Mother Tongue is a biannual print magazine that interrogates (and celebrates) modern motherhood through inclusive stories about art, sex, pop culture, politics, food and a few things in between.
It’s not about kids or how to parent them: it’s about the nuanced lives we are living—as mothers, and much more.
The magazine is edited by co-founders Melissa Goldstein and Natalia Rachlin and designed by creative director Vanessa Saba.
ISSUE 2:
In Mother Tongue Issue 2, rest gets radical (and we all want in), Kim Gordon says no to James Franco, writer Sarah Hoover goes hunting for her lost libido, poet Kate Baer texts her friends, The Vegan Hood Chefs serve food justice with coconut whipped cream, author Kimberly Harrington overshares (and cares), and we head to the strip club with photographer Bronwen Parker-Rhodes to find feminism on the main stage.
ISSUE 3:
In Mother Tongue Issue 3, we get hysterical with Dr. Pragya Agarwal, unpack the cultural significance of Sharon Stone’s nose, and uncover deep truths at the hair salon with Rubi Aguilar Jones. Erica Chidi predicts the future of sex (it gets pretty sci-fi), Catherine Opie shares the joy of queer domesticity, and artist Aki Goto refuses to put down her phone. Writer Fiorella Valdesolo takes stock of the sorry state of birth control (and wonders where the good stuff is?), we go shopping for Fig Newtons and cat food with Samantha Irby in Kalamazoo, and PJ Harvey pops up everywhere. Meanwhile, Amanda Montei thinks hard about think pieces, Erin Loos Cutraro asks us to run for office, and photographer Victoria Hely-Hutchinson finds religion in a cup of milky tea.
ISSUE 4:
In Mother Tongue issue four, we analyze dreams (about sexy lions) with Bat For Lashes, and talk Real Housewives and real smiles with Jenna Lyons. We make sense of Whitney Houston with Amil Niazi and tend to songbirds of a different kind with artist Sheida Soleimani. We hit the road in Texas, as Dina Gachman takes us on a winding tale of revenge without remorse, and build a house for the future with Christene Barberich. Photographer Martina Zanin asks us to consider what happens when feline fixations go too far, and illustrator Rachel Deutsch conjures the everyday horror of our children’s unmeetable expectations. Sophie Ebrard contemplates sex and intimacy after kids, author Angela Garbes bridges the mother-daughter divide, and Ruby Warrington and Pooja Lakshmin discuss whether having children even makes sense anymore? And much, more more, including contributions by Kholood Eid, Victoria Hely-Hutchinson, Sarah Hoover, Annie Armstrong Miyao, Bonnie Morrison, Rachel Sperry, Shana Trajanoska, Taravat Talepasand, Ruth van Beek, Anaïs Wade, Han Wang, Diana Weymar, Amber Winick, Lauren Withrow, LaTonya Yvette and Alex Zafiris.
ISSUE 5:
In Issue 5 we talk about The End—of marriage, of life, of the world as we know it. We get nostalgic about the sublime weirdness of Anne Geddes and make a list of virgin births (besides the obvious). We navigate the unchartered territory of embryo adoption and find meaning in fermented fruit.
Mira Jacob considers the “Margaret Thatchers” of her family, while poet Yrsa Daley Ward has had enough of Malcolm Gladwell. Writer Molly Prentiss and photographer Frances Tulk-Hart remind us that we must always notice the minutiae and marvel, and artist Andi Galdi Vinko documents the climate crisis through the eyes of our children. There’s also talk of phantom limbs, and a trip to Copenhagen—where Hillary Kelly trades secrets with Danish author Olga Ravn. And before we’re through, we laugh about schizophrenia with comedian Atsuko Okatsuka; we get existential about chocolate with Priyanka Mattoo; and we think about planting roots with Kailea Loften, who runs away and goes home, all at the same time.
