Welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
Other People's Parents is part kitchen table, part memoir—a weekly newsletter that asks the dynamic question of how to be a human. Through interviews with mentors, experts, and just plain wise people who generously share their own life stories and insights, I take a look at the challenges and circumstances that connect us while saluting the people who guide us (and who have guided me) along the way.
I’ll be honest: When I began this newsletter, I did not intend it to become as personal as it has. (I’m a journalist by trade, and first-person is the first thing you learn not to use.) But that’s also the spirit of what I’m building here: not a place to remain where we all are in life, but a chance to think about where we want to be and where we could go, to always be unstuck. For me, this publication is a road back to self after family disownment. For you, it could be a place to learn or connect or see the world through many new sets of eyes.
Whatever brings you here, I’m grateful. Here is what I do in these pages:
I publish a series of three interviews—a triptych of conversations—around a broad theme. Then, in the Sandbox, I summarize what I’ve learned from the people I’ve interviewed for each series.
Every month or two, I publish essays, poems, and excerpts of my memoir-centric writing that relate to the theme of my interviews.
After that, a new triptych around a new theme launches, and we keep the learning going.
Triptych themes vary widely, dipping into sports, art, literature, nature, food, family, money, travel, career, education—the social and the political and the emotional—and anything else that shows up on my radar.
A free subscription includes:
Wednesday interviews with mentors, experts, and wise people from diverse worlds who generously share their own life stories and advice on the hard work of being human.
The Sandbox: Essays on how recent interviewees have sparked my curiosity, deepened my knowledge, and helped me lead a more thoughtful, connected, and intentional life.
Limited access to Intrepid Posts: Free subscribers can read Intrepid Posts 30 days after they publish. These are related personal essays, memoir chapters/musings that my inner critic would prefer I never share.
Paid subscribers receive all of the above, plus:
First look and full access to Intrepid Posts, available as soon as these essays and chapters are posted.
With each issue, I hope you’ll find your mind expanded or see yourself in the stories presented—or both. I welcome your comments, feedback, and ideas for triptychs or interviews at oppsubstack@gmail.com.
Other People’s Parents has evolved a bit (as one-person publications will) since I wrote the welcome post below. Still, it explains how all of this came to be:
About the Author (and Her Pup)
I’m Beth McNichol. I’ve been a freelance writer for over 20 years, publishing magazine profiles of fascinating people and getting to know them and their families, coworkers, children, friends, and several memorable dogs. I’m an incurable sports fan, a lover of great sentences, a fan of breakfast foods, a proud introvert, and the leader of an incredibly fortunate life. You can never have enough diplomas in journalism (or so I like to tell myself), so I have two: an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s from Northwestern. I grew up in West Virginia and live in Raleigh, N.C., with my Canadian husband, two teenagers, and Luna, a goofball Boxer mix who is probably the best conversationalist in our home.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
