Episodes

  • On Keeping a Notebook, an essay by Joan Didion

    On Keeping a Notebook, an essay by Joan Didion
    Oct 18 2024
    In this essay, Michelle reads Joan Didion's reflections on the nature of keeping a notebook, exploring the compulsive urge to document thoughts and experiences. She delves into the complexities of memory, the subjective nature of reality, and the personal significance of her notes.


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    25 mins
  • Yes, They Are Still All Mine

    Yes, They Are Still All Mine
    Oct 1 2024
    Yes - they’re all mine.

    “Are they all yours??” I used to get this incredulous question often in the old days - or at least - my old days…you know…back in the 1990’s. I always wanted to answer something like, “No. This one I found by the side of the road and this one won’t leave us alone.” But I think that stuff is probably funnier in my head.

    My old days had me up at 3:30 am nursing whichever baby I had going then. I have been actively mothering for 32 years now. I have 8 kids and while I have never had all eight living under my roof at one time - Matt, the oldest, was 21 by the time Ani, the youngest, was born - I know what it is to corral four or five littles at a time into a fair, a store, any event anywhere actually. I know what it is to live with a teenager or two or three at a time while simultaneously changing diapers and wearing kids on my back.

    A woman I don’t know recently wrote an article in The New Yorker, I think, about women who are well-educated and who have a lot of kids. Basically, it was why would you do that. I haven’t gotten to read it yet, as it’s behind a paywall, but I found myself - sadly - lingering in the comments section on Facebook. Ugh. I know. But…well, I couldn’t help myself. And there it was. Breeders. Can’t believe people would do this to children. Do what, exactly? I wonder and always I had one or two or three and it was too much for me. So many people, so negative about having a lot of kids. Accusing us of having older kids parent the youngers. For what purpose, I’m not exactly sure. The Duggars did not do large families any service.

    Listen in...

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    20 mins
  • The Marginal World by Rachel Carson as read by Michelle Kennedy

    The Marginal World by Rachel Carson as read by Michelle Kennedy
    Sep 28 2024
    "I have seen hundreds of ghost crabs in other settings, but suddenly I was filled with the odd sensation that for the first time I knew the creature in its own world.”

    Rachel Carson brings us to the edge of the ocean and the space in between in this marvelous essay. It reminded me of my own times at the beach, in particular, my introduction to the ocean when I was very young.

    If you would like to contribute an essay, contribute a suggestion or a thought or whatever - please visit http://mishkennedy.com or email writermisha1313@gmail.com

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    24 mins
  • Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf

    Death of a Moth by Virginia Woolf
    Sep 26 2024
    I am back! Whether you like it or not. Back to the essay - an essay a day, every day - well, most of the time. One of my favorite writers is Virginia Woolf. Today we read her essay, Death of a Moth. I also ramble a bit in the beginning about some of the goings on around here this summer. Enjoy!

    -Mish

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    18 mins
  • Robert Benchley Gives Us Humor in the Garden - as a Spectator Sport.

    Robert Benchley Gives Us Humor in the Garden - as a Spectator Sport.
    Jun 21 2024
    Robert Benchley, James Thurber, Dorothy Parker, E.B. White. All names I associate with old school writing - but also breakthrough humor. I don't know that ascerbic wit was ever more prevalent than in NYC in the 1920's.

    Please enjoy, on this rainy Friday in Vermont, this essay by Robert Benchley. My recent outing to the Algonquin Hotel in New York made me feel right at home and I've been having a wonderful start to summer going through essays from that time. Here is one of my favorites. I've been spending a lot of time in the garden lately and I feel a lot like the guy who is doing the work in this particular scenario - but I aspire to be the guy over the fence!

    There are pics from our night at the Algonquin at mishkennedy.com. There is also a new section for the podcast - and we will be doing an episode by episode guide very soon.

    If you are interested in learning more about Robert Benchley, check out the Robert Benchley society at https://www.robertbenchley.org/sob/

    If you'd like to contribute a piece to Real Quick, please email it to us at writermisha1313@gmail.com.

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    11 mins
  • Mothers Who Sell - My life selling credit cards back to people who gave them up

    Mothers Who Sell - My life selling credit cards back to people who gave them up
    Jun 20 2024
    A little humor for a Thursday evening...Episode 15 is out!

    "I was God. I fixed it all. I rearranged payments. I moved around due dates. I promised to put notations in their file saying "don't call at 5 p.m." I didn't, but I promised I would.I racked up the most numbers sold on the hardest lists. I got three promotions in three months and a raise with each. I could strut with pride in my former bar as I ordered drinks and bragged about my newfound wealth and profession."

    Here is the link to the original published essay. The graphic is from 2001 and is kind of disturbing. Be warned!

    https://www.salon.com/2002/10/01/sales1/

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    13 mins
  • A Homemade Miscarriage and a Near Death Experience

    A Homemade Miscarriage and a Near Death Experience
    Jun 19 2024
    This is a tough topic for me to talk about but it is my own abortion story. I have had miscarriages before, including one where I lost a 20 week old baby that I wanted very much. But this occurred many years later when my body was no longer able to handle the stresses of pregnancy and another pregnancy almost cost me my life.

    More than this episode being about this strange part of my life - it's also about the fact that everyone has a story. Everyone comes to the party with a different bag of chips. Sometimes, it's really important to check out and try what people bring to the party so that you can understand that not everyone has the same tastes...or same experiences.

    Everyone has a story.

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    10 mins
  • Mothering Without a Net. An essay on being a homeless single mom.

    Mothering Without a Net. An essay on being a homeless single mom.
    Jun 18 2024
    This is the essay that really began my writing career and tells the foundational story of how became, I guess, who I am now and who I was then. Reading this essay again, after so long (It's been 23 years since I wrote it and 27 or so since I lived it) made me laugh in a few places. The prices are insane! $550 for an apartment?? 79 cents for marshmallows? A dollar for juice? Wow. But the other things ring true.

    There is a bit of an epilogue at the end of this essay. I do correct a few things that I was embarrassed about in the original telling. Had I known this story would go so far beyond this essay - heck, it was almost a movie - I would have been more honest, I think in that first effort. But it was a hard thing to admit at the time - or at least to put out publicly even though I have always known it was my fault that my daughter was so brutally hurt. While it was my ex who didn't supervise them, the dogs were mine. And I will bear that guilt forever.

    This essay and the book that followed, "Without a Net: Middle Class and Homeless (with kids) in America," published by Viking way back in 2005 but shockingly still in print - has been studied and discussed in college classrooms everywhere. I have traveled and spoke at hundreds of homelessness conferences and spoken to many homeless people at this point. What I do know is that it's not getting better.

    The National Alliance to End Homelessness has been at the forefront for so long, if you're interested, check them out at endhomelessness.org

    Anyway here's the link to the OG essay: https://www.salon.com/2001/08/28/homeless_mom/

    And I hope you enjoy this - the lucky 13th episode - of Real Quick.

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    15 mins