Essays & Podcasts
This page gathers selected essays, reported pieces, and podcast appearances that reflect the core concerns of my work as a poet and memoirist: survival, self-permission, embodied truth, and the long process of rebuilding a life that fits.
These conversations and publications trace the same questions that shape Conjuring the Hurricane, across journalism, personal essay, and long-form dialogue.
Essay Publications
These essays and reported pieces appear in national and literary publications and engage themes of domestic abuse, reproductive autonomy, grief, community, and survival.
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I write at the intersection of lived experience and public consequence, with an emphasis on clarity, safety, and refusing simplified narratives about harm, responsibility, and resilience.
Feb 4, 2026
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The FBI uses something called a “lethality assessment” to predict the likelihood of future violence in intimate relationships. When I took the assessment, shortly after leaving my partner, he scored an 8/10. If I had gone through with our pregnancy, he would have scored a 10.
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But we didn’t have children because five years earlier, in a Chicago clinic, I’d had a medication abortion.
Podcast Appearances
These conversations span literary, cultural, and mental-health podcasts, and focus on storytelling as a tool for survival, meaning-making, and connection.
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Across interviews, I speak about leaving abusive relationships, trauma as embodied memory, the transformative power of leaving behind a life that harms you, and the complicated work of rebuilding identity and joy after rupture.
Feb 9, 2026 | Episode 177
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In this powerful episode of Behind Beautiful Things, host Kevin sits down once again with Sarah, author of the forthcoming memoir in verse, Conjuring the Hurricane: The Best Way to Save Your Life Is Any Way You Can. Sarah shares her deeply personal journey as a domestic violence survivor, opening up about how she found the strength and resources to leave an abusive relationship.
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Together, Kevin and Sarah explore the lasting impact of childhood experiences, generational trauma, and the long road to healing. Sarah also discusses how her lived experience now fuels her work helping others navigate trauma, recovery, and self-preservation. This honest and compassionate conversation sheds light on survival, resilience, and the many paths toward reclaiming your life. us for an episode about courage, healing, and finding hope after trauma.
Feb 2, 2026 | Episode 176
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In this special episode of Behind Beautiful Things, host Kevin sits down with Sarah Hanson, an author and resident of Minneapolis, MN.
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In this conversation, Kevin speaks with Sarah about what it is really like on the ground as an American city is under siege from its own federal government. Sarah bears witness to the chaos and cruelty on the ground. But more importantly, she speaks about the strength of community, the humanity in all of us, and the power of kindness. Please join us!
Dec 15, 2025 | Episode 28
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In this episode, we talk about poetry, trusting yourself, and the importance of friendship. We exchange hilarious, heartbreaking stories of our youth, and Sarah generously reads several poems from her junior/senior year of high school, which we have given a 10/10 rating on the ANGST and tenderness scale.
Oct 12, 2025
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​In this episode, poet and truth-teller Sarah Hanson joins me to talk about leaving a successful 15-year run in corporate to write her debut memoir-in-verse, Conjuring the Hurricane. Sarah opens up about surviving domestic violence, living through and processing profound grief, and choosing to write about these experiences with both honesty and gentleness.
In our Spotlight Interview this week, Sarah Hanson shared the unexpected moment that shifted everything for her.
Sarah shares how lessons from her corporate career helped her navigate the business of publishing, while her personal evolution reminded her of the power of truth-telling and self-permission. Her story is a testament to transformation—showing that clarity, courage, and small intentional steps can lead to life-changing reinvention.