Bad Mothers Podcast

About Bad Mothers Podcast

Bad Mothers focuses on mother-daughter estrangement from the daughter's point of view, and whether these fractured relationships play a role in our decision to have children of our own. We'll also have a healthy dose of talk about abortion rights & maternal ambivalence. monicacardenas.substack.com (https://monicacardenas.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Monica Cardenas

Category

kids & family · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

17 Dec 2024

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

40 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Politics Meets Feminism

   A bonus episode, featuring Dick Polman of SUBJECT TO CHANGE. (https://dickpolman.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monicacardenas.substack.com/subscribe (https://monicacardenas.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   If Donna Berzatto was my mom

   This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit monicacardenas.substack.com (https://monicacardenas.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7) This essay is adapted from one I wrote for Substack March 2024 (https://monicacardenas.substack.com/p/in-praise-of-donna-berzatto) and another for Jenny Magazine (https://jennymag.com/2026/08/11/the-bear-torture-for-estranged-daughters/) in August 2026. If you follow me here or on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/monica_is_reading/), you know I’m a little obsessed with Donna Berzatto from the hit television show, THE BEAR. This essay explores why she is such an intriguing character to me, an estranged daughter. Some spoilers ahead. “I hate myself for saying this, but that show is very triggering for me,” I tell some of my sisters during a Sunday group call. We’re talking about The Bear. I don’t want to be one of those people who overuse the word “triggering,” but in this case it truly does apply. And not just for the chaotic restaurant kitchen scenes. But let’s start with those. By my informal polling, anyone who has worked in a restaurant will be overcome with a familiar panic when watching the first few episodes, where absolutely everything goes wrong in the kitchen of a beloved hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop in Chicago. The oldest four of us sisters worked in diners, bars and chain restaurants from the age of fourteen. Vanessa carried on until her mid-thirties. I finally gave it up after I paid off my credit card debt from my summer abroad, three long years after graduating from college. Gina bartended until she had her first kid, and Jess refused to return to Bob Evans the second she finished school. The camaraderie – but also the anxiety and exhaustion – portrayed on the hit show are not unfamiliar to us. If these were the only triggers on the show, I could probably bear it. But the other one is a lot more insidious. It’s Carmy’s mother, Donna. Played by Jamie Lee Curtis, she doesn’t actually appear until halfway through season two, for just two episodes. But her narcissism and neglect weighs on Carmy and his sister Natalie brilliantly from episode one. Carmy is a mess. His brother recently committed suicide, and he is plagued with something like PTSD, resulting from working for a head chef who appears to be the worst person in the world. Carmy is twitchy, smokes like a chimney, and avoids all emotional connection. Natalie is more well-adjusted, but that’s only because she’s the fixer. If you’re a fixer, you already know, you look like the one who has it together, but that’s only because you’re too busy helping everyone else to resolve their own demons. Natalie hassles Carmy to talk to her and begs him to go to AA. When he finally relents, her face is the picture of relief. She has saved one brother, for now. Until S2:E6, Donna Berzatto is invisible, but her impact is deafening. It makes me squirm. When she finally appears it’s almost a relief. This is the thing that is so deeply uncomfortable. This is why I relate to but despise these characters. They are me. That kind of dysfunction seeps into every part of your life. Sure, I know the misery and elation that’s possible working in a restaurant, but I also know what it’s like to have a mother who is there one minute, gone the next. Whose love is conditional, and the conditions are a mystery.

3. 

   26 Aug 2026

   Psychoanalyst Michaela Chamberlain on misogyny, motherhood & estrangement

   Michaela Chamberlain is the author of the new book, On Resisting Women, which examines how individuals become misogynists. She shows how unrecognised misogyny infiltrates everyday life, in both public and private, shaping how we think, feel, and speak. She explores the persistence of misogyny: how it is woven into the fabric of our culture, our institutions, and our psyches. In particular, I was interested to talk to Michaela about: * How or if it is possible to eradicate misogyny * How our conception of misogyny changes as we age * The rage women feel about living in a misogynistic society, and how that is sometimes misdiagnosed due to — you guessed it — misogyny * The expectations misogyny places on women and mothers in particular, and * If it may play a role in maternal estrangement. Michaela Chamberlain trained at The Bowlby Centre and studied in the Psychoanalysis Unit at UCL. Shortly after qualifying at The Bowlby Centre in 2016, she started teaching Freud and attachment theory and became chair of The Bowlby Centre. She worked as an honorary psychotherapist in two NHS trusts for several years. She has presented clinical papers at public forums, lectures internationally, and has been published in various journals. Her debut book, Misogyny in Psychoanalysis, was released in June 2022, which explores the historical and current context of misogyny in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. She is in private practice in London as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and is a supervisor and training therapist. Her book is available now from Karnac Books (https://www.karnacbooks.com/product/on-resisting-women/98440/) and is available everywhere books are sold. She’s on Instagram @michaelachamberlain_therapist (https://www.instagram.com/michaelachamberlain_therapist/). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit monicacardenas.substack.com/subscribe (https://monicacardenas.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

Who has been a guest on Bad Mothers Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Kate Muir
• Melissa Fraterrigo
• Dr Bridgette Petit
• Tam Stevens
• Dr Bridgette J Peteet

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 12 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

11

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Bad Mothers Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Bad Mothers Podcast