Parenthood Across 10 Countries: The Village Every Parent Needs - Marina Lopes | Ep33
Description
What happens when a journalist travels to 10 different countries, across cultures and continents, to gather the best lessons about parenting? From the way Swedish parents share the mental load, to the way Brazilian grandmothers descend on a new mother’s hospital room, to the way Mozambican villages raise children as a community — each culture holds a piece of wisdom that challenges how we think about raising the next generation.
In this episode, I sit down with Marina Lopes — longtime journalist, foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, and most recently the author of Please Yell At My Kids. In her book, Marina does just that: capturing stories and insights from around the world to reframe how we think about parenting and community.
For Marina, this journey began with her own contrasting experiences: an emergency C-section in Brazil, surrounded by forty relatives and neighbors in the hospital room… and later, the complete isolation of raising her second baby during COVID in the United States. 🌍💔
As a Brazilian-American married to an Asian-American diplomat, Marina has witnessed how families around the world nurture children, share responsibility, and create belonging. Her book reminds us that parenting was never meant to be done alone — and that building our “village” may be the most important parenting skill of all.
In this intimate conversation, we explored:
👶 Why the “rosy” picture of motherhood can leave first-time moms feeling broken
🌍 What cultures from Brazil to Mozambique can teach us about raising children together
💡 How to split the “mental load” in marriage without resentment
🤱 Why your second child can sometimes heal the traumas of the first
💛 Why building your “village” might be the most important parenting skill of all
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:24 Welcome to Make It Work
03:12 Covering Headlines While Navigating Home Life
06:03 Motherhood Struggles No One Talks About
13:25 What Parenting Across 10 Countries Taught Me
26:13 Why Moms Get Stuck in the Cycle of Frustration
27:23 Marriage Isn’t 50/50 — So What Works Instead?
29:13 Is Modern Life Killing Our Sense of Community?
37:51 Working Mom or Just Mom? The Identity Tug-of-War
48:25 Why Parents Can’t Survive Without a Village
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Connect with Marina here:
👋 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinalopes1/
👋 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinalopesauthor/
👋Purchase Book ‘Please Yell At My Kids’: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/marina-lopes/please-yell-at-my-kids/9780306834417/?fbclid=PAT01DUANAssdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABp63kJM3AhmsWu96m7Y6kf4eAaOxsqIUe6gauPOSkRvyry4jrZLv_OVfU_rlV_aem_7Zz03NqkzG-UImCA6Y03pw
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💼LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/make-it-work-asia-podcast/
🎵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Make-It-Work/61566472637714/
🍏Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-work/id1701442085
🎵Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/78ulY0B27nYxGB6jPCABPI?si=abfc48d037d943be
📥Email: makeitwork.asia@gmail.com
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