Relationscapes

KB Brookins was struggling to know who they really were. And even though their quest for authenticity felt isolating, it couldn't happen in complete isolation. It took seeing someone else living more freely for KB to imagine new and better possibilities. That’s the paradox at the heart of becoming ourselves: We can’t do it alone.

KB is a Black, queer, trans writer and visual artist from Texas. Their award-winning memoir is called...

One of the most consequential moments in American civil rights history has been almost entirely forgotten. It was 1978. Conservative politicians wanted to ban gays and lesbians from working in California public schools. The outcome of that statewide initiative would have huge repercussions for the rest of the country, and young gay activists knew it. The battle was on.

And although it's been almost fifty years, their victory has ...

The top reason most news coverage about trans people is misleading and harmful is because journalists don't include the perspectives of actual trans people. Journalist Nico Lang was frustrated by how often reports talked about trans people without trans people. This is especially true for younger folks. 

Nico wants people to hear directly from trans teenagers. So for their groundbreaking new book, they spent a year traveling the ...

Before becoming disabled, Jessica Slice was building a business, running miles every day, and chasing perfection. Parenthood didn’t fit into that life, especially because Jessica was sure she’d never measure up. But when her physical health collapsed at 28, everything shifted. Disability stripped away the life she knew, and uncovered something unexpected—she wouldn't have to be perfect to be a mom. But unfortunately, she would ha...

When journalist Amanda Hess got pregnant, the internet met the moment with a flood of baby ads, influencer moms, and algorithmically curated advice. But when her pregnancy became medically complicated, the warm glow of digital support gave way to something much darker.

In her new book Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, Hess explores how the internet can warp our most intimate life experiences, steering us toward stra...

When marriage equality was finally achieved, Karl Dunn thought life couldn't be better. He had a husband, a dream job, and a beautiful life in LA. But then, as everything unraveled through a contentious divorce, Karl discovered just how unequally the system treats same-sex couples.

This crisis sent Karl on an urgent journey of self-rediscovery—from heartbreak in LA to healing in Berlin and beyond. In his memoir How To Burn a Rain...

Katelyn Burns, journalist and podcast host of Cancel Me, Daddy. Katelyn was the first openly transgender Capitol Hill reporter in U.S. history and she continues to be a leading voice among journalists on trans issues. It’s not the cushiest job there ever was, especially right now. I wondered how she was holding up under our excessively transphobic regime.

• Cancel Me, Daddy podcast
• Katelyn Burns, GUEST COLUMN: The...

Frederick Joseph grew up without a father, and he's wondering now whether he wants to be one himself. As a child, he loved Broadway musicals when everyone else expected him to be into sports. Today he resists the suffocating expectations placed on him as a Black man in America through his poetry and essays, inviting men to break the mold of masculinity and embrace the full range of human emotions—sorrow, anger, love, and joy, and ...

Puberty has changed a lot since we were kids. It starts earlier and lasts longer. And it's still as awkward as ever to talk about. Luckily, Dr. Cara Natterson and educator Vanessa Kroll Bennett are here to help.

They joined forces to explain the latest science on puberty, and to help caregivers, parents, and teachers navigate puberty conversations with confidence, humor, and connection. Their book is called This Is So Awkward: Mo...

Staying up to date with the news is a huge part of David Pakman’s job. As one of the most popular progressive political pundits on the internet today, he’s spent years navigating the media landscape. And that can really wear a person down! He's not immune to burnout caused by local and global crises covered in today's nonstop news cycles.

In this mini episode, Pakman confesses his own exasperation about modern politics, emphasize...

When Nancy Reddy had her first child, she approached the situation like the overachieving PhD student she was at the time: She went to find the best research on parenting, studied it, and then tried to apply it so that everything would work out perfectly. The problem is, a lot of that research about caregiving and attachment turned out to be based on flawed lab studies, sloppy research, and so much misogyny.

Nancy joins us to talk...

Kyle Lukoff knows how to captivate readers, and he also knows what it feels like to have his books taken captive by bans. Because in picture books like Call Me Max and middle grade novels like Different Kinds of Fruit, Kyle introduces characters who proudly defy common expectations of gender identity. Trans readers love to see themselves reflected in his books. But frankly, Kyle's giving readers of all backgrounds the opportunity ...

The dating world today feels like a minefield—swiping, ghosting, endless situationships, and more. What if the problem isn’t just app fatigue, but the very idea of romance itself? Sociologist Sabrina Strings unpacks how centuries of racism and sexism have shaped our ideas about modern love, leaving many people—especially women who don’t fit the "white enough" ideal—excluded from the fairy tale of true love.

Drawing from her latest...

Have you ever felt resentment about how responsibilities are divided in your relationship? Kate Mangino joins us to break down why this dynamic exists—and more important, what you can do about it.

Outdated gender norms are causing a lot of problems for people whether they're married, dating, or in a queer or straight partnership. Luckily, some small, everyday changes can lead to a more balanced home life where everyone has time fo...

One January day in 1975, seven-year-old Guinevere Turner put on her best dress, hugged her favorite toy tightly, and waited for the spaceship to arrive. The world was ending and she would be saved, spirited away to Venus with the rest of her enormous and enlightened family.

When the prophecy failed, the cult carried on. But Guinevere would soon find herself thrown out into the world beyond, where things somehow became more nightma...

Paul Scheer is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, comedian and podcast host of How Did This Get Made? So you'd think his most interesting life stories would be about his audition for Saturday Night Live or how he came up through improv comedy to star in shows like The League and Black Monday.

Those are interesting stories, but in his new memoir, Paul gives center stage to family stories. Growing up with a loving mom and dad who...

Mainstream feminism today was created mostly by white women, for white women. It has soaked into American pop culture, social media, the economy, politics, and more. Rafia Zakaria wants that to change. In this episode, we discuss her book Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption.

Rafia Zakaria is a Pakistani-American attorney, feminist, journalist, and author. Her books include he authored the books The Upstai...

Laurie Lee Hall was a promising college student studying architecture, and she was known to the world as a man. When she encountered The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she saw a well-defined path that fit the gender she was assigned at birth. So she buried her past to become the perfect Mormon man. 

Wearing her male disguise, she married, had children, and rose to the position of chief architect for the LDS Church, ov...