This is the first episode of the new Mamalode Podcast featuring frequent Mamalode contributor Stephanie Land. Stephanie Land is a writer whose work has been featured on Vox, DAME, Esme.com, the New York Times, Mamalode, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Literary Mama, Scary Mommy, and numerous others. She writes through the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and the Center for Community Change. In this episode, Stephanie reads two of her essays that have appeared on Mamalode.com and talks to Mamalode's Johanna Bernhard about being a writer, a survivor of domestic violence, a student, and a single parent of two. You can follow Stephanie Land on her blog http://stepville.com and read more of her writing on Mamalode http://mamalode.com/writer/34 The music featured in this podcast is "Room to Breathe" by Dominic Giam of ketsamusic.com.