The University of Texas Tower on the University of Texas campus. The school was the site of the recent “Natal Con” gathering.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
The University of Texas Tower on the University of Texas campus. The school was the site of the recent “Natal Con” gathering.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Billionaire Elon Musk told Fox News recently that falling birth rates keep him up at night. It’s a drum he’s been beating for years.
Musk is one of the world’s most visible individuals to elevate this point of view. Vice President JD Vance also talks about wanting to increase birthrates in the U.S.
But it’s not just them. There are discussions across the political spectrum about birth rate decline and what it means for the economy.
One response to this decline is a cause that’s been taken up by the right, and it has a name – Pronatalism. Many of its advocates met up recently in Austin, Texas, at “Natal Con.”
Pronatalists think they have a friendly audience in the White House. How do they want to use it?
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This episode was produced by Audrey Ngyuen and Connor Donevan with audio engineering by Zo vanGinhoven. It was edited by Brett Neely and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.