Much of the magic behind the scenes of Outlawed can be attributed to our producer/creative genius - Jane Marie. A little bit of luck brought us together and she brings you a show that makes the topic of abortion a little more approachable and helps us sound like we know what we’re doing. Consider this essay an official Jane appreciation post!
Photograph by Jane Houle
Before Outlawed, Jane had been making podcasts for over a decade. She got her start at This American Life (one of my personal favorite storytelling shows). I’ve been listening to TAL since I was a Peace Corps volunteer back in the late 90s. One of our fellow PCV’s had a friend who would record TAL episodes on cassette tapes and we would share them whenever we would meet up. If you haven’t heard the squirrel cop segment - stop what you’re doing and go listen!
Related to our show the TAL Episode that came out after Dobbs - “The Pink House at the Center of the World” is some outstanding abortion storytelling/reporting: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/774/the-pink-house-at-the-center-of-the-world
This week’s episode is from Jane’s show The Dream - a show that “focuses on the “American Dream” and the assholes that make it infinitely harder to achieve.” The first season of The Dream told the story of multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs) and the winners and losers of such pyramid schemes. She wrote a fantastic book from this work, that is now out in paperback - Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans. Check it out!
Here are some of my recent favorite health-related episodes from The Dream:
But seriously, the entire show is outstanding, and you should check it out!
Today, we’ll hear an episode of the Dream called “Babies not having babies” - a warning. This interview is heavy. Jane talks with former anti-abortion influencer, Charlotte Isenberg about a recent experience that is a cautionary tale for what people seeking care could face in this post-Dobbs world.
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