ParentData Presents: The Lonely Palette's "Mary Kelly's Postpartum Document (1973-78)"

ParentData with Emily Oster

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., and after a fall – and a year – of divisiveness, could all use a holiday in which Americans are united in the task of consuming too much pie. More broadly, this holiday, more than really any other, is something Americans tend to do together. And so is parenting. Especially the beginning. The experience of having a newborn – the sleeplessness, the disconnection from reality, the wonder….it feels magical and unique, and yet also like a line connecting us to billions of people through the past.

Today on ParentData, we're featuring an episode from another podcast, The Lonely Palette, that addresses this contradiction and the many others that just go hand-in-hand with parenting. It’s made by our producer Tamar Avishai; before she came to ParentData, she created this independent art history podcast, and this episode, about a 1970s feminist artist named Mary Kelly, felt perfect for the ParentData audience. Kelly meticulously tracked every data point from her son’s birth until age five (diaper stains, scribbles, first babbles, etc.) as a way of both coping with the lack of control mothers feel, and, just maybe, to try to hold on to something so fleeting.

This episode combines Tamar's love of art history, Emily's love of data, and their shared love of parenting. Enjoy, preferably over another slice of pie.

• See the images discussed in the episode.
• Subscribe to The Lonely Palette

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