In this special edition of The Personal Element, we rebroadcast an episode of Lesley University’s Why We Write podcast. Christine and Tavi talk about their writing lives as well as dig into Cindy House’s essay “Urgent Care” from her acclaimed memoir/essay collection Mother Noise. They are joined by host Georgia Sparling to dissect this fabulous essay on mothering and […]
Alice Bloch is a writer who has a great depth of knowledge about music, theater, and performance in general. She’s published two memoirs (and a novel) exploring her relationships with the women in her life, her own sexual awakening and her rich life experiences in the 1970s New York City gay scene. Alice contemplates a […]
Icelandic-American writer Margrét Ann Thors takes readers on a surprising ride from Reykjavík to Colorado through her imaginative translations. The essay, though beautiful and amusing, touches on such heavy subjects as abortion, mass shootings and serious medical conditions. Margrét deftly explores her feelings around perpetrators and zealots in relation to her pregnancy. In gorgeous language, […]
Scientist and writer Lauren Tanabe takes us through her anxiety-ridden world of early motherhood. Concerns that her child will be injured or fall ill push Lauren to isolate herself further, hoping to keep her daughter clear of germs and accidents. With clear self-analysis, she admits that her anxiety is not something she wants to pass […]
New Zealand essayist Kelly Eden discusses the larger questions in life as she skillfully weaves in her experiences with a chronic illness, contemplations regarding the movie Tick Tick Boom and the life of “Rent” creator Jonathan Larson, and a desire to make a mark in the world. Christine and Tavi contemplate their own relationships with […]
Rabbi Elliot Kukla writes about the importance of taking time to rest in his essay which was first published in the New York Times. With an ear to the pulse of a nation exhausted from natural disasters, mass shootings and the pandemic, Kukla prescribes a remedy of laziness and relaxation to heal our deepest wounds. […]
In his incredibly chilling and honest essay, “The Dark Month”, Christopher Collins explores his faith and belief after witnessing a boy’s senseless death during the war in Afghanistan. Brian O’Neil reads this essay that was first published in Creative Nonfiction. The essay is a bit longer than most of the pieces we choose, but we […]
Based on the Beck song, “Que Onda Guero”, Kelly Shire’s musical essay (first published in Memoir Mixtapes) explores a young girl’s search for identity while working in a warehouse. Surrounded by men who have hired her because they thought she was white (not half-Mexican) and thought she would “class up the place”, she handles herself […]
First published in Hippocampus Magazine, Brooke Knisley’s essay helps put in perspective what failure means, what success means. After her fall from a redwood tree, she must learn to write and speak again. Brooke brings listeners into an intimate moment of starting over. In this episode we discuss how Brooke is able to keep a […]
This episode on The Personal Element, we take a little different tack. We’re talking about two essays this time by writer Ellen Birkett Morris, author of the gorgeous story collection Lost Girls. The Nine, published in The Fem, addresses trauma over childhood medical issues, expertly weaving in the nursery rhyme Monday’s Child. And the deeply […]