Podcast Summary: "Phyllis Schlafly with Akilah Hughes"

Podcast: This Guy Sucked
Host: Dr. Claire Aubin
Guest: Akilah Hughes
Date: January 8, 2026
Episode Run-Time: ~1:17:00

Episode Overview

This episode of This Guy Sucked pulls back the curtain on Phyllis Schlafly, one of the most influential (and polarizing) figures in the history of American right-wing feminism. Host and historian Dr. Claire Aubin is joined by writer, comedian, and podcaster Akilah Hughes for an impassioned, deeply researched, and—at times—cathartic conversation about Schlafly's legacy. Together, they analyze how Schlafly’s regressive activism, especially her STOP ERA campaign, not only shaped women’s rights in the 20th century but still reverberates in reactionary rhetoric today.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Anecdotes and Warm-up (00:00–05:40)

• Dr. Aubin and Akilah Hughes joke about their careers and “hating for a living”.
• The playful question, “If someone had a gun to your head and said you had to do a PhD, what would you do it in?” leads both to confess a passion for interior design.
• The hosts chat about the psychological comfort of cozy spaces in contrast to the depressing historical work they do.

2. Who Was Phyllis Schlafly? (05:40–13:40)

• Akilah first heard of Schlafly through the Mrs. America TV show, later becoming disgusted during research about Schlafly’s anti-women’s-rights activism.
• Dr. Aubin characterizes Schlafly’s argument for women's inferiority as “particularly distasteful” and “so enormously detrimental to America and the relationship of American political culture to women’s social positions, right now at this very moment.” [07:00]
• Discussion on how figures like Schlafly invent an idealized past that never really existed, a recurring tactic in conservative politics.
• “They're not regressing to a time pre-Schlafly. They're regressing to Schlafly's vision of a time that existed before her. So it's all… all fake.” - Claire [10:57]

3. Literacy, Access, and Historical Narratives (11:00–13:12)

• The hosts muse about misconceptions of the past, literacy’s impact on whose stories get told, and the irony that “most Americans do not read above a fourth grade level.” - Claire [12:17]
• Reading is presented as a minimum requirement for guests of the show—another lighthearted but pointed commentary on historical access and contemporary discourse.

4. Phyllis Schlafly’s Early Life & Origins (13:12–20:55)

• Schlafly’s life: born in 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri, lived until 2016.
• Her formative trauma: father lost his job in the Great Depression, so her mother worked as a librarian and teacher. Schlafly built her entire personality around resenting her mother for working. “She builds her whole life on being this sort of, like, tasteful homemaker, smiley lady,” even though “she literally worked her whole life.” - Claire [15:05; 20:46]
• Akilah: “Seems like she took the wrong lesson from that.” [15:05]
• The hosts discuss the (Freudian) pattern of people building whole lives around childhood resentments.

5. Career & Political Ascent (20:55–26:42)

• Schlafly’s education: BA in Political Science, MA in Government (1945), part-time work during WWII as a ballistics technician.
• Early jobs include a stint at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ongoing connection with conservative think tanks.
• Two failed congressional campaigns (1950s & 1970), but she finds her true power as an activist, not a politician.
• Schlafly publishes A Choice, not an Echo and becomes identified with Barry Goldwater’s brand of conservatism.
• “She starts to be like, oh, some of the stuff I've been doing could coalesce into, like, a level of political platform and career...” - Claire [22:08]

6. STOP ERA and Building the Anti-Feminist Movement (26:42–39:32)

Founding of STOP ERA (1972):

• Schlafly launches the STOP ERA campaign in response to the Equal Rights Amendment’s momentum. The acronym stands for "Stop Taking Our Privilege".
• “Literally the rest of the episode” pivots to her decisive (and destructive) role in ending the push for constitutional gender equality.

Impact:

• Schlafly’s newsletter and radio show create a grassroots movement among conservative women.
• The idea of “family values” as currently understood is essentially a Schlafly invention.
• Her activism is described as one of the most successful grassroots political campaigns in American history.
• “It is not an exaggeration to say that she is directly responsible for this. She, since the 60s, had been publishing this newsletter and having this syndicated radio commentary show. Unfortunately, evidence that Podcasters and radio hosts have been evil forever.” - Claire [25:56]

7. Equal Rights Amendment—Context & Misconceptions (39:32–50:22)

• Explanation of the ERA’s goals and history: to prohibit sex-based discrimination by enshrining explicit constitutional protection.
• “Spoiler for everyone: we still don't have it.” - Claire [27:41]
• Discussion of Schlafly’s arguments: ERA would harm women by removing ‘privileges’—alimony, Social Security benefits, traditional custody rights, military draft exemptions.
• The hosts mock Schlafly's logic: “If I said you could go to work...or you could just stay at home and nothing would change for you. What is the problem with the first one?” - Claire [43:38]

8. Race, Class, and Whose Womanhood? (50:22–57:10)

• Akilah notes the racialized exclusion inherent in the history of women’s rights, particularly Schlafly’s appeal to white/middle-class women.
• “If you look back to...the antebellum period...the reason that women are able to not work is because other women are working.” - Claire [56:16]
• Both argue that Schlafly's nostalgia is rooted in a fantasy, attainable only by a narrow subset, and always made possible by the labor of less privileged women.

9. Sexuality, Reproductive Rights, and Long-lasting Damage (57:10–66:18)

• Schlafly’s anti-abortion activism: central to post-1970 Republican politics.
• Her views: No abortion even in cases of rape/incest; only (possibly) to save a mother’s life.
• Opposes sex education, contraception for teens, and supports abstinence-only programs—positioning her as godmother to contemporary American reproductive policy struggles.

10. Tactics and Legacy: Organization, Media, & Modern Parallels (66:18–72:54)

• Schlafly as a communication and grassroots organizing genius: pioneering partnerships with churches, exploiting political vacuums, and rallying traditionalists.
• She directly influences the shape and style of right-wing women’s activism to the present day.
• Her “final act” (2016): Endorsing Donald Trump and writing The Conservative Case for Trump just before her death, lending credibility to his campaign among white, conservative women.
• “She literally gives us Donald Trump.” - Claire [72:41]
• Guest/host acknowledge: Without Schlafly’s radicalization, the present landscape of American anti-feminism would look very different.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I find it particularly distasteful when women argue for the inferiority of women.” — Claire [06:53]
• “She was kind of just like the worst-case scenario. Yeah, I know that she was incredibly regressive in her politics, specifically about the role of women...” — Akilah [08:21]
• “If I took a thing that was a source of resentment for me at age, what, eight...for the rest of my life, that would be me being like, ‘I think it’s fucked up that older sisters get bigger rooms.’” — Claire [17:29]
• “Her career is literally making a career out of telling women not to have careers.” — Claire [20:55]
• “She is fully to blame for this.” — Claire, on the ERA’s failure [37:17]
• “You could just do it for you. Why does it have to be for everybody?” — Claire [40:33]
• “You want to know about reproductive health and education? She’s also really against federal programs that distribute contraception to teens...She opposes comprehensive sex education...That’s from her.” — Claire [61:25]
• “She’s looking up at us now. Darn. She’s like, wow, it’s hot. But thank goodness I’ve ruined a bunch of women’s lives.” — Akilah (on Schlafly’s death and legacy) [60:43]
• “She is speculated to be the inspiration behind Serena Joy Waterford in Handmaid’s Tale.” — Claire [73:56]
• “She tied you to the stake and says, ‘I just want to say this with love. I hope you burn it out.’” — Claire [68:29]

Key Timestamps

| Time | Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–05:40 | Host/guest banter; academia vs. interior design fantasy | | 06:09–08:21 | Initial reactions to Schlafly’s legacy | | 13:12–19:02 | Schlafly’s early life and trauma over her mother’s employment | | 20:55–24:41 | Academic + political rise; failed campaigns and shift to activism | | 26:42–39:35 | STOP ERA campaign, “family values,” and roots of American anti-feminism | | 39:32–50:21 | ERA explained; Schlafly’s arguments and mobilization strategy | | 54:22–57:10 | The “fantasy” of the stay-at-home wife: race, class, and domestic labor | | 60:10–63:24 | Anti-reproductive rights activism and Eagle Forum roots | | 66:18–70:44 | Schlafly’s organizing tactics and example for contemporary movements | | 71:18–73:56 | Endorsing Trump, lasting influence, Handmaid’s Tale connection |

Conclusion

This episode offers a scathing but sharply analytic postmortem of Phyllis Schlafly’s impact. While often irreverent and darkly comic in tone, Dr. Claire Aubin and Akilah Hughes build a compelling argument: Schlafly’s anti-feminist “trad wife” doctrine is an invented fantasy that still shapes political discourse and severely restricts the civil and economic rights of American women—especially those beyond the narrow white, middle-class slice she so happily represented.

Listener Takeaway:
Schlafly didn’t just “suck”—she redefined the terrain on which today’s battles around gender, family, and power play out. Criticizing her is not just about “hating”—it’s about understanding (and undoing) her influence.

For Further Listening

• Akilah Hughes recommends her show, How Is This Better? (Courier Newsroom)
• “This Guy Sucked” new episodes Thursdays; archive and ad-free episodes on Patreon.

End of summary.