The Marriage Myth (Pt 1): When Newsweek Struck Panic in Single Women Everywhere

It was a 1986 cover story with a claim that spread like wildfire: A single woman over 40 was “more likely to be killed by a terrorist” than to get married. Jess and Susie unravel the origin of that salacious report — later retracted — and dissect how such a line went from reporter’s notebook to reference point in films such as “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally.” Plus: How that Newsweek story inspired Susan Faludi to write her blockbuster feminist classic, Backlash. Guests: E. Jean Carroll, journalist, longtime Elle advice columnist and author of “What Do We Need Men For?”  Susan Douglas, professor of media studies at the University of Michigan and author of “Enlightened Sexism” FOR MORE: Single, Female, and Desperate No More (NY Times, 2006) Revisiting Newsweek’s ‘More Likely To Be Killed By a Terrorist’ Story (The Atlantic, 2016) Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi (1991) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.