In 1978, Greta Rideout was the first American woman still living with her husband to charge him with rape, which was a crime in only four states at the time. The ensuing trial and relentless media coverage brought the issue to the country's attention, but the fallout — which included an acquittal, a TV movie based on the case, and criminalization across 50 states over the next 15 years — was enormous. At a time when women's rights are being rolled back at alarming rates, what does the Rideout case tell us about a woman's right to bodily autonomy?
Sarah Weinman is the author of Without Consent, a forthcoming book about the Rideout case. She joined me to talk about the push for bodily autonomy within marriage.
is the author of the nonfiction books The Real Lolita, Scoundrel, and Without Consent (Ecco, fall 2025). She is the editor of several anthologies, most recently Evidence of Things Seen: True Crime in an Era of Reckoning. She writes the Crime & Mystery column for the New York Times Book Review and her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Esquire and New York. She lives in New York City.
This season was generously sponsored by Funny Girls, which is a program run by the Harnisch Foundation that uses improv to teach leadership skills to girls and nonbinary kids in grades 3 to 8. You can learn more about its work here.
Zachary Oren Smith is the producer, and Suzanne Glémot made the art for the show. And thank you to everyone who shared their stories with us.
If you loved this episode, we have a whole first season you can listen to. You can also buy Lyz’s New York Times best-selling book This American Ex-Wife.
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