The Good Mother Myth with Nancy Reddy

We Should Talk About That

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What does it mean to be a "good" mother? And who determines those measures?
Nancy Reddy joins me for a conversation about motherhood. Her new book, "The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom" is part memoir, part research based, and ALL thought provoking.
-What are the four major myths that contribute to an impossible standard for a mother to uphold? We talk about that.
-What were the major researchers on motherhood; Dr Spock, Harry Harlow, John Bowlby, etc like as parents? We talk about that.
-What do we need to do to de-bunk these myths and start supporting ourselves and other moms and dads better? We talk about that.
It's a fantastic, authentic, and vulnerable conversation. My favorite kind.
Nancy Reddy is the author of The Good Mother Myth, published by St. Martin’s Press in January 2025. Her previous books include the poetry collections Pocket Universe and Double Jinx, a winner of the National Poetry Series. With Emily Pérez, she’s co-editor of The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood. Her essays have appeared in Slate, Poets & Writers, Romper, The Millions, and elsewhere. She writes the newsletter Write More, Be Less Careful and teaches writing at Stockton University.
https://www.nancyreddy.com/
Also mentioned in this episode:
Mother Brain: https://www.chelseaconaboy.com/

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