Voices on the Side

Welcome to the Book Interview Series! This capsule of episodes is from the interviews I conducted while writing my book ⁠⁠Mom, Unfiltered⁠⁠ . You'll hear from mothers, therapists, midwives, doulas, and more. Our guest today is Ashley Simpo. Ashley is a writer, editor, creative strategist, and mother. She believes storytelling shapes how we connect, create, and grow. For over a decade, Ashley h...

Welcome to the Book Interview Series! This capsule of episodes is from the interviews I conducted while writing my book ⁠Mom, Unfiltered⁠ . You'll hear from mothers, therapists, midwives, doulas, and more. Our guest today is Paris Abbas. Paris is a mother, doctor, and free theosophist. In this interview, she shares with us the differences between maternal care here in the US and in Russia wher...

Welcome to the Book Interview Series! This capsule of episodes is from the interviews I conducted while writing my book Mom, Unfiltered . You'll hear from mothers, therapists, midwives, doulas, and more. Our first guest is Robina Khalid. Robina founded her homebirth practice, Small Things Grow Midwifery, in 2017. She has been attending births for over a decade and has served as primary midwife...

Jesse Mechanic is a columnist, essayist, and artist based in New York’s Hudson Valley. His work has been published in Mother Jones, In These Times, Huff Post, Truthout, World Post, and The Overgrown, among other publications. He is author of The Last Time We Spoke and Don't Be AF*#cking Marshmallow . Jesse is known for his in-depth coverage of human rights abuses and systemic inequality and he...

Bianca Mabute-Louie is a Sociology PhD candidate at Rice University, where she researches the intersections of race, religion, and politics. She is published in top academic journals, including Social Forces, Socius, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Sociology of Religion, as well as in public outlets like LA Times and Elle Magazine.  Bianca is the author of Unassimilable: An Asian Diasporic Ma...

Kristin T. Lee is a writer whose work has appeared in Christianity Today and Sojourners , and a primary care physician serving Boston's Chinatown community. She writes about faith, culture, books, and solidarity at The Embers . Kristin's passion is highlighting literature written by Asian and BIPOC authors via book reviews and reading groups on Instagram @ktlee.writes . Her work is informe...

Lena is an author and a licensed psychotherapist certified in Imago Relationship Therapy. She has been published in The   Washington Post  and  Huffington Post . She has also been interviewed for a variety of publications including  Self Magazine  and  Glamour Magazine . Lena self-published her first book - My Daddy is a Hero - and traditionally published her second book - The Facebook Narcissist...

Jinwoo is a Korean Canadian novelist whose debut Oxford Soju Club won the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award. The novel is about Korean spies of three different nationalities: North, South, and American. A tale of deception, espionage, and identity - it is quite apt for these times. We talk about parenting our mixed race children, pride in our shared Korean culture which has survived war and occu...

Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer. She is the co-author of Brothers of the Gun , an illustrated collaboration with Syrian war journalist Marwan Hisham, which was a NY Times Notable Book. Her memoir, Drawing Blood , received global praise and attention. Her animated films have won two Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award.  Molly’s reportage has been published in the New York Times, New York Re...

We are so excited for another inspiring and heart-opening conversation with Yumi! Yumi is a second-generation Japanese-Okinawan-American interdisciplinary artist and the author of several ⁠books⁠ including her latest eBook: ⁠Spells for Transforming Limerance into Liberation⁠ . Yumi reminds us that we are creative, playful, and imperfect beings. ⁠Yumi's website⁠ Yumi's recommended tool: ⁠Br...

Dr. Jaiya John was orphan-born on ancient Indigenous Anasazi and Pueblo lands in the high desert of New Mexico, and is an internationally recognized ancestral Baba, freedom worker, medicine poet, and keynote speaker. Jaiya is the founder of Soul Water Rising, a global  rehumanizing  mission to eradicate oppression. The mission has donated thousands of Jaiya’s books in support of social healing, an...

J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. For ten years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a 1000+ bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief support, attending every death, trauma, and Code Blue, and end-of-life care. J.S. has been interviewed by CNN, CBS News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Bay News 9, and FOX13 Tampa...

Benji is a musician, writer, and co-host of the White Homework podcast. As an adoptee, exvangelical, and spiritual abuse survivor, he advocates for justice and humanity through the lens of decolonization. A week before we recorded this conversation, Benji's work was plagiarized by an account with over 1 million followers. As a fellow writer whose work has been plagiarized, I wanted to highligh...

Nancy Jooyoun Kim is the  New York Times  bestselling author of  What We Kept to Ourselves and The Last Story of Mina Lee , a Reese’s Book Club pick. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now lives in the Bay Area and teaches at the University of San Francisco. Our conversation calls in joy, art, ancestors, and a new world...the medicine we all need in this moment. Nancy website Leah website

Fariha is a Muslim queer Bangladeshi who is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Their work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, degrowth and queer identities. Fariha’s published works include books of poetry, a journal called Being In Your Body, and a novel named Like A Bird which was named one of t...

Welcome to the Writers Series on Voices on the Side ! As part of celebrating my upcoming book - Mom, Unfiltered: Maternal Mental Health and Finding Freedom through Motherhood - I'll be focusing the podcast on conversations with fellow writers. From authors to essayists to journalists and professors, we are going to be talking about all things writing. In this first episode of the series, Joon...

Anjali Rao is an author, yoga educator and practitioner. She brings an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens to the study of philosophy and yoga history integrating storytelling, art and poetry. Emphasizing an embodied approach, her work interrogates the link between religions, politics and yoga. She is on the faculty of multiple yoga teacher training programs—her areas of specialization inc...

Kavita Das is a an author and mother who has worked for social change for close to fifteen years, addressing issues ranging from community and housing inequities, to public health disparities, to racial injustice. Her first book  Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar tells the life story of Grammy-nominated Hindustani singer Lakshmi Shankar. Kavita has been a regular contributor to ...

It was a delight to welcome Helio - aka @jupiterbaal - back to the show. Helio is a history and politics content creator and essayist. We can talk about anything and everything, and we pretty much do. It's a long one, so grab a cuppa or take us on a walk with you and join in on the conversation. ⁠Helio IG⁠ ⁠Leah IG⁠ ⁠⁠

Joanna Ho is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of many children’s books including my favorite, Eyes that Kiss in the Corners. She is a writer, educator, and mother with a passion for anti-bias, anti-racism, and equity work. She co-hosts the Kidlit Happy Hour podcast. In our conversation, we talk about the need to build against censorship and the hope we both feel in seeing th...

Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone, longtime reproductive justice leaders and co-authors of  Liberating Abortion , have spent years helping people share their abortion stories—not as political statements, but as acts of healing, truth, and power. Their work centers reproductive justice organizers, abortion storytellers, and journalists whose work connects race, gender, and economic justice. If...

Welcome back for Part 2 with Yaffa! If you enjoy our conversation, please rate, review, and subscribe - it really helps with visibility. ⁠Yaffa Instagram⁠ ⁠Yaffa Patreon⁠ Organizing to a Living Utopia Training ⁠Leah Instagram

Yaffa As is a trans Palestinian author, culture worker, organizer, and artist. Their work lives at the intersection of disability, immigration, queerness, transness, Palestine, and Muslimness. Their focus on direct action and community care is incredibly inspiring, and over the past year alone, they have helped redistribute over $500,000 to queer and trans communities impacted by genocide. They ha...

Danny Park is an organizer, author, and founding worker member of Skid Row Coffee , a social enterprise pop-up coffeehouse and third space. Danny is featured in the documentary Liquor Store Dreams , a film by friend of the show So Yun Um . He is rooted in his community through organizations such as Korean Resource Center and Creating Justice LA . I am so moved by Danny's work, presence, and pe...

Vaimoana Litia Makakaufaki Niumeitolu Khalil is a painter, poet, and educator. She has painted 38 murals all over the world, from California to New York to South Africa and to Palestine. Her murals tell stories of the people who live in the community, reflecting the openness, vulnerability, and generosity of the human spirit.  Moana embodies her Tongan ancestry, her chosen family in Palestine, and...