Brittany Packnett is an activist who rose to prominence after she became a leader of the protests in Ferguson back in 2014. Since then, she’s worked with politicians on the federal and state level on ending police brutality, and was appointed to President Obama’s task force on building relationships between communities and police. Brittany talks with Stella Bugbee about how she gets it all done, including how she decompresses from dealing with the heaviness of her work, travel hacks for the frequent flyer, and her philosophy of activism.

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Alison Roman is a cookbook author, New York Times and Bon Appetit columnist, and the brain behind The Cookies and The Stew, those chocolate chip cookies and chickpea stew that you’ve likely seen in your Instagram feed. This week, Alison sat down with Stella Bugbee to talk about how she gets it all done, including how she develops her recipes, deals with online critics, and embraces her inability to chill.

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When Hannah was a kid, everyone knew she was dying. All over town, donation cans showed a picture of her: a sweet little girl with cancer who needed help. But it turned out that Hannah's story wasn't so simple — in fact, she still doesn't understand everything that happened to her, and all the lies she was told. 

In this episode, Cut writer Anna Silman follows Hannah as she gets a chance to talk to someone who can help her figure out the strange story of her childhood.

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Taffy Brodesser-Akner is perhaps best known for her profiles of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Tonya Harding, and Jonathan Franzen — turning her subjects into characters through the irresistible drama of being famous. Now, she's turned to fiction, and has just published her first novel, Fleishman Is In Trouble, about the painful dissolution of a marriage. Taffy talks about her long-standing fascination with divorce, intensified as she's watched her peers go through the process in the age of dating apps, and shares an excerpt of her novel.

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What is life really like inside an immigrant detention facility? In this episode, we talk to Karla, who came from Honduras to the United States as part of the much-discussed migrant caravan. When she walked over the US border six months ago, she thought she’d be reunited with her kids in South Carolina. Instead, she spent months in a terrible limbo. And when Karla's family is finally reunited, she discovers exactly how much has changed while she’s been gone.

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Filmmaker Sandi Tan told the Cut that her next project would be an adaptation of Elif Batuman's novel The Idiot — it's a book about a hapless college freshman. So we brought Elif and Sandi into the studio to talk. Sandi pumped Elif for autobiographical details, Elif told us her big revelation of 2018, and they agreed that people who lose touch with their past selves — however idiotic — are the worst.

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Cynthia Nixon joins us this week as we consider the past and future of abortion. What does it look like to end a pregnancy when the law stands in your way? Wendy Zukerman from Science Vs tells us about a group of women in the 60s who developed their own safe abortion kit. And we hear from a Dutch doctor who’s made it her mission to distribute abortion pills in countries without access... which has meant taking to the seas, and taking on the US government.

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The spring thaw is here... or is it? The Cut staff tries to figure out what it means to be horny in 2019. (The answer involves asking Adam Driver to run you over with a bus.)

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When you see "Mom" in your missed calls, do you start to sweat? Does a voicemail that starts "Hi, sweetie, it's me, so sorry to bother you..." make you twitch? You're not alone. Whether you have a great relationship with your mom or a predominantly shouting-based one, calls between moms and their kids are complicated. And on this episode, we hear from friends, colleagues, and listeners about how they navigate their mom calls.

And, we want to hear from you! We are planning an episode about being horny. We’re interested in are the unexpected triggers: you know, the things that you personally are horny for that no one else gets. Whether that’s exposed ankles, pinkie rings, or bike messengers with their little hats, leave us a message at (920) 368-3341, and tell us what’s got you horned up in spring 2019. 

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Cynthia Rowley is a fashion designer, author, and successful businesswoman, despite not having a background in business. Stella Bugbee talks with Cynthia about balancing work and life, hustling Andy Warhol at the start of her career, taking risks in fashion and business, and much more.

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