD FAMOUS MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Malcolm and Simone Collins in a press photo by Hannah Yoon AUDIO CLIPS: 18:35 – Simone Collins in a YouTube video entitled "Are You an Ambivert?" originally uploaded in November 2011 24:15 – Simone performing a cover of the Firefly theme song in a video originally uploaded to YouTube in July 2011 46:59 – Simone introduces Malcolm to the channel in a video originally uploaded to YouTube in November 2014  1:00:08 – Malcolm and Simone discuss "A Pragmatist's Take on the Red Pill" originally uploaded to YouTube in March 2020 1:16:46 – The introduction to the Based Camp episode "One Conspiracy Explains All Modern Culture (This Explains EVERYTHING)" originally uploaded to YouTube in May 2026 1:20:09 – The Bort license plate scene from "Itchy And Scratchy Land" (The Simpsons, S06E04) SOURCES: "How I Proposed to My Girlfriend on Reddit" by Malcolm Collins (Huffington Post, August 6, 2013) ArtCorgi's profile on Crunchbase "Why Many Entrepreneurs Are Turning to a ‘Search-Fund’ Model" by Glenn Hunter (D Magazine, January 9, 2017) "Scoop: Dialog, a secretive forum, plans D.C.-area campus" by Mike Allen (Axios, August 7, 2025) Simone's LinkedIn profile Malcolm's LinkedIn profile Simone's Reddit account Malcolm's Reddit account "Meet the ‘elite’ couples breeding to save mankind" by Io Dodds (The Telegraph, April 19, 2023) "About Simone and Malcolm Collins’ Smear Campaign Against Me" by Lyman Stone (Medium post, October 22, 2024) "America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’" by Jenny Kleeman (The Guardian, May 25, 2024) Based Camp on YouTube 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)

    1hr 59min
  2. JD Vance

    9 May

    JD Vance

    The Vice President of the United States and his wife Usha are expecting their fourth baby, setting an apparent example for their fellow natalists. But just how intertwined is JD Vance with the natalist movement overall and what does it have to do with Usha’s new podcast about children’s books? This week, June and Josh dig into JD Vance’s history with conservatism and Catholicism to try to figure it out. ***WANT MORE ILL CONCEIVED? Every other week, we release B-side supplements to the main episodes where we read your e-mail responses and discuss things further. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WORLD FAMOUS MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: JD Vance in a press photo by Niall Carson for Getty Images. Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School, eventually working under Peter Thiel at Mithril Capital. After being elected to the United States Senate in 2022, Vance was selected by Donald Trump to serve as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election. AUDIO CLIPS: 18:51 – Donald Trump reading from 2 Corinthians as part of the America Reads the Bible special event 24:51 – JD Vance referring to Democratic opposition as "childless cat ladies" 59:39 – Usha Vance reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter for her podcast Storytime with the Second Lady SOURCES: J. D. Vance and the Right’s Call to Have More Babies The troubling history behind JD Vance's natalism JD Vance And Peter Thiel: What To Know About The Relationship Between Trump’s VP Pick And The Billionaire What have I done? I forced my kid to listen to Usha Vance’s podcast - now she’s a fan JD Vance Repeats ‘Anti-Family’ Criticism of Democrats on Sunday Morning News Show Tour Baby Bonuses and Motherhood Medals: Why We Shouldn’t Trust the Pronatalist Movement Trump May Soon Offer a Motherhood Medal, an Idea Popularized in Nazi Germany Republicans Are Right: One Party Is ‘Anti-Family and Anti-Kid’ Usha Vance and JD Vance, Pronatalism’s Poster Couple, Are Having a 4th Kid JD Vance’s Approval Rating Plunges to New Historic Low Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul Announce First Four Communities to Receive Free 2-K Seats Democracy | Of Childless ‘Psychopath’ Women and ‘Replacement’: JD Vance’s Birthrate and Immigration Obsessions Have Shared History An Analysis of Happy No Snakes Day and the Deeper Implications on the Horizon for Children’s Literature and Christian Nationalist Policies in the Public School System Beyond the Nuclear Family The Role of the Nuclear Family in Capitalism With Defense of ICE, JD Vance Clarifies His Next Target: You J.D. Vance Used to Be an Atheist. What He Believes Now Is Telling. Gold Mother's Cross Wikipedia: Order of Maternal Glory Who in the USSR was awarded the ‘Mother-Heroine’ title? National Conservatism: A Statement of Principles 5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% No Convictions 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)

    1hr 39min
  3. Ballerina Farm / Hannah Neeleman

    11 Apr

    Ballerina Farm / Hannah Neeleman

    Natalists have an ideal life and an ideal wife: rugged, individualistic, and dedicated to self-sufficiency. Perhaps nothing epitomizes this ideal better than Ballerina Farm, the popular social media account of dancer and pageant queen Hannah Neeleman that is growing into an influential direct-to-consumer food and lifestyle brand that no longer sells raw milk. This week, Josh and June look at the history of Ballerina Farm and try to understand how its strange brand of seemingly apolitical tradwifery serves as a stalking horse for the natalist movement and reactionary politics more broadly. CHECK OUT OUR RECENT PODCAST GUEST APPEARANCES! June on Anime Sickos Josh on Lions Led By Donkeys Josh on Well There's Your Problem ***WANT MORE ILL CONCEIVED? Every other week, we release B-side supplements to the main episodes where we read your e-mail responses and discuss things further. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!*** ***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WORLD FAMOUS MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com*** EPISODE ART: Hannah Neeleman in a professional headshot. After graduating from Juilliard's dance undergraduate program while pregnant, Neeleman moved to Brazil then back home to Utah, where she and her husband Daniel purchased a farm along the east side of the Wasatch Range. Her Instagram account Ballerina Farm has over 10 million followers. AUDIO CLIPS: 1:01:48 – "Strength at Every Stage" protein powder advertisement from Ballerina Farm 1:27:12 – Response to the Sunday Times article from the Ballerina Farm Instagram account SOURCES: Ballerina Farm website Ballerina Farm Instagram “Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children)” by Megan Agnew (The Sunday Times, July 20, 2024) “She Gave Birth Two Weeks Ago. Now She’s in a Beauty Pageant” by Madison Malone Kircher (The New York Times, January 30, 2024) “Tycoon or Tradwife? The Woman Behind Ballerina Farm Makes Her Own Path” by Julia Moskin (The New York Times, December 3, 2024) “The Business of Ballerina Farm” by Liz Flora (Business of Fashion, May 27, 2025) “When Ballerina Farm Comes to Town” by Erica Schwiegershausen (The Cut, September 10, 2025) “Park City Creamery to sell business to Ballerina Farm” by Katie Hatzfeld (The Park Record, December 23, 2025) “Ballerina Farm pauses raw milk sales after samples fail health tests” by Grace Doerfler (KPCW, January 29, 2026) Hannah Neeleman’s feature spread in Evie magazine “Audio Recording From Ballerina Farm Times Interview Exposes Dishonest Journalism” by Nicole Dominique (Evie, July 29, 2024) 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)

    1hr 39min

About

A podcast about natalism. Hosted by Josh Boerman (The Worst of All Possible Worlds, Traditional Scrench) and June Sternbach (Kill The Computer, The Onion).

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