The Longest Shortest Time
The Longest Shortest Time is a podcast about the surprises and absurdities of raising children and being raised by them. Hosted by Hillary Frank, the show features stories that appeal to both parents and non-parents. After a five-year hiatus, new episodes are released every other Wednesday. The podcast also offers a premium subscription with ad-free listening and access to a bonus show about college students discussing sex, dating, and relationships.
Episodes
The Sex Lives of College Kids
According to surveys, Gen Z is having less sex than previous generations. But why? Carter Sherman is here to explain.
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Recommendations from the archive
• More on Title IX’s rollback: Preventing Teens from Joining the Manosphere
• Teaching consent to teens: How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Rapist
• When sex ed is left in the hands of gym teachers: The Staircase
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More on Carter Sherman
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LST FAVES: My Best Friend's Baby
Two friends try to figure out how to stay friends after one of them has a baby. The one without the baby hatches a secret plan.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on May 24, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
• Follo
The Pressure to Be the Perfect Black Father
After a panic attack nearly made him lose control on the highway, Mark Anthony Neal continued to bottle up his anxiety and pretend everything was fine. Years later, when he secretly started therapy, he unpacked how the pressures of Black masculinity led him to a mental health crisis.
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Recommendations from the archive
• A scholar’s take on why “colorblindness” is dangerous: How to Not (Accident
LST FAVES: How To Not (Accidentally) Raise A Racist
What's the best way for white parents to talk to their kids about race? We called in Dr. Brigitte Vittrup, who studies children's racial attitudes, to help us out—and to answer questions about cringeworthy moments with your own kids.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on March 8, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Tak
Jamilah Lemieux on Black Single Motherhood
Jamilah Lemieux’s greatest fear was becoming a single mom. When she found herself pregnant without a partner, she panicked and tried to convince her daughter’s father to get back together with her. But over time, she’s come to embrace single motherhood — and the unexpected joys of co-parenting.
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Recommendations from the archive
We have lots of stories about single parenthood!
• For some
LST FAVES: The Secret Life of a Deaf Superhero
Cece Bell lost her hearing at age four. In this interview, the Newbery-award-winning author and illustrator talks about how she's used her hearing aid for good ... and evil.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on June 7, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Read the book
Pick up a copy of Cece’s incredible graphic memoi
Even Sexperts Struggle with Intimacy in Motherhood
As curator of the Museum of Sex, Sarah Forbes was an expert on kinks and turn-ons. But motherhood taught her that sex is more complicated than attraction — and that something as unsexy as her partner changing a blowout diaper could get her in the mood.
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Recommendations from the archive
Check out our sex + parenthood series, which includes:
• The Parents’ Guide to Doing It with Jane Marie and
Getting Kids to Bed with Naturepedic's Arin Schultz
As the father of four boys, Arin Schultz treasures his sleep… and because he works at a mattress company, he spends most of his waking hours thinking about sleep. In this episode, sponsored by Naturepedic, Arin shares the company’s dramatic origin story, and some sleep hygiene tips he’s picked up along the way.
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Recommendations from the archive
We have more episodes about kids and sleep!
• St
Preventing Teens from Joining the Manosphere
Most consent education focuses on survivors, and rightly so. But that leaves perpetrators without resources to repair harm. Drew Davis, a die-hard feminist, aims to fix that with a new online tool.
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Recommendations from the archive
• Our first episode with SafeBAE: How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Rapist
• Hillary’s personal episode about sex ed and consent that relaunched LST: The Staircase
LST FAVES: How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Rapist
Consent education in school is mostly insufficient or non-existent — even when it’s required by state law. An organization called SafeBAE is trying to change that by training teens to teach each other about consent. SafeBAE’s executive director Shael Norris talks about what works and what doesn’t when discussing this topic with young people. We’ll also hear a cautionary tale about a time when Shae
Negin Farsad Tackles Her Daughter's Unanswerable Questions
In 2017, comedian Negin Farsad came on the show to tackle kids’ unanswerable questions. Now she’s a mom, wrestling with how to explain death, slavery, and war to her own child. Plus, a delightful episode crossover moment with another former guest. (Hint: hot firefighters!)
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Recommendations from the archive
Want to hear more comedians answer kids’ questions? Check out the whole series!
• Kids
LST FAVES: Kids Ask Negin Farsad Unanswerable Questions
Comedian Negin Farsad on esoteric allergies, the power of fire hydrants, and growing up Muslim... all in this edition of Kids' Unanswerable Questions.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on February 1, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. Since then, Negin has become a mom — and next week we’ll be back with a new episode where she talks about how she navigates her own daughter’s unanswerable que
Building a Family After Childhood Trauma
Kate Casey grew up in a chaotic home, and as a child she struggled to understand the strange — and sometimes unsettling —choices her parents made. When it came time to start her own family, Kate decided to trade the bad kind of chaos for the good kind.
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Recommendations from the archive
• Want more family drama? Listen to Dani Shapiro’s Family Secret.
• Does Family Size Matter? An only child e
LST FAVES: Uterus + Sperm + Uterus
We pick up where we left off with Kiely, Jenna, and their sperm donor Dominick. This time it's Jenna's turn to get pregnant. And, unlike last time, things do not go according to plan.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on November 30, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know
Embracing Your Abortion Story
Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone proudly share their abortion stories, which led one of them to realize she wanted to be a mom and confirmed for the other that she didn’t. Plus: the problematic ways we talk about "readiness" for parenthood… and sex after abortion.
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Recommendations from the archive
• Listen to The Scarlet A, about one of the rare OBGYNs who provides abortions (and needed
LST FAVES: Uterus + Sperm
How do you make a baby when you’ve got a uterus and your partner does, too? We hear how one family did it, in this two-parter. And how some of their plans… don’t go according to plan.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on November 23, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. (And tune in the following week for the second part o
Managing Your Perimenopausal Rage
Feeling enraged lately? Dr. Kameelah Phillips gives us the facts about perimenopausal mood swings — and gets personal about her own. (Red lipstick while listening is not mandatory, but highly encouraged!)
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Disclaimer: Information presented by Dr. Phillips does not constitute medical advice or medical care. All medical concerns should be discussed with your healthcare professional.
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Recommend
Why Heated Rivalry Is SO HOT (it's not just the sex scenes)
Have you been obsessing over Heated Rivalry? Us too. It feels like EVERYONE's been crazy about this show — yes, even the lesbians. So what makes this series SO HOT even for people who aren't gay men?
Today, we bring you a special episode of one of our fave pods, Sex Ed with DB. Join DB for a fun and illuminating conversation about Heated Rivalry, BL, and yaoi, with guest Lina Dune!
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Recommend
LST FAVES: Kicking Ass While Pregnant
When Marvel asked Dennis Hopeless to create a new story for Spider-Woman, he knew he wanted her to be pregnant. In this episode, he explains why. And we hear from his wife Jessie, the real-life superhero behind Spider-Woman.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on February 29, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Episode
When Rumors Spread Like Wildfire About the Fire Commissioner
Laura Kavanagh knew she would encounter challenges as the first female fire commissioner of the FDNY. But she didn’t anticipate the false rumors that she slept her way to the top — or the nastier rumors about her supposed pregnancy. Now, for the first time, she shares what was actually going on in her reproductive life when she ran the fire department.
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Recommendations from the archive
• List
LST FAVES: Postpartum House Arrest
As an OBGYN, Jessica thought recovering from childbirth would be a breeze. She didn’t count on her own mother sabotaging her plans of postpartum bliss.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on December 19, 2018 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longe
Painful Sex and Elusive Orgasms in Perimenopause
If you've given birth, or you’re entering menopause, or you simply have a vagina... chances are, at some point, you’ve had painful or uncomfortable sex. Today, Dr. Lauren Streicher, OBGYN and menopause expert, gives us the inside info on sex and perimenopause.
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Disclaimer: Information presented by Dr. Streicher does not constitute medical advice or medical care. All medical concerns should be
Brian Can't Stop Fact-Checking His Mother-In-Law
Today we bring you an episode from Proxy, the podcast that investigates your niche emotional conundrums. Listeners bring host Yowei Shaw the kinds of problems that don’t have easy answers, and then Yowei connects them with a stranger with relevant life experience, in the hope that they can help.
In this episode, Yowei talks with her friend, journalist Brian Reed, who spends his professional life
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents 6
Trystan and Biff are back! We catch up with them about parenthood, postpartum bodies, and if there are any more kids in their future.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on October 23, 2019 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series!
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You
When the World Pushes You to Have a Baby (Or Two)
A lot of us wrestle with whether to start a family, or to grow the one we have. Today, Helena de Groot shares her own kid ambivalence — and the messy, intimate, confusing process of getting her husband to believe her wishes around whether or not to become a mom.
(Plus, Hillary shares something she’s never talked about publicly before!)
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Recommendations from the archive
• Should I Have Kids? F
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents 5
Audience faves Trystan and Biff are back… and they’re having a baby! We talk about what it’s like to be a pregnant man, and to share that news with your parents, your children, and the world.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on May 31, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents se
One Woman, 3 Kids, 15 Rounds of IVF
Holly Schechter always knew she wanted to be a mom. But getting there was a journey. After a car crash and two major spine surgeries, she struggled with infertility. Today, Holly shares her remarkable story of IVF… with a hopeful ending.
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Recommendations from the archive
• Infertility got you down? Maybe you need to laugh about it with infertility sketch comedy in our episode Awkward Adventure
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents 4
We pick up where we left off with Trystan and Biff, and their passive-aggressive standoff.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on May 3, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series!
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest
WTF Is Perimenopause?
Hot flashes! Weight gain! Headaches! Rage! If these symptoms sound familiar, you may be in perimenopause. But who among us actually knows what perimenopause is? Menopause specialists Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su and Dr. Amy Voedisch offer an informative and irreverent primer.
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More episodes about clinicians as patients
• #183 Postpartum House Arrest
• #230 Secrets from the Vagina Whisperer
• #38
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents 3
Audience faves The Accidental Gay Parents return. This time Trystan is pregnant.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on April 26, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series!
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest univers
Lessons in Love from YA TV
Is The Summer I Turned Pretty romantic or toxic? Is Heartstopper sweet or cringe? Hillary talks with pop culture critic Kristen Meinzer and sex educator Shafia Zaloom about love stories in YA TV, old classics teens are into, and why so many of these shows end with a dude chasing a woman down in Paris.
Do you want to talk about these shows with Hillary? You can, on our new Discord! All you need to
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents 2
The "accidental gay parents" return. This time with John's side of the story.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on July 17, 2015 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire series!
We’ll be airing the entire 6-part Accidental Gay Parents series every other week. Or, binge the entire thing here. The story take
There's No Bell in Motherhood
Maia Molina-Schaefer is a boxing champ and combat veteran. But nothing has exhausted her like raising a kid. Today she shares her remarkable story of making history in the military… and pumping in a closet like any working mom.
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Recommendations from the archive
• #77 Behind Family Lines
• #87 The Mortality of Motherhood
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• Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show i
LST FAVES: The Accidental Gay Parents
One weekend Trystan and his boyfriend were clubbing in Vegas; the next they were steeped in diapers and Legos. The story of how two twenty-somethings became parents.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on June 19, 2015 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Check out the entire series!
We’ll be airing the entire 6-part Acciden
Birth Control Troubles and Vibrator Triumphs
As the daughter of an OBGYN, Danielle Bezalel learned all about vaginas — but pleasure wasn’t part of the conversation. Now she’s on a mission to help people prioritize pleasure. Today, she shares the incident that motivated her to become a sex educator, her own struggles with birth control, the orgasm experiment she did on herself, and tips for getting in the mood as a busy parent.
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Recommenda
LST FAVES: Alex and the Oracular Lamb
Alex was itching to ask her partner Ben whether he’d be up for having kids one day — a question that felt scary and extra complicated because she has Cerebral Palsy. To muster some courage, she turned to an unexpected ally: a tiny stuffed lamb that can see the future.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on August 16, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next w
Actually, Sir, That's Not How You Put on a Condom
College student Zaraia Fabunmi became a sex educator and a doula as a teenager. Today she shares how she's used that training to help her peers — and, at times, her teachers — plus the fascinating reproductive health research she did in India.
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Recommendation from the archive
Zaraia is also in Ep #237: YOU KNOW WHAT: An LST Spinoff, a pilot we made featuring three super cool college kids tal
LST FAVES: There's Something About Andy
A young Mormon plays a long con on his childhood crush—in the hopes of starting a family with her.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on January 17, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
Blueland: 30% off during Blueland’s holiday sale by 12/7/25 at blueland.com/longshort
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TV to Spark Conversations with Adolescent Kids
Pop culture critic Kristen Meinzer joins us to share how as a tween, The Golden Girls — a show with grownup themes — helped her bond with her mom and grandma. She also recommends contemporary shows she loves watching with adolescents to spark fun and deep conversations.
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Recommendations from the archive
#118 All the Feels with Rob Huebel
#140 Zombies, Caillou, and Other Creepy Things
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Kris
LST FAVES: All the Feels with Rob Huebel
Actor and comedian Rob Huebel talks about sneaking onto airplanes, why he doesn't share a bed with his wife, and what it was like to have their daughter live in the hospital for her first 117 days. And! The best placed fart noise ever.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on April 12, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Bobbi Brown on the Beauty and Messiness of Motherhood
Bobbi Brown built a career making people look beautiful. Behind the scenes, she was mired in breastmilk, spit-up, and sleepless nights. Executives told her to hide her motherhood; instead, she put her soccer-momness front and center.
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Recommendations from the archive
#77 Behind Family Lines
It’s a Real Mother: our series about workplace discrimination
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More Bobbi
• Bobbi’s memoir: Still B
LST FAVES: Behind Family Lines
Darlene's childhood dream was to join the military. She didn't imagine she'd also be raising three children solo. Tune in to hear what it’s like to be pregnant, breastfeed, and raise kids on your own in the Army. And to get shot in the back. Twice.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on March 7, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new e
Breasts
When Jean Hannah Edelstein went to college, she realized she had great breasts. Like, the kind that could win a wet T-shirt contest. But they also made her a target for harassment. Later, when she started nursing, her feelings toward her breasts got even more complicated. Then, when her son was four, she learned she would have to say goodbye to them. Today, Jean walks us through the life cycle of
LST FAVES: Boobs
When you get pregnant, your body changes (duh). One of the most common changes happens in your boobs (double duh). But sometimes your boobs change in ways that you don’t at all expect. Today we hear from two women whose boobs caught them off-guard, back when they became moms.
First, there’s Emily, whose nipples seemed to, uh, multiply. Then there’s Tara, whose boob betrayed her at age 26, when sh
Shafia Zaloom's Playful Approach to Sex Ed
Shafia Zaloom is a sex educator and advisor to Big Mouth, Nextflix’s fantastic series about puberty. Join us as she walks us through her innovative approach to teaching young people about healthy relationships, which includes games, music, and complicated scenarios based on real-life situations.
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Recommendations from the archive
• #237 You Know What: An LST Spinoff (Shafia is in this pilot!)
LST FAVES: How to Make a Fella Feel Relaxed
Strange but real lessons of American sex ed. Historian Lisa Andersen walks us through the decades.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on August 23, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
📚 The book Lisa talks about developing in this episode is now available. She co-wrote it with Lauren Bialystok and it’s called
Touchy Sub
You Know What: An LST Spinoff
Does more sex make you “wider”? Is it bad to swallow sperm? How do you clean a sex toy? In the pilot episode of our spinoff show, YOU KNOW WHAT, college students answer anonymous questions from teens and young adults — with help from sex educator Shafia Zaloom.
This episode is a pilot for a concept we very much want to keep making. As you can imagine, it’s not easy to get funding for a sex ed sho
Sick of "Morning" Sickness
If pregnant people need to eat for two, why do so many of us puke morning, noon, and night? Our friends from Vox's Unexplainable investigate.
Guests: Julia Longoria, host, Unexplainable; Marlena Fejzo, Ph.D., geneticist, and Research Director at the HER Foundation.
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
Contact Unexplainable: unexplainable@vox.com
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Join LST+ f
Elise Hu on Sharks, Cheeseburgers, and Raising Kids Abroad
In this episode, Elise Hu gets personal. Tune in for her dad’s refugee story involving sharks, the unique challenges of parenting a tall girl, what she ate in childbirth, and a 3rd grade disappointment that shaped her career in journalism.
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Recommendations from the archive
#19 The Mortality of Motherhood
#183 Postpartum House Arrest
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Check out Elise’s work!
• Raising Us: a parenting podca
LST FAVES: The Mortality of Motherhood
NPR’s Kelly McEvers compares and contrasts childbirth vs being a war correspondent.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on July 25, 2013, with an update on June 13, 2016, and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
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It's a Real Mother, Part 6: We've Solved It, Right?
Eight years after It’s a Real Mother, our series on discrimination against working moms, Brigid Schulte returns to share how we’ve conquered the motherhood penalty! Just kidding, it’s still alive and well. But there are some bright spots. We’ll talk about the highs, the lows, and simple things we can do to improve working conditions for moms — and everyone!
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It’s a Real Mother
Check out the fu
LST FAVES: It's A Real Mother, Part 2: Ideal Worker
Why do stock images of working moms look frazzled, while stock images of working dads just look like... guys at work? Author Brigid Schulte gets to the heart of why discrimination against working moms is so deeply embedded in our culture—and what we can do to change it.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on November 8, 2017 as a part of our critically acclaimed series about working moms, It’s a Real
Katz BACK in the Cradle
Eight years ago, Matt Katz came on the show after nervously revealing to his 5-year-old daughter that the man she thought was his biological father was not, in fact, his biological father. But Matt would later learn that the truth about his biological father was much more complicated than he even realized. As he followed the twists and turns of this story, Matt became a bio dad detective — chasing
LST FAVES: Katz in the Cradle
Matt Katz is known for his fearless reporting on New Jersey governor Chris Christie. But when it comes to telling his 5-year-old daughter the truth about his dad... well, that freaks him out. In today’s show, he does exactly that.
⭐️ This episode originally aired on June 14, 2017. Since then, Matt has discovered even more secrets about his family history. Secrets that turn this original story com
A Very Vaginal Voyage with Rachel Gross
Join us for a deep (and delightfully nerdy) dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas, where we’ll learn about orgasm-chasing royalty, clitoral wingspans, vagina lollipops, wandering wombs — and the research on female anatomy we still desperately need. Science writer Rachel Gross is our fearless guide.
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Recommendations from the archive
#27 Rewriting Your Birth Story
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Writing by Rachel
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LST FAVES: Mama Don't Understand
A game of got-yer-nose turns racial and a 6-year-old raps to her white mom about not getting her Blackness. Two stories of biracial kids schooling their mamas.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on Fri, 05 Jun 2015 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the L
Adoption, but Make It a Horror-RomCom
Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig knew starting a family would be hard — but they didn’t expect the twists and scares that inspired them to write a movie. In this episode, they share the true, messy tale behind I Don’t Understand You, their horror-romcom starring Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells.
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Recommendations from the archive
#95 The True History of a Child Chef & His Mom
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Sponsors (usin
LST FAVES: The True History of a Child Chef & His Mom
Judah is 12. He makes a mean beef Wellington. Hear how he became a child chef, and how his mom had him when she was just a kid herself.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on September 7, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. Find fun pictures of Judah and Kara at our website. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Kno
A Tech Writer's Eerie Bond with Her Fertility App
Amanda Hess writes about the internet for a living. So she didn’t expect to form an emotional bond with a fertility app during her pregnancy. But when Amanda’s pregnancy got complicated, her relationship with the app got complicated, too.
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Recommendations from the archive
We recently re-aired some favorite episodes from our ongoing Sex + Parenthood series. Check them out in your podcast feed (
LST FAVES: Real Teens, Fake Babies
Did your high school health teacher ever try to teach you the risks of sex by making you carry around an egg and pretend it was a baby? These days, the pretending isn’t as much of a stretch. Lots of schools are opting to use robotic babies that cry throughout the day and night just like a real infant. In this episode, we follow two teenage girls over the course of 48 hours with the “babies,” and t
LST FAVES: The Parents' Guide to Affairs with Esther Perel
Most of us, at some point, will be touched by an affair—whether in our own relationships, or because one of our parents cheated, or because we are a trusted confidant. It’s a scary thing to think about, especially when kids are in the mix. Couples therapist Esther Perel joins us with advice on how to navigate affairs and how to keep them from happening in the first place.
⭐️ This episode original
LST FAVES: W. Kamau Bell Asks His Mom About Sex
For most of his life, comedian W. Kamau Bell assumed his single mom, Janet, never had sex after she made him. But in his 40s, Kamau started to get the feeling he was wrong about that. At 43, he bravely asks for the real story — and Janet, at 79, even more bravely, delivers.
⭐️ This episode originally aired on July 12, 2016 and is a favorite from the LST archives. It’s also part of our ongoing Sex
Secrets from the Vagina Whisperer
When Sara Reardon’s friends discovered she had answers for all their (and their moms’) weird vagina questions, they called her “The Vagina Whisperer.” Sara embraced the nickname and, like a true superhero, put on her cape (ahem, vulva costume) and went on a mission to save leaky, dry, painful, and aging vaginas around the world with her pelvic floor physical therapy practice and fun, educational v
The Permanent Birth Control Option Doctors Rarely Mention
Anna North spent years reporting on reproductive health — so she was surprised when her doctor suggested a birth control method she’d never heard of. In this episode, Anna shares why she chose to end her potential for having kids while giving birth to one… and who else might want to consider this little-known procedure.
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Recommended from the archive
#71 A Childless Man Gets a C-Section
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Art
Xyla vs. the FAA
Xyla Foxlin started flying as a teenager. By her twenties, she was piloting her own plane and building another from scratch. But when a private health crisis went public, she wound up in a battle with the FAA that could ground her for good.
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Recommendations from the archive
• #51 Real Teens, Fake Babies
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Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
• If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal i
Introducing: Add to Cart
This week, we’re bringing you something special: an episode from Add to Cart, a show we love hosted by Kulap Vilaysack and SuChin Pak. You might remember Kulap when she was a guest on our show back in 2018, where she bravely unpacked her childhood trauma and shared how it led to her documentary film.
Add to Cart is a witty, subversive take on consumerism. Each week, Kulap and SuChin have candid (
Ashley Parker on Raising Girls While Covering the White House
Ashley Parker has covered some of the biggest political events of our time — but for years she’s been obsessed with a very different type of story: birth stories. In this episode, Ashley opens up about her own experiences with childbirth and pregnancy, raising three girls, and a mistake she made as a teenager involving a camera… and boobs. If you follow her work, this is a side of Ashley Parker yo
The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood
Ali Yarrow thought her childbirth experience would be hers to guide. Instead, she found it was guided by the American obstetrics system — a model that was designed by men. Ali documented what she uncovered in her eye-opening book, Birth Control, and joins us to share what she learned about maternal care in the U.S., how we got here, and how to advocate for ourselves in a system stacked against bot
StoryCorps: The Birds, the Bees, and My Dad
Howie Gordon starred in over a hundred porn films in the 70s and 80s under the name Richard Pacheco. But his greatest role was as a father. At StoryCorps, he talked with his son Bobby Gordon about sex, shame, and dirty movies. This episode comes from StoryCorps's podcast season "My Way" - stories from people who found a rhythm all their own and confidently marched to it their whole lives.
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Join L
Becoming a Single Dad While Trans 2
When we last heard from CJ, they were struggling to figure out how to achieve their lifelong dream of becoming a dad. CJ now has a kid, but getting there was a total rollercoaster — including sperm mishaps, blatant discrimination, and an underground group of queer midwives in Athens. Buckle up, because this ride is a wild one!
Note: this episode contains mature content, so probably not one to list
Sex-Positive Books for Tweens and Teens (And Parents!)
Sex ed in schools isn’t cutting it, and studies show that kids are turning to porn for answers. In this episode, Traci Thomas of The Stacks podcast joins us to suggest books that help tweens and teens navigate the complicated world of sex and relationships. We’ll cover fiction and nonfiction — plus a few picks to help spice up the sex lives of parents!
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Recent episodes about sex ed
• #220 The Sta
When Andrea Silenzi Joined Mom Club
Last time we heard from Andrea Silenzi, she was navigating the wild world of sperm shopping as a single woman in her mid-30s who wanted to become a mom. Five years later, Andrea’s back with an exciting update. Hint: she’s no longer single and no longer shopping.
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Hear “The Single Lady’s Guide to Sperm Shopping”
• #208 Sperm Series: I Download an App
• #209 Sperm Series: I Visit a Sperm Bank
• #21
Cyndie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
Cyndie Spiegel built a career on optimism — inspiring audiences with messages of hope and writing a bestselling book about the benefits of positive thinking. But when 2020 hit, her world unraveled in ways she never saw coming. As she faced mounting struggles with family and health, the affirmations she once preached were no longer working, and she had to find a new way forward. In this episode, Cy
How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Rapist
Consent education in school is mostly insufficient or non-existent — even when it’s required by state law. An organization called SafeBAE is trying to change that by training teens to teach each other about consent. SafeBAE’s executive director Shael Norris talks about what works and what doesn’t when discussing this topic with young people. We’ll also hear a cautionary tale about a time when Shae
The Staircase
We’re back after a 5-year hiatus! Hillary kicks us off with a story about her anxiety over her daughter’s first experience with unwanted male attention — and her subsequent misadventures in trying to get the girl’s school to teach consent.
Artwork for this episode by Lindsay Stripling.
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If you’re new to the show or want to get reacquainted, check out some of our classic episodes:
• #27 Rewriting
Help Bring Back The Longest Shortest Time!
After a 5-year hiatus, The Longest Shortest Time is coming back! We're gonna talk about all things reproductive health: periods, birth control, consent, bodily autonomy, pregnancy, menopause, and so much more — but we can only create a sustainable show with your help. Please join our club, where you'll get to participate in our community AND hear a whole extra show in the LST universe. Listen to t
Introducing Here Lies Me
It's been 2 years since LST ended and now Hillary has a new show! Here Lies Me is dramedy about middle school for teen and adult fans of PEN15 and Big Mouth. Listen to an excerpt (plus a special message from Hillary) right here!
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
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Website: https://longestshortesttime.com/
Lear
Parents Sometimes Understand
Let's just say this one's inspired by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
*Note: there is some cursing in this episode — and some talk about the tooth fairy — so you might not want to listen with your kids.*
This is the last episode of The Longest Shortest Time! But it isn't really goodbye. Hillary is cooking up something new, probably a project about middle school.
UPDATE: The Longest Shortest Ti
Ina May's Guide, Completely Revised and Updated
The mother of modern midwifery returns to tell you (yes, YOU) that if you didn’t have a “natural birth,” you are not a failure.
Heads up, this episode contains discussion of childbirth injuries and traumatic birth.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com
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Busy Philipps Works the Postpartum Hollywood System
Busy Philipps has been working in Hollywood since she was 19 years old. She's always played by the rules when she's had to, but after she had kids, she started making her own rules—at work and at home.
This episode contains graphic language and is not suitable for children.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
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