The Mother Of It All

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit motherofitall.substack.com

Sarah and I will be back in force for Season 4 (!) in September, but for now, here’s a little summer treat for you beautiful paid subscribers! Sarah is on summer break but will be back with the new season, not to worry.
Known to many as ‘the voice of our generation,’ writer, lovely human, and icon of millennial motherhood Meaghan O'Connell joins Miranda for an casual, c…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit motherofitall.substack.com

Sarah and I check in about how summer is treating us so far. We wonder about nostalgia for imagined summers of the past where kids were a certain kind of sweaty, dirty, healthy bored rather than annoying-whining-and-begging-for-screens bored.
Is long, lazy, shapeless summer within reach for parents in 2026? If so, how do we grab it?
Plus: Each of our TO…

The author of The Cut’s Brooding column returns to roll out version 2.0 of “friction-maxxing,” the term that went viral earlier this year and earned her her first Wikipedia page. We talk AI, why she will die on the “turn off location your sharing” hill and the “slurrification” of time to which we are all passively consenting. Plus, the lies we tell ourselves about sleeping arrangements at the AirBnb and new shows, books, and movies!
LINKS:
* Kathryn’s new book, The Story Of Your Life
* In 2026, We Are Friction-Maxxing (The Cut)
* Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother
* Zach Galifinakis’ show, This Is A Gardening Show
* Taskmaster (Sarah’s recommends Series 4)
* Claire Dederer’s Poser
* Adult Braces on audio and the discourse around Adult Braces
* Brawler by Lauren Groff
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit motherofitall.substack.com/subscribe

As part of a feature series with local bay area radio station KALW, Berkeley-based poet Rachel Richardson joins Sarah and Miranda for a LIVE recording of The Mother Of It All podcast. We talk about the state of the cultural conversation around motherhood in general, whether poetry about motherhood counts as serious poetry, and celebrate our 100th episode.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit motherofitall.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit motherofitall.substack.com

Did you hear?! We’re recording our 100th episode LIVE in San Francisco on May 8th as part of a series with KALW (91.7 FM). Get tickets your here! We will be joined by Berkeley-based poet Rachel Richardson, and KALW will be airing excerpts from our show all week long leading up to the live event.
In this episode for our lovely paid subscribers (thank you…