On this episode: Zak talks to filmmaker, author, and actor Sarah Polley about her book Run Towards the Danger. They talk about how losing a parent early influences how she parents now. How to handle guilt and why finding your parenting community is so valuable. They also discuss her boundaryless childhood and why she won’t let her kids be child actors. Finally, Sarah talks about navigating parenting while healing from a years-long injury.

Recommendations: 

Jamilah recommends Lemon Perfect Lemon Water

Elizabeth recommends Pinna Podcasts

Zak recommends Sarah Polley’s films, specifically Stories We Tell. 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. 

Podcast produced by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola and Rosemary Belson.

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time and director of the Better Life Lab, is joined by author Angela Garbes. They unpack the modern challenges of motherhood, further illustrated and then exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They talk about Angela’s new book, Essential Labor, how caregiving is seen as sacred, yet we make it so hard in the United States, and why we pay caregivers—a key part of our society—poverty wages. 

In Slate Plus, Angela and Brigid talk about the subtitle of Angela’s book: Mothering As Social Change.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus and Alicia Montgomery. 

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In 2019, Brenda took a year off from their PhD program to try to feel pleasure again…with anything. Brenda has come a long way since then but there’s one thing that’s still elusive—they’ve never experienced an orgasm. Whenever they try, anxiety kicks in and they’re left feeling frustrated and, in their words “broken.” On this episode of How To!, we bring in Ev’Yan Whitney, sex educator, author, and host of the podcast Sensual Self. Ev’Yan has some wonderful wisdom for learning about your body and reconnecting with pleasure, both sexual and non-sexual, in a way that feels safe. 

Additional Reading: 

The Tyranny Of the Female-Orgasm Industrial Complex by Katharine Smyth

Ace by Angela Chen

Sensual Self by Ev’Yan Whitney

Understanding Asexuality by The Trevor Project

If you liked this episode, check out “How To Have the Best Sex of Your Life”

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show.

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Emily Bazelon talks with author Keri Blakinger about her new memoir, Corrections in Ink which recounts Blakinger’s path from Olympic ambitions, to heroin addiction, to prison, and ultimately a return to life on the outside.  

Blakinger launched a program to deliver her memoir to currently incarcerated readers. You can learn more here: https://800ceoread.com/coupons/redeem/donationcorrectionsinink

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate staff writer Heather Schwedel is joined by Slate books and culture columnist Laura Miller on the ten year anniversary of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. They talk about the initial reaction to Gone Girl, why the twists packed such a punch, and the enduring impact of the famous “cool girl” speech. Then they explore why, despite many books proclaiming to be so, there has never really been another Gone Girl.

In Slate Plus, Laura takes Heather behind the scenes of book blurbs. 

Recommendations:

Heather: The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

Laura: TV series Redemption, available on BritBox

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus and Alicia Montgomery. 

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected]

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science writer and editor Shannon Palus is joined by Popular Science executive editor and author Rachel Feltman to talk about sex, baby. Rachel’s new book, “Been There, Done That” explores the quirky, wild, and often queer side of the history of sex. Shannon and Rachel talk about why animal sex is so relevant to human sex, the “loop-de-loop” of sexual evolution, and they ponder the age old question, “Why are even men?” 

In Slate Plus, Rachel talks about why Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) may in some cases not be as terrible as you think. 

Recommendations:

Shannon: Spindrift seltzer 

Rachel: The horror anthology, Your Body is Not Your Body

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus and Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected]

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Throughout the 2010s, the One Direction fandom was inescapable online. On today’s show, Atlantic writer Kaitlyn Tiffany is here to discuss her new book all about that subject, Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It. Rachelle and Madison talk to Kaitlyn about why she chose One Direction, how fan theories get out of hand, and why neither she nor Rachelle would ever want to meet Harry Styles.

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Madison Malone Kircher.

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This month, in honor of Pride, we’re going to be bringing you an Outward episode every week.

Today, it’s a segment from a 2021 episode of Working, Slate's podcast about the creative process, in which June Thomas spoke with photographer Joan E. Biren, also known as JEB. In the interview, JEB discusses the creation, funding, and printing of her groundbreaking 1979 photobook Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, which was reissued by Anthology Editions in 2021. 

The Working episode was produced by Cameron Drews.

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On this episode: Zak and Elizabeth are joined by Scott Hershovitz, author of the book Nasty, Brutish and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids and the director of the Law and Ethics Program and professor of law and philosophy at the University of Michigan. They discuss why you shouldn’t shy away from big questions, how to foster open mindedness in teens, and perhaps the biggest question of all—what’s a “floofer doofer.”

On Slate Plus, they have a round of graduation-themed Triumphs and Fails. Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on MADAF each week, and no ads. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to listen and support our work.

Recommendations:

Elizabeth recommends the Sipsey Wilder hip pack

Scott recommends Teaching Children Philosophy

Zak recommends Julie’s Library. 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. 

Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson and Jasmine Ellis.

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John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990’s, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot. 

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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