Family

Experiencing parenting is often the assumed default for a fulfilled life. But more and more people are choosing to be child-free … fighting stigma and finding happiness in that choice.

Anita has interrogated so many aspects of parenthood. But how about the decision to become a parent at all? She talks with three women about making their child-free decisions and meets a psychotherapist who's devoted her career to helping people find clarity in that choice.

Assumptions about narcissism, loneliness and selfishness in only children are largely that: assumptions. But there are experiences unique to being an only child — and parenting one.

Anita has many close friends who defy all stereotypes about only children. But when it comes to thinking about having her own kids, she still can't shake some of those ingrained ideas. She hears three perspectives on single-kid families (including that of former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins) and learns why the debunked mythology around only children still lingers today.

Many incarcerated people are also parents. Their children navigate social stigma and barriers to staying in contact with their loved ones.

Anita reconnects with the woman who changed her thinking on incarceration: her beloved college thesis adviser Ashley Lucas. Ashley reflects on her father's 20-year prison sentence and the untold stories of families navigating incarceration from the outside. Journalist Sylvia A. Harvey also shares how losing her mother to asthma and her father to a life sentence in prison before she was 6 years old led her to investigate the carceral system as a whole.

Trauma can be passed down in our behavior and our culture, even possibly our genes. So how do you break the cycle?

Family holds a significant place in our cultural narrative. The stories of those experiencing estrangement are nuanced, with moments of pain and moments of tenderness.

Anita has a lot of practice talking about taboo topics with strangers. But when it comes to having these conversations in her own family, especially around the holidays, she gets squirmy like the rest of us. She invites her older sister Priyanka onto the podcast to reflect on tricky — but often inevitable — conversations with family members. Priyanka, a mom and pediatrician, talks about her ongoing journey to broach difficult subjects that come up a lot this time of year: loss, family dynamics and parenting boundaries.

Anita turns the mic over to guest host Omisade Burney-Scott to explore the many ways folks are raising kids outside the nuclear family unit. First, Omi talks with one of her co-parents about their evolution from romantic partners to partners in parenting. Plus, she meets a woman who is part of a four-person parenting structure and hears from someone who is creating resources for folks in blended families.