Hooray, you’re now living with a tiny screaming roommate who showed up without signing a lease, refuses to pay rent, and has absolutely destroyed your sleep schedule, social life, body, relationship, and general sense of self… but in a beautiful way, allegedly. This is a roundup of the best episodes of The Longest Shortest Time, the parenting podcast that validates every single paranoid, exhausted, identity-crisis-riddled thought you’ve had since becoming a parent, which is honestly the most generous gift anyone has ever given a new mom or dad clutching a cold cup of coffee at 3am wondering where their former self went. The days are long, the years are short, and this podcast makes both of those things feel okay. Here are the top episodes of The Longest Short Time.
There’s No Bell in Motherhood
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Maia Molina-Schaefer has defeated opponents in the boxing ring and served her country on the battlefield. Yet nothing has drained her quite like the demands of parenthood. She sits down to talk about her extraordinary journey breaking barriers in the armed forces, and doing what countless working mothers know all too well: sneaking off to pump in a closet.
Weird Parenting Wins FTW
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Show host Andrea Silenzi sits down with Hillary Frank, the executive producer and creator behind LST, for a conversation where Hillary draws exclusively on the lessons she gathered while writing her book, Weird Parenting Wins, to tackle some of the trickiest challenges parents face.
How To Not (Accidentally) Raise A Racist
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Dr. Brigitte Vittrup, a researcher who specializes in how children develop racial attitudes, joins the show to tackle one of the most pressing questions white parents wrestle with: how to talk to their kids about race. She also weighs in on those all-too-familiar cringe-worthy moments parents encounter with their own children.
The Accidental Gay Parents
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One weekend Trystan and his boyfriend were out dancing in Las Vegas; the next they found themselves knee-deep in diapers and Legos. He shares the story of how two young twenty-somethings went from carefree to full-on parenthood, practically overnight.
I’ll Be Watching You
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New York Times tech journalist Farhad Manjoo has made it his mission to preserve his children’s most precious childhood memories, and his method of choice is blanketing their home in cameras that run around the clock.
Bobbi Brown on the Beauty and Messiness of Motherhood
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Bobbi Brown built an empire helping people look their most beautiful, all while navigating the messy, exhausting reality of breastmilk, spit-up, and sleepless nights behind closed doors. Rather than follow the advice of executives who urged her to keep her life as a mother out of the spotlight, she did the opposite, putting her identity as a soccer mom front and center.
The Parents’ Guide to Doing It with Esther Perel
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How does desire survive the long haul? Can motherhood actually unlock a new side of your sexuality? Renowned couples therapist and author Esther Perel steps in to answer listeners’ most pressing questions about sex and intimacy.
The Weird History of Judgy Parenting
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Nicholas Day found himself wondering why slipping his child a pacifier left him feeling like he’d somehow fallen short as a parent. The search for answers led him deep into a rabbit hole , uncovering a history of infant-rearing that turns out to be equal parts bizarre, hilarious, and surprisingly familiar.
Oh, The Places You Shouldn’t Go
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A sun-soaked adventure through the untamed landscapes only a child’s mind can conjure in the wild, ideal for Boxcar Children devotees, Ingalls Wilder enthusiasts, and die-hard fans of “My Side of the Mountain.”
Imaginary Friends & Kids
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A window into the strange, delightful, and frequently shadowy realm of imaginary friends.
Toy Stories
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Toys are remarkable objects that challenge and strain the nurturing instincts of both children and adults. On this episode, an American Girl Doll devotee, Hillary Frank’s husband Jonathan Menjivar rescues someone from danger, and a long-overdue apology is delivered to Grandma Bertha.
The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood
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Ali Yarrow expected to be in charge of her own childbirth experience, only to discover the American obstetrics system, built by men, had other plans. She joins us to discuss her book, Birth Control, and what she uncovered about maternal care in the U.S.
Real Teens, Fake Babies
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Two high school girls are followed through their 48-hour experiences with simulated babies assigned to them in sex ed, an encounter that completely reshapes their perspectives on motherhood.
WTF is Perimenopause?
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Hot flashes! Weight gain! Headaches! Rage! These symptoms may signal perimenopause, yet few people actually understand what perimenopause entails. Menopause specialists Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su and Dr. Amy Voedisch deliver an informative and irreverent crash course on the subject.