Postpartum Production

After a bit of a pause, we return with a conversation that reflects the heart of this podcast: what it means to create, care, and hold many parts of a life at once. Today, Kaitlin is joined by poet and longtime listener Meg Leonard , whose new book Larkspur Queen (Broadstone Books, 2025) explores identity, care, and the shifting creative self. Together, they dive into the nonlinear reality of maki...

In this special bonus episode of Postpartum Production, we’re sharing a live conversation recorded at LANEY & LU in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Hosted by Meg Leonard , author of Book of Lullabies , and this incredible essay Being a Writer Shouldn’t Require me to Exist Without My Children , and Jennifer Desrosiers , Founder of LANEY & LU and Altitude Companies, the event features our own Kai...

In this special episode, Kaitlin reflects on the season that was—through illness, overwhelm, fundraising, mothering, and moments of joy—and shares what it means to mark time in "seasons." Season 3 of Postpartum Production explored the intersections of identity, care, and the ways birth informs artistic expression. In this compilation episode, we revisit some of the most thought-provoking, vulnerab...

Today, Kaitlin is joined by poet, author, and longtime friend Nancy Reddy - a connection that has spanned the lifetime of Kaitlin’s youngest child. Funny how parenthood reshapes our sense of time and friendship. Nancy first appeared on the podcast back in Season 1, Episode 12 , when she and her co-editor Emily Perez discussed their anthology The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood . Since then...

Today, we share with you a very special episode of Postpartum Production that involve a bit of role-reversal: our producer, Erin Greenhouse, steps out from behind the scenes and in front of the microphone to interview our very own Kaitlin Solimine. What started as an idea Erin had for her website, evolved into something special we knew we wanted to share with you all: the birth story of the podcas...

In the final installment of our three-part Birth Story series, Kaitlin revisits the birth of her middle child, who, fittingly, arrives with a story that defies expectations. Released on his sixth birthday (🎉!), this episode is a reflection on the nuances- and myths- of second births, the power of trusting the birth process, and the beauty of not knowing as much as you think you do.. Kaitlin conti...

We've wanted to talk to writer Sarah Menkedick for a long time, but we weren’t sure how we could make our conversation fit into this season's focus on childbirth- until she wrote the essay Why the Left Must Reclaim Birth on her Substack, Terms of Endearment , in late 2024. In her essay, which Kaitlin and Sarah explore in their conversation we share with you today, Sarah posits that, in order to ma...

We’re thrilled to welcome Lucy Jones , a celebrated writer and journalist, to the Postpartum Production podcast to discuss her latest book, Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood with us. Lucy’s work draws on deeply personal experience as well as a diverse range of disciplines - neuroscience and evolutionary biology, psychoanalysis and existential therapy, socio...

We continue our Birth Stories series with the birth of Kaitiln’s 3rd child. No, you did not miss an episode! As we have chosen to release these episodes on the birthdays of Kaitlin’s children, we will be sharing Kaitlin’s 2nd Birth Story in February. Today, we skip ahead to the 3rd, to honor the birthday of Kaitlin’s 2nd child, which also happens to fall on Christmas and Hanukkah this year. ...

Sara Nolan is a doula, writer, editor, and a mother/stepmother who lives in New York. Kaitlin and Sara connected through the Artist Residency in Motherhood Facebook group which we’ve mentioned here before.  Sara also runs a wonderful project and business of conducting birth story interviews, called Tell Your Birth Story . So, as the subject matter of this season came into focus, we realized-...

In this laughter-filled episode, Kaitlin speaks with Athena Reich —an actress, singer, songwriter, the “World’s Top Lady Gaga impersonator,” and queer, single-by-choice mother—about her remarkable artistic journey and personal fertility experience. Athena’s critically acclaimed comedy show Lady Gaga #ARTBIRTH explores the intersection of art and birth in a raw, hilarious, and unforgettable perform...

In this episode, we sit down with Rachel Somerstein, associate professor of journalism at SUNY New Paltz and author of Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Caesarean Section . Rachel brings a unique, deeply informed view on how the personal experiences of childbirth intersect with larger systemic issues that shape birthing practices in this country. Her work has been featured in The Washington...

Kaitlin shares her recent experience of a fast and deep dive into community activism to protect her children’s public elementary school, Sutro Elementary, from potential closure. Only weeks ago, Sutro was among 13 schools in the San Francisco Unified School District identified for possible closure due to budget constraints. Kaitlin helped lead a community-wide campaign to keep Sutro open, which cu...

When we decided to focus this season on the subject of birth and creativity, we knew we’d have to include Anna Hennessey, a writer and scholar based in San Francisco. Much of Anna's writing over the past decade, which includes a book called Imagery, Ritual, and Birth : Ontology between the Sacred and the Secular , is devoted to the topic of birth in the humanities. She also has a blog called Visua...

We’re excited to share with you this conversation with Adrie Rose, a poet and trained folk herbalist who lives beside an orchard in Western Massachusetts. Adrie is the editor of Nine Syllables Press at Smith College. Her chapbook Rupture came out in January of 2024, and her micro chapbook I Will Write a Love Poem came out in 2023. In today’s conversation, Kaitlin and Adrie discuss Adrie’s writing...

Ori Lenkinski is a dancer, choreographer, and journalist based in Tel Aviv. Her work in all its forms is devoted to exploring the connection between words and movement. She's worked with independent choreographers and companies in the U. S., Europe, and Israel. Her body of work includes The Painting, Portrait No.2, The Suit, Help Desk, Birth Preparation Course , as well as the dance films Carriage...

Today's episode is one we've been holding for you all with great anticipation. As listeners will hopefully remember from our first episode this season, we spoke with Alexandra Carter , an artist whose work delves into themes of femininity, transformation, and the embodiment of the monstrous as a source of power and creativity. At that time, we discussed her artwork and how she encounters this mons...

Eleanor Stanford is the author of four books of poetry, all from Carnegie Mellon University Press. Her most recent, Blue Yodel , is forthcoming this fall. Eleanor’s interest in birth- not just in a personal context but through a global lens, through the ways that people and other cultures experience it- brought her to Brazil, where she was a Fulbright fellow. Here, she researched and wrote about t...

“Companies oftentimes see dancers, especially women, "unable" to have a career, a professional career after they're becoming mothers. And that's also part of the patriarchy because this is not how it works. Having a child and coming back to work, it can potentialize your work in so many ways. It can bring a broader vision for yourself and for others around you. It can change everything.” - Ingrid...

This episode of Postpartum Production was recorded live at Blackbird Books Bookstore and Cafe in San Francisco, on a warm Spring day in the shop's back garden. This beautiful event was co-hosted by Recess Collective , a local San Francisco organization that builds inclusive community-centered spaces for families, particularly in the early years of parenting. A heartfelt thank you to both organizat...

"It's about history, it's about family lineage, and it's about what we bring into the world." - Remica Bingham-Risher We continue our exploration of birth and creativity with Remica Bingham-Risher. Remica is the author of Conversion , which was winner of the Naomi Long Magit Poetry Award, What We Ask of Flesh , which was shortlisted for the Hurston Wright Award, and Starlight & Error , winner...

Lauren Lapkus is an American actress and comedian known for portraying Susan Fisher in the Netflix comedy drama series Orange is the New Black . She played Jess in the HBO comedy drama series Crashing , she's appeared in the television series Are You There, Chelsea? , Hot in Cleveland , Clipped , The Big Bang Theory , and Good Girls , the films Jurassic World , The Unicorn , The Wrong Missy , and...

We’re so excited to introduce listeners today to Amy Bornman: a poet, textile artist, and parent living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as well as the author of two books of poetry, There is a Future (Paraclete Press Poetry, 2020), Broken Waters (out now!), and co-author of How to Sew Clothes (Abrams Books, 2023). Amy has literally made creative pieces out of the experiences of the births of her two...

In this episode, we sit with contemporary artist Ashley January to discuss her powerful paintings inspired by maternal experiences. Ashley delves into themes of preeclampsia, premature birth, and birth trauma, shining a spotlight on the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America. Her art is not just a reflection of her personal journey but also an act of activism, aiming to bring awa...

“ The bulk of my work comes out of this place of the explosive female body and really meditating on that and looking at that. The body has always been my deepest interest, and painting the figure, and that has been the case for many, many years.  And so when I started to think about family building and my reproductive health and my fertility, just even the inkling of those thoughts, the work...