The Double Shift

Katherine Goldstein
  • 4.7 (431)
  • Parenting

This year, The Double Shift will focus on IRL community building with a new initiative for 2025 called The How to Find Your People Club. Club members will get years-early access to some of the groundbreaking ideas and tools I’m developing for my book, which will be published by Penguin Random House in 2027. One of the benefits of club membership is audio newsletters, where I read my newsletter so you can listen on the go. Over the next year, this newsletter will feature public posts on topics like the difference between community and friendship, how to break free of gendered time constraints, wildly unexpected places to find meaningful connection, overcoming anxiety around social settings, and how important dinner parties are for foraging relationships (and how to throw one without getting overwhelmed) This feed will be occasionally updated, but for regular audio content, Come join the club over on substack for a private, members-only feed! Join us! https://thedoubleshift.substack.com/. The Double Shift from 2019-2022 was a narrative show to challenge the status quo of motherhood in America. Please enjoy our free archive of over 35 episodes. thedoubleshift.substack.com

  1. 4d ago

    Should Your Doctor Prescribe You Friends?

    A few months ago, a reader wrote into the Neighbor Hotline advice column with a question about why people don’t RSVP and how to deal with her hurt feelings about it. That reader was Mara Gordon, MD , and on our Substack Live this week she outed herself, with more detail of her disappointment when she sent out a heartfelt invite to neighbors for a Hanukkah Party and only got heart emojis back, no firm yeses or nos. Mara is interested in social connection professionally as a primary care doctor in Camden, New Jersey. But she also cares a lot about it as a mom with a demanding job and a desire for real community in her life. She writes Your Doctor Friend by Mara Gordon NPR’s Real Talk with a Doc column, and it turns out our first books come out on the exact same day, April 6, 2027! Hers is How to Take Up Space, about diet culture in medicine. (Smash that pre-order button, y’all!) We started with RSVPs. The short version: the silence usually isn’t about you, and a one-on-one text (”it would be so great to catch up about your sister”) beats a group blast almost every time. Then we got to the bigger stuff. Mara sees loneliness in her exam room every day. Patients with nobody to drive them home from a colonoscopy. Parents who can’t get to the gym because there’s no one to watch the kids. We talked about why I don’t tell people to go make new friends (a close friend takes about 200 hours), whether a 20-minute doctor’s appointment is the right place to prescribe connection, and why so often it’s the women doing the organizing. We also talked about choosing between the problems of isolation and the problems of being connected to other people, which in my house looks like a neighbor kid who some weeks eats dinner with us four nights out of seven. And we ended on the real question: what do you feed a bunch of five-year-olds at a playground when you can’t look at another pizza? My answer: pesto pasta and a Costco rotisserie chicken, room temperature. Deep Casual forever!!! Connection is more important than perfection. Watch the whole conversation, and I’d love to know in the comments, what are your thoughts on the impact of social connection on your health and wellbeing in your own life? ….AND… what Deep Casual dinner to you take the playground that’s not pizza?! PS: Happy Pub Week to Gemma Hartley for her new book, No One Loves An Angry Woman: A Exvangelical Coming-of-Rage Story. This is a fierce, powerful book, part memoir part cultural examination of how christian patriarchy as shaped us all. If you’ve ever found yourself burning with anger or doing everything you can not to, this book is for you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

    Should Your Doctor Prescribe You Friends?

  2. 12/15/2025

    ICYMI: Holiday "Don't List" Inspo with Kathleen Donahoe

    I have a great time talking with Kathleen Donahoe about the health realities that led her to be an expert don’t list creator, how she’s using her budget to drive her holiday Don’t List this year, and why letting go of traditions to make space for others is especially meaningful for her this year. ALSO: If you are looking for a great gift (what is better than the gift of community and connection!?) for a loved one or yourself, you can support this small business by getting 20% a yearly membership! Come on and join the fun! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

    ICYMI: Holiday "Don't List" Inspo with Kathleen Donahoe

  3. 10/09/2025

    ICYMI: Deep Casual Hosting w/ Virginia Sole-Smith!

    I had a blast talking to Virginia Sole-Smith about her “Friend Friday” tradition, and the insights she’s gathered from the Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith Community about making Deep Casual Hosting work! I also snuck in a question about Virginia’s move to Patreon! Feel free to check out Virginia’s work on deep casual hosting here. Here’s my landing page of all Deep Casual Hosting content! Also, only 2 more days to get a DEEP discount on a year long Double Shift Membership. $42 instead of $80. Get it quick! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

    ICYMI: Deep Casual Hosting w/ Virginia Sole-Smith!

  4. 08/18/2025

    Deep Casual Hosting Live w/Amanda Litman

    I had a blast talking about Amanda Litman’s weekly experiment of hosting friends at her Brooklyn apartment every Saturday night. My favorite parts of this conversation were discussing how NOT having a perfectly clean house can actually make guests feel more welcome, how to handle entertainment for kids, and how much this regular connection has bolstered Amanda’s mental health in these trying times. I hope you enjoy my “deep casual” beach hair look live from Central America! 😂 ICYMI, here are some of our writings on the topic. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

    Deep Casual Hosting Live w/Amanda Litman

  5. 03/18/2025

    Building Community: Live with Shannon Watts

    I felt an absolute zing of electricity when I opened a message a few weeks ago asking if Shannon Watts could interview ME for her Substack Live series. Along with being a longtime fan of the incredible national movement Shannon has built for common sense gun laws with Moms Demand Action, I love her Substack Playing with Fire. It’s all about prioritizing desires (especially around activism and social change) over social expectations. Her newest book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age is now available for preorder, out in June 2025, and I can’t wait to read it. This was the first extended interview I’ve given about what I’m learning about for my forthcoming book, HOW TO FIND YOUR PEOPLE. Give it listen and let me know how I did! (I thought of several additional things I could say after the interview was over.) Be sure you are subscribed to The Double Shift on Substack and you want in on the How to Find Your People Club, come join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

    Building Community: Live with Shannon Watts

  6. 03/12/2025

    UPDATES From Me and How “Busyness” Stops us From Meaningful Connection (Audio)

    I’m back with an update on what I’ve been working on—The How to Find Your People Club, an IRL community-building project tackling loneliness and disconnection. Plus, exciting news: I’m writing a book! In this episode, I’ll share more about the club, why community matters, and then dive into my latest audio newsletter, How Busyness Stops Us from Meaningful Connection. If you’ve missed hearing from me, come join me on Substack. The written version of this newsletter is here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 02/12/2025

    The Crucial Differences Between Community and Friendship, Explained. (Audio)

    We are constantly surrounded by aspirational images of human connectedness but according to American Time Use Survey data, Americans' time socializing in person declined 20% from 2003 to 2023. The How to Find Your People Club exists to help you build meaningful relationships, and doing that within a community is an extremely meaningful and practical way to build strong connections. This audio newsletter will explain the difference between friendship and community. While both are very important, I’ll explain why I’m laser-focused on helping people cultivate the latter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 03/13/2024

    Mothers are Already the Safety Net. Now We Must Be a Firewall. (Audio)

    I am very angry right now. In my community, I’m witnessing a fixable systemic childcare problem be cemented squarely on the shoulders of individual families, rather than those with power and resources collectively addressing a real need. My beleaguered public school district is waving the white flag of surrender to its working parents over our afterschool program. In this week’s audio newsletter, I’ll make a case for why we have to resist the dismantling of safety nets. This is the last free audio newsletter for everyone. If you’re a paid member, you still have access. If you’ve loved these audio newsletters and want to try out our membership program, go to thedoubleshift.substack.com/listeners for a free 30-day trial. Now I want to change gears from fire breathing to recommend a few Substacks to you: I love the Substack from Lindsey Stanberry called The Purse. She gets personal with the people she interviews and it’s so illuminating. My favorite one of her series is Home Economics where people share al the nitty gritty details about what they spend money on in a month. Also has a Division of Labor series about household responsibilities among couples I think Double Shifters will love. Also, definitely check out I’m Walking Here by Liz Gumbinner. She’s one of the original tastemakers in the mom space looong before momfluencers were a thing, and her newsletter is a great mix of common sense advice, analysis of current events, observations on parenting and parenting culture, pithy media commentary, unabashed feminism, GenX nostalgia, oddly persistent optimism, gift guides and recommendations. Members-only Hangout THIS FRIDAY!  I can’t wait for our Members-only hangout on March 15th at 3pm EST! I’m thrilled that two long-time Double Shift members will join me in conversation about how creativity and caregiving intersect, overlap, conflict, and interplay. This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot as my “day job” requires "creativity.” But writing doesn’t always feel “creative” for me when it’s part of my “work.” I will be joined by musician Jaspar Lepak and visual artist Ilyse Iris Magy. Whether you are also a professional creative, someone who explores creativity through hobbies, someone who’s shelved creativity because of your caregiving duties, or someone who thinks they don’t have a creative bone in your body, this will be an enriching discussion for us all! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thedoubleshift.substack.com/subscribe

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4.7
out of 5
431 Ratings

About

This year, The Double Shift will focus on IRL community building with a new initiative for 2025 called The How to Find Your People Club. Club members will get years-early access to some of the groundbreaking ideas and tools I’m developing for my book, which will be published by Penguin Random House in 2027. One of the benefits of club membership is audio newsletters, where I read my newsletter so you can listen on the go. Over the next year, this newsletter will feature public posts on topics like the difference between community and friendship, how to break free of gendered time constraints, wildly unexpected places to find meaningful connection, overcoming anxiety around social settings, and how important dinner parties are for foraging relationships (and how to throw one without getting overwhelmed) This feed will be occasionally updated, but for regular audio content, Come join the club over on substack for a private, members-only feed! Join us! https://thedoubleshift.substack.com/. The Double Shift from 2019-2022 was a narrative show to challenge the status quo of motherhood in America. Please enjoy our free archive of over 35 episodes. thedoubleshift.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Katherine Goldstein
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    60
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Katherine Goldstein
  • Show Website
    The Double Shift

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