/https://ia600603.us.archive.org/1/items/urdmotherdy2026may/urdmotherdy2026may.mp3
UcOtt Raddio Daddio
A two-hour Mother’s Day special for adult-minded listeners
This one has a lot of room in it, ScOtt.
Warmth… guilt… memory… labour… love… advertising… religion… politics… grief… comedy… exhaustion… joy.
Mother’s Day is one of those strange little social mirrors where almost everybody sees something different looking back at them.
Some people had wonderful mothers.
Some lost them.
Some never knew them.
Some became mothers unexpectedly.
Some wanted children and never had them.
Some are raising grandchildren.
Some are trying to survive motherhood right now on three hours sleep and cold coffee.
That’s sociology territory right there.
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Opening Theme / Bed
Opening Song
- Mother — John Lennon
A bold opening. Raw. Messy. Honest.
You can talk over the church bells and opening section.
Opening Monologue (3–4 minutes)
“Tonight on UcOtt Raddio Daddio we’re looking at Mother’s Day… not just the cards and flowers version… but the sociology of motherhood.
We’re gonna wander through family, politics, religion, age, work, gender, technology, peace, race, health, education… maybe even crime and deviance a little.
Because motherhood touches almost everything.
Some of us are here because of mothers who held things together.
Some because mothers fell apart.
Some because they sacrificed.
Some because they disappeared.
Sociology doesn’t tell us what a mother should be.
It asks how societies build the idea of motherhood in the first place.
And tonight… we’re just gonna learn together a little.”
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SEGMENT 1 — FAMILY
“The first little world”
Songs
- Mama Tried
- Teach Your Children
Sociology Angle
Bring in Erving Goffman lightly.
Families are where we first learn roles:
- good child
- difficult child
- caregiver
- protector
- disappointment
- peacemaker
Motherhood often becomes the emotional centre of that performance.
Short Reflection
“Families are messy little theatres. Goffman might say we spend our whole lives learning parts there… and mothers are often expected to somehow direct the play while acting in it at the same time.”
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SEGMENT 2 — AGE
“Young mothers, old mothers, grandmother power”
Songs
- Slipping Through My Fingers
- Forever Young
Sociology Angle
Talk about:
- teen motherhood
- aging mothers
- grandmothers raising children
- empty nest experiences
- memory and time
You could mention your granddaughter here softly. Just a touch.
Canadian Angle
Neil Young gives you CanCon and emotional depth.
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SEGMENT 3 — POLITICS
“Who supports mothers… and who says they do?”
Songs
- Fortunate Son
- Universal Soldier
Sociology Angle
Bring in:
- maternity leave
- childcare
- war and mothers losing children
- nationalism and “motherland”
- governments praising mothers while underfunding care
Strong Moment
Talk about how almost every political movement uses motherhood symbolically.
“Protect the children” is one of the most powerful political phrases on Earth.
Canadian Content
Buffy Sainte-Marie fits beautifully here.
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SEGMENT 4 — RELIGION
“Holy mothers”
Songs
- Like a Prayer
- Ave Maria
Sociology Angle
- Virgin Mary
- motherhood as sacred duty
- expectations of purity
- sacrifice
- women carrying spiritual labour
Could lightly contrast idealized motherhood with actual exhausted humans trying to survive.
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SEGMENT 5 — GENDER
“Who gets expected to care?”
Songs
- The Pill
- Just a Girl
Sociology Angle
Perfect place for Judith Butler or Pauli Murray.
Talk about:
- motherhood expectations
- unpaid labour
- emotional labour
- women expected to naturally nurture
- fathers slowly taking more caregiving roles
Humour Possibility
“For a long time society treated motherhood like magic.
‘Oh don’t worry, women naturally know how to raise children.’
Which is a pretty amazing trick considering nobody naturally knows how to assemble IKEA furniture either.”
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SEGMENT 6 — WORK & EDUCATION
“The second shift”
Songs
- 9 to 5
- Working Day and Night
Sociology Angle
Bring in Arlie Hochschild and “the second shift.”
Women often:
- work paid jobs
- then return home for unpaid domestic labour
You could connect this to teachers, nurses, aides, caregivers.
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SEGMENT 7 — HEALTH & MEDICINE
“Birth, exhaustion, healing”
Songs
- Breathe Me
- A Case of You
Sociology Angle
- maternal mortality
- postpartum depression
- medicalization of childbirth
- nursing and caregiving
- expectations mothers hide pain
Canadian Content
Joni Mitchell
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SEGMENT 8 — RACE & COLONIALISM
“Different mothers, different burdens”
Songs
- Black Mothers
- Eve Was Black
Sociology Angle
Very important section.
Discuss:
- Indigenous motherhood and residential schools
- separation of families
- missing and murdered Indigenous women
- racism in healthcare and education
- Black motherhood and survival
Could mention the TRC gently here.
Canadian Content
Allison Russell
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SEGMENT 9 — TECHNOLOGY
“Motherhood online”
Songs
- Video Killed the Radio Star
- Idioteque
Sociology Angle
- parenting apps
- surveillance parenting
- mommy influencers
- AI and childcare
- kids growing up online
- pressure to appear like the “perfect mom”
Could sneak in a funny line:
“Now mothers are expected to raise children and produce content.”
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SEGMENT 10 — ENVIRONMENT
“Mothers protecting futures”
Songs
- Big Yellow Taxi
- Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
Sociology Angle
Bring in Rachel Carson.
Talk about:
- mothers and environmental activism
- water safety
- food quality
- future generations
- climate anxiety
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SEGMENT 11 — CRIME & DEVIANCE
“When motherhood breaks down”
Songs
- Brenda’s Got a Baby
- Fast Car
Sociology Angle
This could be incredibly powerful.
Bring in Howard Becker.
Talk about:
- poverty
- neglect
- addiction
- judgment of mothers
- labeling
- how society forgives fathers differently than mothers
Reflection
“Society often treats struggling mothers like personal failures… when sometimes they’re standing at the centre of economic collapse, violence, isolation, trauma and impossible choices.”
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SEGMENT 12 — PEACE
“Mothers against war”
Songs
- Give Peace a Chance
- Mother Mother
Sociology Angle
Bring back:
- Yoko Ono
- Muhammad Ali
- peace movements
- grief
- mothers losing children to war
You could mention how many peace movements were led by mothers or grieving women.
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FINAL OUTRO
Closing Song Suggestion
- Let It Be
Final Reflection (2 minutes)
“Mother’s Day can be beautiful…
but sociology reminds us it can also be complicated.
Some people are celebrating today.
Some are grieving.
Some are angry.
Some are exhausted.
But almost everybody has been shaped by motherhood somehow.
Maybe the best sociology starts there…
not with certainty…
but with paying attention.
Happy Mother’s Day from Dawson City…
from CFYT…
and from the strange little classroom of UcOtt Raddio Daddio.”
What do sociologists have to say about Bill Burr‘s comments about the danger motherhood as opposed to the danger of some really high risk jobs like firefighting and police work?
The short version
Canada doesn’t have a stand‑alone “Grandmother’s Day.” What we do have is National Grandparents Day on the second Sunday of September, when Nanas, Papas, Lolas, Kokums, and every other flavour of grand‑folk get a collective hug. Statistics Canada
A little more detail
| Where | What it’s called | When it falls in 2025 | Good‑to‑know trivia |
| Canada / U.S. | National Grandparents Day | Sunday, 14 Sept 2025 | Recognised by Parliament (Canada, 1995) and Congress (U.S., 1978). Not an official statutory holiday, so the celebration is strictly BYO‑cookies. Wikipedia |
| France | Fête des grands‑mères | Sunday, 2 March 2025 | Dreamed up by a French coffee company in 1987; it stuck, because who can say non to celebrating Mamie? La Poste |
| Poland | Dzień Babci(Grandmother’s Day) | Tuesday, 21 Jan 2025 | Paired with Dzień Dziadka (Grandfather’s Day) on 22 Jan. Children craft cards and recite poems; paczki doughnuts are optional but recommended. polishmuseumofamerica.org |
| Italy | Festa dei Nonni(Grandparents’ Day) | Thursday, 2 Oct 2025 | Celebrated on the feast of the Guardian Angels—because who else keeps an eye on you like Nonna? |
Moms work at Belmont
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