The Double Shift podcast returns with more conversations from a new generation of working mothers

Durham NC, USA—THE DOUBLE SHIFT podcast is a reported, narrative show about a new generation of working mothers. Distributed by the Critical Frequency podcast network, the show is created and hosted by award-winning journalist Katherine Goldstein. Throughout this six-episode season, which launches on November 11, Goldstein explores unconventional family units under the theme “The Revolution Begins at Home.”

THE DOUBLE SHIFT’s first season built an impressive, dedicated and enthusiastic audience that continues to grow, and every stop on their accompanying “F*ck Mom Guilt World Tour” was sold out. Listeners were captivated by season one’s unique and groundbreaking angles--stories about mothers who work, from brothels to boardrooms, while not focusing on parenting or kids. Goldstein’s refreshing take of treating the experience and identity of working moms with journalistic seriousness and curiosity resonated with mothers across the globe. NPR host Hanna Rosin said on air, “Katherine Goldstein is doing the most important research on working mothers in America.”

Season two of THE DOUBLE SHIFT will feature even more powerful conversations that tackle the personal side of being a working mother -- our lives at home. Stories will include two straight women jointly raising a special needs child (while highlighting new Canadian laws that are more inclusive to non-traditional families), and a journey through higher education and the major obstacles a talented student faced in getting to graduation when she was already a mom. The show will talk to mothers who are challenging the constant stream of “advice” telling mothers they are doing things wrong and who are rethinking the unequal relationships at home.

Critical Frequency founder Amy Westervelt says, "In a crowded landscape with dozens of new shows launching every day, THE DOUBLE SHIFT immediately won fans and attention for its fresh, feminist perspective on the lives of mothers in America. Created by a working mom who fundraised to bootstrap the show when podcast execs told her there just wasn’t an audience for a show that treated motherhood seriously, THE DOUBLE SHIFT is the definition of an indie hit.”

“We are not going to get ahead at work and in society if our relationships are stuck in the past.” states Goldstein. “The stories featured in season two, from a transgender parent living communally to an orthodox Jewish woman without custody of her kids will challenge expectations and conventional wisdom about how families and relationships should work, and I hope they help listeners reimagine different ways of living outside the conventional nuclear family box.”

Season two episodes include (please note titles, details, and schedule could change):

Season Two Trailer: https://www.thedoubleshift.com/episodes/trailers2-10-28-2019

11/11/19 The Honor Student: Maria Ramirez was a straight-A high school senior gunning for the Ivy League when she found out she was pregnant. Her journey to college graduation was filled with huge personal and financial obstacles, until she found a program that viewed motherhood as a role to be supported, not stigmatized.

11/18/19 The 43% Mother: In Nataly Antar’s orthodox Jewish marriage, her husband worked while she cooked, cleaned, and took care of their young children. Nataly assumed her divorce would be just as traditional. She was wrong. In this episode, we explore what it means to be a “good” and fulfilled mother when you have no legal custody over your own children.

11/25/19 Choose Your Own Family: New laws in Ontario, Canada recognizes modern families with up to four legal parents. We profile two families of the vanguard of these unconventional arrangements, including two women who’ve never been a couple who are jointly parenting a special needs child and a queer man and woman who found each other through a co-parent “dating” site.

12/2/19 Don’t Call Me “Mom,” Call Me Ted: Ted Rau has five children and longed for a less isolated way to raise a family. So they moved out of a single-family home and into a dynamic co-housing community. Ted’s been a full time working parent, a stay at home parent, and even a home-schooling parent. He also recently transitioned from female to male. He shares his perspective on experiencing parenthood first as a mom and now as Ted.

12/9/19 Living The Double Shift: Host Katherine Goldstein talks candidly with Senior Producer Rachel McCarthy about her life’s own plot twists since season 1, and answers listener questions about her ambitions for the show as she prepares for big changes in her own family.

12/16/19 The Revolution Begins With Us: In America, we start telling mothers we are doing things wrong from the moment we find out they are pregnant. And it only gets worse from there. We talk to author Angela Garbes about freeing ourselves from the pregnancy and parenting advice industrial complex and the mental load.

*Date TBD Fck Mom Guilt World Tour Live (Bonus Ep)**: Listen to our hit live show, co-hosted by Inflection Point’s Lauren Schiller with special guest Hana Baba from The Stoop Podcast. Recorded live at Betabrand HQ in San Francisco.

THE DOUBLE SHIFT will release episodes every Monday from November 11, 2019, through December 16, 2019, with a bonus episode, date TBD. The show is available for free on all major podcast platforms.

ABOUT THE HOST: Katherine Goldstein is the creator and host of The Double Shift podcast. She is an award-winning journalist who is an expert on working mothers. She was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has a track record for conversation-setting work, such as the viral New York Times op-ed, “The Open Secret of Anti-Mom Bias in the Workplace." Previously, she was the editor of vanityfair.com, and a director of social media strategy at Slate. She runs Double Shift Productions as an independent media company and lives in Durham, N.C. She is the mother to a four-year-old son.

THE DOUBLE SHIFT is distributed by the CRITICAL FREQUENCY podcast network, which is dedicated to promoting underrepresented voices in podcasting.