If It’s Not 1 Thing It’s Your Mother
Society & Culture:Relationships
Imagine being instantly 8 months pregnant. In this adoption story, our guest Ben Barnz reads an excerpt from his book We: an adoption and a memoir.
He shares how he and his husband came to be parents and how the birthmother of his child made them a We.
Ben Barnz, in addition to being a memoirist, is an independent film and television producer. He frequently collaborates with his husband, filmmaker Daniel Barnz. Together they formed We’re Not Brothers Productions, so named because everyone who doesn’t know them assumes they must be brothers. They are not.
Barnz produced CAKE, starring Jennifer Aniston which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Barnz’s next film project, I’LL DROP A HOUSE ON YOU, will start production in the fall of 2018, and is the story of Ryan Wash – a young black queer debater who revolutionized the world of debate. Barnz is producing with Plan B and Macro. Barnz is also producing LONESOME TONIGHT about the love affair between Elvis Presley and young Priscilla Beaulieu. He is also producing a one-hour television drama written by his husband and sixteen-year old daughter. The show takes a frank and uncensored look at teenage sexuality and identity, as well as a limited series for NBC .
Barnz's first book is published by Wyatt-McKenzie. WE: An Adoption and A Memoir is about the adoption of his daughter, and the legal (and emotionally fraught) battle that ensued with her birthfather - a battle that began the day after her birth and two days after 9/11. The book interweaves this story with Ben's path to parenthood - beginning with his closeted youth in 1980s New York City, a time when it was statistically more likely he would die from AIDS than become a father.
Born and raised in New York City, Barnz attended Hampshire College.
follow him on twitter @WEbyBenBarnz and on insta @benbarnzwe
link to his book is on our website www.ifitsnot1thingitsyourmother.com
If it's not 1 Thing, explores the topic of 'mother' from every angle imaginable and some you have not thought of. Each week, hosts Katie Mitchell and Lupe Padilla Mitchell share a new story and have great conversations with the writers, many of whom are in fact not writers by trade. We have excerpts from best selling novels, memoirs, poetry award winners, songwriters, stay at home moms, insurance brokers, teachers, actors, college students and beyond. Some famous. Some not at all. But they all have incredible tales to tell. Story is in our DNA. It's how we make sense of the world around us. We have so much to teach each other. We welcome you to rate and review us.
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Encore Jack Grapes Part 2 Mother of a Story - Writing from your Deep Voice
Encore Ep - Jack Grapes Mother of A Story - Letter from his Mother's Grave
Encore Episode - Jon Wise Mother of a Story- A Mother Obscured
Encore Episode - Alexis Rhone Fancher Mother of a Story- Cruel Choices
Encore Episode - Anonymous Mother of a Story - Barnacles
Benjamin Davis Mother of a Story - Playlist for my Mother's Funeral
Tresha Faye Haefner Mother of a Story - Paradise, California II
Katie Manglis Mother of a Story - She Never Said I Love You
Encore Episode - Dan Bucatinsky Mother of a Story - Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight?
Richard Valenza Mother of a Story - The Secret
Gina Piccalo Mother of a Story - Silver Linings
Shari Walker Quan Mother of a Story - Heart Mom/Bio Mom
Clay Rivers Mother of a Story - excerpt from Walking Tall
Jack Grapes Mother of a Story Part 2 - Making Art out of Pain
Jack Grapes Mother of a Story Part One - Letter from My Mother
Evie Gold Mother of a Story - When Things are the Same, But Not at All
Linda Freund Mother of a Story - Tripping with Mom
Chanel Brenner Mother of a Story - Navigating Loss
Parker Lulu Sacavitch Mother of a Story - A Different Teenage Mother Story
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