From "Center Stage" to "Black Swan," movies and TV shows about dance usually portray a toxic world of competition, cruelty and out-of-control stage moms. We talked to legendary ballerina Misty Copeland and film producer Leyla Fayyaz about what that world is really like. 

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Writer Elise Loehnen helps us wade through the culture, history and family inheritances that make moms feel like we're constantly failing. 

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ABC Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee has been fascinated by the weather since she was a kid. She talks with us about how weather, with its many ups and downs, is a perfect metaphor for life, mental health and being a mom.

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There's a lot we can learn from the maternal figures in our lives and on TV, like the lovable house mother Mrs. Garrett from the 80s sitcom "The Facts of Life." Alison Rosen, host of the podcast "Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend," joins us to talk about about how she found her own Mrs. Garrett.

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TV shows like Hacks and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel portray the lives of comedian moms. Melissa Rivers was raised by the ultimate "funny mom": the legendary Joan Rivers. What was it like to grow up surrounded by her humor — and the fame that came with it?

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Katey Sagal has played some of TV's most iconic moms — from Peg Bundy on Married... with Children to the vindictive Gemma on Sons of Anarchy. She joins us to talk about what she has learned from those characters, and what it was like to become a mom again in her 50s.

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From Little Fires Everywhere to her latest book Our Missing Hearts, bestselling author Celeste Ng is kind of an expert at getting into the minds of moms with secrets. She talks to us about why motherhood and secrecy make for such good stories. 

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What's it like to be told your whole life you can't have children because of a disability you were born with — only to find out that you're pregnant? Writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Chloé Cooper Jones talks to us about her unexpected journey to motherhood and her beautiful memoir, Easy Beauty.

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Some of the best moms on TV right now are cartoons. To discuss what the mothers in Bluey and Daniel Tiger are doing right, we speak with Deena Margolin and Kristin Gallant, the moms behind parenting resource Big Little Feelings and co-hosts of the podcast, After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings.

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Who needs a parenting book when you've got SuChin Pak? From what it's like to take care of your parents as they age, to convincing your kids to go to college in Switzerland, the journalist and host of the podcast Add to Cart offers all her wisdom and her take on the persistent "tiger mom" trope in pop culture.

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Let's be honest: We've never looked like Barbies. But the Barbie movie really resonated with us — and with Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay. Like Barbie, Heather's been on her own journey of self-discovery. She talks to us all about breaking out of the boxes we've been put in and creating new paths for our kids.

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