Mother is a Question Mother is a Question

Katherine is a farmer.  She always thought of herself as in control, someone who could plan for any situation.  But when her son died after birth, that old her died too.  "The world" she says, "is out of control, and any type of control that I experience is a figment of my imagination."  But the river keeps flowing, the birds keep singing, and the garlic still needs to be harvested. How can it all exist at the same time?  Here's her story.Mother is a Question is created by Julia Metzger-Traber and Natasha Haverty. Our editor is Rob Rosenthal.Original Music by Raky Sastri and Julia ReadExecutive Producer: Genevieve SponslerManager of The Big Questions Project: Courtney FleurantinCoordinating Producer: Emmanuel DesarmePost-Production: Sandra Lopez-MonsalveArt by Richard Gray

We pick up with the story of Anne, a day after she told her kids that she was so unhappy, so lost that to figure things out, she had to get on a plane and put five thousand miles between herself and her life.

Mother is a Question is created by Natasha Haverty and Julia Metzger-Traber. Our editor is Rob Rosenthal.

Original Music by Raky Sastri and Julia Read

Manager of The Big Questions Project: Courtney Fleurantin

Coordinating Producer: Emmanuel Desarme

Post-Production: Sandra Lopez-Monsalve

Executive Producer: Genevieve Sponsler

We open our season with a story that came to us through a listener.

“Can you imagine leaving your child?” Anne asks, “No, of course not. Because none of us do. Nor did I, until four days before I did it.” Here’s Part 1 of her story.

Mother is a Question is created by Natasha Haverty and Julia Metzger-Traber. Our editor is Rob Rosenthal.

Executive Producer: Genevieve Sponsler

Manager of The Big Questions Project: Courtney Fleurantin

Coordinating Producer: Emmanuel Desarme

Post-Production: Sandra Lopez-Monsalve

Original Music by Raky Sastri and Julia Read

Being a mother is a portal into the core of human existence. Join us as we hold a microphone up to that portal and listen for the unanswerable, the unspeakable, the mysterious, the awe-some and the kaleidoscopically different realities of mothers.

Yeye just crossed the threshold into motherhood. And she thinks what she learned during her crossing—when she gave birth—might be the key into the kind of motherhood in which she could be her truest, fullest self. But she’s also still asking questions. “Can you explain to me how we ended up in that situation? Wait, can you say that again? Was it really necessary, or am I another Latina statistic that ended up in this situation?” Join us for our season finale, and be part of crafting the coming season of Mother is a Question.

As the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter, Nicole always knew her life didn’t begin and end with her. But when she became a mother, she gained new awareness of how mothering reaches not only into the past—but also into the future. Join us as Julia speaks with artists Nicole and Richael about how being connected to “deep time” shapes how they mother.