Irin Carmon — Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America

Roosevelt House—together with the Hunter College Department of Women and Gender Studies—are pleased to present a conversation with the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG, Irin Carmon, on her new book, Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America.

Ambitious, insightful, and passionate, Unbearable explores “what’s gone wrong” with pregnancy in America, through the lens of history, politics, and the searing experiences of five women. The author will be in conversation with journalist at The Nation, Joan Walsh.

When the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, what was clear to Irin Carmon—who happened to be eight months pregnant at the time—was how much of the American story of reproduction had been hidden, unexpressed, or taken for granted. This, Carmon understood, was not just the result of a conservative Supreme Court, or an issue confined to “red” states. Whether in liberal, cosmopolitan New York City, or rural Alabama, Carmon realized, the entire system was broken.

Unbearable goes beyond the headlines, or any one experience or choice, to tell a deeper story grounded equally in historical research and journalistic analysis. The book introduces readers to five women navigating pregnancy care—from the first positive pregnancy test, through joy, loss, and the unforeseen—in a country that Carmon determines to be, at best, indifferent, and, at worst, willfully cruel. Also telling the story of the “brave, outnumbered” people fighting to improve the circumstances of pregnancy in America, Carmon writes with deep empathy and analytical rigor, delivering a moving story of interconnection that is also a harrowing exposé and bold assertion of humanity.

Irin Carmon is an award-winning senior correspondent at New York magazine, where she covers gender, law, politics, and more. Previously, she was a CNN contributor, a contributing writer to the Washington Post’s “Outlook,” a national reporter at MSNBC and NBC News, and a staff writer at Salon and Jezebel. She is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Joan Walsh is national affairs correspondent for The Nation, a coproducer of the Emmy-nominated documentary The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show, and the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America. Salon’s first news editor, Walsh served as editor-in-chief for six years. She is a frequent guest on MSNBC and CNN, and has contributed to publications ranging from Vogue to the New York Times.