The Joe Rogan Experience #2460 - Rachel Wilson
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Feb 26, 2026 
Rachel Wilson, writer and author of Occult Feminism, explores hidden currents in feminist history. She discusses suffrage myths, occult and spiritualist influences, Cold War institutional support, birthrate and family consequences, and how campuses and cultural figures shaped modern activism. Short, surprising, and provocative conversations on how ideas and power shaped women’s liberation.
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How Conflicting Parents Shaped Her Viewpoint
- Rachel Wilson realized childhood exposure to conflicting political extremes shaped her skepticism of Marxism and feminism.
- She grew up with a Marxist-feminist mother and a conservative father, which made her question both worldviews early on.
Choosing Motherhood Over A Scholarship
- Wilson left a full-ride scholarship and had her first child at 20, choosing motherhood over a conventional academic path.
- She worked as a hairstylist, felt uniquely valuable as a mother, and rejected the social pressure to return to work two weeks postpartum.
How Female Workforce Entry Reshaped The Economy
- Wilson links the economic shift of the 1970s to mass entry of women into the workforce, which nearly doubled labor supply and depressed men’s wages.
- She argues this created a two-income necessity that reshaped family economics and childcare norms.
