Why Joe Jonas’s ‘Bad Mommy’ Story Flopped
The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism
Slate Podcasts
4.2 • 903 Ratings
🗓️ 14 September 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Host Kat Chow dives into the public divorce of actress Sophie Turner and pop artist Joe Jonas. But we’re not so much getting into the actual divorce, more the way tabloid news is covering it and leaning into some seriously sexist tropes. As news spread about the marriage’s end, articles immediately started speculating as to who was at fault, and tabloids reported using anonymous sources saying Turner was more focused on partying and going out, leaving Jonas at home with their two young kids.
Kat is joined by Rolling Stone senior writer Ej Dickson, to dig into the long history of sexist tropes about mothers and motherhood, the “bad mommy” PR spin, and more.
Further Reading:
- Sophie Turner Isn’t A Bad Mom. You’re Just A Mysoginist by Ej Dickson
In Slate Plus: Ej Dickson on why Gweneth Paltrow is uncancellable.
If you liked this episode, check out: Is The Wedding Dress Dead?
Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry and Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.
If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on How To!. Sign up now at slate.com/thewavesplus to help support our work.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the waves, Slade's podcast about gender, celebrity splits and dunking on the sexist bad mama trope. |
| 0:16.0 | Every episode this month you get me, Cat Chow, talking with someone super smart |
| 0:21.8 | about something I cannot get out of my brain. |
| 0:29.6 | All right, so I'm a nosy person. I'm the type of person who loves when people tell me low stakes gossip. |
| 0:37.3 | Even low stakes gossip that's not at all related to their lives. Just inject it into my vein. I want to know was Francesca actually |
| 0:45.0 | into Damien on Perfect Match. I want to know about the relationships between you |
| 0:49.7 | know our favorite TV show hosts and the normies, but when it comes to celebrity divorces, I feel really uncomfortable |
| 1:01.2 | hearing about them. |
| 1:02.8 | Because they can get very ugly, very fast. |
| 1:06.9 | They become these kind of smear campaigns |
| 1:09.4 | where both people are trying to malign one another, |
| 1:13.1 | and they've also dominated popular culture for years. |
| 1:17.0 | But it doesn't end there. |
| 1:19.0 | These two traded insults in the press regularly. |
| 1:22.2 | Why did you let me marry this? |
| 1:24.0 | Idiot! |
| 1:25.0 | And he said, he said, |
| 1:28.0 | I thought you liked him. |
| 1:30.0 | David accused her of giving him an STD and being an alcoholic, while Liza said he poisoned |
| 1:35.6 | her and drugged her throughout their marriage. |
| 1:38.0 | That, by the way, was referring to Liza Manelli and David guests divorce back in 07. There were also the divorces of Elizabeth |
| 1:46.6 | Taylor and then Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. And of course we've had Brittany Spears |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.