The Double Shift
The Double Shift is a podcast hosted by journalist Katherine Goldstein that began as a narrative show challenging the status quo of motherhood in America. Since 2025 it has shifted focus to real-life community building through an initiative called The How to Find Your People Club, tied to a forthcoming book from Penguin Random House. Episodes include audio versions of Goldstein's newsletter, covering topics such as the difference between community and friendship, escaping gendered time constraints, finding connection in unexpected places, and hosting dinner parties. The feed is updated occasionally, with more regular members-only audio content available through Substack, while an archive of over 35 earlier narrative episodes remains free.
Episodes
Should Your Doctor Prescribe You Friends?
A few months ago, a reader wrote into the Neighbor Hotline advice column with a question about why people don’t RSVP and how to deal with her hurt feelings about it.That reader was Mara Gordon, MD , and on our Substack Live this week she outed herself, with more detail of her disappointment when she sent out a heartfelt invite to neighbors for a Hanukkah Party and only got heart emojis back, no f
ICYMI: Holiday "Don't List" Inspo with Kathleen Donahoe
I have a great time talking with Kathleen Donahoe about the health realities that led her to be an expert don’t list creator, how she’s using her budget to drive her holiday Don’t List this year, and why letting go of traditions to make space for others is especially meaningful for her this year.ALSO: If you are looking for a great gift (what is better than the gift of community and connection!?)
ICYMI: Deep Casual Hosting w/ Virginia Sole-Smith!
I had a blast talking to Virginia Sole-Smith about her “Friend Friday” tradition, and the insights she’s gathered from the Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith Community about making Deep Casual Hosting work!I also snuck in a question about Virginia’s move to Patreon!Feel free to check out Virginia’s work on deep casual hosting here.Here’s my landing page of all Deep Casual Hosting content! Also, o
Deep Casual Hosting Live w/Amanda Litman
I had a blast talking about Amanda Litman’s weekly experiment of hosting friends at her Brooklyn apartment every Saturday night. My favorite parts of this conversation were discussing how NOT having a perfectly clean house can actually make guests feel more welcome, how to handle entertainment for kids, and how much this regular connection has bolstered Amanda’s mental health in these trying times
Building Community: Live with Shannon Watts
I felt an absolute zing of electricity when I opened a message a few weeks ago asking if Shannon Watts could interview ME for her Substack Live series. Along with being a longtime fan of the incredible national movement Shannon has built for common sense gun laws with Moms Demand Action, I love her Substack Playing with Fire. It’s all about prioritizing desires (especially around activism and soci
UPDATES From Me and How “Busyness” Stops us From Meaningful Connection (Audio)
I’m back with an update on what I’ve been working on—The How to Find Your People Club, an IRL community-building project tackling loneliness and disconnection. Plus, exciting news: I’m writing a book!In this episode, I’ll share more about the club, why community matters, and then dive into my latest audio newsletter, How Busyness Stops Us from Meaningful Connection. If you’ve missed hearing from m
The Crucial Differences Between Community and Friendship, Explained. (Audio)
We are constantly surrounded by aspirational images of human connectedness but according to American Time Use Survey data, Americans' time socializing in person declined 20% from 2003 to 2023. The How to Find Your People Club exists to help you build meaningful relationships, and doing that within a community is an extremely meaningful and practical way to build strong connections. This audio news
Mothers are Already the Safety Net. Now We Must Be a Firewall. (Audio)
I am very angry right now. In my community, I’m witnessing a fixable systemic childcare problem be cemented squarely on the shoulders of individual families, rather than those with power and resources collectively addressing a real need.My beleaguered public school district is waving the white flag of surrender to its working parents over our afterschool program. In this week’s audio newsletter, I
Eight Things That Make My Life a Lil Better (Audio)
After all of the intensity of being a business lady and switching platforms in the last few weeks, I thought I’d change gears with this occasional beloved series on a wide range of things that make my life better. None of these are a substitute or solution for a robust social safety net or a society that values care, but they are still fun. Nothing in this list is sponsored, and not all require pu
The 2024 Candidate That Fills Me With Hope (AUDIO)
In this week’s audio newsletter is an essay about Sophia Chitlik, who is running for NC state senate here in Durham, North Carolina. What excites me the most about Sophia is that she’s promoting a platform we need candidates from across the country to try out. She’s running on care. You can connect with Sophia and read more about her campaign at her website, https://sophiafornc.com. If you love au
On Taking Risks and “Starting Over” (Audio)
Welcome to the audio version of The Double Shift newsletter, read by yours truly, Katherine Goldstein.Today’s edition is about my big financial decision to switch newsletter platforms, and what it means to “start over.” I’m ready (with my face scrunched and my fingers crossed) to take the risk of asking my existing members to stick with me by taking a few extra steps to sign up again with their cr
Announcing: A Playbook to Transform How America Cares (Audio)
For some of you, it may have been a minute since you've heard from me since we stopped producing episodes last year. But I want you to know I'm still working hard on all sorts of issues and stories about challenging the status quo of motherhood and beyond. Also, the Double Shift community is thriving!Today I'm sharing some highlights from my new report, A Playbook to Transform How America Cares:
Announcing... The Double Shift’s Next Chapter
It’s been a minute since you’ve heard from us, but Katherine is excited to share news about the next chapter of The Double Shift, a newsletter and community that’s a social change laboratory for moms. The Double Shift has always been more than a podcast, and we're embracing our membership community as a place for building connections around political, social and workplace change, transforming fami
This is Not Goodbye
The Double Shift podcast launched three years ago to share the real stories of motherhood in America, and radically explore the social forces that make being a mom so challenging. We’ve brought you stories from inside brothels and a 24-hour childcare center; we’ve confronted capitalism, patriarchy, and the idealized myth of nuclear family; we opened up conversations about mental health and its sti
The Check’s Not in the Mail
For six months last year, tens of millions of families could count on consistent, predictable support from their government to help defray the steep financial cost of raising a child in this country. We hear from moms about how these monthly Child Tax Credit checks helped them support their families, move forward in their careers, make change in their communities, and reduce the psychological trau
Building a Movement for Paid Leave
Changing workplaces to make them substantially better for moms and caregivers is, in fact, possible.Inspired by our show on paid family leave back in 2019, we hear from some Double Shift listeners who fiercely advocated for -- and got -- better paid family leave at their companies.We are closer than ever before to getting federally funded paid leave for everyone. This is so important, but it’s jus
Pro-Mother, Pro-Abortion
Here at the Double Shift, we love to dismantle stigma through storytelling. So our guest this episode, Kenya Martin (aka "Abortion Diva"), speaks to our souls. Kenya is a former abortion clinic counselor in Texas, current activist, and a mom, who shed the shame she felt about her own abortions and became "loud and proud" about them to help other people feel less alone. As we grapple with Texas’ ne
“Good Moms” and the COVID Vaccine
COVID vaccinations for five to 11 year olds are here, and for so many parents and caregivers this moment could not have come soon enough. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach, including many moms who are vaccinated themselves but may feel anxiety about the COVID vaccine when it comes to their kids... and they don't necessarily have access to a doctor or health care worker who can help them so
All Mothers are Essential Workers (Part 2)
While other news outlets have “moved on'' from talking about how mad and burnt out moms are, we’re just getting started. In part two of this intimate, in-the-moment audio diary series, host Katherine Goldstein shares her story of caring for newborn twins and a four-year-old as the coronavirus shut the world down around her. She’s joined by co-host Angela Garbes to discuss the idea that mothers are
“We’re All In This Together”? (Part 1)
Every mother has been touched by the pandemic and every mother has a story that deserves to be heard...including our own host, Katherine Goldstein.In this two-part series, Katherine shares her story of caring for newborn twins and a four-year-old as the coronavirus shut the world down around her. Through intimate, in-the-moment audio diaries, she strips away the tropes around self-sacrificing pand
Introducing: Home. Made.
While we are on hiatus, check out a show we think you’ll love. It’s called Home. Made. Today we are sharing the full episode of the series, called “Is There A Doctor In The Dollhouse?” It’s about Dr. Kwandaa Roberts, who on the surface appeared to “have it all:” a thriving medical practice, a big house in the suburbs, two kids. But she harbored a secret dream to be an interior designer. Her chanc
Our Moms
Katherine and Angela have built their careers thinking about motherhood, career and identity. Today, we hear from the Double Shifters who have influenced them most — their own mothers. Angela interviews Kay Goldstein about her trailblazing careers (plural!) as a second wave feminist, how she looks back at her life as a mom in the workforce now, and the lessons she shared with Katherine about not
When 'Mom' Is The Safety Net
A year and a half ago, Shana Thomas was a mom of three who earned a good salary. She’d worked her way up at a company she loved and was telling younger women they could "have it all.” The pandemic changed everything. She's now one of the 4.5 million women who has left employment behind since the start of 2020, and is now an in-home services caregiver for her youngest daughter who’s a wheelchair us
The Moms Are Not OK (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this series, hosts Katherine Goldstein and Angela Garbes shared their own mental health challenges over the past year. They definitely aren’t the only ones who have struggled -- and in this episode we hear directly from some listeners who’ve sent us voice memos about how they are also not OK. We share some of the most pressing issues we are hearing about with Dr. Amber Thornton, a cli
The Moms Are Not OK (Part 1)
The mental health impact, especially on mothers, in the last year has been enormous. But the realities are something that's rarely talked about openly, and still carries a stigma. Hosts Katherine and Angela share their own personal stories of mental health diagnoses and experiences with antidepressants during the pandemic.Resources:If you are needing mental health support, please check out the fol
This is our Moment
Right now, all many mothers can think about is just wanting a break from the unrelenting domestic work that last year has heaped on us. In this special Mother’s Day episode, Katherine and Angela explore some fascinating, little-known history that has led our society to expect that mothers’ care work should be a largely uncompensated “labor of love.” We’ll also explore some forgotten moments in the
Healing Our Grief From the Past Year
Things may get better this year, but that doesn't erase what we've all gone through. In this episode we explore, how do we grieve during this time when so many have lost loved ones, and even more have experienced personal, professional, and emotional loss? And for mothers, is allowing ourselves to feel our feelings an act of political liberation? We talk to indigenous activist Andrea Landry on how
Business Ladies
After all that talk about other people's finances, Angela and Katherine open up about their own -- and what's uncomfortable for them to admit about being mothers, creatives... and business ladies. They discuss some unvarnished truths about the podcasting industry and running The Double Shift as a business, and also share about the complexities of being a mission-driven enterprise during a time of
The True Cost of the Pandemic for Moms
When we think about what's happening to moms in America right now, it can feel like a series of anonymous statistics--not millions of life-altering stories. Angela and Katherine talk to a pregnant flight attendant in Indianapolis, a teacher and congressional candidate in Texas, and a performance venue host in New Orleans on what the last year has been like for them. We hear about what the pandemic
Jenna
In the Before Times, Jenna Mason had been cobbling together enough money as a freelance writer and restaurant server to support herself and her two kids -- she has shared custody with her ex-husband. When the world ground to a halt in her town of Oxford, Mississippi, the life she’d built for her family -- and the confidence she felt in herself -- came apart … not in one big crash, but in a cascadi
What We Deserve
It’s been a dark year, so Angela and Katherine wanted to end the season with glimmers of hope for a more just future. We invited author and activist Mia Birdsong on the show to blow our (and your) minds wide open with a conversation about deservedness, the American Dream, and how guaranteed income could help us build a more feminist society. Read Mia Birdsong’s Book, How We Show Up: Reclaiming Fa
Caring for Each Other Is Political
“If we survive this, and I think we’re going to survive, it’s not because anyone came to save us. It’s because we helped each other.”Author Dani McClain is an unpartnered parent to a 4 year-old. She has spent years researching and reporting on networks of support around raising children in community, grounded in the experience of Black mothers. Dani, Katherine and Angela have an honest, probing, a
Introducing: Embodied
If you are looking for a thought-provoking listen that’s NOT about the election (It’s about feminism and porn!) check out this episode of the new podcast, Embodied, from Double Shift editor Anita Rao and WUNC. This show is an invitation to have conversations that most people consider impolite. Anita believes that pushing past our discomfort with talking about taboo topics will ultimately help us b
The Childcare Game-changer
The childcare industry in America is facing a huge crisis right now, and we can’t just blame COVID for its near collapse. We explore the attitudes and policies that led to how things got so bad, talk to Angie Garcia, a childcare provider on the ground, and report on an exciting initiative in Portland, OR, that shows us how local communities can begin to meaningfully address this massive systemic p
Matriarchy Now
Anyone else been feeling rage these past months? Host Katherine Goldstein and co-host Angela Garbes lay out a vision for Season 3 of the Double Shift, and make a case for why it’s more important than ever to be putting mothers at the center of the story during this extraordinary time.Show notes:Double Shifters, we want to hear from you. Has your career or earnings gone through a big change since t
Welcome Back to The Double Shift
It’s never been more important to hear from mothers. The Double Shift is back for a new season challenging the status quo of working motherhood in America, pandemic-style. Creator and Host Katherine Goldstein is joined by a new co-host, author Angela Garbes to talk about childcare, race and protest, money, and even matriarchy with a series of wonderful guests. Be sure you are subscribed. First epi
Introducing Labor: The Social Science on Women, Work, and Motherhood
While we’re hard at work on Season 3, check out this great new show, Labor: The social science on work, women, and motherhood. Journalists Elise Hu and Amy Westervelt dive into the research to help us understand how we got here and how we're gonna get out. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: podlink.to/labor If you are missing The Double Shift, become a member! We’re releasing mem
Introducing: The Passion Economy
The Double Shift is still on hiatus, but while we dream big about Season 3, check out this new show from Planet Money creator, Adam Davidson, who sits down with people who’ve channeled their unique passions and interests into successful businesses. If you miss the Double Shift, consider membership! It starts at $5/mo. Right now, Katherine and producer Rachel McCarthy are talking about life with ki
F*ck Mom Guilt World Tour Live
Host Katherine Goldstein is joined live on stage at Betabrand in San Francisco by Inflection Point’s Lauren Schiller and Hana Baba from The Stoop podcast. We discuss the mental load, cross cultural pressures on mothers, and of course saying “F*ck it” to mom guilt. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.s
The Revolution Begins with Us
Motherhood in America is not a game anyone is set up to win.For our season finale, we talk to author Angela Garbes about the root of the deep pressures mothers feel in our society.Resource: Like a Mother: A Feminist Guide to the Science and Culture of Pregnancy, by Angela Garbes. www.angelagarbes.comIf you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Co
Living The Double Shift
Host Katherine Goldstein talks candidly about some plot twists as she prepares for big changes in her own family. She also discusses how the themes of the season have influenced her, her maternity leave plans, and the future of The Double Shift. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joining The Double Shift member community, which
Don't Call Me "Mom," Call Me Ted
After giving birth to five children, Ted Rau now identifies as a transgender man, and he’s created a life outside the single family model by raising his kids in co-housing. His story presents a fascinating and nuanced take on community, gender and motherhood. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joining The Double Shift member co
Choose Your Own Family
We've headed to Canada to highlight families making their own rules. First up, Sarah MacDonald, who's raising her kids with a queer man she found through a co-parenting "dating" site, and Natasha Bahkt and Lynda Collins, who've never been a couple and are parenting a child with special needs. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider
The 43% Mother
In Nataly Antar’s Orthrodox Jewish marriage, her husband worked while she cooked, cleaned, and took care of their young children. Nataly assumed her divorce would be just as traditional. She was wrong. In this episode, we explore what it means to be a "good" and fulfilled mother when you have no legal custody over your own children. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter,
The Honor Student
Maria Ramirez was a straight-A high school senior gunning for the Ivy League when she found out she was pregnant. Her journey to college graduation was filled with huge personal and financial obstacles, until she found a program that viewed motherhood as a role to be supported, not stigmatized. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Conside
S2: The Revolution Begins at Home
In Season 1 we dove into work and careers, but no one’s work life is going to change if our home lives are stuck in the past. This season we’re bringing you six episodes of boundary-breaking conversations that present bold new ideas for our lives. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscr
Introducing The Next Big Idea
Ideas are coming at you every day from all directions. How can you process it all? You can start with The Next Big Idea. Host Rufus Griscom and legendary thought leaders Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Dan Pink, and Susan Cain, will be your personal “idea” curators. Open your mind and get ready for something big, because the right idea--at the right moment--has the power to transform your life. List
Bonus: Inflection Point on Paid Family Leave
If you loved Ep. 10 on family leave, check out this episode of Inflection Point with Lauren Schiller, a show about how women rise up. She’s joined by Katie Bethell, founder of Paid Leave for the US. Katherine’s coming to the Bay area! Get tix to F*ck Mom Guilt Live! Oakland Aug 14th https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fck-mom-guilt-world-tour-with-the-double-shift-in-oakland-tickets-65054768564, SF Aug 1
BONUS: Unladylike preview
We’re still on break working hard on Season 2, but in the meantime, check out this preview from our friends at Unladylike, a show about gender rules and the people who break them. This episode features Hillary Frank discussing a topic dear to us: the special misogyny reserved for working mothers. Subscribe to Unladylike today!Also: become a member of The Double Shift to get additional content. Go
Paid Family Leave: We Can Do Better
The paid family leave situation in America is so bad, mothers are conditioned to think that we’re “lucky” to get ANY time off at all. Erin Grau was a New York Times employee who wasn’t satisfied with “good enough” parental leave. So she fought to make it better for everyone at her company.If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider join
Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
Angelica Lindsey-Ali is the mother of four and a sex educator. She’s also a practicing Muslim who travels around the country with a bag full of rainbow dildos teaching mothers that a sexually awakened woman is a powerful woman.... And the best “self care” of all might just be really mind-blowing sex. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. C
A Mother's Day Revolution & Invitation
Author Amy Westervelt and host Katherine Goldstein discuss how we can recapture the revolutionary spirit of Mother’s Day and why it’s time for us to put a dollar amount on all the invisible labor moms do to keep society and families running.The Invisible Labor Calculator, created by Amy Westervelt, author of “Forget ‘Having It All’: How America Messed Up Motherhood--and How to Fix It”Want to gift
Co-Work, Co-Play
Most offices in America are still built by men, for men. Because of this, Tiffany Frye couldn't find any work and childcare arrangement that worked for her. So she built her own. We visit Nido, a workspace in North Carolina that puts the needs of mothers and children first. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joining The Double
On Not Having It All
Host Katherine Goldstein was dedicating her career to covering issues facing working moms when her own personal and work life came messily crashing together. Recorded as an audio diary, Katherine shares a very personal story about family, ambition, and loss. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joining The Double Shift member com
Inside the Brothels BONUS Episode
Our "Mamas of the Brothels" episode took a lot to pull off. We tell some of the wild, behind-the-scenes stories about how this story about sex worker moms almost fell apart. Executive Producer Sarah Ventre shares how she pulled the story together by "brothel hopping" in a Tony Soprano car. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episode
Mamas of the Brothels
Natasha Star is one of the highest-earning sex workers at The Sagebrush Ranch in Lyon County, Nevada. She's also a mom to a five year-old son. In this episode we talk to moms, a madam at The Mustang Ranch and experts to explore the perks and pitfalls of being a working mom when your office is a legal brothel. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/news
The Candidate Who Carpools
Ashton Clemmons didn't think the voice of mothers was well represented in North Carolina's state government. So in 2018, she was one of the unprecedented number of women who ran for office. This intimate story gives a real look at what it's like to be a candidate with three little kids. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joinin
Night Shift in Sin City
Nydia Sanchez runs an overnight, 24-hour child care center in Las Vegas. Many of her clients are single moms who work in casinos, or as waitresses, nurses and dancers. We visit to see how Nydia serves a group of moms that many bosses, politicians, and daycare owners just don’t think about. If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Consider joi
Punk Rock Rabbi
For over 10 years, Louisa Rachel Solomon has been the frontwoman for the rock band, The Shondes. She hasn't let pregnancy or parenthood slow her down. But she's now staring down a big existential question: How do you continue to have a creative and fulfilling professional life after you have a kid? If you love the Double Shift Podcast, sign up for our newsletter, thedoubleshift.com/newsletter. Con
Introducing The Double Shift
Welcome to The Double Shift, the show about women who are challenging how society sees mothers and how we see ourselves. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe
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