Scrap Bag: Bringing Beth Back to Life with D.L. Mayfield

Jo's Boys: A Little Women Podcast

As we mourn our dear, sweet Beth, we sit down with author and journalist D.L. Mayfield to discuss what her story means. Why does Alcott portray Beth as "a little saint" and "the angel of the house?" What message is she sending? Is it anything like the messages little girls hear in high-control evangelical Christianity?

D.L. Mayfield is an author and journalist who writes about neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. They’ve written three books, including Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day’s Radical Vision and its Challenge for our Times. They also write a newsletter called Healing is my Special Interest and they co-host This is the Bad Place, a re-cap podcast on The Good Place, with their partner, Krispin Mayfield. Right now, they’re working on a book about evangelical parenting methods.

Memorial Fund for Ryan Carson, partner of friend and former guest Claudia Morales: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ryan-carson

Peyton's Speech at Celebrating Louisa May Alcott 2023, Sunday, November 26 at 3:00 PM EST: https://tinyurl.com/LouAlcott23

Our cover art is by Mattie Lubchansky. It interpolates the cover art for Bethany C. Morrow's book "So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix," with permission from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. It also interpolates the cover art for Hena Khan’s book “More to the Story,” with permission from Simon & Schuster. Our theme music is Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major. This episode was edited by Antoinette Smith.