--- --- Jul 23, 2025 # The Longest Shortest Time On raising humans by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/) ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent  **_Society_** After a five-year hiatus, the parenting podcast hosted by _This American Life_ contributor and author Hillary Frank returned in 2025\. The archives, spanning 2010 to 2019, delve into essential topics like whether to get [genetic testing before having a baby](https://open.spotify.com/episode/74waEztdQHPeHR96NNbRgA?si=8a6092713e214545 "undefined") and interview listeners for some fantastic tales like the twisty series on “[The Accidental Gay Parents](https://longestshortesttime.com/podcast-60-accidental-gay-parents/ "undefined").” But a lot has changed in Frank’s life and the world of parenting since the show took a break. Frank started the podcast because of her disappointment with her own birth experience, which ended in a three-year-long painful recovery (as outlined in the moving episode “[Rewriting Your Birth Story](https://longestshortesttime.com/podcast27-rewriting-your-birth-story/ "undefined")”). Now her daughter is a teen, and in her first episode back, Frank [interviews her child](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4si9H6M6IL1HDWmCesV3vC?si=7842480ef1344ae3 "undefined") about what she’s learning in sex ed. (Spoiler alert: the curriculum is frustratingly focused on anatomy rather than on consent.) Frank says she wants to shine a light on reproductive health in the show’s new iteration and tell stories that have to do with attacks on bodily autonomy, how technology is changing how babies are made, how we talk to kids about sex, and new research on periods and menopause. In early episodes, New York _Times_ writer Amanda Hess expounds on [her complicated relationship with period and pregnancy apps](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vm0lIutUwFSI3LcwXoPYx?si=083ffe42b85c429b "undefined"); YouTuber and avid pilot Xyla Foxlin talks about [her battle with the FAA over her birth control](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0djQW0estfq7gxy2jtIVUi?si=fd425bf1c67544c4 "undefined"); and Sara Reardon, known online as [the Vagina Whisperer](https://time.com/6318265/vagina-whisperer-sara-reardon-pelvic-floor-therapy/ "undefined"), [answers listener questions](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Nlmd8HXLy36ZnaWfLkx3E?si=62977ea67e3440ab "undefined") about the pelvic floor. All the new episodes elucidate supposedly taboo topics, from receiving bad news on an ultrasound to how our mental health is impacted by hormonal birth control to healing after childbirth, with personal and thoughtful stories. 'The Longest Shortest Time': 100 Best Podcasts ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303090/the-longest-shortest-time/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303090/the-longest-shortest-time/"},"headline":"The Longest Shortest Time","datePublished":"2025-07-23T11:16:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:52:21.459Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303090/the-longest-shortest-time/","keywords":["podcasts","list","Podcast","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e24d3eafdb1ee7/6998c8801500fb0e82aa6761/Best-Podcasts-2025-The-Longest-Shortest-Time-051.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"creator":"Eliana Dockterman","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6e24d3eafdb1ee7/6998c8801500fb0e82aa6761/Best-Podcasts-2025-The-Longest-Shortest-Time-051.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/podcasts/","name":"podcasts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-podcasts/7303090/the-longest-shortest-time/","name":"The Longest Shortest Time"}}]}] ```