

The Longest Shortest Time
Hillary Frank | Realm
Stories about the surprises and absurdities of raising other humans—and being raised by them. But you don’t need to be a parent to listen. Created and hosted by Hillary Frank.The Longest Shortest Time is back after a 5-year hiatus! New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Join LST+ for community, ad-free listening, and access to You Know What, our premium show featuring college students speaking candidly about sex, dating, and relationships.If you’re new to the show or want to get reacquainted, check out some of our classic episodes:• #27 Rewriting Your Birth Story• #88 W. Kamau Bell Asks His Mom About Sex• The Accidental Gay Parents Series (#60, #62, #80, #81, #125, #211)• #79 Terry Gross on Not Having Kids• It's a Real Mother: A Series About Workplace Discrimination (#141, #142, #143, #145)
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 23, 2025 • 41min
Adoption, but Make It a Horror-RomCom
Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig knew starting a family would be hard — but they didn’t expect the twists and scares that inspired them to write a movie. In this episode, they share the true, messy tale behind I Don’t Understand You, their horror-romcom starring Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells.
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Recommendations from the archive
#95 The True History of a Child Chef & His Mom
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
Caraway: carawayhome.com/LONGSHORT or code LONGSHORT at checkout for free shipping, a 30-day trial, and 10% off
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
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Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 16, 2025 • 42min
LST FAVES: The True History of a Child Chef & His Mom
Judah is 12. He makes a mean beef Wellington. Hear how he became a child chef, and how his mom had him when she was just a kid herself.
⭐️ This episode originally ran on September 7, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. Find fun pictures of Judah and Kara at our website. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
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Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 9, 2025 • 38min
A Tech Writer's Eerie Bond with Her Fertility App
Amanda Hess writes about the internet for a living. So she didn’t expect to form an emotional bond with a fertility app during her pregnancy. But when Amanda’s pregnancy got complicated, her relationship with the app got complicated, too.
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Recommendations from the archive
We recently re-aired some favorite episodes from our ongoing Sex + Parenthood series. Check them out in your podcast feed (the most recent eps before this one) or find the full series here.
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More Amanda Hess
• Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age (using this affilitae link supports the show!)
• Amanda’s work in the New York Times
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
Quince: quince.com/longshort for FREE shipping + 365-day returns
Green Chef: greenchef.com/50LST for 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with FREE shipping
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 2, 2025 • 48min
LST FAVES: Real Teens, Fake Babies
Did your high school health teacher ever try to teach you the risks of sex by making you carry around an egg and pretend it was a baby? These days, the pretending isn’t as much of a stretch. Lots of schools are opting to use robotic babies that cry throughout the day and night just like a real infant. In this episode, we follow two teenage girls over the course of 48 hours with the “babies,” and their conclusions surprise us! We also revisit the story after an eye-opening study in The Lancet that shed new light on our reporting.
⭐️ Versions of this episode originally aired on March 1, 2015 and November 16, 2016 and the story is a favorite from the LST archives. It’s also part of our ongoing Sex & Parenthood series. We’ve been airing a few episodes from the series over the next few weeks, while we gear up for our next batch of new episodes. You can find the full series here.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 25, 2025 • 49min
LST FAVES: The Parents' Guide to Affairs with Esther Perel
Most of us, at some point, will be touched by an affair—whether in our own relationships, or because one of our parents cheated, or because we are a trusted confidant. It’s a scary thing to think about, especially when kids are in the mix. Couples therapist Esther Perel joins us with advice on how to navigate affairs and how to keep them from happening in the first place.
⭐️ This episode originally aired on December 6, 2017 and is a favorite from the LST archives. It’s also part of our ongoing Sex & Parenthood series. We’ll be airing a few episodes from the series over the next few weeks, while we gear up for our next batch of new episodes. You can find the full series here.
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Books by Esther Perel (using our affiliate links supports the show!)
• The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity
• Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
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Esther’s Podcast
• Where Should We Begin?
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
Blueland: 15% off at blueland.com/longshort
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 18, 2025 • 44min
LST FAVES: W. Kamau Bell Asks His Mom About Sex
For most of his life, comedian W. Kamau Bell assumed his single mom never had sex after she made him. Today, he gets the real story.
⭐️ This episode originally aired on July 12, 2016 and is a favorite from the LST archives. It’s also part of our ongoing Sex & Parenthood series. We’ll be airing a few episodes from the series over the next few weeks, while we gear up for our next batch of new episodes. You can find the full series here.
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 11, 2025 • 44min
Secrets from the Vagina Whisperer
When Sara Reardon’s friends discovered she had answers for all their (and their moms’) weird vagina questions, they called her “The Vagina Whisperer.” Sara embraced the nickname and, like a true superhero, put on her cape (ahem, vulva costume) and went on a mission to save leaky, dry, painful, and aging vaginas around the world with her pelvic floor physical therapy practice and fun, educational videos. Tune in for Sara’s tips — and answers to YOUR questions — about keeping things healthy down there.
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Recommendations from the archive
• #49 Healing After Childbirth
• All episodes from our ongoing Sex & Parenthood Series (we will be airing a few of these in the coming weeks as we gear up for our next batch of new episodes)
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Upcoming live pelvic floor AMA!
Join Hillary and her very own pelvic floor PT, Debra Goldman, for a live AMA on Wednesday, June 18th 1-2pm ET. This event is available for LST+ members, and we are currently offering 10% off annual membership with code VAGINA. We did this once before and it was super fun, so don’t miss it! There is truly no such thing as TMI here, so come prepared with questions!
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Episode resources
*Purchasing with our affiliate links helps support the show!
• Vagina Survival Kit, curated for LST by Sara
• Sara’s book: FLOORED: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage
• Sara’s website
• The Vagina Whisperer on Instagram
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 28, 2025 • 38min
The Permanent Birth Control Option Doctors Rarely Mention
Anna North spent years reporting on reproductive health — so she was surprised when her doctor suggested a birth control method she’d never heard of. In this episode, Anna shares why she chose to end her potential for having kids while giving birth to one… and who else might want to consider this little-known procedure.
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Recommended from the archive
#71 A Childless Man Gets a C-Section
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Articles by Anna North (Vox)
• The cancer-reducing birth control method you might not have heard of
• What science is just starting to understand about periods
• The failed promise of egg freezing
• Anna’s newsletter: Kids Today
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Novels by Anna North (using our links supports the show!)
• Outlawed
• Bog Queen
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
• Blueland: 15% off your first order at blueland.com/longshort
• Blissy: 60 nights risk-free + 30% off at blissy.com/longshortpod with code LONGSHORTPOD
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 14, 2025 • 44min
Xyla vs. the FAA
Xyla Foxlin started flying as a teenager. By her twenties, she was piloting her own plane and building another from scratch. But when a private health crisis went public, she wound up in a battle with the FAA that could ground her for good.
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Recommendations from the archive
• #51 Real Teens, Fake Babies
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Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
• If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation, dial 988
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More about Xyla
• Xyla’s YouTube channel
• Xyla’s IUD video
• Xyla’s FAA video
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More on pilots and mental health
• Why Airline Pilots Feel Pushed to Hide Their Mental Health, The New York Times
• It’s Time to Act on Pilots’ Mental Health, Scientific American
• FAA Should Not Require Pilots to Disclose Talk Therapy, Panel Says, Reuters
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The Pilot Mental Health Campaign
The Pilot Mental Health Campaign offers resources for pilots struggling with mental health issues and is advocating for two bipartisan bills in congress. Learn more here.
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
• Blissy: 60 nights risk free + 30% off at blissy.com/LONGSHORTPOD with code LONGSHORTPOD
…
Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 7, 2025 • 57min
Introducing: Add to Cart
This week, we’re bringing you something special: an episode from Add to Cart, a show we love hosted by Kulap Vilaysack and SuChin Pak. You might remember Kulap when she was a guest on our show back in 2018, where she bravely unpacked her childhood trauma and shared how it led to her documentary film.
Add to Cart is a witty, subversive take on consumerism. Each week, Kulap and SuChin have candid (and often TMI) conversations about what they’re adding to or removing from their carts—whether it’s products, people, trends, or philosophies. Together, they explore what we’re buying into and what it reveals about who we are.
In this episode, they’re joined by author and journalist Vicky Nguyen for the very first Auntie Book Club of the year, diving into her powerful memoir Boat Baby. Vicky talks about going from boat refugee to national TV and why the R is for refuse in her household.
To hear more episodes of Add to Cart, follow the show wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/atcfd
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Kulap’s LST episode
#204 Breaking Cycles (and Chairs!) with Kulap Vilaysack
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Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!
Follow us on Instagram
Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices