Podcast Guest Information
Thank you for agreeing to appear on the Liberating Motherhood Podcast! Here’s all the information you need to know.
Audience
The people who listen to my podcast are almost exclusively women. They tend to be highly educated, but not affluent, so issues of classism are highly relevant. This is an international audience (roughly a third European/USian/Australian, with much smaller shares of the audience for other nations), and a highly diverse one. The majority of my audience is white, but by only a small margin. Roughly 30% of my audience is Black, with other racial and ethnic groups comprising a much smaller share of the audience. My audience includes a higher share of both queer and trans/gender non-binary individuals than is in the general population of the United States.
The women who listen to this podcast are politically engaged and mostly already identify as feminists. They appreciate deep and thoughtful dives into complex topics, and they appreciate being challenged.
They do not tolerate a “soft on men” approach, such as blaming household labor inequality on women’s bad communication, or suggesting that men do not benefit from patriarchy. They conceive of patriarchy as something men are doing to women, and of racism as something that white people are doing to everyone else. Many are deeply involved in activist work.
Almost all of my listeners and readers are mothers. A core insight of my work is that motherhood and mothers’ issues are central to feminism and to women’s liberation, but that mainstream feminist movements often treat mothers’ issues as trivial side projects. Household labor inequity, for example, is stealing women’s lives and futures, robbing them of every spare moment, yet our culture continues to treat it as a punchline, or as something that only affects white affluent women.
If you do not have children, or are unfamiliar with the intersection of motherhood and feminism, you may find that reading “Feminism has a motherhood problem” better prepares you for appearing on the podcast.
What to Expect
I will send you a Zoom link 1-2 days before your recording date.
I urge you to listen to the podcast before your recording date. Guests who have no familiarity with the podcast tend to have less successful interviews.
As with most podcasts, this will be more of a conversation than an interview.
I want you to have an opportunity to share what is most important to you! If there are topics you know you want to cover, please email them to me ahead of time so I can ensure I include them.
Our recording is not live, and I want you to sound good and feel positively about your interview. So you can ask me to stop and give you the opportunity to say something again, or you can ask if we can delete something. We all speak incoherently sometimes, and I don’t play gotcha games with my guests.
While I may ask for clarification to better understand something, I don’t argue with my guests. If I think you are repeatedly promoting a problematic ideology (being overtly racist, for example), I will let you know and we may elect not to continue the interview. Otherwise, we are here to learn from you, and to better understand your areas of expertise.
Our total appointment time will take 60-90 minutes, and usually takes closer to 60 minutes. You do not need to be on camera. We will be recording audio only! So snuggle up with your cats, sneak a snack, and wear whatever you want.
We will spend 5-10 minutes chatting before the podcast to get to know each other. Then, I will begin recording. Each podcast begins with a vignette submitted by a listener, after which I will immediately introduce you. We’ll jump into a conversation afterward. Feel free to bring up anything you want to discuss, but I will also have a number of prepared questions and topics.
Episodes usually release two to four weeks after recording, but this varies. I’ll let you know about release dates when we record. If you have an upcoming event, such as a book being published, and there is a specific release date that would be beneficial to you, please let me know!
I will send you promotional materials for the podcast prior to its release. Sharing these on social media will increase visibility if that is something you value! Readers also love when guests engage with them in the comments. The podcast is available on all major platforms, including Apple and Spotify, but listeners are most active (and leave the most comments and feedback) on Substack.
Information to Supply Before the Podcast
Prior to the podcast, please email the following to me at zawn@zawn.net. If you send this information to me already via my podcast inquiry form, you do not need to send it again:
A headshot (this is optional; if you don’t like using a headshot, we can skip it, but headshots tend to make for more effective promotional materials).
The exact bio you want me to read and use on-air.
Your pronouns.
Links to all work, books, projects, etc. you would like for me to promote. Most people include their website, a link to recent publications, and sometimes social media handles.
Optional: Educational materials. If there are educational materials you think could beneficial to readers, please send them along! For example, an attorney might link to a helpful “Know Your Rights” seminar or a tutorial about how the judicial system works.
Optional: Your mailing address. I am an old-fashioned Luddite, and I love sending thank-you notes. I also like to send guests some feminist stickers/propaganda as a small token of appreciation for giving their time.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me! Your time is your most valuable resource, and I am so grateful to you for giving it!