Simone & Malcolm Collins - Ill Conceived | Lyssna här

In mainstream media coverage of natalism, one specific couple keeps popping up. Their eccentric appearance and apparent ironclad commitment to the principles of tech natalism make them catnip to curious reporters, who have profiled them exhaustively. But who are Simone and Malcolm Collins, and what are they actually trying to sell you? This week, Josh and June do their best to find out.

***GET TICKETS TO JOSH'S SHOW IN CINCINNATI HERE AND THE ILL CONCEIVED JUNE 4TH LIVE SHOW IN CHICAGO HERE!!!***

***WANT MORE ILL CONCEIVED? Every other week, we release B-side supplements to the main episodes where we read your e-mail responses and discuss things further. Come check us out at Patreon.com/illconceived!***

***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WORLD FAMOUS MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com***

EPISODE ART: Malcolm and Simone Collins in a press photo by Hannah Yoon

AUDIO CLIPS:

18:35 – Simone Collins in a YouTube video entitled "Are You an Ambivert?" originally uploaded in November 2011
24:15 – Simone performing a cover of the Firefly theme song in a video originally uploaded to YouTube in July 2011
46:59 – Simone introduces Malcolm to the channel in a video originally uploaded to YouTube in November 2014
1:00:08 – Malcolm and Simone discuss "A Pragmatist's Take on the Red Pill" originally uploaded to YouTube in March 2020
1:16:46 – The introduction to the Based Camp episode "One Conspiracy Explains All Modern Culture (This Explains EVERYTHING)" originally uploaded to YouTube in May 2026
1:20:09 – The Bort license plate scene from "Itchy And Scratchy Land" (The Simpsons, S06E04)

SOURCES:

"How I Proposed to My Girlfriend on Reddit" by Malcolm Collins (Huffington Post, August 6, 2013)
ArtCorgi's profile on Crunchbase
"Why Many Entrepreneurs Are Turning to a ‘Search-Fund’ Model" by Glenn Hunter (D Magazine, January 9, 2017)
"Scoop: Dialog, a secretive forum, plans D.C.-area campus" by Mike Allen (Axios, August 7, 2025)
Simone's LinkedIn profile
Malcolm's LinkedIn profile
Simone's Reddit account
Malcolm's Reddit account
"Meet the ‘elite’ couples breeding to save mankind" by Io Dodds (The Telegraph, April 19, 2023)
"About Simone and Malcolm Collins’ Smear Campaign Against Me" by Lyman Stone (Medium post, October 22, 2024)
"America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’" by Jenny Kleeman (The Guardian, May 25, 2024)
Based Camp on YouTube