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fall I decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign and I wound up making my goal. The campaign caught the attention of management at WNYC Radio, and they picked up the show—and now, this thing that I originally started to get me out of a rut is my full-time job. When I ask listeners why they felt compelled to support the podcast, they say it’s because of the show’s nonjudgy tone. Nonjudginess was not my mission when I began the project but it’s my mission now, with a vengeance. Parent- ing websites tend to present parenting choices as black and white, and their comments sec- tions are mostly full of venomous bickering over THE way to soothe, feed, and birth a baby. But the truth is, parenting is a mish- mosh of gray. (Or is brown more accurate?) I may not need healing personally as desperately as I used to, but parenting conversations do. And the way I see it, the first step is hearing a voice in your ear telling you in the wee hours that you are not alone. FEATURED EPISODES Every other week on Wednesdays at 3 am, the Longest Shortest Time releases a new episode. The show has covered sleep, breastfeeding issues, pre- mature birth, pregnancy loss, and work-life bal- ance, among other parenting struggles. Here are some audience favorites. EPISODE #9: The Emperor’s New Onesie Joyce Slaton’s daughter had Sensory Processing Disorder. But Joyce didn’t know it; all she knew was, her toddler wouldn’t put on clothes. For more than a month.

NICOLE BLADES

PHOTO BY NICOLE BLADES

EPISODE #33: How Cute! Is He Yours? When Nicole Blades married a white guy, she knew that if they had a baby that child’s skin would be lighter than hers; she didn’t count on people thinking she was the nanny. EPISODE #26: Blind Love It’s a fact: even the most romantic romances wither under the pressures of parenthood. But what happens in a relationship when, on top of everything else, one partner is blind? EPISODE #23: The Longest Longest Time A close look at what it’s like to wait eleven years to meet your baby.

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BLIND LOVE

Hillary Frank is a contributor to This American Life and the host and creator of the Longest Short- est Time podcast fromWNYC. Find her podcast and submit your story at longestshortesttime.com Hillary grew up in Westport, CT, and currently lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband and 4-year-old daughter.

EPISODE #28: The Missing Chapter to Ina May’s Guide

Host Hillary Frank tells Ina May Gaskin, the mother of the modern natural birth move- ment, that she feels betrayed by her.

DRAWING BY HILLARY FRANK

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