Who's claiming power this election? What's happening in battleground states? And why do we still have the electoral college? All this month, the ThruLine podcast is asking big questions about our democracy and going back in time to answer them. Listen now to the ThruLline podcast from NPR.

This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley.

Comic and actor Jenny Slate's recent comedy special, seasoned professional, centers on her experiences of getting married, pregnant, and the pain and joys of giving birth.

Her new book of essays, life form, covers some of the same ground. But critic Thomas Floyd of the Washington Post writes of the book that Slate wields

dream logic and other devices to unpack the same experience in surrealist fashion. In her earlier

Netflix comedy special stage fright, Slate describes growing up in a house her family believed was haunted.

Jenny Slate is also a prolific voice actor. She co-wrote and starred in the Oscar-nominated animated film Marcell The Shell with Shoes on, adapted from the web series that she co-created.

She's also done voice work for animated movies and TV shows like Bob's Burgers, Big Mouth, the Lego Batman movie,

The Secret Life of Pets, and Zootopia. She played a laundromat customer and everything everywhere

all at once, and even though she was on just a few episodes of parks and

recreation, many people know her for her role as Mona Lisa Saperstein. Terry Gross spoke with

Jenny Slate back in March. Let's start with a clip of her recent comedy special season

professional. Here, she's talking about giving birth to her daughter.

I had a baby. I'm not trying to skirt the issue or like deny it. Like I did it. I did it.

She's there. But like it does still feel like I'm like, it wasn't me. Like I did it., I, it's hard to wrap my mind around it.

And, like, I was pregnant for a long time, and I understood that I was.

But, like, even on the way to the hospital, when my body was, like, really hurting and stuff was starting to leak out, I was just like, kind of feels like someone's going to sub in here, though.

Like, it's just such an extreme experience that I just was like, I don't know, it just doesn't feel like something I would do, you know?

Like, would I knock on someone's door after four dates at 2 a.m. and be like, I just need

to tell you I'm in love with you. Like, yeah. Extreme stuff, I've done it. But like, this? I was

like, oh, I don't know. It just doesn't seem like what she would do. And, like, anytime something's been hard or I haven't one do it,

like I've always just been able to quit her, be fired?

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