Sarah Posner sits down with New York Magazine senior writer Sarah Jones to unpack the accelerating assault on transgender rights in Kansas and beyond. They trace how a new Kansas law retroactively invalidating updated gender markers on driver’s licenses fits into a broader, decades-long Christian right strategy—one that cloaks theological convictions in the language of “common sense” and “biology.” From spiritual warfare rhetoric in statehouses to Supreme Court signals about religious motivation, Posner and Jones explore how anti-trans legislation operates as both a wedge issue and a cornerstone of a hierarchical gender ideology rooted in patriarchy, biblical literalism, and political calculation. They connect these state-level efforts to federal actions under Trump—from executive orders to agency guidance on bathroom bans—and examine how figures like Pete Hegseth and his mentor Doug Wilson frame masculinity, authority, and power.

The conversation widens to consider how anti-trans politics intersects with abortion criminalization, punitive theology, and the rise of pronatalism across MAGA and NatCon spaces. They analyze the confirmation hearing of Surgeon General nominee Casey Means, whose blend of anti–birth control rhetoric, “sacred fertility” language, and pseudoscientific wellness ideology has sparked backlash—even from Christian right influencers like Erick Erickson, who denounced her as dabbling in witchcraft. Posner and Jones probe the uneasy coalition between evangelical patriarchy and MAHA-style new age conspiracism, asking whether this radicalized right-wing alignment can outlast Trump—or simply mutate into something more extreme.

The episode closes with Posner’s Anti-Doom segment, highlighting federal judges—some Trump-appointed—who are forcefully pushing back against unlawful immigration enforcement, reminding listeners that the constitutional order still has defenders.

Sarah Jones is an award-winning senior writer for New York Magazine, where she covers religion and national politics. She serves on the editorial board of Dissent Magazine, and was previously a staff writer for The New Republic. Her first book, Disposable: America's Contempt for the Underclass, is available now from Avid Reader Press. She is based in Brooklyn.

Additional Resources

Sarah Jones, Disposable: America's Contempt for the Underclass - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Disposable/Sarah-Jones/9781982197438

Susan Rinkunas, “Prosecutors Keep Charging Women Who Have Abortions For Crimes They Did Not Commit,” Balls and Strikes, March 2, 2026, https://ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics/kentucky-abortion-charge-prosecutor-miranda-king/

Christopher Wiggins, “Conservative Supreme Court justices curb California’s effort to shield transgender students from forced outing,” The Advocate, March 2, 2026, https://www.advocate.com/news/education/supreme-court-forced-outing-transgender

Kyle Cheney, “Judges in a Trump stronghold condemn ICE tactics,” Politico, March 1, 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/01/west-virginia-immigration-rulings-00804575

Ben Finley and Jamie Stengle, “Pentagon and Scouting America reach deal to keep ties after Hegseth’s anti-DEI push,” Associated Press, February 27, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/scouting-america-pentagon-military-boy-scouts-14a5fc1521fcd1e51103638f6f504214

Press Release, “EEOC Issues Federal Sector Appellate Decision Recognizing the Ability of Federal Agencies to Designate Intimate Spaces in Federal Workplaces by Sex,” February 26, 2026, https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-issues-federal-sector-appellate-decision-recognizing-ability-federal-agencies

Mattathias Schwartz, Zach Montague and Ernesto Londoño, “Judges Grow Angry Over Trump Administration Violating Their Orders,” New York Times, February 24, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/us/politics/judges-contempt-immigration-trump.html

John Hanna, “New law puts Kansas at vanguard of denying trans identities on drivers licenses, birth certificates,” Associated Press, February 22, 2026, https://apnews.com/article/transgender-rights-drivers-licenses-birth-certificates-bathrooms-3048b856b81d24553efd9da4aaa94bc7

Vivian Jones, “TN bill would allow death penalty for women who have an abortion,” The Tennessean, February 20, 2026, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/20/tennessee-bill-death-penalty-women-abortion/88777975007/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Stacey Saldanha-Olson, “Trans legislator in Kansas talks about decision that changed her life,” Topeka Capital Journal, February 13, 2026, https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/state/2026/02/13/trans-legislator-in-kansas-talks-about-decision-that-changed-her-life/88550496007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z11xx99p117150c117150v11xx99&gca-ft=23&gca-ds=sophi

Zane Irwin, “Kansas lawmakers skirt public comment to pass bill on bathroom use by transgender people,” KCUR, January 29, 2026, https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2026-01-29/kansas-legislature-transgender-bathroom-bill-no-public-comment

Sarah Jones, “What a Diabetes Diagnosis Taught Me About MAHA,” New York Magazine, October 26, 2025, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-a-diabetes-diagnosis-taught-me-about-maha.html

Sarah Jones, “How New Age Women Turned Right,” New York Magazine, April 9, 2025, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/new-age-woman-amy-carlson.html

Sarah Jones, “The Nursemaids of National Conservatism At a conference on the future of the right, women are a resource for men.,” New York, July 11, 2024, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/women-national-conservatism-conference.html

Sarah Posner, “The Christian Nationalist Boot Camp Pushing Anti-Trans Laws Across America,” Type Investigations/Business Insider, September 21, 2022, https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2022/09/21/christian-nationalism-anti-trans-laws/

Sarah Posner, “The Secret History of Bathroom Bills,” Type Investigations/Rolling Stone, January 22, 2018, https://www.typeinvestigations.org/investigation/2018/01/22/secret-history-bathroom-bills/

Creator: Sarah Posner: https://www.sarahposner.com/

Producer and Engineer: Dr. Ger FitzGerald

Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi

Production Assistance: Kari Onishi

Generous funding provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.

007: The Escalating War on Gender and Reproduction: Birth Control, Bathrooms & Biblical Patriarchy

Reign of Error with Sarah Posner