Listen To My Mother

This week, Shain, Sarah, and Sarah’s sister Mara gather in Phoenix to discuss Heartwood by Amity Gaige—a novel that sparked a much larger conversation about mothers, daughters, and the stories we tell about our families.
What begins as a discussion of the book’s intertwined mother-daughter relationships quickly becomes a reflection on their own. Together, they explore how siblings can grow up with completely different experiences of the same parent, what children need most from the people who raise them, and the tension between accepting our parents as they are and longing for the parents we wish we'd had.
Along the way, Shain reflects on how her approach to motherhood changed over two decades and two daughters, while Sarah and Mara share their perspectives on growing up with the same mother at very different stages of life. Their conversation touches on attachment, expectations, repair, and the possibility of growth on both sides of the parent-child relationship.
It's an honest, funny, and deeply personal conversation about family, memory, and what it means to love imperfect people.
Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it through our google form. All submissions are anonymous: even though you sign in with your email address, we do not have access to it unless you purposefully toggle on the option to share it.
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Shain and Sarah start with a conversation about discernment counseling, which is a style of counseling used when couples can’t decide whether to stay married or separate. But as usual, the clinical conversation turns personal.
Shain reflects on her own marriage, the fights, the “f* you” that didn’t end it, and the decades it took to reclaim her voice. Sarah shares how a childhood of people coming and going shaped her attachment style and why abandonment doesn’t always look the way you think it does.
It’s an honest, funny, sometimes raw conversation about staying, leaving, invisibility, resilience, and the long road to feeling seen.
Have a question you want Shain and Sarah to answer on-air? Head to bit.ly/listentomysubmission and send it in.
All submissions are anonymous. Shain and Sarah want to hear what you’re navigating!
 
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In this episode, Shain and Sarah sit down for an honest conversation about grief, responsibility, boundaries, and the growing culture of estrangement. Shain shares the reality of losing a close friend and the unexpected emotional and logistical weight of serving as executor. Sarah reflects on her own season of change and shifting relationships.
Together, they explore big questions many modern families are facing: Are we too quick to walk away from relationships? Where’s the line between healthy boundaries and disposability? And what does kindness look like in a culture that makes disconnection easier than repair?
Do you have questions, submissions, or thoughts on today’s culture of estrangement? We'd love to hear from you at listentomymother.podcast@gmail.com
To have an anonymous question answered on-air, submit it at: bit.ly/listentomysubmission
And follow us on Instagram at @listentomymother

Shain opens up about her “soul friend” in the ICU and what it feels like to be the person everyone relies on in a crisis. With no listener submission this month, Sarah pulls out one of her keepsake journals and asks Shain a question straight from the page: “Were your parents religious when you were growing up?”
That single prompt leads to stories about Holocaust-survivor parents, Jewish identity, and the very different versions of “family dinner” they each grew up with. They wrap by reflecting on the best advice Shain ever received — and the advice she wishes she hadn’t. It’s tender, honest, and exactly the kind of conversation Sarah is grateful to have recorded.
Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it at bit.ly/listentomysubmissionAnd follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/listentomymother/

This week, Shain and Sarah respond to a listener who’s struggling to make peace with a career risk that didn’t go as planned—and the sting of comparing herself to friends earning four times her salary. They unpack what it means to redefine success when life doesn’t follow a straight line. Shain applauds the courage it takes to start over and Sarah explores how grief, growth, and comparison intertwine. Together, they offer grounded insight on how to honor the lessons, release the shame, and move forward with purpose.
Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it at bit.ly/listentomysubmissionAnd follow us on Instagram at: @listentomymother

This week, Shain and Sarah tackle a listener’s question about a friend who seems to be drifting away. Is it just the natural pull of a new relationship, or something more concerning? 
For the first time, mother and daughter don’t quite see eye to eye—Shain doesn't hold back, while Sarah leans into the complexities of grief, boundaries, and what it means when friendships shift. Along the way, they share how to grieve the end of an era, how to stay connected without judgment, and what to do if a friend may be caught in an abusive or controlling relationship.
Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it at bit.ly/listentomysubmissionAnd follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/listentomymother/

In this week’s episode, Shain and Sarah dive into a listener’s heartfelt question, "What happens when attraction fades in a long-term marriage—even after repair?"
Shain shares her own story of decades of resentment, hurtful words, and disconnection as well as the surprising ways intimacy and trust eventually found their way back. Sarah brings the clinical lens, weaving in how the body remembers past trauma and what it takes to rewire safety, trust, and desire in partnership.
Together, they offer both the motherly wisdom and therapeutic insight that remind us it’s possible to hold past pain and present love at the same time. And sometimes, letting go takes time.
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Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it at bit.ly/listentomysubmission
And follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/listentomymother/

With no listener question this week, Sarah turns the mic on Shain and asks, "Do you ever wish you didn’t have kids?" Their conversation touches on societal pressures, the modern dilemma of choice, and their relationships to the children in their lives. Shain reflects on the lack of choice she felt when starting her family, while Sarah opens up about her own uncertainty.
Want your anonymous question answered on air? Submit your question using the link in the show notes and there's a high likelihood you'll be chosen!
Have a question you'd like answered on-air? Submit it at bit.ly/listentomysubmission
And follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/listentomymother/

Shain and Sarah receive a submission from 'Bella,' a woman facing a sudden and puzzling change in her neighbor's demeanor.
Once supportive and friendly, her neighbor has turned hostile, complicating Bella's life and leaving her unsure how to proceed.
In this episode, Shain and Sarah dig into the complex dynamics of neighborhood relationships, personal boundaries, and the difficult choices Bella faces to reclaim her peace.

In this quick check-in episode, Shain and Sarah discuss Sarah's upcoming trip to Israel amidst travel chaos and global tensions.
The resulting conversation touches on the Jewish experience both in America and Israel and highlights contrasting fears faced by Jews around the world.