in 1998, abel moved to mexico city with her boyfriend, now husband, comics artist matt madden. she went on hiatus from "artbabe" in 1999. from 1996–2005, abel did a series of one-page journalistic comics for the "university of chicago magazine", and also embarked on "radio: an illustrated guide" for the radio program "this american life". this book depicted how an episode of the show is made, with behind-the-scenes reportage and a how-to guide to creating a radio show at home.