Living in a small town in West Texas can feel magical. And part of that magic is how isolated it is: hours and hours down a desert highway from everything else. But when it comes to accessing reproductive healthcare, that remoteness can also be terrifying.
In the Big Bend, the idea of “choice” was complicated long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Out there, you can’t legally get an abortion — but as recently as last year, depending on the day of the week, you also couldn’t have a baby in a delivery room.
“So Far From Care,” a Marfa Public Radio podcast hosted by Annie Rosenthal, is about those contradictions. It’s about how people decide when, how, or if to become parents — close to the border and far from the hospital, where you have a literal village to help you raise a child but daycare can be impossible to find.
These are stories about isolation that’s not just physical — all the challenges that are dealt with in silence. But also, about how a place without options can become the site of community and care.
Listen to “So Far From Care” from Marfa Public Radio here or wherever you get your podcasts.
