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Polygamy, Polyamory And The Changing American Family

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When the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, many conservatives worried that the law opened the door for polgamists and polyamorists to also have their unions sanctioned by law.

In a recent article for The New Yorker, Andrew Solomon writes that with the rising numbers of polyamorists across the country, as well as the recent changes in some states — including Utah — to the legal status of polygamists, those fears aren’t ill-founded. But what would it mean if we widened our definition of family? As Solomon writes, “American conservatism has long mourned the proliferation of single parents, but, if two parents are better than one, why are three parents worse?” We’ll talk with Solomon about our common assumptions about the differences between polygamists and polyamorists — one, “right-wing misogynists,” and the other, “decadent left-wingers” — and how they share a goal and even, he says, a way of life.

You can read Andrew Solomon’s article for The New Yorker “How Polyamorists and Polygamists Are Challenging Family Norms” here.

Andrew Solomon is the author of Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. [IndieBound|Amazon|Audible| Bookshop]

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.