Modern motherhood is often a solo act performed in silence. But what if it wasn’t always meant to be this way?

In this episode, we journey back to the sacred spaces that once held us—the tents, porches, and kitchen tables where women gathered to mother together. We explore what happens when we lose those circles—and what it would take to rebuild them today.

From the power of a grandmother’s presence to the design flaws in our neighborhoods, we ask the question: What if motherhood wasn’t just about survival—but about communal strength?

Featured Topics:

• The loss (and revival) of communal motherhood
• Periods, plane rides, and why shame has no place in our stories
• A modern reimagining of The Red Tent
• The Grandmother Hypothesis and what science says about post-menopausal power
• The architectural design of loneliness—and how to redesign for connection

Key Voices:

• Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent, on how one verse in Genesis became a vision for sisterhood and sacred cycles. Watch the interview
• Evolutionary biologists, on why older women may be the secret to human survival. Why Grandparents Are the Key to Human Survival
• Dr. Emily Talen, urbanism professor at the University of Chicago, on the loss of third spaces and how neighborhood design impacts motherhood. Neighborhood as an Ideal: Is It Still Relevant?

Notable Quotes:

• "To be a mom is to bleed even more... our bodies bleed, but so do our hearts."
• "Maybe it’s time to grandmother each other again."
• "Loneliness isn’t a character flaw—it’s a design flaw. And we can redesign it."

💬 Feel like you’re mothering in isolation? You’re not alone—and you were never meant to do this alone. Episode 5 of Bloodline & Backbone dives into what we’ve lost in modern motherhood—and how to reclaim it. From red tents to front porches, from grandmas to zoning laws, this one’s a powerful call to rebuild what holds us. We're doing this work at The MomCo. Check it out: www.themom.co

🎧 Listen now and share it with someone who needs to be reminded: you don’t mother alone—you mother among.