When Marlo Mack’s son was three and just learning to talk, he informed his mother that he was not a boy. He said that something had gone wrong in her tummy that made him come out as a boy instead of a girl.

Today, a guest show from two of my favorite podcasts…

Marlo Mack’s podcast, How to Be a Girl, is a riveting, funny, sometimes heartbreaking account of her life raising a transgender daughter. It has some of the best interviewing with a child I’ve ever heard. It’s also one of the most interesting chronicles of parenting I’ve heard. And the show offers listeners an intimate introduction to what it means to be transgender.

Marlo Mack is not her real name. She has decided to keep their identities secret until her daughter is old enough to decide if she wants to use their real names.

This episode was re-edited and re-mixed by Jeff Emtman, for another podcast called Here Be Monsters, from KCRW. He had help from Bethany Denton and Nick White. Here Be Monsters is a show that explores our fears and all that’s unknown. It’s always surprising and always beautifully made and what I love most is that they’re not afraid to take risks–with their subjects, their format and their exquisite editing.

This show is just two great things that go great together.

The music for the show is by The Black Spot.

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