Barbershop Quartet with Erin Weiss
In this episode, Erin reads her essay “Barbershop Quartet” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2024 “Body” issue. Erin’s piece is about her experience of life’s traumas as told in four parts via haircuts that culminate with the cut that comes due to a cancer diagnosis. April and Erin will discuss Erin’s process for sharing different and varied stories from her breast cancer experience, and the writing that happens away from the keyboard. They will also talk about the loss of femininity hair loss evokes, realizing the trauma wrapped up in long hair, and the relationship between identity and living with MBC. This episode contains explicit language.
Anniversary Special: Unexpected Truths
This one hour episode is our three year anniversary special. Wildfire production assistant, Monica Haro, and host, April Stearns, reflect on the unexpected truths found in the episodes from the past year. April will share what’s coming up for Wildfire and The Burn in the future, and give advice on writing your own story for both novice and returning writers.
“March 13” with Kate Rowbotham
Kate Rowbotham is a mom and professor who was diagnosed at 47 with de novo Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. In this episode Kate reads her essay “March 13” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2024 “Family” issue. Her story is about three generations of overlapping cancer. April and Kate will discuss understanding how love plays out in decision making, patient and caregiver experiences during the pandemic, and the intersection of work and cancer. They will also discuss the challenge of living with metastatic breast cancer and wondering about what comes next.
The Longest Goodbye with Mila Knight
Mila Knight returns to The Burn for another visit to share something special. In 2022 Mila was our guest reading her piece “Crawling in My Skin” from Wildfire Magazine’s 2021 “Body” issue. In that story Mila shared how she turned to music for solace in hard times following her breast cancer diagnosis at 38. In that episode, Mila revealed she was working on recording a song that she was not yet ready to share. Now, Mila is ready to share her song, "The Longest Goodbye," in this episode. April and Mila will discuss the inspiration for her song, caregiver roles in cancer, and what pushed Mila to complete the song. They will also talk about Mila’s song writing process, what Mila has in the works, as well as fundraising and advocacy.