The Shape of Care

By Mindy FriedSociety & Culture Documentary

The Shape of Care episodes

September 10, 2025 Sneak peek of Next Chapters podcast: On the road
Hello Friends from around the world! If you've listened to Laura Barr on The Shape of Care, you'll want to hear this! It's a sneak peek clip from Episode 5 of Next Chapters, featuring Laura again with a great story. It's called: On the road: Adventures in aging!
Here's our website for Next Chapters: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/next-chapters
And here's the Apple link, one of the channels where many of you listen:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-chapters/id1825387175
Happy listening!
3 min
August 25, 2025 Sneak peek: Episode 3 of Next Chapters: Relationships and sex
Welcome to an exclusive sneak peek of Episode 3 of Next Chapters - Relationships and sex: Don't be afraid of hard conversations.
In this episode, we hear from musician and organizer, Sheryl Wiser, who found love again in her 60s with a “young 71-year-old man”. And we talk to Dr. Jane Fleishman, a certified sexuality educator who is on a mission to promote the sexual wellness of older adults.
If you're enjoying Next Chapters, please review it. That helps other people find the podcast. And check out our website: https://ourbodiesourselves.org/next-chapters. Each episode has "show notes", which include more info about the episode topics, guest bios and photos, essays by guest authors, and links to additional resources. Happy listening - and reading!
39 min
August 13, 2025 Announcing first episode of Next Chapters: Confronting discrimination in health care
We're thrilled to announce the release of our first episode of Next Chapters, a podcast about the remarkable landscape of growing older for women. In this episode, podcast host and co-producer, Mindy Fried, shares an unnerving set of experiences she had with a medical practitioner. Judith Graham, a journalist who writes about ageism in health care for major media outlets, shares her insights regarding how to address the problem. And sociologist Dr. Karen Bullock draws on her seminal research and experience in discussing the impact of racism on access to health care for older Black people.
2 min
July 30, 2025 Check out Next Chapters, my new podcast about growing older for women!
Hello Friends of The Shape of Care! Check out Next Chapters, my new podcast about growing older for women. It's a project of Our Bodies Ourselves, and the Trailer just launched. Episodes start on August 13th!
2 min
August 08, 2022 Behind the scenes of The Shape of Care: Lisa Mullins interviews Mindy Fried
In this episode, Lisa Mullins, award-winning journalist and the podcast's advisor, interviews Mindy to get a behind the scenes look at The Shape of Care. In this animated conversation, you learn more about what motivated Mindy to create the podcast, and how she put all the pieces together!
31 min
July 19, 2022 She called me her three c’s: compassion, caring and comfort
Check out www.theshapeofcare.org/episodes to see guest bios and photos, links to relevant articles and resources, and for Episode 4, you'll see an amazing essay by Ai-jen Poo, Director of Care Can't Wait, and Co-Director of Caring Across Generations.
21 min
July 12, 2022 Nursing assistants: the heart and soul of nursing care
Check out www.theshapeofcare.org/episodes to see guest bios and photos, links to relevant articles and resources, and for Episode 3, you'll see an excerpt of an interview with Senator Bob Casey!
28 min
July 05, 2022 Making a difference: From care work to home care activism
Check out www.theshapeofcare.org/episodes to see guest bios and photos, links to relevant articles and resources, and an essay by guest author, Dr. Sonya Michel, Professor Emerita of History and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her essay is entitled, Elder Care and Global Care Chains.
19 min
June 28, 2022 Season 2, Episode 1: From fear to love: An evangelical Christian and a Muslim home care worker
Check out www.theshapeofcare.org to see guest bios and photos, links to relevant articles and resources, and an essay by guest author,Fumilayo Showers, an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at the University of Connecticut. The essay is entitled, Immigrant Social Networks and the Little-Known Story of African Immigrants Providing Solutions to the “Crisis of Care” in the US.

21 min
June 21, 2022 Trailer for Season 2 of The Shape of Care
Welcome to Season 2 of The Shape of Care, a podcast about caregiving. Over the next four episodes, we’ll bring you into the lives of two “care pairs”, two PAID workers and the people they care for. And we’ll focus on two very different worlds of care. Nursing homes, which many of us wouldn’t want for ourselves, let alone our loved ones.And home-based care – which is what most of us would want, right? To stay in our own homes, to get services as we need them, and stay close to everything and everyone that’s familiar… So that’s where we’re going to start.
3 min

About The Shape of Care

From the publisher's feed

The Shape of Care is a podcast that explores the world of caregiving. In this series, we hear stories from caregivers and the people they care for, and from experts and activists. There are so many of…