What we’re into
ART & CULTURE
PODCAST REVIEW The Rare Life Podcast The Rare Life Podcast was launched on the 29th May 2020, a date chosen because it was also the second birthday of Kimball, the son of the podcast creator and host Madeline Cheney. As the mother of two children, it was the birth of her son that unexpectedly changed everything and set Madeline and her family on their rare journey.
Photograph by Huey Ann Photo. Design by Lorie Ann Warr. Visit the Rare Life website
The podcast is now into its eighth season, with over 139 episodes aired to date, and deals with a huge range of topics relevant to the world of rare medical conditions. The episodes often include guest speakers, who bring their own experiences, insights or professional knowledge and offer interesting perspectives on the topics at hand. Whilst the podcast is an American one, and some of the more specific details about medical care might not apply to those living elsewhere, the experiences and voices still resonate. It is, to borrow Madeline’s words directly, “a podcast that supports and loves parents of kiddos with rare diagnoses and conditions… We talk about the hard stuff, which is actually so uplifting, and validating.” If you’ve not yet listened to any of the Rare Life podcasts, we highly recommend that you do! You might laugh and cry, and you will almost certainly find stories that echo your life and your experiences, which can be so important for those in the rare community to help us feel seen and heard.
BOOK REVIEW Twelve Moons: A Year Under a Shared Sky by Caro Giles Following the lunar calendar this beautiful and moving book tracks the ever-present guiding moon over the course of a year. Written as a memoir, Twelve Moons introduces us to the lives of Caro and her four daughters: The Mermaid, The Whirlwind, The Caulbearer and The Littlest One. Set in Northumberland their stories are told against the backdrop of their surrounding landscape, of the wild peaks and hills, of windswept beaches, of the surging sea, but also against the domesticity of a family home overlooking rooftops, a small
