Making most of commonground
NEW PODCAST SERIES EXPLORES MOTHERHOOD AND COMMUNITY
Musician turned podcast host Kate Gudinski wants guests to feel comfortable opening up on new podcast Talking in Common.
Hosted with lifelong friend Sophie Panton, Talking in Common is broadly about motherhood but aims to foster a community that shares experiences on everything from lifestyle to culture, family to relationships.
Launched at the end of last year, season one is rolling out episodes weekly, with season two launching next month.
This week chart topper Missy Higgins became their latest guest, discussing music and motherhood – and sharing intimate details about the birth of her first son, Sam, in 2015.
“I was in labour for 56 hours, and it was full-on labouring too, I was vomiting and in the most intense amount of pain,” Higgins told the podcast. “I’d read all the books about how (labour) can be this orgasmic, cosmic experience. When am I gonna feel euphoria? I just felt so bad. These are not babymaking hips!”
Gudinski, who had a successful music career under
the artist name Kate Alexa, has since moved behind the scenes working on music and film documentaries. After her second daughter, she and Panton – a designer and stylist who’d just had her first child – decided it was time to make the podcast they wish they’d had when they became mothers.
Season one features not only candid interviews with musicians Higgins, Clare Bowditch and Mahalia Barnes, but episodes on orgasmic childbirth and conscious conception to Panton discussing how she, her partner and her baby all tested positive to COVID-19.
One common theme is creativity and motherhood – the musicians talk about how they returned to their careers after becoming parents.
“It’s different for every individual,” Gudinski says. “Some people have a baby and they’re back to work in six weeks. Some people struggle to get their creativity back, they struggle to compartmentalise being at home, being present with their kids, and giving your brain that time to create as well.
“I definitely struggled with that when I became a mum. I thought nothing would change,
that I’d get back into writing songs straight away. That certainly didn’t happen, it took me a good 18 months to feel my creative juices flowing again. And that’s OK. It might take someone years, it might take someone else a week.
“There’s a lot of outside pressures on females in society today to get back in the workforce right away, but if you’re at home being a mum full-time that’s very hard work, and very rewarding work.”
Bowditch shares her experiences of a anxiety and p post-natal d depression a and how she d delivered her sons naturally, while Higgins is brutally honest about the stigma around epidurals.
For her second child, daughter Luna, she admits she felt the pressure – even within – to aim for a natural birth.
“The only thing that matters is you have a healthy baby, but there’s this crazy expectation that we should fight the pain of childbirth and do it drug -free,” Higgins told the podcast. “Whereas I wouldn’t hesitate to take painkillers in any other situation. I know so many people who’ve fallen into a deep depression after childbirth because it didn’t go to plan. If
something goes wrong it goes wrong, that’s not your fault.”
Talking in Common dives deep into such topics in a whole episode with midwife and author (and fellow podcast host) Cath Curtin on mothershaming.
“There’s always these questions: ’Did you have a natural birth? Is your baby having formula or breast milk?’,” Gudinski says.
“You should be feeling supported after having a baby.”
The inclusive mantra of the podcast extends to it being the first in Australia to have the whole season Auslan interpreted.
With the intimate nature of the topics, Gudinski admits she’s sharing more of her private life than ever.
“We want to create a community for people to be able to feel comfortable so that’s a choice. But it can be quite nerveracking.
“In an upcoming episode we talk about pregnancy loss; I share about my experience about having a miscarriage, which I found quite confronting to talk about. But it is very common and so many people don’t want to talk about it. That’s not healthy, you need to get things out there and move forward. So doing the podcast has almost been quite therapeutic for me.”
TALKING IN COMMON, AVAILABLE WHERE YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS
600ml thickened cream
315g (1 ½ cups) caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons coconut essence
½ pineapple, peeled, cored, chopped, plus extra, cut into wedges, to serve
METHOD
Combine the cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Use a balloon whisk to whisk over low heat until the sugar dissolves (don’t let the mixture boil). Stir in the coconut essence.
Transfer the cream mixture to a large bowl and set aside, stirring occasionally, until cooled slightly. Place in the fridge for 3 hours or until chilled.
Use electric beaters to beat the cream mixture until soft peaks form. Transfer to an airtight freezer-proof container and seal. Place in the freezer for 5 hours or until frozen.
Meanwhile, place the chopped pineapple in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and store in the fridge until required.
Place the cream mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 1.3mm star nozzle (see note). Pipe into serving glasses. Drizzle over the pureed pineapple, top with extra pineapple wedges and serve immediately.
Instead of piping, use a spoon to scoop the mixture into the serving glasses, if you prefer.