How Elon Musk and JD Vance plan to 'save civilization' with more babies

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

What do conservatives like JD Vance and tech executives like Elon Musk have in common? They, like other pronatalists, want to “save civilization” by having more American babies. But it wasn’t that long ago that some people wanted to save the world by limiting the number of kids being born. This week on the pod, we explore the surprising way eugenics plays a role in these two seemingly opposite fears.

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
0:05.4	RWJF is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.
0:12.1	Learn more at RWJF.org.
0:15.5	Hey, everyone, you're listening to Code Switch, the show about race and identity from NPR.
0:21.3	I'm B.A. Parker.
0:22.6	And I'm Gene Demby.
0:24.3	Parker, like, and your wide-ranging social media travels journeys, have you ever come
0:28.9	across this couple, Simone and Malcolm Collins?
0:32.7	Oh, yeah.
0:33.9	They're like this hipster couple.
0:37.3	They're white, youngish, or a little, you're a millennial.
0:41.3	Very cool glasses.
0:42.7	I feel like I've seen their glasses and been like, oh, they're like mine, which, okay.
0:46.5	They have seven kids.
0:48.2	And there are countless TikToks about the Collins is.
0:51.9	Like people offering up commentary on them and all them kids.
0:55.3	They've been featured in write-ups in the Washington Post and Politico and, you know,
0:59.0	NPR, so many other places. And this couple argues that it's imperative that couples like them,
1:05.2	you know, couples who are educated, who have progressive stances on a lot of social issues,
1:10.1	who are atheists and have high IQs.
1:13.4	I'm sorry, like people who talk about having high IQs is always a big yikes for me.
1:19.0	Hold that up, Parker.
	...

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