Mothering Heights

This week, it's a true delight and honor to welcome writer, therapist, and host of the Everything's Relative podcast, Eve Sturges, to Mothering Heights! Eve's writing has been called “incisive, funny, and deeply sensitive” by no less than the great Jill Filopovic, and her podcast explores what happens after the discovery of surprising DNA results. She also discusses her own experience of a surprise DNA test, with her patented mix of deep wisdom, compassion, and humor.  Please listen to Everything's Relative wherever you get your podcasts, and please check out all of Eve's amazingness here: https://www.evesturges.la/ As always, thank you for listening!! Please leave a review and a share with everyone you know.  

This week, we are thrilled to welcome filmmaker Marta Cunningham to Mothering Heights! Nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Marta Cunningham is a queer filmmaker of color. A native of Northern California, she was so moved by the story of Lawrence King's tragic murder in 2008 that she embedded herself in the beachside city of Oxnard, CA, and soon began filming those whose lives were touched by the tragedy. The result was “Valentine Road”, a feature length documentary that competed in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and sold to HBO for an October 2013 release. “Valentine Road” has traveled to over two hundred festivals, accruing thirteen awards. Marta recently directed and co-executive produced the pilot and second episode of the AMC limited series 61st STREET. She was nominated for an Image Award in 2023 for her directing. She also executive produced and directed all six episodes of CHIVALRY for Channel 4 in the UK, which was created and starred Sarah Solemani and Steve Coogan. Its recently been sold to the US market and will be available on the new platform The Network in 2024. Additional series directing credits include INSECURE, ROOM 104, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and TRANSPARENT. She is currently working on the  Amazon hit series WHEEL OF TIME. 

We are so lucky and so thrilled to welcome Alison Bennett to Mothering Heights! Alison is a writer and producer and has written on shows like (Leonora's fave) You're the Worst and the Emmy-nominated Doogie Kamealoha, MD. We dive into the real nitty gritty of launching a successful writing career here, as well as how to navigate ooky situations with friends, how we raise siblings  - one of us is an only child and one is not and we discuss how different our experiences are, and so much more. This is a hilarious episode full of lots of laughs and lots of wisdom. To learn more about Alison, please visit https://www.alisonbennett.com/. Thank you in advance for sharing and loving Mothering Heights! You're doing a great job.

What a genuine thrill to welcome dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and educator Nicole Riviere to Mothering Heights! Nicole has danced on shows like America's Got Talent and for artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Peaches, and Elvis Costello. She has a combined 30 years of experience teaching yoga and dance, and she is a filmmaker who directs music videos and her own piece - Woman, Mother, Sister, Friend, currently in post-production.  This episode is so special - Leonora and Nicole discuss coming back to your great love after a spell away (in our cases: dance), grief and mourning, and advocating for yourself. It's a beautiful episode with a beautiful human being.  Also, everyone's favorite: Leonora gets regretfully vulnerable in the opening! Whoops! Please check out Nicole's work at https://nicole-riviere.com/, don't forget to review and share this podcast, and remember: you're doing a great job.

What an absolute thrill to welcome actress, writer, ceramicist, and podcast queen Busy Philipps to Mothering Heights! Busy and Leonora are old old friends (youthful YOUTHFUL old friends) and we are so happy to be celebrating Busy's many wins this springtime. We talk about this season of Girls 5Eva dropping on Netflix, the re-boot of her wonderful late night talk show (with producer and episode 57 guest) Caissie St. Onge, Busy This Week, coming in May to QVC+, how we raise daughters, how we reset when things are tough, and so much more. This episode is a joy, just like being friends with Busy is a joy. Please check out Girls 5Eva streaming on Netflix now, keep an eye out for Busy This Week coming soon, and keep up with Busy on her IG at https://www.instagram.com/busyphilipps/?hl=en and subscribe to her and Caissie's podcast, Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best, at https://www.bpdoingherbest.com/ - you're doing a great job!!

This week, we are so grateful to welcome actor, writer, director, filmmaker, and Fitzmaurice Voicework professor, Emily Alpren to Mothering Heights! Emily is a super-smarty-pants and creator, and we discuss experimental theater, remaining creative when motherhood is overwhelming, and how her work as a voice professor at USC informs her work as a director. Incredible stuff.  Please read more about Emily here, and don't forget to share and leave us a review! You're doing a great job!  https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/emily-alpren/  

This week, we are thrilled to welcome actress, writer, improviser, and all-around hilarious and silly person Anne Gregory to the podcast! Anne has had a really interesting career, from her and Rebekka Johnson's triumphant run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to owning the Lyric Hyperion Theater, doing about a thousand commercials, being a cast member of Punk'd (!!) and even teaching host Leonora Pitts's son Murphy improv! This is a wonderful episode if you love to laugh. And bonus for long-time listeners: Leonora cries!

This week, we thrillingly welcome big shot movie producer Beatriz Sequeira to Mothering Heights! Calling in from the pre-production set of her next film with Blumhouse Productions, Wolfman, Bea gives us the skinny on producing films like Get Out, Us, Five Nights at Freddy's, and The Invisible Man, how she and her DP husband, Lyn Moncrief, balance their careers with parenthood, and why women and especially mothers make such incredible producers. Bea is a true powerhouse, and this episode is as dynamic and wise as she is.  Please visit Blumhouse to see all the goodies coming out: https://www.blumhouse.com/ And please remember to like and share this episode! Tell all your friends or one of the villains from a Blumhouse movie will come get you?

This week we are honored and excited to welcome actress and writer and educator Terryn Westbrook to Mothering Heights! Terryn has been working in the biz for twenty-five years, and in our conversation we discuss what it was like to work with David Lynch (again and again) and how she got the gig (great story), what it was like to work with Christopher Guest (again and again), and I bet you can't even hear the envy in Leonora's heart. Truly, this episode is rife with great anecdotes and advice and wisdom, and Terryn's humor and warmth shine through. Thank you to all who've tuned in! Please share and rate and review and follow the show! Check out Terryn at the links below: https://www.terrynwestbrook.com/ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1382044/  

What a true treat and honor to have the hilarious actor, improvisor, director, and writer Rebekka Johnson on Mothering Heights! On this episode, we talk about how she came to direct her first feature, Step Aside, starring Arden Myrin and Tara Copeland, her brilliant new podcast with the equally funny and warm Anne Gregory, Non Drinking Buddies, her important and long-standing collaborative friendships, and how much Advil it really took to get through those wrestling scenes on G.L.O.W.  Plus: Leonora promises a return to weekly episodes as soon as she can get her act together with regards to grad school.  Please be sure to check out all of Rebekka's amazing work at all the links below! Rebekka's website: https://www.rebekkajohnson.com/ Step Aside on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CPSQDM81/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r Non Drinking Buddies: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/non-drinking-buddies/id1721677857

This week, Leonora hosts herself for a quick discussion on small joys and systems that make life a little easier. Thank you for tuning in and sharing and leaving a review: you're doing a great job.

In our first ever return-engagement, we welcome Kate Anthony back to Mothering Heights. Kate is celebrating the release of her highly anticipated book, The D Word: Making the Ultimate Decision About Your Marriage. Kate is so many things to so many people: a divorce coach, a community builder and leader, an advocate, a sage. We dive right into the hard and fun and complicated world of marriage and divorce, narcissists, toxic masculinity, and sisterhood. We also invent a word that we really hope catches on! Kate is incredible, and this conversation is unsurprisingly fantastic.  To order Kate's book, please visit the link below. You can read there how to order the book without your spouse finding out, if that is a consideration for you. You can also explore the site to find all the ways you can connect with Kate yourself! https://kateanthony.com/dword/ You're doing a great job.

This week we are so thrilled and honor to welcome the Executive Producer and Chief Creative Officer of the Try Guys and 2nd Try Productions, Rachel Cole, to Mothering Heights! Rachel is a true example of a powerhouse creative, and is a real survivor to boot. In this episode we discuss her pageant life (Miss Vermont!!), her journey through a difficult cancer diagnosis in her 20s to being a mother of twins, and the path that led her to this incredible career with the wonderful Try Guys! Rachel is a director and creative, best known for her work in the digital space. She started her entertainment career in television, working on multiple seasons of Portlandia and piloting shows for FX. She went on to produce commercials, music videos, and branded content before launching 2nd Try in 2018 with The Try Guys. In the five years since, Rachel has lead the company through exponential growth and presently serves as Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer - developing and producing all content for one of the foremost creators on YouTube. You can check out Rachel's terrific work with the Try Guys on their YouTube channel, along with their 8 million followers here: https://www.youtube.com/c/tryguys, and watch Leonora's episode coaching the guys on their Shakespeare work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhL8J-HMF2MA

This week, we are deeply honored to chat with dancer, dance teacher, choreographer, and artist, Jasmine Albuquerque. Jasmine has worked with towering figures such as Joey Solloway, Ryan Heffington, Mike Mills, and Beck, and in spaces like the Hammer, the MOCA, and the LACMA. In 2022, Jasmine and her mother, the legendary and iconic artist Lita Albuquerque, exhibited their collaborative film, Liquid Light, at the Venice Biennale. This is an extraordinary conversation with an extraordinary artist, in which Leonora and Jasmine discuss their relationship to dance and their own bodies, Jasmine's unique and freedom-filled childhood in the mountains, and what it's like to be a daughter who becomes a mother. Beautiful stuff. To learn more about Jasmine, please visit https://jasminealbuquerque.com/ and remember: you're doing a GREAT job.

This week, we are truly honored to be joined by Yoga Nidra guide and healer, Sydney Cutler Abich! Sydney and Leonora have been in mom-community for eons, and we are so grateful she's here to share her deep and hard-won wisdom. Sydney has a masters degree in social work and worked for years as a medical social worker. After her own health took a turn, she discovered the layered and deep benefits of Yoga Nidra meditation, and became certified, completing a 200-hour certification with Yogala and and further 100-hour certification in the Bihar Tradition with Hilary Jackendoff.  In this conversation, we dive deep on REST and how hard it is to invite restoration when we are pouring so much of ourselves into our families. We also discuss Sydney's life as a kitchen witch! Beautiful wisdom herein. To learn more about Sydney, including how to connect with her for your own deepest possible rest, please visit https://anandameditation.com/about and remember: you're doing a GREAT job.

It's a real honor to welcome writer, novelist, memoirist, and the host of the Forever 35 podcast, Kate Spencer to Mothering Heights! Kate and Leonora discuss being ADHD moms, what it's like raising teenagers and being the elder stateswomen/crones/RBGs of their mom community, Leonora tells a WILD story of going to the opening of Kate's husband's Broadway show Gutenberg, grief, and of course: SKINCARE. Kate and Doree Shafrir's podcast Forever 35 is an essential listen. Check it out anywhere you get your podcasts. Her memoir, The Dead Moms Club, and her novel In a New York Minute, are available everywhere. https://forever35podcast.com/about Thank you as always for listening! Please follow, recommend, tell everyone you know about Mothering Heights and remember: you're doing a great job.  

What a true honor to have writer, comedy legend, and the co-host of the Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best Podcast, Caissie St. Onge, to the show! Leonora followed Caissie for years online, learning how to be funny and compassionate all at once, and it still feels amazing that they've become IRL friends. In this episode, we get the dirt on how Caissie and her husband managed to raise two truly exceptional young men, how she got her start with David Letterman, what it was like to work for Rosie O'Donnell, and much much more.  Thank you for listening! Please remember to follow the show and leave us a review. And remember: you're doing a great job.  

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome writer-director-creative Terrie Samundra to Mothering Heights! Terrie's debut feature, Kaali Khuhi, a Netflix Orginal Film, premiered in 2020, and she has participated in just about every Sundance Lab that's out there. In this episode, we discuss how she's paying forward all her experiences in the various filmmaking labs, her daily creative routine, how GenX is raising our kids, and what it's like to have been a mama for 28 years (she was a very very young mother!). To find out much, much more about this incredible filmmaker, please visit http://terriesamundra.com and remember: you're doing a great job.

Finally, after about two dozen loving mentions on this podcast, we are joined by actress, storyteller, and MFT Jennifer Seifert! Jen has weathered chronic illness and pain and come out the other side, and now utilizes her own healing experiences with creativity as a licensed marriage and family therapist. We discuss her and my different grad school experiences, how we've both benefited from her world-famous Artist's Way workshops, and what she's planning next with her vast community.  Thank you for listening! Please be sure to share with everyone you know, follow us, give us a rating and a review, it really helps. To learn more about Jennifer, please visit https://www.jenniferseifert.com/?r_done=1 and https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jennifer-michelle-seifert-pasadena-ca/1096948 And don't forget: you're doing a great job. Books mentioned in this episode: The Artist's Way, Julia CameronBig Magic, Elizabeth GilbertBird by Bird, Anne LamottWalking in the World, Julia CameronIt's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond, Julia CameronRomancing the Ordinary, Sarah Ban BreathnachMaybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori GottliebThe Midnight Library, Matt Haig

This week, we are revisiting a classic episode with author and coach Samara Bay. Samara's book, Permission to Speak, has been redefining what power sounds like since its release in February 2023. This conversation with Samara sparked so many messages of WOW when we first aired it, and I'm excited for you all to listen again - or for the first time - now that Samara has been featured on NBC News, CBS News, the New York Times Magazine, Slate, Town&Country, Vulture, and in conversation with Deepak Chopra! You can (and should) get Samara's book anywhere you buy books, and you can follow her on Instagram at @samarabay or at her website http://samarabay.com! And remember: you're doing a great job.

This week, Leonora is honored to host educator, sexual health and wellness expert, somatic bodyworker, healer, and coach Pamela Clare Wylie Samuelson (she/they) to Mothering Heights. Pamela found her way into this incredibly rich and rewarding career space through her earlier life as a dancer and aerialist, through injury, into healing. She now brings her deep and intuitive understanding of physiology and consciousness into her work, while inviting everyone with a body to find agency and a clear path to healing. We get into it! Sexy stuff! You can find out more about all of Pamela's important work at her website: https://embodyworkla.com/ And find all that plus some of the best memes on the internet at her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodyworkla/ For our regular listeners, we are working toward finding the best way to bring you the weekly new episodes you are used to and we appreciate your grace and patience!  

This week we are thrilled to welcome actor, voice artist, and host of the Making it After 40 podcast, Lisa Rodriguez! The two of us reference each other's podcast all the time, so it only makes sense that we'd share this great interview, which we did for Lisa's one year anniversary. In this inspiring episode, we talk about how to trust that you are enough, trusting our intuition, navigating and healing from co-dependecy, and embracing our goofiness! Be sure to follow Lisa's podcast Making After 40, and then leave us BOTH a review, and then never forget: you're doing a great job.

This week, what a treat to have actress, writer, filmmaker, all around creative Lauren Aboulafia to Mothering Heights! Lauren and Leonora discuss meeting and creating in an Artist's Way workshop years ago, transcending the natural tendency toward guilt in motherhood, maternal mental health, and how to turn trauma into art (CW brief mention of traumatic birth). Lauren is so smart, and so inspiring. And hey: you're doing a great job!

Thank you for your patience as we took a little summer hiatus! This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome Emily from the Residuals Podcast to Mothering Heights. Emily is a producer, a mama, an advocate, and a lover of all things spooky. Our conversation is wide-ranging, compassionate, inspiring, and really, really fun. Be sure to listen to Emily and Joy's spoooooky podcast The Residuals (look for Leonora's ep for some great true ghost stories), and don't forget: you're doing a great job.

Thank you for your patience as we took a little summer hiatus! This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome Emily from the Residuals Podcast to Mothering Heights. Emily is a producer, a mama, an advocate, and a lover of all things spooky. Our conversation is wide-ranging, compassionate, inspiring, and really, really fun. Be sure to listen to Emily and Joy's spoooooky podcast The Residuals (look for Leonora's ep for some great true ghost stories), and don't forget: you're doing a great job.

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome Kate (the Great) Anthony to the podcast. Kate is the host of the wildly popular The Divorce Survival Guide podcast, and has carved out a thriving career as a coach, podcaster, and the leader of a thriving online community of women. In this conversation, we talk about her extraordinary upbringing in NYC in the 1970's (SHE WAS ON SESAME STREET YOU GUYS), being the daughter of theater folk, moving away from a successful acting career, and finding her way out of abuse and into peace. Fantastic conversation. Please visit https://kateanthony.com/ for the most wisdom in one place on the internet, including links to her podcast.

This week, Leonora is absolutely honored to welcome Aja Volkman to Mothering Heights. Aja is a singer, songwriter, mama of FOUR children, a survivor, and artist in all senses. We discuss walking through a fire (in Aja's case, a very public fire) and using those experiences as fuel for our creativity, how we connect to the muse, and where she finds inspiration. Aja is a treasure and a pure heart and has weathered so much, all with grace. A great conversation.  You can follow Aja's adventures on her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ajavolkman/ and follow her band Nico Vega on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/1gUch6pcj8OKOw6kKlWAPE?si=1p1yPD48QMSREc7Qvn_wqw/ - new songs coming soon!!

What a treat to have actor, writer, director, and big funny guy Ike Barinholtz on this week's Mothering Heights. Our last week of Dad's Month! You all know Ike from The Mindy Project, Blockers, Neighbors, White House Plumbers, History of the World Part II, and his new film, Maximum Truth, written by Ike and Dave Stassen, and directed by Dave.  These two old friends discuss how his passion for politics influences his work, their mutual love of cooking, and Ike's terrifying prognostications of the future. Mostly though, there's lots of laughing.  Check out Maximum Fun in theaters and On Demand at home RIGHT NOW!

It's a true honor and treat to have filmmaker, actor, and true mensch Jay Duplass on this week's Mothering Heights. As an actor, you've seen Jay in the iconic series Transparent, The Chair, and Industry. As a filmmaker, he and his brother Mark redefined independent cinema with films like Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Cyrus, and The Puffy Chair and have fostered beautiful series like HBO's Togetherness and Somebody, Somewhere. Jay and Leonora talk about Jay's prolific writing and how anxious he is to get back to directing, his generous and generative advice-giving, getting old, and what we see of ourselves in our kids. Check out all of Jay's movies and series everywhere you can, and buy the book he and his brother Mark wrote, Like Brothers, anywhere you buy books! 

This week, Leonora is totally thrilled to welcome actor, writer, director, and her children's beloved godfather, Charlie Day to Mothering Heights! Charlie (along with co-creators Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton) created the longest-running live action comedy TV show of all time, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, was the voice of the iconic Luigi in the animated The Super Mario Brothers Movie, and most recently starred in and directed the star-studded Hollywood takedown, Fool's Paradise.  This entire podcast was Charlie's idea! Leonora and Charlie discuss his writing process, dealing with disappointment and what lessons he's learned, and what's in the chemistry with his partners at Sunny.  Watch Fool's Paradise now On Demand, watch his and Rob's wonderful show Mythic Quest on Apple TV+, and catch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 16th (!!!!) season right now on F/X and On Demand!

Dad's Month continues on Mothering Heights with actor, writer, director, icon, and DAD, Matthew Lillard. In this joyful conversation, we discuss the ups and downs and backs and forths of his career, how he re-aligned himself during a challenging time, his writing process, and how he got his first feature made. Matthew is a treasure of a human being, and that shines through in this conversation.  And yes, we talk about his upcoming role as William Afton - the Purple Guy - in the VERY anticipated Emma Tammi-directed Five Nights at Freddy's film! As far as Leonora's children are concerned, there is nothing more important IN THE WORLD than this film. No presh. To keep up with everything Matthew is doing, from FNAF to his D&D TV Show and everything in between, go follow him on Instagram for goodness sake: http://instagram.com/matthewlillard

Welcome to Dads' Month on Mothering Heights! First up, Leonora is totally thrilled to welcome actor, author, improviser, podcaster, punk rocker, AND DAD John Ross Bowie to the podcast. You all know John from his many years playing Barry Kripke on Big Bang Theory, his wonderful work on the ABC series Speechless, a thousand other roles and guest spots, and from his incredible memoir No Job For a Man. John and Leonora discuss his writing process, their mutual love of the film Heathers (John ALSO wrote a book about Heathers), and how ridiculous Leonora looked walking around her neighborhood, cackling outloud and alone to his audiobook. To keep up with John, please visit http://linktr.ee/johnrossbowie and listen to his great podcast Household Faces here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/household-faces-with-john-ross-bowie/id1578937155  

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome dancer, actress, writer, and the host of the podcast That One [Blank] Friend Saudia Rashed to the podcast! They discuss finding our first love of performing through dance, dedicating one's life to creative pursuits, finding love in a sketch comedy troupe, and the audacious act of moving from being an interpretive artist to being a generative artist. Please visit Saudia Rashed on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/saudiarashed/, and listen to her terrific podcast at https://pod.link/1507264375! And thank you for leaving a review (please leave a review) and thank you for sharing with everyone you know (please share with everyone you know)!!

This week, it's a true honor to welcome the founder and executive director of Miry's List, Miry Whitehill, to Mothering Heights. She's Miry, from the List! Miry's List is a nonprofit organization made up of neighbors and friends dedicated to welcoming new arrival refugee families into our community through inspired crowdsourcing solutions. And Miry is an unendingly inspiring leader and creator and friend. Miry and Leonora discuss the origins of Miry's List, how to find joy when your job requires engagement with tough stories, how food connects us, and how soon Miry expects to finally be mad at Leonora (pretty soon, actually). Find all of the links below to become a part of the quarter million people who have contributed to and volunteered with Miry's List! Sign up for the Welcomers Circle - give to Miry's List monthly: https://bit.ly/welcomerscircle Learn more, sign up to volunteer, and get tickets to a dinner: www.miryslist.org Miry's List on Instagram: instagram.com/miryslist Miry's List on Facebook: facebook.com/miryslist Get a copy of Miry's book Our World Is A Family at Target and anywhere books are sold. Buy a Spice Kit: https://littlespread.com/products/mirys-list-x-saffys-spice-kit  

This week, Leonora is totally thrilled to welcome actress, director, producer, and the Artistic Director of the Independent Shakespeare Company, Melissa Chalsma! Melissa is a true leader in the Los Angeles theater community and is a true genius in theater-making. The ISC brings FREE Shakespeare in the Park to tens of thousands Angelenos every summer, their world-class productions are engaging, hilarious, moving, and beautiful. Leonora and Melissa discuss why theater and storytelling matter, how we need to be intentional and consistent when incorporating diversity, inclusion, and access, and why we still want to watch plays by a man who lived 500 years ago.  Also, Leonora appears in Charlie Day's upcoming directorial debut feature, Fool's Paradise, opening May 12th, and you really need to see it because it's great.  The ISC needs your help in bringing FREE and wonderful theater to Los Angeles this summer! To contribute any amount, please visit http://iscla.org/contribute-2023. To get tickets to the Midsummer Saturday Night's Fever Dream gala event that Leonora is emceeing and performing at, go to https://iscla.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S5c00000INUy3EAH. And don't forget to tell everyone you know that you are loving Mothering Heights! You're doing a great job.  

This week, Leonora is so thrilled to be joined by filmmaker, documentarian, and activist Kristin Fairweather. Kristin has directed five features after pivoting from a successful career in politics, and we discuss how Kristin uses her feminist bona fides to navigate the film industry, how she was able to kickstart her career and maintain it, and how small our margins of error are as women filmmakers. Kristin's latest feature, Breaking Girl Code, premiered on Lifetime this week and is now streaming! For more info on Kristin, please visit https://www.fairweatherpictures.com/ Kristin Fairweather is an award-winning, independent filmmaker whose experience in politics, advocacy, and women's empowerment creates a unique lens for her critically-acclaimed work. Kristin holds a Master's degree in Politics from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a senior campaign strategist and Gubernatorial appointee.  She is an avid supporter of the nationally recognized Girls on the Run program and other initiatives promoting equity and inclusivity. This background informs Kristin's cinematic perspective as an accomplished director, writer, and producer of successful film, television, and commercial work. Kristin is currently in development on a documentary feature, “Breathing Underwater: America's Invisible Women”, which was a finalist for the ScreenCraft Film Fellowship.  She has also directed three features, most recently MOST WANTED SANTA, which was released in December 2021 on TUBI. In addition to her directing work, Kristin produced three critically-acclaimed independent films.  Kristin was selected by Sony Pictures as one of the first filmmakers in their Sony Alpha Female Creative Residency. She was also a shadowing director on Fox's “911” during her fellowship in Ryan Murphy's HALF directing program. Additionally, Kristin has directed several short films and high-profile commercials. Kristin's award-winning short film “Grace” premiered at HollyShorts and went on to play at film festivals across the country. Her work has been supported by Tribeca, Film Independent, IFP, Sony, and Netflix Find Your Voice.

In our very first mini-sode, Leonora is thrilled to be joined by actress, writer, filmmaker, and connector Rakefet Abergel. Rakefet is a truly dynamic person, and she is presently crowd-funding to make her next film, Still. This film grew out of her own experience of having a miscarriage, and has been integral to her healing. This episode contains discussion of pregnancy and miscarriage, so please take care in listening.  Please visit the links below to support Rakefet, and let's all throw a little coin in to help bring this film to the screen! STILL TEASER: https://vimeo.com/809135681 STILL CROWDFUND PITCH VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/809577805  Crowdfund LINK: www.seedandspark.com/fund/stillshortfilm Instagram: @kef827 and @cyclamenfilms Fb: @rakefetabergel and @stillashortfilm Twitter : @rakefet27 @cyclamenfilms  

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome playwright, artist, and activist Sunny Drake to Mothering Heights. Sunny is about to launch the podcast Climate Change and Other Small Talk, a theatrical podcast that is here to hold your hand through the scary stuff and entertain you at the same time. Leonora and Sunny discuss how to use your inherent power to find hope when things are at their scariest, how bravery has manifested itself for Sunny as both an artist and as a Trans Activist, and how to build community via shared values and ART! Throughout their talk, Sunny drops some major wisdom that gives Leonora head-to-toe goosebumps! Also, Leonora talks about her spring break passport mishegoss.  To listen to Climate Change and Other Small Talk, please visit https://www.sunnydrake.com/climatechangeandothersmalltalk To follow Sunny and all his incredible work, please visit https://www.sunnydrake.com/ Mothering Heights is hosted by Leonora Pitts, produced and edited by Darlene Victoria  (http://www.darlenevictoria.com), our podcast art is by C7 Productions (https://www.fiverr.com/c7productions), and our theme song is by Alice Nicholas Wood (https://www.alicenicholaswood.com/).  Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/motheringheightspod/  

This week, Leonora is joined by… herself. Feeling very, deeply vulnerable, she shares a story of losing out on a gig that she allowed herself to hope was hers. Get ready to either cry or laugh at Leonora crying! Mothering Heights is taking a couple of weeks off for Spring Break, but we will be back soon with a new theme song (!!!) and more fabulously brave, funny, and wise guests. Until then, remember: you're doing a great job.

This week, Leonora is totally thrilled to be joined by the wonderful filmmaker Foster Wilson! Foster is an award-winning director, filmmaker, and Emergence Award Recipient. She earned her BFA at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied for 3 years with the Atlantic Theater Company under the tutelage of David Mamet, Chris Bauer, Scott Zigler, and Mary McCann, among others. These two Atlantic alums discuss the ways their acting school and their technique continues to inform their work ethic and creative lives, the shadowing programs (AWD Short Film Initiative and Ryan Murphy Half Initiative among them) Foster has been involved with, and the ways they want to disrupt the film industry with compassionate and smart matriarchy! Foster is so warm and funny, and this is the loveliest conversation. Please check out Foster's website, where you can watch several of her films: https://www.fosterwilson.com/ and follow her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thefosterwilson/

This week, Leonora is so thrilled that Emily Ziff Griffin has joined her for a wonderful chat. Emily is a writer and producer and an all-around totally amazing human. Emily's critically-acclaimed novel, Light Years, was developed for television by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and she is currently adapting her beloved New Yorker essay, “Last Dance With My Father,” for Endeavor Content. As the co-founder of Cooper's Town Productions with her long-time collaborator and producing partner, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emily produced the Oscar-winning feature Capote and PSH's directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating. Emily and Leonora discuss the many twists and turns of her fascinating career, what YA content means to them, and how to maintain a creative fire through grief. Please visit Emily's website at https://emilyziffgriffin.com/ to learn much much more about her and her stellar work!

This week, Leonora is so honored and happy to welcome the prolific filmmaker and writer, Mo Perkins. Mo has directed two features, A Quiet Little Marriage, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance Film Fest, and The Last Time You Had Fun, which premiered at LA Film Fest and won awards all over the dang place. She and Leonora discuss the various shadowing programs, Mo's extremely unique upbringing on a real, off-the-grid commune, motherhood, film school, storytelling, and feminism - Mo cannot help but be endlessly wise and inspiring. Please check out Mo's films on streaming platforms, and see what she's up to at http://moperkinsdirector.com, and thank you for listening. You're doing a great job.

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome actress, musician, producer, author, Emmy, and Grammy award-winning dynamo Alisha Gaddis to the podcast! Alisha and her husband lead Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, which you've certainly heard on your radio if you are raising young children. She is the author of seven best-selling books and has recently landed on the pages of Vogue as one of the Grammy Awards best-dressed, topping herself year after year as a walking work of art.  Alisha and Leonora talk about the hard work behind being a multi-hyphenate, how she shepherded her books into existence, their shared experience going from the Midwest to NYU,  and how her own young child inspires her art. This woman is a true inspiration! To discover everything Alisha has going on, please visit her website at http://AlishaGaddis.com, and follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/alishagaddishere.    

What a true honor to welcome the inimitable Grace Chon to Mothering Heights. Grace is a world-renowned photographer, published author, the host of the Creativity School podcast, Akashic Records reader, creativity coach, and all-around creative badass. In this episode, we track Grace's trajectory from marketing wiz to digging into her creative soul, how she cultivated that creativity for a *living*, and how to get specific and clear in your creative goals - and doing what you LIKE - so you can make a career in any artistic field. And dogs. We talk about dogs.  This is a great episode for anyone who doesn't know where or how to start and how to actually make a living as a creative. Grace is endlessly inspiring. You can find Grace's photography work here: https://www.gracechon.com/, and follow Creativity School here https://www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/, book a reading with her here: https://www.creativityschoolpodcast.com/akashicrecords, and check out her three books here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/16465945.Grace_Chon. And her Instagram is the best: https://www.instagram.com/thegracechon/  Hey, guess what? You're doing a great job.  

Leonora is so thrilled and honored to welcome author and dialect and vocal coach Samara Bay to Mothering Heights. Samara travels the world dialect coaching some of the biggest stars in the world, and in her brand new book, Permission to Speak, Samara lays out how each of us can change the world - and our place in it - by harnessing the power of our voices. Samara's book is profound and joyful and invites us all to change who has all the power, by redefining what power sounds like.  We discuss the process Samara took to get her book published and how sisterhood played a role in that, Leonora accidentally makes Samara cry, Samara talks about her work decolonizing public speaking and lifting marginalized voices, and Leonora shares a time she felt utterly powerless and how it took her voice away (and then gets an incredible realization on the situation from Samara!). Also, these two voice nerds just nerd out on voice stuff. Samara's book, Permission to Speak is available everywhere (start here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/permission-to-speak-how-to-change-what-power-sounds-like-starting-with-you-samara-bay/18485502?ean=9780593238684). You can listen to her podcast Permission to Speak wherever you get your podcasts, follow her Instagram at @SamaraBay, and check out all her work at http://samarabay.com!

This week, Leonora is honored to welcome astrologer, poet, leader, speaker, podcaster, and author Heidi Rose Robbins to the podcast. Heidi is a generous beacon of wisdom every single day on Instagram with her Moon Notes and has guided thousands of people with her insightful and powerful understanding of the cosmos. She and Leonora discuss astrology, of course, but also what self-renewal means to us as Gen X women, how we-charge and avoid burnout as busy creative moms (hint: Ojai), Leonardo da Vinci, poetry, backyard drama camp… look: we go places!  You can listen to Heidi's two excellent podcasts The Radiance Project and Chart Your Career everywhere you get your podcasts. Follow her inspiring Instagram at @heidiroserobbins. You can find her new book Everyday Radiance everywhere books are sold (start here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/everyday-radiance-365-zodiac-inspired-prompts-for-self-care-and-self-renewal-heidi-rose-robbins/18265452?ean=9781797211923). And to see what else this busy creative is up to, including info about her upcoming retreats, and to get your own FREE natal chart, please visit her at http://heidirose.com. PS: Heidi's episode of We Can Do Hard Things is the BEST intro to astrology I've ever heard, so please also check it out!  

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome actress, producer, writer, funny person, and self-proclaimed Cancer Mom Lily Vonnegut to Mothering Heights. They discuss how to find humor through the worst of times and finding ourselves through to the other side, how her two famously creative parents shaped her own creativity, crying in sweatpants and corsets at acting school, the creation of her hit animated show The Most Popular Girls in School, and how she channeled her dad Kurt Vonnegut to give Leonora some excellent artistic advice.

This week, Leonora is thrilled to be joined by dancer, choreographer, and movement director, Ayesha Orange. Ayesha assisted Ryan Heffington on his Emmy-award-winning choreography for HBO's hit series Euphoria, has worked extensively with the legendary Nina McNeely and has danced onstage at the Emmys, the Oscars, with artists like Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, Pink, and Usher, and in over twenty films and over sixty television shows. She and Leonora discuss how important Ayesha's village is as she raises her son as a single mother, how they are trying to raise resilient kids, being GenX parents, and the real ins and outs of being a working artist. This episode goes deep and is full of warmth and laughter and wisdom and connection.  To see more of Ayesha's work please visit https://www.instagram.com/aorange/. Thank you for listening and sharing - please help us grow the podcast by sharing widely and leaving us a review! Appreciate each of you. You're doing a great job.

This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome actress, writer, and reader Clementine Ford. These two moms' group comrades discuss Clementine's experience as an immunocompromised MS patient living through lockdown, how her unique upbringing as the daughter of a Hollywood legend informs her parenting choices today, book shopping as a kid with Larry McMurtry, and what it was like being Miss Golden Globes the year of Titanic. And books! Books and books.  You can follow Clementine on Instagram for more of her excellent insights into literature at instagram.com/clementineford!

Welcome back to Mothering Heights! This week, Leonora welcomes actress and acting coach Mackenzie Meehan. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be directed by Martin Scorsese, Mackenzie has got the lowdown. Mackenzie has starred in projects like Wolf of Wall Street and Bull, and she and Leonora discuss grad school, forgiving yourself for being a mean girl in your 20s, getting notes from a fellow actor on set (!!), and navigating male-dominated spaces. This is a great one. To book Mackenzie for acting coaching (as you should), please visit calendly.com/mackenziemeehancoaching and take advantage of her brilliance!

This week, Leonora heartily welcomes prolific filmmaker Amber Sealey to the podcast. Amber has directed five features, including the tense psychodrama No Man of God starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby, and Disney's upcoming Out of My Mind. Amber is unfiltered in all the best ways: full of vulnerability and hard-won wisdom about how to be brave and focused creative. The two friends discuss working in the UK vs the US, what it's like being married to a legitimate rocket scientist and how his scientific mind and her artistic mind come through in their two kids, moving from acting to directing and making the move from a miro-budgets shot in one apartment to working with the biggest studio in the world.  To enjoy more of Amber's stellar work, please visit https://www.ambersealey.com/ And listen VERY carefully: you're doing a great job.