From WNYC Studios, it's Brian Lair, a daily politics podcast. It's Thursday, July 21st.

How to talk about people who can get pregnant. I'm sure some of your eyes are already rolling

at just how I phrased that. Some people are already rolling at just how I phrase that. Some people

are probably thinking, just say women, Brian, and that's what we're going to talk about, our

words of choice when it comes to reproductive rights, and how since the Dobbs decision, the increased

use of the phrase pregnant people and similar gender-inc inclusive language has set off lots of different

reactions. People may be seeing this new vocabulary a lot in media, the show included, because our

job is to be accurate. And after all, while abortion issues affect the lives of many, many women,

the flip side is, not all women can or will ever get

pregnant for a variety of reasons. And also, children sometimes get pregnant. Like the case of the 10-year-old

girl we've talked about, the 10-year-old child, not yet a woman or an adult of any kind, who had to

travel to Indiana to get an abortion

after being raped in Ohio.

And whether it makes you personally uncomfortable or not, there are also trans men, non-binary people,

and intersex people who exist, who can get pregnant, and are thus directly affected by abortion

laws. So how can we speak about

reproductive issues so that we aren't leaving anyone out? Here to unpack some of this with me is

Kate Mann, writer and philosopher at Cornell, author of the book's Downgirl, The Logic of

Misogyny, and entitled How Male Privilege Harts Women.

Professor Mann, thanks so much for being here. Welcome to WNYC.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

So Kate Mann, what do you say? And when do you say it?

...