
The Longest Shortest Time
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)
Latest episodes

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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Jun 25, 2025 • 48min
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!
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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!
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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!
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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 • 43min
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
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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 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!
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Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 30, 2025 • 43min
Ashley Parker on Raising Girls While Covering the White House
Ashley Parker has covered some of the biggest political events of our time — but for years she’s been obsessed with a very different type of story: birth stories. In this episode, Ashley opens up about her own experiences with childbirth and pregnancy, raising three girls, and a mistake she made as a teenager involving a camera… and boobs. If you follow her work, this is a side of Ashley Parker you’ve never heard before!
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Recommendations from the archive
#73 Love Yurts
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Episode resources
• Ashley’s Atlantic essay about miscarriage (gift link expires 5/12/25)
• Share Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support
• March of Dimes
• The Miscarriage Association
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Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)
• Blueland: 15% off your first order 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

Apr 16, 2025 • 47min
The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood
Ali Yarrow thought her childbirth experience would be hers to guide. Instead, she found it was guided by the American obstetrics system — a model that was designed by men. Ali documented what she uncovered in her eye-opening book, Birth Control, and joins us to share what she learned about maternal care in the U.S., how we got here, and how to advocate for ourselves in a system stacked against both patients and providers.*When you use our affilate links to purchase books, we earn a commission, which helps support our work!…Recommendations from the archive• #27 Rewriting Your Birth Story• #28 The Missing Chapter to Ina May’s Guide• #218 Ina May’s Guide, Completely Revised and Updated…Doula ResourcesDoulas often lead to better birth outcomes. Find one in your area through DONA International.Doula TrainingIf you’re a birth partner, you can train to be a doula yourself!• DONA birth doula certification training• CAPPA birth doula certification training• MaternityWise Institute birth doula certification trainingLow-Cost/No-Cost Doula ServicesMany cities have low/no-cost doula programs for low-income individuals. Contact local birthing centers, hospitals, and state health departments for more info. Below are some examples.• NYC’s Citywide Doula Initiative• HealthConnect One community based doula services• Community Doula Network (DC Area)• Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance (LA Area)…Sponsors (using our links supports the show!)• Blissy: 60 nights risk-free plus 30% off at blissy.com/LONGSHORTPOD with code LONGSHORTPOD• Alloy: $20 off your first order at myalloy.com/LONGSHORT with code LONGSHORT…Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!Follow us on InstagramWebsite: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 9, 2025 • 16min
StoryCorps: The Birds, the Bees, and My Dad
Howie Gordon starred in over a hundred porn films in the 70s and 80s under the name Richard Pacheco. But his greatest role was as a father. At StoryCorps, he talked with his son Bobby Gordon about sex, shame, and dirty movies. This episode comes from StoryCorps's podcast season "My Way" - stories from people who found a rhythm all their own and confidently marched to it their whole lives.…Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe!Follow us on InstagramWebsite: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices