I can’t even imagine cooking a moose - why would I want to do that? If that’s what you’re thinking, don’t worry, today’s episode is all about writing and being human and the ongoing struggle to live in community. A moose does get cooked in our guest Kate Christensen’s second memoir of the same name, but we will save that for you to discover on your own.

Guest Bio:

Kate Christensen is an award-winning author of 7 novels and 2 memoirs that have a lot to do with the glory of food, coping with being human, finding community, and the tenuous beauty of life. Her characters, including the character of herself in the memoirs, are broken and beautiful, they are finding their way home to themselves and uncovering their places in this world. They are messy and real and we love them.

We talk with Kate about the writer’s life, about growing up in our shared home town of Jerome, Arizona, about the difference between NYC and rural Maine/NH.

This conversation is full of laughter and discovery. It also contains references to the physical abuse Kate witnessed growing up and the ongoing sexual assault she suffered as a minor. We don’t go into the details but we wanted you to know in case it’s not healthy for you to hear those kinds of stories. We are grateful to Kate for her vulnerability and openness… we think these kinds of stories are a way forward and out of the dark for us all.

Before we go any further…

We want to let you know that you get to choose which version of this podcast to listen to. This version is the highly edited version that leaves out 25 minutes of Kate’s recollections of her high school life and Charles’s very different version of Kate’s high school life. Also in the extended version are Kelly’s passionate thoughts about community and the story of Dingo the Dog. For those of you who want the longer, fuller, more complete version, you can find it right now as the episode How to Cook a BIG Moose.

Link to full description and relevant Show Notes