Podcast Summary

My So-Called Midlife with Reshma Saujani

Episode: No More Invisible Women with Molly Gochman
Date: November 5, 2025
Host: Reshma Saujani (Lemonada Media)
Guest: Molly Gochman, artist and sculptor

Main Theme

This episode explores the concept of "invisible women"—the undervalued and often unseen labor of mothers and caregivers. Through an intimate and empowering conversation with artist Molly Gochman, the show delves into how midlife can be a catalyst for women to claim visibility, pursue creativity, and demand recognition for care work. Gochman shares how her art—most recently, monumental bronze sculptures honoring caregiving—challenges public memory and societal values, making care visible, sacred, and central. The discussion also reflects on the challenges and gifts of midlife, intergenerational caregiving, creativity, and the importance of collective support among women.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Midlife Mindset and Personal Shifts

[03:30–04:33]

• Molly feels “pretty hyped” in midlife, creatively energized and less self-doubting.
  • “My kids are out of diapers, my parents who are left are in diapers. One of my kids is going through puberty. I'm on all the hormone replacement therapy. Like, it's like I'm in menopause, they're in puberty. So I'm in the middle of that, you know.” (Molly, 03:30)
• Both Reshma and Molly reflect on the exhaustion and complexity of this stage: parenting, caring for aging parents, managing hormone shifts.
  • “I feel, I feel it's hard to get up... Like, I am like barely getting up at 7 o’ clock in the morning.” (Reshma, 04:47)

2. Introducing Molly Gochman – Social Practice and Purpose

[05:34–07:00]

• Molly describes herself as a "social practice artist" using accessible materials to spark conversation about essential but neglected issues—caregiving and motherhood.
  • “I’m trying to leverage everything I have access to and all the tools in my tool belt, like artists do… I argue that we are all inseparable from one another and that all issues are inseparable.” (Molly, 05:34; 06:28)
• Her “inseparable” land art sculpture and “Monuments to Motherhood” in bronze highlight care work’s essential value.
  • “Caregiving is so undervalued, yet it is the most essential act. So I needed it to be in bronze because bronze is the material traditionally used for monuments, and it is a material that we value.” (Molly, 07:00)

3. Visibility, Monuments, and Public Memory

[07:41–09:33]

• Molly was inspired after noticing the overwhelming male presence in public statues, especially in Central Park—up until 2020, there were no monuments to real women.
  • “Monuments represent what we honor and privilege in public. We honor and privilege war… We have 59 monuments to war and violence for everyone that even references care in any way, shape, or form.” (Molly, 08:35)
• Her monuments do not depict historic figures, but caregiving acts—so everyone can “see themselves as a mother or capable of mothering,” and these are placed on the ground (not pedestals), reflecting mutual support.
  • “I wanted everyone to see themselves in it because I wanted everyone to see themselves as a mother or capable of mothering… so I’m saying motherhood…is something we understand.” (Molly, 09:33)

4. Caregiving and Its Impact on Identity and Choices

[11:30–13:00; 17:35–20:04]

• Molly cared for her father for nearly two decades alongside raising two children—often unknown to herself, but deeply shaping her identity.
  • “I didn't know that I was his, quote, caregiver until after he passed… My brother said, well, Molly, you were Dad’s primary caregiver.” (Molly, 17:35)
• The experience reinforced the need for workplace and policy changes—a “Bill of Rights for working moms,” enabling people to care for loved ones without penalty.
  • “We need these kinds of policy changes... so that people can take off to care for their loved ones or be there for their sick kids, and they're not penalized for it.” (Molly, 18:36)
• Her sculptures, supported by gravity, echo how “the ground supports us”—a metaphor for both care and legacy.
  • “So here is the ground supporting this giant heavy sculpture, just like I am supported by the ground.” (Molly, 19:15)

5. Connection, Community, and Collective Healing

[20:07–25:33]

• Molly’s installations are designed as “third spaces,” places for intergenerational and cross-community gathering and reflection.
  • “Inviting people into a public third space to gather and connect… that puts us on a topic that we can agree upon. I think we can all agree that care is essential.” (Molly, 21:20)
• Example: After replacing a monument to a KKK founder in Memphis with a monument to caregiving, the park became a place people felt safe and welcome again.
  • “So people are using this space that's meant for them, this public space, and really feeling seen.” (Molly, 23:02)
• Molly’s vision includes international expansion—placing monuments in Mexico and Brazil to reflect their unique community needs and models (e.g., Mexican “utopias” for communal services).

6. Midlife as Creative Catalyst—Permission, Worthiness, and Support

[27:31–30:55; 33:30–34:09]

• Molly found renewed purpose and confidence in her 40s, moving from supporting roles to “having her own voice” in the art world.
  • “It's essential for me to feel like my voice is being heard and I'm participating… and that involves, like, saying I am worthy.” (Molly, 27:38)
  • She made her first large bronze monument in her 40s as an act of creative self-nourishment after burnout.
• Permission to prioritize her dreams came from friends like Luana:
  • “The joy you want for others, get it for yourself.” (Luana via Molly, 29:16)
• None of her work is solo—large projects are always team and community efforts. Women shouldn’t feel they must do everything alone.
  • “I don't do any of this work alone. None of it… You need a support system.” (Molly, 29:55)

7. Creativity, Mental Health, and Surrender

[33:30–38:56]

• Molly’s creative focus sharpened with age; she’s become more efficient, less distracted by doubt, and more able to channel her energy for impact.
  • “Now that I'm older...I don’t have time to have doubt about this. I just stay really focused and I try to have maximum impact.” (Molly, 33:34)
• Raised by a highly creative but mentally ill mother, Molly once feared her own creativity could spiral into mental illness—anxiety she’s learned to manage.
  • “I did think that creativity came with mental illness. So I was really afraid of my creativity.” (Molly, 35:31)
• Advocates for normalizing conversations about mental health and caregiving in families and workplaces.
  • “Mental health care is part of our medical care.” (Molly, 37:01)
• Caregiving has taught her to “commit, surrender,” surf with what life offers, adapt to what’s possible.

8. Art, Recognition, and Societal Values

[38:56–39:50]

• Hopes for more institutional (museum) engagement with caregiving themes—seeing and valuing the art around care that already exists.
  • “I actually now go to museums with caregiving glasses on and see…That’s caregiving.” (Molly, 39:32)

9. Advice for Midlife Pivots and Empowerment

[40:06–41:24]

• Start with connecting to friends for support, advice, and “accountability partners” for any new direction.
  • “Just connect with their friends, talk with their friends…they can enable one another and be sharing tactics and sharing challenges.” (Molly, 40:06)
• Speak your ideas out loud—telling others builds momentum and accountability.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Midlife Energy
  • “I feel like I'm in full force with my work. I'm churning stuff out and I’m not doubting myself.”
    — Molly Gochman [03:30]
• On Monuments and Memory
  • “We are monumentalizing war. And right now...we’re going to have these warlike activities because we are honoring and privileging battling.”
    — Molly Gochman [08:35]
• On Caregiving as Universal
  • “I wanted everyone to see themselves as a mother or capable of mothering. So I’m inviting us to mother ourselves, mother each other...these are monuments that are on the same grass as we are.”
    — Molly Gochman [09:33]
• On Policy and Practices
  • “We need these kinds of policy changes...so that people can take off to care for their loved ones or be there for their sick kids, and they're not penalized for it.”
    — Molly Gochman [18:36]
• On Permission and Worth
  • “No, actually it’s essential for me to feel like my voice is being heard… I am worthy to be able to make my own art.”
    — Molly Gochman [27:38]
  • “The joy you want for others, get it for yourself.”
    — Luana (via Molly Gochman) [29:16]

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | | --- | --- | | 03:30 | Molly describes her midlife mindset and the layering of care roles | | 05:34 | Molly introduces herself and the purpose behind her art | | 07:41 | Discussion about the lack of monuments to real women in public spaces | | 08:35 | Why monuments matter for cultural memory and societal values | | 09:33 | Molly explains how her “monuments to motherhood” are intentionally inclusive and grounded | | 11:30 | The personal cost and meaning of long-term caregiving | | 17:35 | Realizing the depth of her caregiver identity after her father’s death | | 21:20 | The role of public art in fostering community and intergenerational connection | | 23:02 | Example of Memphis park transformation after the removal of a racist monument | | 27:31 | How midlife brought newfound creative drive and “permission” to prioritize herself | | 29:16 | The importance of support systems and accepting help | | 33:34 | Molly’s creative focus intensifies with age; fears about creativity and mental health | | 37:01 | Need for open conversations about mental illness and caregiving | | 40:06 | Advice for midlife pivots: connect with friends and use accountability | | 41:40 | Closing thought: noticing (and creating) monuments to women and care |

Takeaways

• Care work, historically feminized and undervalued, deserves public recognition—literally, in the form of monuments—and policy support.
• Midlife can be a time of creative flourishing and self-assertion for women, where giving to oneself is radical and essential.
• Community, collective action, and mutual support are at the heart of both caregiving and creative work.
• Art can be a catalyst for new narratives, healing, and public memory—reframing what society honors and preserves.
• Speaking your desires and dreams aloud, building support networks, and taking small but brave steps are key in making midlife pivots.

For Listeners

This episode offers validation, practical wisdom, and inspiration for anyone navigating midlife, caregiving, artistic dreams, or simply seeking to feel seen in their everyday acts of care. It’s a call to make care visible, value your own creative worth, and gather in community—on the shared “grass” of our common experience.

For more, look up Molly Gochman’s public installations in Brooklyn, Wasaic (NY), and beyond—or simply notice the quiet monuments to care in your own life and community.