Portland Press Herald Food and Books Editor Peggy Grodinsky sat down with Chelsea Conaboy to chat about her newest book, that draws on the latest neuroscience and social psychology and weaves it together with new reporting to tell a powerful new narrative of parenthood. Conaboy talks about the myth of maternal instinct, how parenthood changes the brain for the long haul, and what it all means for our social policies, our understanding of caregiving broadly and our sense of ourselves during a live "Maine Voices Live" at the Portland Museum of Art.

Chelsea Conaboy is a health and science journalist. She was part of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize–winning team for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, and she was features editor at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for three years. Her work has been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Politico, the Boston Globe Magazine, WBUR, The Philadelphia Inquirer and others. Her first book, Mother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood, has been called “a game-changer” and is set to be published in 20 countries.

Rachel Ohm, the lead reporter covering Portland’s influx of asylum seekers for the Press Herald, led this Newsroom Live virtual event on Tuesday, May 30.

Read the Press Herald series “Long Way Home” at pressherald.com/longwayhome.

On the panel:

Mufalo Chitam, Executive Director, Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

Kristen Dow, Director of Health & Human Services, City of Portland

Ninette Irabaruta, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, United Way of Southern Maine