Author, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change & Like a Mother
Angela Garbes: Biography at a Glance
- Angela Garbes is the author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, a reflection on the state of caregiving in America called “a landmark and a lightning storm” by the New Yorker.
- Her first book, Like a Mother, is a personal deep dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and motherhood and was an NPR Best Book of the Year and a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in nonfiction.
- Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, New York, Bon Appétit, and featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and NPR's Fresh Air.
- Garbes is a community advocate for reproductive justice, working families, and equity and inclusion.
- Her TED talk, "What Working Parents Really Need from Workplaces," quickly reached over one million views.
Videos
Biography
Angela Garbes is the author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, called “a landmark and a lightning storm” by the New Yorker. Her first book, Like a Mother, was an NPR Best Book of the Year and a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Cut, New York, Bon Appétit, and featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and NPR's Fresh Air.
Garbes is a community advocate for reproductive justice, working families, and equity and inclusion. Her TED talk, "What Working Parents Really Need from Workplaces," quickly reached over one million views. A first-generation Filipina American, Angela lives with her family in Seattle.
Topics
Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change
The Covid-19 pandemic shed fresh light on a long-overlooked truth: mothering is among the only essential work humans do. In response to the increasing weight placed on mothers and caregivers—and the lack of a social safety net to support them—writer Angela Garbes found herself pondering a vital question: How, under our current circumstances that leave us lonely, exhausted, and financially strained, might we demand more from American family life?
In this conversation, Garbes explores assumptions about care, work, and deservedness, offering a deeply personal and rigorously reported look at what mothering is, and can be. A first-generation Filipino-American, Garbes shares the perspective of her family's complicated relationship to care work, placing mothering in a global context—the invisible economic engine that has been historically demanded of women of color.
Like a Mother: The Science and Culture of Pregnancy
Like most first-time mothers, Angela Garbes was filled with questions when she became pregnant. To educate herself, the food and culture writer embarked on an intensive journey of exploration, diving into the scientific mysteries and cultural attitudes that surround motherhood to find answers to questions that had only previously been given in the form of advice about what women ought to do—rather than allowing them the freedom to choose the right path for themselves.
In this conversation, Garbes offers a rigorously researched and compelling look at the physiology, biology, and psychology of pregnancy and motherhood, informed by in-depth reportage and personal experience. With the curiosity of a journalist, the perspective of a feminist, and the intimacy and urgency of a mother, she explores the emerging science behind the pressing questions women have about everything from miscarriage to complicated labors to postpartum changes. The result is a visceral, full-frontal conversation about what’s really happening during those nine life-altering months, and why women deserve access to better care, support, and information.
Infused with humor and born out of awe, appreciation, and understanding of the female body and its strength, this conversation debunks common myths and dated assumptions, offering audience members guidance and camaraderie to women navigating one of the biggest and most profound changes in their lives.
