Redacted: What Divorced Women Aren't Telling You

SHOW NOTES: In this episode, we cover: How Cindy went from ghostwriter and editor to finding her own voice — and launching The Mother Lode on Substack The role Maggie Smith's You Could Make This Place Beautiful played as a lantern for both of us during our divorces MDMA therapy, IFS therapy, and the "good girl" conditioning that keeps women trapped in marriages long past their expir...

Show Notes: A writer reads her original flash nonfiction piece about grief, permission, and the marriage she knew she needed to leave On the particular cruelty of losing your mother while also losing your marriage—and what happens when there is no space to grieve both at once The moment she told the sky before she told anyone else, and how her mother's voice found her on a morning run Why so...

This episode begins with two anonymous essays and unfolds into a conversation about marriage, divorce, patriarchy, emotional labor, and the things women learn to normalize. Using the lens of a neglected house, today’s writer explores what it means to spend years trying to be “respectful,” “patient,” and “not a nag” while slowly disappearing inside your own life. Together, we talk about: the emotio...

Topics covered: Parachute relationships — what they are and why they matter (and why they sometimes crash-land hard) “Divorce doulas” — passing the torch, bearing the lantern, and why women are the safety net nobody talks about Unhealed men, therapy, and the resignation that keeps people stuck The “sorry about us” part — apologizing for your own existence in relationships Going from shame about yo...

Today’s episode of the limited podcast series features one of last year’s anonymous authors reading her piece, Definitely not a phoenix . It received so much support ran it ran on the Substack column—many divorced women related to the pressure to “rise from the ashes” as some sort of before/after success story. This piece is a much more honest look at what healing really looks like. I loved the co...

Show Notes A writer reads her original personal essay about the moment she knew her marriage couldn't survive — a business trip, a broken collarbone, and a husband who refused to take their three-year-old son to the hospital Host Steph and the guest discuss what it means to heal from a relationship you didn't initially recognize as traumatic, and why recovery is anything but linear The i...

Content warning: This episode contains a personal essay that references infidelity and the discovery of illegal pornography involving minors. Please listen with that in mind. Show Notes A writer reads her original personal essay about discovering her husband’s infidelities, disturbing online activity, and a Craigslist ad — and the quiet, calculated way she chose to end her marriage Steph and her a...

Welcome to Redacted: What Divorced Women Aren't Telling You, a limited podcast series featuring stories and conversations from anonymous divorced women.  In today's conversation, we cover:  The question that haunts many marriages: "Is this all there is?" What it looks like to have the courage to leave an unsatisfying marriage—especially 35 years ago.  The gifts of living alone,...