Mothering Heights
Mothering Heights is a podcast dedicated to the conversations around motherhood, creativity, and building community. Hosted by actor, director, producer, dancer, and community builder Leonora Pitts, Mothering Heights seeks to discover how to remain a creative human while raising creative humans, and how to build a community to support those goals. Every week, we will host a funny, inspiring, creative mama who will share their triumphs and follies.
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Eve Sturges
05/24/2024
Eve Sturges
This week, it’s a true delight and honor to welcome writer, therapist, and host of the Everything’s Relative podcast, Eve Sturges, to Mothering Heights! Eve’s writing has been called “incisive, funny, and deeply sensitive” by no less than the great Jill Filopovic, and her podcast explores what happens after the discovery of surprising DNA results. She also discusses her own experience of a surprise DNA test, with her patented mix of deep wisdom, compassion, and humor. Please listen to Everything’s Relative wherever you get your podcasts, and please check out all of Eve’s amazingness here: As always, thank you for listening!! Please leave a review and a share with everyone you know.
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Marta Cunningham
05/10/2024
Marta Cunningham
This week, we are thrilled to welcome filmmaker Marta Cunningham to Mothering Heights! Nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Marta Cunningham is a queer filmmaker of color. A native of Northern California, she was so moved by the story of Lawrence King’s tragic murder in 2008 that she embedded herself in the beachside city of Oxnard, CA, and soon began filming those whose lives were touched by the tragedy. The result was “Valentine Road”, a feature length documentary that competed in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and sold to HBO for an October 2013 release. “Valentine Road” has traveled to over two hundred festivals, accruing thirteen awards. Marta recently directed and co-executive produced the pilot and second episode of the AMC limited series 61st STREET. She was nominated for an Image Award in 2023 for her directing. She also executive produced and directed all six episodes of CHIVALRY for Channel 4 in the UK, which was created and starred Sarah Solemani and Steve Coogan. Its recently been sold to the US market and will be available on the new platform The Network in 2024. Additional series directing credits include INSECURE, ROOM 104, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and TRANSPARENT. She is currently working on the Amazon hit series WHEEL OF TIME.
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Alison Bennett
04/19/2024
Alison Bennett
We are so lucky and so thrilled to welcome Alison Bennett to Mothering Heights! Alison is a writer and producer and has written on shows like (Leonora’s fave) You’re the Worst and the Emmy-nominated Doogie Kamealoha, MD. We dive into the real nitty gritty of launching a successful writing career here, as well as how to navigate ooky situations with friends, how we raise siblings - one of us is an only child and one is not and we discuss how different our experiences are, and so much more. This is a hilarious episode full of lots of laughs and lots of wisdom. To learn more about Alison, please visit . Thank you in advance for sharing and loving Mothering Heights! You’re doing a great job.
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Nicole Riviere
04/05/2024
Nicole Riviere
What a genuine thrill to welcome dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, and educator Nicole Riviere to Mothering Heights! Nicole has danced on shows like America’s Got Talent and for artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Peaches, and Elvis Costello. She has a combined 30 years of experience teaching yoga and dance, and she is a filmmaker who directs music videos and her own piece - Woman, Mother, Sister, Friend, currently in post-production. This episode is so special - Leonora and Nicole discuss coming back to your great love after a spell away (in our cases: dance), grief and mourning, and advocating for yourself. It’s a beautiful episode with a beautiful human being. Also, everyone’s favorite: Leonora gets regretfully vulnerable in the opening! Whoops! Please check out Nicole’s work at , don’t forget to review and share this podcast, and remember: you’re doing a great job.
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Busy Philipps
03/22/2024
Busy Philipps
What an absolute thrill to welcome actress, writer, ceramicist, and podcast queen Busy Philipps to Mothering Heights! Busy and Leonora are old old friends (youthful YOUTHFUL old friends) and we are so happy to be celebrating Busy’s many wins this springtime. We talk about this season of Girls 5Eva dropping on Netflix, the re-boot of her wonderful late night talk show (with producer and episode 57 guest) Caissie St. Onge, Busy This Week, coming in May to QVC+, how we raise daughters, how we reset when things are tough, and so much more. This episode is a joy, just like being friends with Busy is a joy. Please check out Girls 5Eva streaming on Netflix now, keep an eye out for Busy This Week coming soon, and keep up with Busy on her IG at and subscribe to her and Caissie’s podcast, Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best, at - you’re doing a great job!!
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Emily Alpren
03/15/2024
Emily Alpren
This week, we are so grateful to welcome actor, writer, director, filmmaker, and Fitzmaurice Voicework professor, Emily Alpren to Mothering Heights! Emily is a super-smarty-pants and creator, and we discuss experimental theater, remaining creative when motherhood is overwhelming, and how her work as a voice professor at USC informs her work as a director. Incredible stuff. Please read more about Emily here, and don’t forget to share and leave us a review! You’re doing a great job! https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/emily-alpren/
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Anne Gregory
03/08/2024
Anne Gregory
This week, we are thrilled to welcome actress, writer, improviser, and all-around hilarious and silly person Anne Gregory to the podcast! Anne has had a really interesting career, from her and Rebekka Johnson’s triumphant run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to owning the Lyric Hyperion Theater, doing about a thousand commercials, being a cast member of Punk’d (!!) and even teaching host Leonora Pitts’s son Murphy improv! This is a wonderful episode if you love to laugh. And bonus for long-time listeners: Leonora cries!
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Beatriz Sequeira
03/01/2024
Beatriz Sequeira
This week, we thrillingly welcome big shot movie producer Beatriz Sequeira to Mothering Heights! Calling in from the pre-production set of her next film with Blumhouse Productions, Wolfman, Bea gives us the skinny on producing films like Get Out, Us, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and The Invisible Man, how she and her DP husband, Lyn Moncrief, balance their careers with parenthood, and why women and especially mothers make such incredible producers. Bea is a true powerhouse, and this episode is as dynamic and wise as she is. Please visit Blumhouse to see all the goodies coming out: And please remember to like and share this episode! Tell all your friends or one of the villains from a Blumhouse movie will come get you?
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Terryn Westbrook
02/23/2024
Terryn Westbrook
This week we are honored and excited to welcome actress and writer and educator Terryn Westbrook to Mothering Heights! Terryn has been working in the biz for twenty-five years, and in our conversation we discuss what it was like to work with David Lynch (again and again) and how she got the gig (great story), what it was like to work with Christopher Guest (again and again), and I bet you can’t even hear the envy in Leonora’s heart. Truly, this episode is rife with great anecdotes and advice and wisdom, and Terryn’s humor and warmth shine through. Thank you to all who’ve tuned in! Please share and rate and review and follow the show! Check out Terryn at the links below:
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Rebekka Johnson
02/16/2024
Rebekka Johnson
What a true treat and honor to have the hilarious actor, improvisor, director, and writer Rebekka Johnson on Mothering Heights! On this episode, we talk about how she came to direct her first feature, Step Aside, starring Arden Myrin and Tara Copeland, her brilliant new podcast with the equally funny and warm Anne Gregory, Non Drinking Buddies, her important and long-standing collaborative friendships, and how much Advil it really took to get through those wrestling scenes on G.L.O.W. Plus: Leonora promises a return to weekly episodes as soon as she can get her act together with regards to grad school. Please be sure to check out all of Rebekka’s amazing work at all the links below! Rebekka’s website: Step Aside on Amazon Prime: Non Drinking Buddies:
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Leonora on small joys and systems
02/02/2024
Leonora on small joys and systems
This week, Leonora hosts herself for a quick discussion on small joys and systems that make life a little easier. Thank you for tuning in and sharing and leaving a review: you’re doing a great job.
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Kate Anthony returns!
01/19/2024
Kate Anthony returns!
In our first ever return-engagement, we welcome Kate Anthony back to Mothering Heights. Kate is celebrating the release of her highly anticipated book, The D Word: Making the Ultimate Decision About Your Marriage. Kate is so many things to so many people: a divorce coach, a community builder and leader, an advocate, a sage. We dive right into the hard and fun and complicated world of marriage and divorce, narcissists, toxic masculinity, and sisterhood. We also invent a word that we really hope catches on! Kate is incredible, and this conversation is unsurprisingly fantastic. To order Kate’s book, please visit the link below. You can read there how to order the book without your spouse finding out, if that is a consideration for you. You can also explore the site to find all the ways you can connect with Kate yourself! You’re doing a great job.
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Rachel Cole
12/22/2023
Rachel Cole
This week we are so thrilled and honor to welcome the Executive Producer and Chief Creative Officer of the Try Guys and 2nd Try Productions, Rachel Cole, to Mothering Heights! Rachel is a true example of a powerhouse creative, and is a real survivor to boot. In this episode we discuss her pageant life (Miss Vermont!!), her journey through a difficult cancer diagnosis in her 20s to being a mother of twins, and the path that led her to this incredible career with the wonderful Try Guys! Rachel is a director and creative, best known for her work in the digital space. She started her entertainment career in television, working on multiple seasons of Portlandia and piloting shows for FX. She went on to produce commercials, music videos, and branded content before launching 2nd Try in 2018 with The Try Guys. In the five years since, Rachel has lead the company through exponential growth and presently serves as Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer - developing and producing all content for one of the foremost creators on YouTube. You can check out Rachel’s terrific work with the Try Guys on their YouTube channel, along with their 8 million followers here: , and watch Leonora’s episode coaching the guys on their Shakespeare work here: A
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Jasmine Albuquerque
12/15/2023
Jasmine Albuquerque
This week, we are deeply honored to chat with dancer, dance teacher, choreographer, and artist, Jasmine Albuquerque. Jasmine has worked with towering figures such as Joey Solloway, Ryan Heffington, Mike Mills, and Beck, and in spaces like the Hammer, the MOCA, and the LACMA. In 2022, Jasmine and her mother, the legendary and iconic artist Lita Albuquerque, exhibited their collaborative film, Liquid Light, at the Venice Biennale. This is an extraordinary conversation with an extraordinary artist, in which Leonora and Jasmine discuss their relationship to dance and their own bodies, Jasmine’s unique and freedom-filled childhood in the mountains, and what it’s like to be a daughter who becomes a mother. Beautiful stuff. To learn more about Jasmine, please visit and remember: you’re doing a GREAT job.
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Sydney Cutler Abich
12/08/2023
Sydney Cutler Abich
This week, we are truly honored to be joined by Yoga Nidra guide and healer, Sydney Cutler Abich! Sydney and Leonora have been in mom-community for eons, and we are so grateful she’s here to share her deep and hard-won wisdom. Sydney has a masters degree in social work and worked for years as a medical social worker. After her own health took a turn, she discovered the layered and deep benefits of Yoga Nidra meditation, and became certified, completing a 200-hour certification with Yogala and and further 100-hour certification in the Bihar Tradition with Hilary Jackendoff. In this conversation, we dive deep on REST and how hard it is to invite restoration when we are pouring so much of ourselves into our families. We also discuss Sydney’s life as a kitchen witch! Beautiful wisdom herein. To learn more about Sydney, including how to connect with her for your own deepest possible rest, please visit and remember: you’re doing a GREAT job.
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Kate Spencer
12/01/2023
Kate Spencer
It’s a real honor to welcome writer, novelist, memoirist, and the host of the Forever 35 podcast, Kate Spencer to Mothering Heights! Kate and Leonora discuss being ADHD moms, what it’s like raising teenagers and being the elder stateswomen/crones/RBGs of their mom community, Leonora tells a WILD story of going to the opening of Kate’s husband’s Broadway show Gutenberg, grief, and of course: SKINCARE. Kate and Doree Shafrir’s podcast Forever 35 is an essential listen. Check it out anywhere you get your podcasts. Her memoir, The Dead Moms Club, and her novel In a New York Minute, are available everywhere. Thank you as always for listening! Please follow, recommend, tell everyone you know about Mothering Heights and remember: you’re doing a great job.
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Caissie St. Onge
11/17/2023
Caissie St. Onge
What a true honor to have writer, comedy legend, and the co-host of the Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best Podcast, Caissie St. Onge, to the show! Leonora followed Caissie for years online, learning how to be funny and compassionate all at once, and it still feels amazing that they’ve become IRL friends. In this episode, we get the dirt on how Caissie and her husband managed to raise two truly exceptional young men, how she got her start with David Letterman, what it was like to work for Rosie O’Donnell, and much much more. Thank you for listening! Please remember to follow the show and leave us a review. And remember: you’re doing a great job.
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Terrie Samundra
11/10/2023
Terrie Samundra
This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome writer-director-creative Terrie Samundra to Mothering Heights! Terrie’s debut feature, Kaali Khuhi, a Netflix Orginal Film, premiered in 2020, and she has participated in just about every Sundance Lab that’s out there. In this episode, we discuss how she’s paying forward all her experiences in the various filmmaking labs, her daily creative routine, how GenX is raising our kids, and what it’s like to have been a mama for 28 years (she was a very very young mother!). To find out much, much more about this incredible filmmaker, please visit and remember: you’re doing a great job.
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Jennifer Seifert
11/03/2023
Jennifer Seifert
Finally, after about two dozen loving mentions on this podcast, we are joined by actress, storyteller, and MFT Jennifer Seifert! Jen has weathered chronic illness and pain and come out the other side, and now utilizes her own healing experiences with creativity as a licensed marriage and family therapist. We discuss her and my different grad school experiences, how we’ve both benefited from her world-famous Artist’s Way workshops, and what she’s planning next with her vast community. Thank you for listening! Please be sure to share with everyone you know, follow us, give us a rating and a review, it really helps. To learn more about Jennifer, please visit and And don’t forget: you’re doing a great job. Books mentioned in this episode:
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Samara Bay Revisited
10/20/2023
Samara Bay Revisited
This week, we are revisiting a classic episode with author and coach Samara Bay. Samara’s book, Permission to Speak, has been redefining what power sounds like since its release in February 2023. This conversation with Samara sparked so many messages of WOW when we first aired it, and I’m excited for you all to listen again - or for the first time - now that Samara has been featured on NBC News, CBS News, the New York Times Magazine, Slate, Town&Country, Vulture, and in conversation with Deepak Chopra! You can (and should) get Samara’s book anywhere you buy books, and you can follow her on Instagram at @samarabay or at her website ! And remember: you’re doing a great job.
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Pamela Clare Wylie Samuelson
10/13/2023
Pamela Clare Wylie Samuelson
This week, Leonora is honored to host educator, sexual health and wellness expert, somatic bodyworker, healer, and coach Pamela Clare Wylie Samuelson (she/they) to Mothering Heights. Pamela found her way into this incredibly rich and rewarding career space through her earlier life as a dancer and aerialist, through injury, into healing. She now brings her deep and intuitive understanding of physiology and consciousness into her work, while inviting everyone with a body to find agency and a clear path to healing. We get into it! Sexy stuff! You can find out more about all of Pamela’s important work at her website: And find all that plus some of the best memes on the internet at her Instagram: For our regular listeners, we are working toward finding the best way to bring you the weekly new episodes you are used to and we appreciate your grace and patience!
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Lisa Rodriguez
09/15/2023
Lisa Rodriguez
This week we are thrilled to welcome actor, voice artist, and host of the Making it After 40 podcast, Lisa Rodriguez! The two of us reference each other’s podcast all the time, so it only makes sense that we’d share this great interview, which we did for Lisa’s one year anniversary. In this inspiring episode, we talk about how to trust that you are enough, trusting our intuition, navigating and healing from co-dependecy, and embracing our goofiness! Be sure to follow Lisa’s podcast Making After 40, and then leave us BOTH a review, and then never forget: you’re doing a great job.
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Lauren Aboulafia
09/08/2023
Lauren Aboulafia
This week, what a treat to have actress, writer, filmmaker, all around creative Lauren Aboulafia to Mothering Heights! Lauren and Leonora discuss meeting and creating in an Artist’s Way workshop years ago, transcending the natural tendency toward guilt in motherhood, maternal mental health, and how to turn trauma into art (CW brief mention of traumatic birth). Lauren is so smart, and so inspiring. And hey: you’re doing a great job!
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Ghosts, Neurodiversity, and Trauma, oh my! With Emily from the Residuals Podcast
09/01/2023
Ghosts, Neurodiversity, and Trauma, oh my! With Emily from the Residuals Podcast
Thank you for your patience as we took a little summer hiatus! This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome Emily from the Residuals Podcast to Mothering Heights. Emily is a producer, a mama, an advocate, and a lover of all things spooky. Our conversation is wide-ranging, compassionate, inspiring, and really, really fun. Be sure to listen to Emily and Joy’s spoooooky podcast The Residuals (look for Leonora’s ep for some great true ghost stories), and don’t forget: you’re doing a great job.
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Kate Anthony
07/14/2023
Kate Anthony
This week, Leonora is thrilled to welcome Kate (the Great) Anthony to the podcast. Kate is the host of the wildly popular The Divorce Survival Guide podcast, and has carved out a thriving career as a coach, podcaster, and the leader of a thriving online community of women. In this conversation, we talk about her extraordinary upbringing in NYC in the 1970’s (SHE WAS ON SESAME STREET YOU GUYS), being the daughter of theater folk, moving away from a successful acting career, and finding her way out of abuse and into peace. Fantastic conversation. Please visit for the most wisdom in one place on the internet, including links to her podcast.
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Aja Volkman
07/07/2023
Aja Volkman
This week, Leonora is absolutely honored to welcome Aja Volkman to Mothering Heights. Aja is a singer, songwriter, mama of FOUR children, a survivor, and artist in all senses. We discuss walking through a fire (in Aja’s case, a very public fire) and using those experiences as fuel for our creativity, how we connect to the muse, and where she finds inspiration. Aja is a treasure and a pure heart and has weathered so much, all with grace. A great conversation. You can follow Aja’s adventures on her Instagram at and follow her band Nico Vega on Spotify at / - new songs coming soon!!
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Ike Barinholtz
07/01/2023
Ike Barinholtz
What a treat to have actor, writer, director, and big funny guy Ike Barinholtz on this week’s Mothering Heights. Our last week of Dad’s Month! You all know Ike from The Mindy Project, Blockers, Neighbors, White House Plumbers, History of the World Part II, and his new film, Maximum Truth, written by Ike and Dave Stassen, and directed by Dave. These two old friends discuss how his passion for politics influences his work, their mutual love of cooking, and Ike’s terrifying prognostications of the future. Mostly though, there’s lots of laughing. Check out Maximum Fun in theaters and On Demand at home RIGHT NOW!
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Jay Duplass
06/23/2023
Jay Duplass
It’s a true honor and treat to have filmmaker, actor, and true mensch Jay Duplass on this week’s Mothering Heights. As an actor, you’ve seen Jay in the iconic series Transparent, The Chair, and Industry. As a filmmaker, he and his brother Mark redefined independent cinema with films like Jeff, Who Lives at Home, Cyrus, and The Puffy Chair and have fostered beautiful series like HBO’s Togetherness and Somebody, Somewhere. Jay and Leonora talk about Jay’s prolific writing and how anxious he is to get back to directing, his generous and generative advice-giving, getting old, and what we see of ourselves in our kids. Check out all of Jay’s movies and series everywhere you can, and buy the book he and his brother Mark wrote, Like Brothers, anywhere you buy books!
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Charlie Day
06/16/2023
Charlie Day
This week, Leonora is totally thrilled to welcome actor, writer, director, and her children’s beloved godfather, Charlie Day to Mothering Heights! Charlie (along with co-creators Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton) created the longest-running live action comedy TV show of all time, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, was the voice of the iconic Luigi in the animated The Super Mario Brothers Movie, and most recently starred in and directed the star-studded Hollywood takedown, Fool’s Paradise. This entire podcast was Charlie’s idea! Leonora and Charlie discuss his writing process, dealing with disappointment and what lessons he’s learned, and what’s in the chemistry with his partners at Sunny. Watch Fool’s Paradise now On Demand, watch his and Rob’s wonderful show Mythic Quest on Apple TV+, and catch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s 16th (!!!!) season right now on F/X and On Demand!
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Matthew Lillard
06/09/2023
Matthew Lillard
Dad’s Month continues on Mothering Heights with actor, writer, director, icon, and DAD, Matthew Lillard. In this joyful conversation, we discuss the ups and downs and backs and forths of his career, how he re-aligned himself during a challenging time, his writing process, and how he got his first feature made. Matthew is a treasure of a human being, and that shines through in this conversation. And yes, we talk about his upcoming role as William Afton - the Purple Guy - in the VERY anticipated Emma Tammi-directed Five Nights at Freddy’s film! As far as Leonora’s children are concerned, there is nothing more important IN THE WORLD than this film. No presh. To keep up with everything Matthew is doing, from FNAF to his D&D TV Show and everything in between, go follow him on Instagram for goodness sake:
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