S1E13: Marriage

What was the original purpose of marriage? What's up with all those wedding traditions? And what makes a marriage last?

Featuring Stephanie Coontz, researcher and author of Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage.

Citations and further reading: 

• Prehistoric humans are likely to have formed mating networks to avoid inbreeding, University of Cambridge (2017)
• Timeline of the Human Condition by C. Patrick Doncaster, University of Southampton (2021)
• From Ritual to Morality: Where Deeds and Words Meet by Richard Sosis, Center for Humans & Nature 
• Edwards, W. (1987). The Commercialized Wedding as Ritual: A Window on Social Values. Journal of Japanese Studies, 13(1), 51–78. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/132586 
• 21 Surprising Historical Duties of the Wedding Party by Jen Doll, Mental Floss (2016)

More from Stephanie Coontz:

• Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz (2006)
• The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz (2016)
• How to Make Your Marriage Gayer by Stephanie Coontz, The New York Times (2020)
• For a Better Marriage, Act Like a Single Person by Stephanie Coontz, The New York Times (2018)
• National Spouses Day Is This Sunday…. Feeling Any Pressure? by Stephanie Coontz, The Council on Contemporary Families (2020)
• Not All Housework is Created Equal: Particular Housework Tasks and Couples’ Relationship Quality by Stephanie Coontz, The Council on Contemporary Families (2018)
• Research is in on sexual satisfaction for today’s marrieds by Stephanie Coontz, The Council on Contemporary Families (2016)

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Taboo Science is written and produced by Ashley Hamer. Theme music by Danny Lopatka of DLC Music.