Sarah and Miranda talk to journalist Abigail Leonard, author of Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries, about the social, cultural, and political forces that shape what it unfolds when women become mothers in Kenya, Finland, Japan, and the U.S. Would Leonard have had a third child if she hadn’t been living in Japan at the time? What is it about Finland that makes an ambivalent dad stick around? We explore what’s harder, what’s different, and what seems to be universal about motherhood in four very different societies.

Show Links:

* Buy Four Mothers in our Bookshop

* Abigail on Instagram

* Helpful Tips from a Parent with Covid

* It Feels Like Every Mom I Know is Medicated in Romper

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