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The Longest Shortest Time

Author: Hillary Frank | Realm

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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 communityad-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)

271 Episodes
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Audience faves Trystan and Biff are back… and they’re having a baby! We talk about what it’s like to be a pregnant man, and to share that news with your parents, your children, and the world. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on May 31, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series! … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Holly Schechter always knew she wanted to be a mom. But getting there was a journey. After a car crash and two major spine surgeries, she struggled with infertility. Today, Holly shares her remarkable story of IVF… with a hopeful ending. … Recommendations from the archive • Infertility got you down? Maybe you need to laugh about it with infertility sketch comedy in our episode Awkward Adventures in Infertility. • Our early episode The Longest Longest Time is about one woman’s struggle with miscarriages for 11 years… and how she eventually came to have a baby. … Episode resources • Holly is now head of education at Conceive, a digital platform that provides 24/7 medical and emotional support for people trying to get pregnant. … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We pick up where we left off with Trystan and Biff, and their passive-aggressive standoff. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on May 3, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series! … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
WTF Is Perimenopause?

WTF Is Perimenopause?

2026-02-1850:20

Hot flashes! Weight gain! Headaches! Rage! If these symptoms sound familiar, you may be in perimenopause. But who among us actually knows what perimenopause is? Menopause specialists Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su and Dr. Amy Voedisch offer an informative and irreverent primer. … More episodes about clinicians as patients • #183 Postpartum House Arrest • #230 Secrets from the Vagina Whisperer • #38 Pediatricians, They’re Just Like Us … More from the docs • Rebecca and Amy’s podcast about perimenopause: OvaryActive • Rebecca and Amy’s book: Estrogen Interrupted: A Guide to Surviving and Thriving in Perimenopause (purchasing/pre-ordering through our link helps support LST!) … Episode resources • Find a provider through the Menopause Society … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Audience faves The Accidental Gay Parents return. This time Trystan is pregnant. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on April 26, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Check out the entire Accidental Gay Parents series! … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is The Summer I Turned Pretty romantic or toxic? Is Heartstopper sweet or cringe? Hillary talks with pop culture critic Kristen Meinzer and sex educator Shafia Zaloom about love stories in YA TV, old classics teens are into, and why so many of these shows end with a dude chasing a woman down in Paris. Do you want to talk about these shows with Hillary? You can, on our new Discord! All you need to do is join LST+. … Shows discussed • The Summer I Turned Pretty • K-Pop Demon Hunters • Heartstopper • Heated Rivalry • Friends • Sex and the City • Sex Education … Recommendations from the archive • #241 TV to Spark Conversations with Adolescent Kids • #238 Shafia Zaloom’s Playful Approach to Sex Ed • #237 YOU KNOW WHAT: An LST Spinoff … More Shafia • Sex, Teens, and Everything in Between • Getting Real About Sex Ed … More Kristen • The Nightly - a bedtime podcast for pop culture lovers • Happy to Be Here - featuring a My So-Called Life rewatch • How to Be Fine … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The "accidental gay parents" return. This time with John's side of the story. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on July 17, 2015 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Check out the entire series! We’ll be airing the entire 6-part Accidental Gay Parents series every other week. Or, binge the entire thing here. The story takes so many twists and turns. It’s heartwarming at times; heartbreaking at others. Super relatable always. … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Maia Molina-Schaefer is a boxing champ and combat veteran. But nothing has exhausted her like raising a kid. Today she shares her remarkable story of making history in the military… and pumping in a closet like any working mom. … Recommendations from the archive • #77 Behind Family Lines • #87 The Mortality of Motherhood … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
One weekend Trystan and his boyfriend were clubbing in Vegas; the next they were steeped in diapers and Legos. The story of how two twenty-somethings became parents. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on June 19, 2015 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Check out the entire series! We’ll be airing the entire 6-part Accidental Gay Parents series every other week. Or, binge the entire thing here. The story takes so many twists and turns. It’s heartwarming at times; heartbreaking at others. Super relatable always. … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
As the daughter of an OBGYN, Danielle Bezalel learned all about vaginas — but pleasure wasn’t part of the conversation. Now she’s on a mission to help people prioritize pleasure. Today, she shares the incident that motivated her to become a sex educator, her own struggles with birth control, the orgasm experiment she did on herself, and tips for getting in the mood as a busy parent. … Recommendations from the archive Sex & Parenthood Series … Episode resources • Danielle’s podcast: Sex Ed with DB • Find your shortcut to getting in the mood with Danielle’s smut quiz • Danielle’s personal Magic Wand experiment • Official Magic Wand study • Planned Parenthood birth control quiz … Sponsors (using our links supports the show!) • Quince: Quince.com/longshort for FREE shipping + 365-day returns • Brodo: Brodo.com/LST for 20% off your first subscription order + code LST for additional $10 off • Wayfair: Wayfair.com … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alex was itching to ask her partner Ben whether he’d be up for having kids one day — a question that felt scary and extra complicated because she has Cerebral Palsy. To muster some courage, she turned to an unexpected ally: a tiny stuffed lamb that can see the future. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on August 16, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
College student Zaraia Fabunmi became a sex educator and a doula as a teenager. Today she shares how she's used that training to help her peers — and, at times, her teachers — plus the fascinating reproductive health research she did in India.   … Recommendation from the archive Zaraia is also in Ep #237: YOU KNOW WHAT: An LST Spinoff, a pilot we made featuring three super cool college kids talking about sex, dating, and relationships. (We are still trying to make this show! Email hello [at] longestshortesttime [dot] com if you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities!) … Episode resources • Planned Parenthood resources for teens • You Know, Sex (Silverberg/Smyth): wonderfully dynamic and comprehensive book for tweens + teens • Sex, Teens, and Everything in Between (Zaloom): great info and practice scenarios for teens + parents … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A young Mormon plays a long con on his childhood crush—in the hopes of starting a family with her. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on January 17, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Sponsors (using our links supports the show!) Blueland: 30% off during Blueland’s holiday sale by 12/7/25 at blueland.com/longshort … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pop culture critic Kristen Meinzer joins us to share how as a tween, The Golden Girls — a show with grownup themes — helped her bond with her mom and grandma. She also recommends contemporary shows she loves watching with adolescents to spark fun and deep conversations. … Recommendations from the archive #118 All the Feels with Rob Huebel #140 Zombies, Caillou, and Other Creepy Things … Kristen’s full list We couldn’t fit Kristen’s full list in the show. Find all of her recommendations here! … More on Kristen Meinzer Kristen has all kinds of amazing projects, which you can find at her website. Here’s a sampling: • Kristen is a featured voice in ABC-HULU’s official 40th anniversary Golden Girls documentary, available in November • She’s a host of The Nightly, a pop culture bedtime podcast • She’s the co-author of How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books … 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
Actor and comedian Rob Huebel talks about sneaking onto airplanes, why he doesn't share a bed with his wife, and what it was like to have their daughter live in the hospital for her first 117 days. And! The best placed fart noise ever. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on April 12, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Sponsors Blueland: blueland.com/longshort for 15% off … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bobbi Brown built a career making people look beautiful. Behind the scenes, she was mired in breastmilk, spit-up, and sleepless nights. Executives told her to hide her motherhood; instead, she put her soccer-momness front and center. … Recommendations from the archive #77 Behind Family Lines It’s a Real Mother: our series about workplace discrimination … More Bobbi • Bobbi’s memoir: Still Bobbi • Jones Road Beauty … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Darlene's childhood dream was to join the military. She didn't imagine she'd also be raising three children solo. Tune in to hear what it’s like to be pregnant, breastfeed, and raise kids on your own in the Army. And to get shot in the back. Twice. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on March 7, 2016 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new episode. … Recommendations from the archive #19 The Mortality of Motherhood … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Breasts

Breasts

2025-10-2945:54

When Jean Hannah Edelstein went to college, she realized she had great breasts. Like, the kind that could win a wet T-shirt contest. But they also made her a target for harassment. Later, when she started nursing, her feelings toward her breasts got even more complicated. Then, when her son was four, she learned she would have to say goodbye to them. Today, Jean walks us through the life cycle of her breasts — from when she first noticed them to when she lost them. … Recommendations from the archive #108 Boobs #109 More Boobs #203 When Mommy Boobs Go Viral … More on Jean Hannah Edelstein • Jean’s website • Jean’s book: Breasts: A Relatively Brief Relationship (using this link supports the show!) … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
LST FAVES: Boobs

LST FAVES: Boobs

2025-10-2242:31

When you get pregnant, your body changes (duh). One of the most common changes happens in your boobs (double duh). But sometimes your boobs change in ways that you don’t at all expect. Today we hear from two women whose boobs caught them off-guard, back when they became moms. First, there’s Emily, whose nipples seemed to, uh, multiply. Then there’s Tara, whose boob betrayed her at age 26, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Except it’s her *other* boob that’s really the star of this story. ⭐️ This episode originally ran on January 11, 2017 and is a favorite from the archives. We hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back next week with a brand new boob-related episode! … Recommendations from the archive #109 More Boobs #203 When Mommy Boobs Go Viral … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shafia Zaloom is a sex educator and advisor to Big Mouth, Nextflix’s fantastic series about puberty. Join us as she walks us through her innovative approach to teaching young people about healthy relationships, which includes games, music, and complicated scenarios based on real-life situations. … Recommendations from the archive • #237 You Know What: An LST Spinoff (Shafia is in this pilot!) • #221 How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Rapist • #134 How to Make a Fella Feel Relaxed (the strange but real history of sex ed!) … More about Shafia Zaloom • Shafia’s website • Shafia’s book: Sex, Teens & Everything in Between (using our links supports the show!) … • Join LST+ for community and access to You Know What, another show in the Longest Shortest universe! • Follow us on Instagram • Sign up for our newsletter, where we recommend other parenting + reproductive health media • Buy books by LST guests (your purchase supports the show!) • Website: longestshortesttime.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Comments (15)

Sharan Raghubir

ñ

Sep 10th
Reply

Omar Heron

wow... generation of fear. I remember growing up and my mother would allow me to stay in the car if we've been out all day and I didn't want to go into a shop or two. this could take 10 minutes or 30... sometimes you'd be left with the keys to listen to the radio. nothing never happened. As a parent now, my wife would never leave our kids in the car. I have and would. Nothing longer than 10 minutes. I have no idea how this shift happened, but it's ruining kids, parents and more.

May 8th
Reply

kate leblanc

great episode. kindly note that late-term abortion is not an actual term. thank you!

May 4th
Reply

Chelsea Armstrong

I cried for nearly an hour while listening to this. I had to terminate at 23.6 weeks last April due to brain issues and so much of this echoed my own experience. I'm forever changed. Thank you for highlighting how awful it is on the mom to have to make this decision.

May 1st
Reply

Jeff Juergens

yfy : zfdftz right under ifcnz📣🎷

Feb 4th
Reply

Mark Engels

This would be so much better if the interviewer and interviewee did not display the most intrusive "vocal fry" I've ever encountered!

Dec 11th
Reply (3)

iTunes User

Well done. Sound quality great. It is nice to hear that motherhood is not a walk in the park for others as well. It reminds me of a coffee house chat with moms sitting around talking about parenting and child birth stories! I would like more episodes. Maybe branch out more into toddlerhood. I have one 3 year old and three 1 year olds. The babies are a piece of cake compared to the 3 year old!

Aug 31st
Reply

iTunes User

I’m in grad school. I don’t have kids, and only a handful of my friends are starting families at this point. How did I even find my way here? All that aside, I really enjoy The Longest Shortest Time. I find Hillary Frank thoughtful and sincere, and, in my opinion, the topics are both interesting to and engaging for an audience wider than one might expect.

Aug 31st
Reply (1)

iTunes User

I generally enjoy listening to this podcast, with the exception of a few episodes. Hillary does a great job of drawing out people’s stories. However, I am stunned by the dearth of cultural diversity among the subjects! I can recall only one episode that talked about the parenting experience of a black woman. There is so much richness to explore in the unique experiences of people of color, immigrants, and second generation people who are parenting as members of a different economic class than the one they grew up in. It seems that most guests are people Hillary knows one way or another, so they tend to be white and middle or upper-middle class. But she needs to try harder and branch beyond her social circle.

Aug 31st
Reply

Amanda Beyne Rodriguez

OMG the end of this one made me cry!

Aug 3rd
Reply (1)