In Rachel Zemach's essay, first published in Huffpost, we learn that for a deaf person, being able to speak is not superior to communicating in ASL (American Sign Language). Rachel lost her hearing as a ten-year-old girl and as a result, ...

 In this exquisitely poetic essay, first published in The Diagram and republished in Creative Nonfiction, Diana Xin takes our listeners back to her grandmother's rural village where she boils water for drinking and hangs her laundry on the...

Not everyone has an amazing relationship with their parents. Not every parent is a person we feel proud to be related to, to be "of". In some cases, we are simply just different people. Or maybe the problems run deeper, into past actions or bel...

In this special edition of The Personal Element, we rebroadcast an episode of Lesley University's Why We Write podcast. Christine and Tavi talk about their writing lives as well as dig into Cindy House's essay "Urgent Care" from her ac...

Alice block is a writer who has a great depth of knowledge about music, theater, and performance in general. She's published two memoirs (and a novel) exploring her relationships with the women in her life, her own sexual awakening and her rich...

Icelandic-American writer Margrét Ann Thors takes readers on a surprising ride from Reykjavík to Colorado through her imaginative translations. The essay, though beautiful and amusing, touches on such heavy subjects as abortion, mass shootings ...

Scientist and writer Lauren Tanabe takes us through her anxiety-ridden world of early motherhood. Concerns that her child will be injured or fall ill push Lauren to isolate herself further, hoping to keep her daughter clear of germs and acciden...

Essayist Kelly Eden discusses the larger questions in life as she skillfully weaves in her experiences with a chronical illness, contemplations regarding the movie Tick Tick Boom and the life of "Rent" creator Jonathan Larson, and a desire to m...

Rabbi Elliot Kukla writes about the importance of taking time to rest in his essay which was first published in the New York Times.  With an ear to the pulse of a nation exhausted from natural disasters  mass shootings and the pandemi...

 In his incredibly chilling and honest essay, “The Dark Month”, Christopher Collins explores his faith and belief after witnessing a boy's senseless death during the war in Afghanistan.  Brian O'Neil reads this essay that was first pu...

Based on the Beck song, "Que Onda Guero", Kelly Shire's musical essay (first published in Memoir Mixtapes) explores a young girl's search for identity while working in a warehouse. Surrounded by men who have hired her because they thought she w...

First published in Hippocampus Magazine, Brooke Knisley’s essay helps put in perspective what failure means, what success means. After her fall from a redwood tree, she must learn to write and speak again. Brooke pulls listeners into an intimat...

 This episode on The Personal Element, we take a little different tack. We're talking about two essays this time by writer Ellen Birkett Morris, author of the gorgeous story collection Lost Girls. The Nine, published ...

 Mikhal Weiner writes beautifully--musically--about falling in love for the first time. Join us as we discuss her essay "Barefoot Angels", which first appeared in An Injustice!.  Mikhal transports us from Tel Aviv, where she ...

 School shootings are far too common in the US. In the wake of yet another shooting, this time at Oxford High School in Michigan, students and educators try to find a way to feel safe. With grace and aplomb, Megan Doney writes about living...

In this episode, Tavi and Christine discuss Cindy DiTiberio's essay, If You're Not Sure If Your Marriage Will Survive the Pandemic, You're Not Alone, first published in Sc...

In this episode, Josh Kozelj writes about how hard it has been for him to open up to his male friends about his feelings. Josh brings in research from acclaimed researchers to ponder why men have a hard time making themselves vulnerable. Origin...

Come listen to our new podcast, The Personal Element, where writers Christine Junge and Tavi Taylor Black listen to essays they love and talk about what makes them so great. 

In this episode of the podcast, Casey Mulligan reads her heartbreaking and poignant essay, A How To for Desperate Times which was first published in Barren Magazine. Its subjects are parenting, adolescence and young adulthood, decision making, ...

In this episode, Personal Element co-host Christine Junge reads her essay about taking control of her body image, which was first published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. It touches on themes of body hatred, body acceptance, weight, and eating d...

In this episode of the Personal Element podcast, Jeanne Bonner reads her essay about recording her child's voice, which was originally published in the New York Times. The essay touches on themes of motherhood, the ephemeral nature of childhood...