Shows
The Femtastic PodcastKatie's Reaction to the Overturning of RoeA raw, unedited, unproduced reaction episode to the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. Includes advice for how you can support abortion access and fight back, in both the short and the long term. The episode ends with a moment for reflection, featuring a song called "Animal" by Jean Rohe. In Jean's words, "'Animal' is a song about my own abortion experience, but ultimately much more: the things we can choose (or should be able to choose) in the garden of our lives, and all that lies beyond our control as mortal humans." May this song...
2022-06-2939 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Does Being Denied an Abortion Affect Someone's Life?Recently, Politico published a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case on the future of Roe v. Wade. Unsurprisingly for many in the reproductive rights community, Alito calls for the overturning of Roe. We know that overturning Roe will mean that millions of people of reproductive age will be without access to abortion care. But what does it look like when someone who otherwise wanted an abortion is forced to carry a pregnancy to term? We don't have to imagine it, because the landmark Turnaway Study has already studie...
2022-05-3140 minThe Femtastic PodcastPart 2: How Crisis Pregnancy Centers Use Clients' Private Data Against ThemIn Part 2 of our 2-part series on the misleading practices of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, we delve into another misleading, yet surprisingly underreported, aspect of Crisis Pregnancy Centers (aka CPCs aka "fake clinics). As we covered in Part 1, CPCs masquerade as if they are real health clinics - but because they are not, they're not subject to privacy laws like HIPPA that protect your personal health information. Of course, by design, their clients do not know this. CPCs then use information given to them by clients seeking their services to violate privacy and confidentiality for many reasons, including...
2022-05-1752 minThe Femtastic PodcastPart 1: Crisis Pregnancy Centers 101 - How Your Tax Dollars Fund Fake Women's Health Centers Crisis pregnancy centers, or “CPCs,” are anti-abortion organizations that target pregnant people with predatory, deceptive marketing. They hide in plain sight by operating under the guise of offering comprehensive reproductive healthcare. Instead, they are religiously-affiliated, anti-abortion, and often unlicensed “medical” centers that, as stated by the California legislature, dissuade pregnant people from abortion through “intentionally deceptive advertising and counseling practices that often confuse, misinform and even intimidate” mostly low-income clients from making informed choices. Eighty-three percent are affiliated with evangelical Christianity, and nearly all are tax-exempt. Their deceptive practices are well documented, and range from including words like “choices...
2022-05-0351 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat Do the FDA's Updates Mean for Access to Medication Abortion?Back in early December 2021, you may have heard some rumblings celebrating that the FDA had changed some of its draconian and scientifically unsupported regulations around medication abortion. Medication abortion, a safe and legal method of first-trimester abortion, accounted for 54% of US abortions in 2020 but has been subject to decades of politically-motivated FDA regulations that placed strict and unnecessary controls on it to limit access. In late 2021, amidst the most hostile environment to abortion since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, some of these limits were lifted. However, the news stories reporting on the updates didn't exactly make it clear...
2022-04-1727 minThe Femtastic PodcastA Glimpse Into a Post-Roe Future: Funding Abortion in a State That's a "Destination" for ThemToday on the podcast is the Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF), a grassroots nonprofit that provides financial support for people traveling to and living in Maryland who need abortion care, and as the Supreme Court decides in June on a case that threatens legal abortion like never before, they’re working to remove the financial barriers for those seeking abortion care. As of late 2021, 30% of BAF’s callers were already from out of state, and the majority of people that BAF supports are 13 weeks or further into their pregnancy. BAF discusses on the podcast the implications of further state restrict...
2022-04-0640 minThe Femtastic PodcastUsing Information to Overcome the Gender Pay GapYou've probably heard of the gender pay gap - the fact that, according to the most recent Census Bureau data from 2018, women of all races earned, on average, just 82 cents for every $1 earned by men of all races. Last week, Equal Pay Day was recognized on March 7 - this is the number of days into 2022 women would need to work to earn the equivalent of men in 2021. Do you know how the gender pay gap may impact your earnings over the course of your career? Do you know that the gap is a LOT bigger for women...
2022-03-2232 minThe Femtastic PodcastThe Meaning of a 6-Week Ban on AbortionYou may have heard that Texas enacted a six-week ban on abortion in 2021, and that other states have begun attempting to pass copycat laws. You also may have heard many people remarking that 6 weeks is "before many people even know they are pregnant." But do you know why that is? Dr. Lauren Ralph, Associate Professor in the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) program at UCSF, recently published research that found that 1 in 3 people discover pregnancy past six weeks or later, and almost 2 in 3 young people discover pregnancy past six weeks or later. She i...
2022-03-0844 minThe Femtastic PodcastReproductive Justice 101 with SisterSongIt's Black History Month, and we're also in what may quite possibly the last few months of Roe v. Wade's existence as we know it. So it seems an important time to talk about what exactly Reproductive Justice means, the history of this Black women-led movement, and why it's so very important. Joining the podcast is Monica Simpson, Executive Director of *the* organization for the Repro Justice (RJ) movement, SisterSong. Monica explains what RJ is; its history and founding by Black women; how we do everyone a disservice if we shy away from talking about sex when w...
2022-02-2248 minThe Femtastic PodcastThe Very Recent, Racist History of the Anti-Abortion MovementWe know today that the religious right condemns abortion. But did you know just how recently they developed that opinion, and why? Today on the podcast is Reverend Serene Jones, a pro-choice reverend, religious scholar, and the former chair of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University. She is a leader on progressive religious issues, including abortion. Rev. Jones is an expert on how abortion and reproductive rights became a political rallying cry for the conservative religious right. Unknown to many, until just decades ago, the church was essentially silent on the issue of abortion. The Southern Baptist Chur...
2022-02-0859 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow to Raise the Next Generation of FeministsIf you have young people in your life, you may have asked yourself: how do I teach them to be feminists? How do I explain what feminism is and what it has to do with their lives? For young girls of color, how do I help them navigate the dual forces of racism and sexism? Fortunately, there is a new book that can help. Brittney Cooper, Susana M. Morris, and Chanel Craft Tanner are authors, activists, educators, and members of the Crunk Feminist Collective. Their new book Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood is...
2022-01-2554 minThe Femtastic PodcastSeeking Abortion in Texas TodayWe've heard a lot about the hypothetical harm of Texas' incredibly restrictive abortion bill, SB8, and how it is a glimpse into a post-Roe future. But we wanted to talk to someone on the ground in Texas who is seeing firsthand the impact this bill is having on Texans seeking abortions. We're joined on the podcast today by Zaena Zamora, Executive Director of the Frontera Fund. The Frontera Fund makes abortion accessible to people in the Rio Grande Valley (an area on the US-Mexico border in the southernmost part of Texas) by providing financial and practical support...
2022-01-1143 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow the Pandemic Drove Women Out of the WorkforceThe COVID-19 pandemic has driven up unemployment among women, and the situation is even worse for women of color. Between a lack of affordable childcare, women's caregiving roles in the home, and the fact that women disproportionately work in sectors negatively impacted by the pandemic, the short-term and long-term implications of the pandemic's effect on women's employment cannot be understated. The impact that women's drop in workforce participation has on our economy as whole, and for women (and ergo families') lives, careers, and financial health overall, will impact the United States for decades to come. Because what impacts women...
2021-12-2742 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhen choosing abortion is impossible: People who consider but don’t obtain an abortionAs the topic of abortion rights is in the courts and in the press lately, one thing that we often miss is the question of what it actually means to have the choice of whether to obtain an abortion. Aside from whether abortion is actually legal where you live, what other barriers may exist that may prevent someone from being able to choose abortion in the first place? What obstacles, such as cost, ability to physically get to a clinic, and social stigma, make it so that abortion is not a viable option for someone, even if t...
2021-12-1449 minThe Femtastic PodcastA clinic making mail-order abortion a realityIn the midst of nationwide abortion restrictions, one topic receiving a lot of attention is the idea of “mail-order” or telemedicine abortion. Previous Femtastic episodes have covered what medication abortion is and how you can access it in all 50 states through various channels. Today, we are talking to Hey Jane, one company providing telemedicine abortion in a few U.S. states (and hopefully more soon)!Hey Jane’s CEO Kiki Freedman joins the podcast to discuss why she started Hey Jane and how it works. Of course, no conversation about abortion access is complete without talking about restri...
2021-11-3032 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhy the Gender Gap in Medical Research Hurts Us Allmedical research gap: a disparity that exists because the vast majority of biological literature is based on single sex studies of males of European ancestry. Did you know that it wasn't until 1993 that it was required for women to be included in clinical trials? Or that as of 2018, 78% of people included in key genomic research were of European ancestry? The implications of gender and racial exclusion in medical and scientific research has had huge (negative) implications for the health of us all. It leads to biased data sets that then result in unequal diagnosis and...
2021-11-1545 minThe Femtastic PodcastDiscovering Your Grandma Spied on NazisEnid Zentellis thought she knew everything about her Holocaust-surviving, Olympic swimming-qualifying, nudist Hungarian grandmother. But when she discovered that she might have also been a spy for the Allies, it not only caused her to reconsider WWII history, it helped lift her out of her personal grief and helped to understand the power of individual resistance. Today on the podcast is award-winning filmmaker and newly-minted podcaster, Enid Zentellis. In her podcast, “How My Grandmother Won WWII” she discovers the truth about her Hungarian Jewish grandmother’s covert work for British Special Operations during WWII, and in the process...
2021-11-0249 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhy Representation in the Arts (including Podcasts) MattersToday on the podcast is Kacie Willis, creator of the podcast “You Heard Me Write," a Spotify Studios production. Kacie is an arts advocate who brings together Atlanta-based creatives from different disciplines and backgrounds through art. The series has amassed wide popularity, recently trending on Spotify because of its wildly creative, immersive format. Each episode features emerging writers, musicians, sound designers and dynamic thinkers who collaborate on a multimedia project without knowing the identities of their counterparts. It might sound vague, but it *sounds* (pun intended) awesome when you actually hear it. The show comes from...
2021-10-1959 minThe Femtastic PodcastBattling for Reproductive Rights: The Last 100 Years and TodayThis year marks the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the American Birth Control League, and while we've come a long way since then, fierce battles for reproductive rights are still being waged today. Today’s interview is with Planned Parenthood's North Central States CEO Sarah Stoesz, a fierce advocate of over 20 years who has been fighting for reproductive health access in a reliably conservative part of the country. We're also joined by award-winning author Ames Sheldon, grand-niece of the founder of the Birth Control League of Massachusetts in the 1910s, and herself one of the founders of...
2021-10-0556 minThe Femtastic PodcastThe Largest Contraceptive Access Program in the CountryAfter decades of pursuing public health policies to reduce unintended pregnancies in South Carolina, New Morning President & CEO Bonnie Kapp had a bold idea. What if we made birth control available at little to no cost in every community, in every county, for every person with a uterus in South Carolina, regardless of health insurance coverage? What if we did this against a backdrop of relentless political attacks on reproductive rights and a weak healthcare infrastructure, where 30% of counties have no OB/GYN providers, the average distance to a family medicine practitioner is 37 miles, and 29 of 46 counties...
2021-09-211h 10The Femtastic PodcastAre You Prepared for the Cost of Parenthood?Did you know that childcare is now more expensive than college in 33 states? While parenthood is beautiful, there's no need to go into it blind. If you're planning to start a family, now is the time to start planning for the financial costs of child-rearing, both from the perspective of short-term, monthly cash-flow and the long-term implications that parenthood-related career choices have on lifetime earnings and savings. Here to talk on the podcast are experts in financial family planning: Siran Cao and Mel Faxon, founders of Mirza, a platform helping empower parents and future parents to take...
2021-09-071h 12The Femtastic PodcastWhat's Up with the TX Abortion Ban and How Can People All Over the US Access Abortion Pills OnlineOn September 1, Texas enacted S.B. 8, an outrageous abortion ban that not only amounts to an effective total ban on abortions, but creates a bizarre bounty hunter situation where anyone can sue another person for assisting someone who has an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy - and be rewarded with $10,000 plus attorney fees if they succeed. In a country of draconian abortion laws, this is the most wack-a-doodle one yet, and probably the scariest - as the Supreme Court, in a signal of how they plan to treat any challenges to Roe (the next of which happens next...
2021-09-031h 12The Femtastic PodcastCan We Stop Treating Women’s Health like a Niche Category?While women make up half the population, you may have noticed that women's health is treated like a niche category. Today on the podcast to talk about innovation (or the historical lackthereof) in women's health is Amanda French, co-founder and CEO of Emme, a healthcare technology company that wants to bring birth control out of the 1950s. Emme recently launched the first Smart Case for birth control (and accompanying app) to help pill users better manage their health and never miss a pill again. Amanda talks about why she decided to create the fir...
2021-08-241h 09The Femtastic PodcastThe Inclusion Rider: An UpdateWhile accepting her Academy Award for Best Actress in 2018, Frances McDormand shouted out a word that set the internet aflutter: Inclusion Rider. In a 2019 Femtastic Oscars Edition podcast, Katie interviewed one of the co-authors of the inclusion rider, law partner in civil rights and employment, Kalpana Kotagal, to introduce us to the concept. An inclusion rider is a clause added onto a contract, and usually an A-lister's contract, that requires diversity both on-screen and off in the hiring for Hollywood productions. Today, Kalpana and fellow co-author Fanshen Cox, head of strategic outreach at Pearl Street F...
2021-08-1056 minThe Femtastic PodcastWomen of Color in CannabisAs the cannabis industry is booming and on the precipice of federal legalization, it must figure out how it will traverse and address racial and gender equity in its workforce. While folks who have been incarcerated for non-violent cannabis offenses are overwhelmingly people of color, those getting funding and attention in the legalized cannabis industry have often been white men. STIIIZY is a brand changing that paradigm. A Los Angeles-based cannabis company in 5 states, women of color are at the heart of STIIIZY’s continuous, pivotal success. The company breaks the "white bro in weed" mold - th...
2021-07-2750 minThe Femtastic PodcastLifting Restrictions on Medication AbortionMedication abortion, or "the abortion pill," is an incredibly safe method of abortion that can be used up to about the first 11 weeks of pregnancy. Many people prefer this method to an in-clinic abortion due to the lower cost and the ability to manage the pregnancy termination to a large extent at home, on their own terms - but there's plenty of stigma and confusion around it (like the fact that "the abortion pill" is actually a regimen of two different meds, taken as 5 pills total). Worse, there are medically unnecessary restrictions on the provision of medication abortion, passed b...
2021-07-1356 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat Happened When Texas Banned Abortion During COVID-19On March 22, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that prohibited procedures that were not "medically necessary," claiming that this would preserve personal protective equipment and reduce demands on hospital-based care. Despite the fact that abortion rarely occurs in hospitals, Attorney General Ken Paxton chose to interpret the order to include abortion in defiance of professional medical associations’ recommendations that access to abortion during the pandemic should not and need not be delayed or compromised. Researchers at the
2021-06-281h 00The Femtastic PodcastDisability as DiversityToday on the podcast is Jo Tolley, an advocate for disability, equity, and diversity. As someone who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, Jo spent most of her life running from the label of “disabled.” In the past few years, she has decided to embrace her disability to become an advocate to change our perceptions around disability from being a dichotomy between “disabled” and “non-disabled” people, to instead thinking of disability as just another facet of diversity. Jo talks on the podcast about what it means for equity to be achieved for the disability community, why terms like “...
2021-06-1457 minThe Femtastic PodcastSCOTUS Could Overturn Roe v. Wade Next YearOn May 17, 2021, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case out of Mississippi that would that ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Depending on how the court rules on this case (and given the conservative make-up, it's not looking good), Roe v. Wade could either be entirely overturned or the court could give the green-light to states to further restrict abortion access - which is already logistically inaccessible to millions of Americans of reproductive age. All in all, this is the most dangerous and credible threat to Roe since the decis...
2021-06-0250 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat Does Work-Life-Relationship Balance Look Like in 2021?We all know the term "work-life balance," but where do relationships and intimacy fit in? And what about during a global pandemic when stress - especially for working parents - is at an all-time high? Today on the podcast is Naketa Ren Thigpen, psychotherapist, founder of ThigPro Balance and Relationship Management Institute, and fabulous host of the Balance Boldy Podcast. Regarded as the #1 Balance & Relationship Advisor in the world, Naketa has become the go-to resource for women entrepreneurs and power couples seeking to balance love and success without dimming or apologizing for their ambition. Today o...
2021-05-1451 minThe Femtastic PodcastHealing and Accountability: A Story of Interpersonal and Institutional TraumaCONTENT WARNING: Sexual assault, suicide, suicidal ideation, depression, institutional silencing What happens when the trauma of sexual assault extends beyond the event itself? What happens when an academic institution that is meant to protect its students ends up perpetuating further harm? On today’s episode, Katie interviews an anonymous guest who speaks about the experience of sexual assault that took place when she was an undergraduate student at Brown University and the aftermath of those events. While stories in the media of sexual assault are often portrayed as black and white, this particular narrative brings out why tha...
2021-05-021h 53The Femtastic PodcastOn-Screen Portrayals of Abortion and Why They MatterWhat we see in movies and TV impacts our cultural understanding and normalization of topics - and abortion is no different. That's why every year a team of researchers at UCSF's Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) analyzes and reports on film and TV portrayals of abortion. Today on the podcast is Steph Herold, a researcher with the Abortion On-Screen Team here to discuss the 2020 report. Steph tells us how, where, and how accurately abortion was portrayed on-screen in 2020. She details how on-screen portrayals underrepresented people of color, parents, and barriers to abortion seen in real...
2021-04-1633 minThe Femtastic PodcastGlobal Vaccine Equity and Why You Should Care About ItYou may have heard that poorer countries across the globe are not going to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine for a loooong time. If you live in a rich country, why should that matter to you? The short answer: because the pandemic can't truly end in one place if it doesn't end in all places. Oh, and also because it's the right thing to do. Today on the podcast, we welcome back guest Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of global medicine access organization, I-MAK. Priti has been working for nearly two decades in t...
2021-03-2938 minThe Femtastic PodcastSpotlight on Intimate Partner Violence, Part 2: Demystifying Emotional AbuseIn Femtastic's first-ever Spotlight Series, we focus this and the previous episode on bringing awareness to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) or Domestic Violence (DV). The months of COVID-associated isolation, fear, and economic anxiety have exacerbated IPV. In today's episode, we focus on emotional abuse, an equally (and as our guest argues, more) damaging type of abuse that can occur in all types of relationships, from romantic to parent-child, to workplace and beyond. Today's guest is Beverly Engel, a psychotherapist who specializes in emotional abuse. Beverly details what emotional abuse looks like, how it shows up in...
2021-03-021h 15The Femtastic PodcastSpotlight on Intimate Partner Violence, Part 1: IPV and How COVID is Exacerbating It[TW: domestic violence, sexual assault, physical violence, emotional abuse] A sad but true fact: more than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the US will experience intimate partner violence (IPV). Half of all female homicides are from a current or past male intimate partner. And these are just the estimates we have among cisgender people and those who report their abuse. But with the compounded stress and isolation of COVID-19, IPV has reached a tragic, all-time high. In Femtastic's first ever Spotlight Series, we focus the next two episodes on bringing awareness to Intimate Partner V...
2021-02-161h 18The Femtastic PodcastMaternal Mortality, Racism, and the Importance of Postpartum Care Although the country has justifiably turned its attention to the COVID-19 crisis, maternal mortality remains a public health crisis.The maternal mortality rate in the United States is higher than any other high-income nation. Approximately 60% of maternal deaths are preventable. Inexcusably, women of color are disproportionately impacted by this crisis. Black women experience mortality as a result of complications of pregnancy at a rate THREE TO FOUR times higher than white women. American Indian and Alaska Native women die at a rate two to three times higher. This must stop. Today on the podcast is Dr. Tamika Auguste, an OB/G...
2021-02-0249 minThe Femtastic PodcastYour Legal Rights During COVID-19Have you wondered what sorts of legal protections you have in the face of life's new COVID complexities? COVID-19 has impacted all facets of life where some legal know-how would be useful: in housing and leasing, student loans, travel and weddings, workplace accommodations, and more. Renowned celebrity attorney, comedian, host of the podcast "Girl Is that Legal?", and star on the new dating reality show “Ready to Love,” on OWN, Symone Redwine is here to help. On the podcast today, she offers legal advice that certainly comes in handy during COVID, but much of which is applicable rega...
2021-01-301h 07The Femtastic PodcastYour COVID-19 Vaccine Questions AnsweredLord knows people have LOTS of questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. So it's time to get them answered! On the podcast today is Stanford MD/PhD candidate Maria Filsinger Interrante, an expert in vaccine research and development! Femtastic host Katie Breen (who herself has a Master of Public Health from Harvard) asks Maria all of the most frequently asked questions and concerns about the vaccine. Is it safe? Was it "rushed?" Does it cause infertility? Can it change your DNA? Will it still work on the new variants of COVID-19? Listen in to get all of...
2021-01-181h 20The Femtastic PodcastWhat You Need to Know About China TodayEver feel like you have no idea what to make of the media's coverage of China? How do we separate truth from xenophobia? What does it mean to be "tough on China?" And how do we look beyond news reports and politics to see the nuance inherent in a nation of 1.4 billion? This episode of Femtastic features Dori Jones Yang, an expert who has spent her entire career helping Americans better understand China. Dori helps us separate fact from fiction and see China for what it is: not a monolith, but a complicated, imperfect, impressive, an...
2020-12-211h 49The Femtastic PodcastA Black Mother's Answers to White Women's QuestionsAfter the execution of George Floyd earlier this year, Black entrepreneur, mother, and activist Lydia Elle found herself answering lots of questions from the white women in her social circles. They wanted to know how to teach their kids about racism, how to understand the world of parenting through the eyes of a Black mother, how to raise anti-racist kids, and how to talk about racism to their friends and family. Eventually, these conversations inspired Lydia to launch courses like "A Black Mother's Answers to White Women's Questions," and merchandise store Supplies for Allies so that these conversations were access...
2020-12-081h 07The Femtastic PodcastGetting "The Pill" Over-the-CounterImagine if you could easily get your birth control over-the-counter, just as you do with other safe, effective medicines like Tylenol and cough drops. Today's guest is Aisha Chaudhri, a reproductive justice advocate and leader of the Contraceptive Justice Project at EverThrive Illinois, who is working to increase access to comprehensive contraceptive care - including by making oral contraceptives available without a prescription. In this episode, Aisha discusses why more methods of contraception should be made available over-the-counter (OTC) and the reasons why the United States is one of the few countries in the world where they a...
2020-11-241h 00The Femtastic PodcastWhat's Ahead for LGBTQ+ RightsRobyn Gigl is a transgender attorney and activist focused on protecting and expanding the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. In this interview with Katie Breen, Robyn describes the impact the Trump administration and recent Supreme Court rulings had on LGBTQ+ rights and discrimination protections, and what she sees as the legal (and political) challenges and opportunities ahead as we head into the Biden administration. Robyn describes her own experience of transitioning as a transgender woman in 2008, when she was in her 50s and a managing partner in a law firm she had worked at for 30 years. Lastly, she offers...
2020-11-141h 32The Femtastic PodcastWhat Would Amy Coney Barrett's SCOTUS Appointment Mean for Reproductive Rights?In the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death and Trump's nomination of judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the resulting vacancy...we have a lot to discuss. Lawyer Kimya Forouzan revisits Femtastic to talk to host Katie Breen about the significance of Amy Coney Barrett's nomination. What are her potential paths to appointment? Is there anything we can do about it? Why is her role on the court so concerning? Is Roe v. Wade doomed? Find out all this and more. Resources from the show: My Beloved World, memoir by...
2020-10-021h 18The Femtastic PodcastThe (Dope) Scientists NextdoorHow do we change not only the stereotypes of who is a scientist, but the systems themselves that have created and perpetuated these stereotypes? Katie discusses with the hosts of the Webby-nominated Dope Labs podcast, Drs. Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whatley. Dope Labs isn't your typical science podcast because Titi and Zakiya are not your "typical" scientists. In fact, these two black women scientists are on a mission to break the mold of what we think of as a "typical" scientist. The Duke University-trained PhDs created Dope Labs to empower those who are most often l...
2020-08-1846 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat the Latest SCOTUS Decisions Mean for Reproductive RightsThe Supreme Court of the United States just released long-awaited decisions on two highly consequential reproductive rights cases. In June Medical Services v. Russo, the court weighed in on whether states can enact a specific type of sham law to limit access to abortion care (TLDR; they said not *that* type of law but others might be cool). In Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, the court decided whether your (yes, your) private employer or university can deny coverage of birth control based on their religious or moral beliefs (spoiler: yes, even if you don't work for a...
2020-07-131h 22The Femtastic PodcastUsing COVID-19 to Further Restrict Abortion AccessAmidst all of the COVID-19 news, one thing you may have missed: anti-choice lawmakers have been seizing upon the opportunity to use coronavirus as an excuse to enact abortion restrictions. Femtastic host Katie Breen speaks with Ravina Daphtary of abortion rights organization All* Above All about the methods lawmakers have been using to use COVID-19 policies to restrict abortion access. They also discuss how the issues of racial injustice, COVID, and reproductive rights are all tied together - and how those intersections are playing out in current events. SHOW NOTES: Want to learn more about...
2020-07-011h 14The Femtastic PodcastWhat To Do if You're Being Sexually Harassed at WorkIn the wake of #MeToo and several high-profile sexual harassment cases in the news, many of us are left wondering...what can we do if we think we're the victim of sexual harassment or gender discrimination at work? What options do we have? How do we protect ourselves AND our careers? Attorney Vince White joins Femtastic Podcast to help guide us through these questions. White is a partner at a NYC law firm specializing in sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. In an interview with Femtastic host Katie Breen, White details what sexual harassment and gender discrimination...
2020-03-101h 01The Femtastic PodcastHow Mindfulness Makes Better ParentsSometimes, your kids get on your nerves. But how parents respond in those situations is incredibly important to their children's development and their own mental health as parents. Hunter Clarke-Fields is a mindfulness mentor, host of the Mindful Mama podcast, and author of the new book "Raising Good Humans." In an interview with Femtastic host Katie Breen, Hunter shares how parents can teach themselves practical mindfulness skills so that when their kids inevitably press their buttons, they can respond in a less reactive and more loving way. While this is obviously great for kids, Hunter also explains how in...
2020-02-2735 minThe Femtastic PodcastArt as Activism with @LiberalJaneCaitlin Blunnie started publishing her art as @liberaljane on Instagram in 2016. She has since gained a huge following by creating art that serves as (literally) colorful social commentary on issues of bodily autonomy such as abortion rights, queer liberation, and justice for survivors of sexual trauma. Katie Breen interviews Caitlin on Femtastic to discuss how she got involved in "art as activism," what inspires her, how to support other artist-activists, and how to get involved in activism of your own making (artistic or otherwise).
2020-02-2740 minThe Femtastic PodcastThe Committee Helping Democratic AGs Get ElectedKatie Breen interviews Farah Melendes, the first-ever Political Director for the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA). As the head of campaign services for the organization in 2018, Farah supported DAGA’s success flipping four AG seats blue, keeping eight open seats blue, and reelecting six incumbents. On the podcast, she discusses how DAGA succeeded in electing the most diverse group of Democratic AGs in history, their recent 1881 Initiative to elect more women AGs, how DAGA became the first Democratic campaign committee to require candidates be pro-choice in order to be eligible for endorsement, and why it's so important that AGs ref...
2020-01-1629 minThe Femtastic PodcastAdvocating for Reproductive Health at Catholic CollegesThe Student Coalition for Reproductive Justice (SCRJ) exists to advocate for the reproductive needs of students at Catholic colleges and universities. Katie interviews SCRJ co-founders Lauren Morrissey and Christina Frasik about the ways in which Catholic colleges limit students' reproductive health and freedoms. Learn how SCRJ mobilizes students on Catholic colleges across the country to demand their administrations do more to protect the reproductive health and autonomy of students. To learn more, start a SCRJ chapter, or just support SCRJ work, check them out online, on Instagram, and on Twitter.
2019-12-0443 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Surviving Nazi Occupation Created a FeministHendrika de Vries lived in Amsterdam during five years of Nazi occupation during World War II. On the podcast, she tells the story of how her idyllic childhood changed overnight when the Nazis began their occupation in 1940. Her strong, determined mother risked their lives by hiding a Jewish girl in their home - until Nazis kicked down their door and dragged the girl out from her hiding place at gun-point, sending her off to a concentration camp. Hendrika describes how her own feminism was shaped by witnessing the resilience and power of women during wartime. Women like her mother...
2019-11-131h 09The Femtastic PodcastFounding a Company Based on Two Things People Hate Talking About (Periods and Sex)Meika Hollender is the co-founder and president of Sustain, a brand of all-natural, vagina-friendly period and sexual wellness products. Meika chats with Femtastic's Katie Breen about what made her want to start what was initially a condom company, how she is motivated by "the orgasm gap" in male vs. female sexual pleasure, and why it's so important that the products we put into the most absorbent parts of our bodies are free of harmful chemicals. She also discusses how activism is central to everything Sustain does (like their part in making New York the first state to mandate ingredient l...
2019-10-2236 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat a Body Remembers: Trauma and Mental HealthIn honor of Mental Health Awareness Week, Femtastic discusses how trauma can impact lives in the long term. PTSD used to be thought of as a "soldier's disease," but in 2019 it's finally getting recognition as an ailment that can affect anyone who has been through an extremely stressful life event. Katie speaks with Karen Stefano, author of the memoir What a Body Remembers: Sexual Assault and its Aftermath. Karen tells the story of the assault she survived while she was in college during the 1980s; the emotional anguish and PTSD she suffered in the days, m...
2019-10-0754 minThe Femtastic PodcastThe Power of Solo Moms in 2019Marika Lindholm is one of the editors of a new anthology “We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor." The book chronicles the journeys of more than 75 solo moms from a variety of diverse backgrounds: some are single parents by choice, some by circumstance, some gay, some widowed...you get the picture. It even includes a story from Amy Poehler! Katie interviews Marika about the ways that it's both easier AND just as hard to be a single mom today than in prior generations, how people who are single parents by choice face their own unique se...
2019-09-2330 minThe Femtastic PodcastBreastfeeding is HardKatie interviews Maddy Sands about the struggles that new parents encounter with breastfeeding—and how the solution to the problem is a community one. Breastfeeding is described as the “most natural thing in the world,” but many parents come home from the hospital to find it’s not the innate skill it was billed as—and our lack of discussion of how hard breastfeeding can be leaves parents feeling guilt, shame, and frustration when it does not, it turns out, come naturally. Maddy is the director of Help Me Feed, a foundation focused on supporting new parents with breas...
2019-08-0944 minThe Femtastic PodcastOne Woman's Pre-Roe AbortionPrior to the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, abortion was illegal in the United States. The court's ruling was, in part, influenced by the hundreds of women dying yearly from dangerous, illegal abortions. A discussion of the hazards of outlawing abortion is unfortunately timely, as a spate of recent abortion bans in the United States means that millions of people are or soon will be without access to safe, legal, and accessible abortion. Katie Breen interviews Patricia Eagle, author of Being Mean: A Memoir of Sexual Abuse and Survival, about Patricia's experience with abortion prior to its l...
2019-06-091h 01The Femtastic PodcastQueer and PregnantKatie speaks with Jenna Brown, the queer doula behind Love Over Fear Wellness & Birth. They discuss what it means to doula for queer folks, what clinical and personal challenges queer pregnant people may encounter in the birth process, and ways that healthcare workers (and really, all of us!) can better care for queer parents. Jenna provides fantastic resources for queer AND non-queer parents-to-be, including why and how to hire a doula for childbirth, and where to find their new work-book, Queer + Pregnant: A Pregnancy Journal.
2019-04-291h 11The Femtastic PodcastFemTech and Your (Digital) HealthKatie Breen speaks with digital health expert, Katie McMillan, about what exactly is "FemTech" and why you should know about it. If you are someone who has biologically female body parts, you might benefit from the huge array of new FemTech products and services out there that can help you to better understand, control, and manage your health - whether that means periods, infertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause, or something else! Katie McMillan walks us through it all and calls out the most exciting companies making waves in the field of female digital health. Follow Katie McMillan on I...
2019-04-051h 13The Femtastic PodcastThe Oscars Edition - Inclusion Riders, Workplace Diversity, and We Guess MoviesIn this special Oscar's edition of the Femtastic podcast, Katie speaks to law partner in civil rights and employment, Kalpana Kotagal, about one of the most Googled terms following last year's Oscars: inclusion rider. Kalpana - one of the co-authors of the inclusion rider - discusses what an inclusion rider is, how it works to increase diversity in Hollywood productions (on-screen and off), and why it comes up in the discussion of #MeToo. We also discuss ways that anyone (including you!) can make a difference to promote diversity in their workplaces, even when they don't have the leverage of...
2019-02-2242 minThe Femtastic PodcastEgg Freezing 101Have you heard of egg freezing? Katie talks to Jenny Lannon, co-founder of Freeze.Health, a resource that helps women decide if, when, and how to freeze their eggs. Maybe you aren't ready to get pregnant now because you're focusing on your career, or you haven't found the right partner yet, or you have an illness that can affect your fertility. Egg freezing might be an option so that you have a better shot of becoming pregnant when the time is right for you. Jenny explains the reasons people may decide to freeze their eggs, what the p...
2019-02-1854 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhy Women Are Hurt Most by Drug PricingYou probably know about the gender wage gap, but have you ever thought about the gender health gap? Katie again welcomes to the podcast Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of I-MAK, an organization using patent law to increase global access to medicines. Priti explains the ways in which women (yes, even you!) are disproportionately harmed by the high prices of drugs and healthcare, and what this means for us as we get older and need to rely more and more on the healthcare system. For example, did you know that a quarter of the twelve highest-grossing drugs in...
2019-01-2220 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Patent Law Affects Your HealthKatie speaks with Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of I-MAK, an organization that uses patent law to fight high drug prices across the globe. Think patent law doesn't affect your life? Think again. Chances are, at some point in your life, you've been prescribed an expensive medication that did not have an affordable, generic equivalent. That's patent law at play. Priti discusses how pharmaceutical companies abuse the patent system to keep drug prices high, how it's possible to increase global access to affordable and life-saving medicines by restoring integrity to the patent system, and what YOU a...
2018-12-1238 minThe Femtastic PodcastAn Investment Fund for Women's HealthKatie interviews Gerda Larsson, cofounder and managing director of The Case for Her, an impact fund that invests in for-profit companies and organizations that work on women and girl's health. Gerda discusses what an impact portfolio is and how it operates, why she and her cofounders began The Case for Her and decided on an impact investing model, and what types of initiatives the fund is investing in around the globe now. Gerda and Katie discuss the fund's focus areas of menstruation, female sexual pleasure, and menopause, and how lifting social taboos surrounding these topics has humanitarian and economic i...
2018-10-1047 minThe Femtastic PodcastWomen in the Homefront Battles of the Vietnam WarKatie interviews author Rita Dragonette about her new book, The Fourteenth of September. They discuss the critical but often overlooked role of women in the Vietnam War and its protest, the experience of being a young woman on a college campus during that time, the lessons we have learned as a country because of the Vietnam War, and the parallels we can draw between the 1960s/70s anti-war movement and activism among young people today.
2018-09-2555 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat is Obstetric Fistula?Katie interviews Lindsey Pollaczek, Vice President of Programs for the Fistula Foundation. Fistula is a childbirth injury largely eradicated in the developed world, but still devastating women in the poorest countries. It's treatable with life-transforming surgery. Lindsey explains what obstetric fistula is, why it's harmful to mothers and fatal to their babies, and what we can do to stop it. Show Notes: Recommendations from Lindsey for learning more about fistula - Cutting for Stone, a fictional novel A Walk to Beautiful, a documentary
2018-08-2241 minThe Femtastic PodcastKatie is Interviewed about Authentic AllyshipIn this episode, we share the recording of a live interview of our host, Katie Breen, at Parillume's June 2018 SHINE Soirée in Denver, Colorado. Parillume is an organization for survivors of sexual violence, and its founder, Lisa Foster, interviews Katie about privilege, authentic allyship, and activism. To watch the video, find it on YouTube here (Katie's entrance is at 17:25). To learn about upcoming SHINE Soirées in Denver, click here. To learn more about Parillume, click here.
2018-08-1635 minThe Femtastic PodcastBodies in the Media and Why Representation MattersKatie interviews Lindley Ashline, founder of stock photography website Representation Matters. Lindley explains why it's so important that we see representations of diverse bodies in the media, and how she uses her platform to create stock imagery featuring people in all types of bodies - large bodies, brown and black bodies, bodies belonging to LGBTQIA+ folks, aging bodies, disabled bodies, tattooed bodies, and more. Lindley also explains how and why businesses and content creators can and should use these types of images in their work, and why it's important that ALL of us diversify the types of bodies we...
2018-08-1358 minThe Femtastic PodcastA Gymnast's #MeToo Moment and Her Journey to JusticeKatie interviews Torey Ivanic, author of the book "No Big Deal," a tale of surviving and overcoming childhood sexual abuse. In the episode, Torey shares her story of being sexually abused by a trusted gymnastics coach while she was in her teens. She discusses the aftermath of the abuse, her experience bringing her perpetrator to justice, and the lessons for parents and survivors she hopes we can take away from her story.
2018-07-131h 08The Femtastic PodcastKatie's TEDx Talk: What Does Your Activism Look Like?Listen to the full recording of Femtastic host Katie's TEDxBoulder talk on privilege, inclusion, allyship, and activism: "What Does Your Activism Look Like?" We all have some level of privilege. What do we do when we are confronted with it? How does that make us feel? And how do we use our privilege to make the world a better place? The video recording of Katie's talk can be found on YouTube at this link. Like what you hear? Supporters of Femtastic and/or Katie Breen can contribute to the GoFundMe for Ka...
2018-07-0908 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhat is a Sex Coach?Katie interviews Brianna Rader, founder of Juicebox, a company whose mission is to get people talking about sex, dating, and relationships. In the episode, they discuss what a sex coach is, who can benefit from working with one (hint: EVERYONE), and the types of topics they help people contend with. As Brianna discusses, you don't need to have a "problem" or be in a crisis to use a sex coach - even if your sex life, dating life, or relationship is great, you can always make it better, improve communication (inside the bedroom and out), deepen your intimacy or...
2018-06-2329 minThe Femtastic PodcastFrom the Archives: A Tale of Two VeteransIn honor of Mother's Day, we are re-releasing this amazing mother-daughter podcast interview! Get your tissues ready! This episode was originally published as Episode #12, "Mother and Daughter: A Tale of Two Veterans" on March 17, 2017. In this episode, Katie had the privilege of interviewing Debbie Johnson and her daughter, Lauren Halloran. Debbie is a retired U.S. Army colonel who served as a nurse in the Gulf War, when Lauren was just a little girl. Lauren is a former Air Force lieutenant who served in Afghanistan. Both mother and daughter talk about the difficulties not only of deploying t...
2018-05-231h 39The Femtastic PodcastGetting and Staying Present in Pregnancy - and in LifeKatie interviews Shari and Dakota Hindman, the mother-daughter (respectively) duo behind The Mother's Center. Shari and Dakota discuss the work they do at The Mother's Center to help people honor and stay present for all of the important moments in life (pregnancy included). Specifically, Shari dives deep into the ancient practice of "circle," and how this type of collective communication is used at The Mother's Center as a tool to help people cope with and appreciate whatever life throws their way. They also discuss why it is so important that The Mother's Center's inclusive pregnancy programs honor every event t...
2018-04-2344 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Indigenous Women Farmers Can Fight Climate ChangeThis episode explores how women farmers are both the most vulnerable to climate change and also the most prepared to stop it. Katie interviews Rachael Cox, CEO of EarthEmpower, a social and environmental enterprise focused on empowering women farmers in rural Guatemala and southern Mexico to use their traditional farming practices to adapt to climate change. Rachael describes her organization's unconventional development approach that empowers indigenous women to use their communities' centuries-old farming and conservation practices to safeguard against the threats of climate change while fostering economic development.
2018-02-141h 15The Femtastic PodcastThe Modern Answer to "Where Do Babies Come From?"Katie interviews Rachel Ginocchio, an educator and activist aiming to change the age-old conversation around "where babies come from." Today, less than half of all U.S. families have a married mom and dad raising their genetically related children. Rachel founded an organization called Roads to Family in order to start more inclusive conversations about the many ways that children and families are made in the modern age - whether through divorce and remarriage, adoption, IVF, surrogacy, gay parents, foster care, single parents, transgender families, or some other arrangement. Katie and Rachel discuss why it's time we update how we...
2018-01-2434 minThe Femtastic PodcastPolicy Imperatives for Latino and Immigrant Reproductive Justice in 2018Katie interviews Karla Gonzales Garcia, the Policy and Program Director of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR). Karla describes the work of COLOR, the meaning of reproductive justice, and the public policy issues on COLOR's legislative agenda for 2018. She also explains the ways in which public policies that affect us all (such as paid family leave and affordable healthcare access) uniquely impact Latino and immigrant communities. Lastly, Katie and Karla offer a call to action for listeners to get involved in their state and local politics during this very important year in American politics.
2018-01-0650 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Menstrual Hygiene Impacts Girls Across the WorldKatie interviews Chiara Bercu, an expert in menstrual health who has worked on adolescent education programs in developing countries across the globe to help prepare students for puberty and menarche. Chiara describes the obstacles to and impact of menstrual hygiene on girls around the world, including the drastic effects that a lack of menstrual hygiene can have on girls' school performance, self confidence, and overall wellbeing. She discusses effective interventions for improving menstrual health and hygiene of girls in developing nations, as well as how taboos surrounding women's periods differ in various countries around the world. Lastly, Katie and Ch...
2018-01-041h 03The Femtastic PodcastWTF is Mindful Birth?Katie interviews Rebecca Peterson, a childbirth mentor who helps parents prepare for labor through birth preparation classes and prenatal yoga. Rebecca explains what it means to mindfully prepare for childbirth, how parents can explore their unique desires for the birth of their babies, and why it is important for parents to be solution-focused rather outcome-focused when it comes to childbirth (spoiler alert: your "birth plan" might go awry - and that's okay). In the interview, Katie and Rebecca also discuss birth shaming and how language plays a role in how parents view childbirth. In particular, they discuss the stigma...
2017-12-1950 minThe Femtastic PodcastHomeless While Woman, Mother, or TransIn this episode, Katie interviews Leslie Foster, President and CEO of The Gathering Place, Denver's only daytime drop-in center that serves women, children, and transgender individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. In the episode, Leslie and Katie discuss the distinct causes, challenges, and experiences of homelessness among women, mothers, and trans individuals. They also contrast these experiences with those faced by cisgender men experiencing homelessness. Leslie details the ways in which communities of women and trans individuals are underserved by traditional poverty and homelessness support organizations, and ways in which their struggles tend to remain “unseen” by the genera...
2017-12-0553 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow the Hyde Amendment Harms WomenKatie interviews Morgan Hopkins, National Field Manager of All* Above All, a reproductive justice campaign dedicated to lifting bans that deny abortion coverage - so that every woman can get affordable, safe abortion care when she needs it, regardless of her income. Since the passage of the Hyde Amendment in 1976, Congress has withheld coverage for abortion services from women insured through Medicaid and other government insurance programs. Currently, this impacts nearly 29 million women of reproductive age. Katie and Morgan discuss the history of the Hyde Amendment, how the Hyde Amendment hurts women, what reproductive justice is all about...
2017-11-1734 minThe Femtastic PodcastHow Systemic Thinking Can Change Our WorldKatie interviews Nilima Achwal, a leader in systemic thinking for social change. They discuss what the social enterprise sector is getting wrong, how social media and cultural phenomena like #MeToo play a role in changing the world, and how "systemic change" thinking can be applied to create large-scale, transformative social change. In the discussion, Nilima describes the cultural impetus behind her founding of Iesha Learning, the first comprehensive gender and sexuality education program in India. The program, which reached 15,000 classrooms across India, sought to address taboos surrounding gender, menstruation, and sex. Nilima explains the incredible impact of the program, an...
2017-11-1529 minThe Femtastic PodcastWhen Family Planning Means SterilizationKatie interviews Zoe Hamilton, a researcher and expert on India’s family planning policies, about the country’s complex relationship with female sterilization and reproductive justice. Zoe and co-director Anne Munger are working in Mumbai on a feature-length documentary called Sterilized, which examines the Indian government's use of sterilization as a means of family planning and population control. In the interview, Katie and Zoe discuss how India's controversial family planning policies affect the lives of women. They examine the political forces - in India and in our own countries - that lead women to have tenuous control over their bodi...
2017-11-0238 minThe Femtastic PodcastHahas for Tatas - Breast Cancer at 31If you never imagined an interview about cancer could be funny, you haven't met Elissa Banker. Elissa is a 33-year-old breast cancer survivor and founder of Polite Tumor, an organization that supports young women by alleviating some of the financial impact of breast cancer. Katie and Elissa discuss what it's like to be diagnosed with breast cancer at 31, the unique considerations that women diagnosed under 40 face (such as how to deal with potential infertility), how treatment can impact your sex life and body image (spoiler alert: we're talking about bloat, boobs, and "dry vag," in Elissa's words), the financial i...
2017-09-281h 01The Femtastic PodcastBlack Breastfeeding and Why Representation MattersKatie interviews Certified Birth Doula, China Tolliver, about Denver's Black Breastfeeding Week 2017. In a lively conversation covering everything from bleeding nipples to flower crowns (they are against both), Katie and China discuss the origins of the national Black Breastfeeding Week movement, why normalizing breastfeeding among communities of color is so critical, and the unique obstacles people of color face in seeking lactation support and resources. They also offer specific examples of how non-women of color or allies can support the black breastfeeding movement year-round.
2017-09-211h 06The Femtastic PodcastAbortion at HomeKatie interviews an anonymous reproductive healthcare worker and expert on the practice of home-based abortion in the US. They discuss what home-based abortion is, as well as the reasons people may choose to terminate pregnancies at home. They also discuss the complex and often severe legal challenges of the practice in the United States, and the safety of abortions in non-clinical settings worldwide.
2017-08-161h 15The Femtastic PodcastEmpowering High-Achieving Women to Be Their Own Beyonces at WorkIn this episode, Katie interviews Chris Dalton Castillo, a career development coach for professional women. In the episode, they discuss ways that high-achieving women can combat burnout and love their jobs (hint: boundary-setting!!!), how women (AND men) can support other women at work, how we can raise the next generation of strong girls, and what leadership skills men can learn from women in the workplace. Because the world is waking up to the fact that the masculine style of leadership sho' ain't the end-all-be-all.
2017-06-141h 08The Femtastic PodcastCannabis and Women's HealthIn this episode, Katie interviews Tony Tarbox, a cannabis educator who works in Colorado's legal cannabis industry. Think cannabis is only good for getting high? Think again. You might be surprised to know that not all cannabis products get you high, and can in fact be extremely useful in treating both common and uncommon medical ailments and pain. Katie and Tony cover a ton of topics, including but not limited to: * the difference between THC and CBD * how CBD works to treat pain in the body * the types of cannabis products tha...
2017-05-071h 48The Femtastic PodcastThe Untold Stories of Women ChangemakersIn this episode, Katie interviews Julia Carpenter, Washington Post writer/editor and creator of daily newsletter A Woman to Know. Every day, A Woman to Know tells its subscribers the story of an impactful woman from history that they've probably never heard of. Katie and Julia discuss why the newsletter was started, some of Julia's favorite unknown women history figures (you know Paul Revere but do you know Sybil Ludington, people?!), recommendations for fantastic books about women, why we've heard so few of women's stories in history class, and how we might change that in the future.
2017-04-1243 minThe Femtastic PodcastMother and Daughter: A Tale of Two VeteransIn this episode, Katie had the privilege of interviewing Debbie Johnson and her daughter, Lauren Halloran. Debbie is a retired U.S. Army colonel who served as a nurse in the Gulf War, when Lauren was just a little girl. Lauren is a former Air Force lieutenant who served in Afghanistan. Both mother and daughter talk about the difficulties not only of deploying to a war zone, but of reintegrating into civilian life upon their return. They touch on the stigma surrounding mental illness in the military, the experience of being women in male-dominated environments (both the military and t...
2017-03-171h 39The Femtastic PodcastThe Handmaid's Tale & Trump's AmericaIn this episode, Katie interviews David Rheinstrom, host of the Wondery Network's podcast "Secrets, Crimes & Audiotape." SCA recently released an audio adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale. Written over 30 years ago, the story describes a United States that uses a fabricated act of Islamic terrorism to establish a Christian theocracy and strip women of their rights. Katie and David discuss the frightening parallels between events in the story and those in our current political climate, such as attacks on women's reproductive rights and the political co-opting of so-called "family values" and "religious freedoms" - particularly...
2017-02-2341 minThe Femtastic PodcastTeaching Parents How to Talk to Their Kids About SexIn this episode, Katie interviews Elona Landau, a sexuality educator who teaches parents how to talk to their children about sex. They explore why parents feel so uncomfortable talking to their kids about sex, what subjects are particularly terrifying for parents to broach, what kids stand to gain when they can have open discussions with parents about sex, and some resources for how to communicate the facts - while also communicating your values - when talking to your children about sex.
2017-01-2754 minThe Femtastic PodcastAcupuncture, Reiki, and Self Care for Women's HealthKatie interviews licensed acupuncturist and reiki master/teacher, Margarita Alcantara. They discuss how acupuncture and Reiki can be used not only as fantastic self-care practices, but also to treat and alleviate women's health issues - from infertility, ovarian cysts, and menstrual irregularity to insomnia, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and trauma-influenced conditions. They also discuss how it is now common for private insurance plans to cover acupuncture, and how to find a great acupuncturist or reiki practitioner in your area.
2017-01-1858 minThe Femtastic PodcastTalking Equality and the Next Four Years with Ash BeckhamIn Episode 8, Katie interviews equality advocate Ash Beckham. Ash didn’t set out to become a viral sensation with her TEDx talk “Coming Out of Your Closet” or her Boulder Ignite speech, “I am SO GAY”. But her willingness to strike up brutally honest, totally hilarious conversations about tough topics inspired more than 8 million YouTube views and the most-watched Ignite Talk ever. In the oft-chuckle-inducing interview, Ash and Katie discuss their outlook on how the next four years may affect folks from marginalized communities, how millennials demand diversity from their workplaces, and how to be a better ally.
2017-01-061h 32The Femtastic PodcastConscious Period - Chemicals in Tampons and Menstruating While HomelessKatie speaks to Annie Lascoe and Margo Lang, cofounders of Conscious Period, a social enterprise that produces organic tampons while providing free menstrual products to homeless women. In the episode, they discuss the chemicals and carcinogens in conventional tampons, the menstrual needs of women living in poverty and homelessness around the world, the tampon tax, and the challenges of building a women-minded startup based on a taboo topic - especially in the male-dominated world of venture capital.
2016-12-0756 minThe Femtastic PodcastVote InformedKatie interviews Alex Niemczewski, CEO and co-founder of BallotReady, a website that aims to help voters to vote informed on every candidate and every referendum, in every election. In the episode, Alex and Katie discuss the importance of voting in down-ballot elections, the immense impact that local and state policies have on our lives, and how down-ballot races differ from national ones. Listen to the episode and then head to BallotReady to learn about the candidates and issues at stake on your ballot. And please, for the love of God, VOTE.
2016-10-1755 minThe Femtastic PodcastBreaking Down Barriers on the Road to AbortionsKatie interviews April Greene, co-founder of the Georgia-based Magnolia Fund. This non-profit helps low-income women afford abortions, whether through monetary support like subsidized procedures, or practical support like transportation, lodging, or emotional comfort. They discuss the obstacles many women face to getting abortion care, the total sham of so-called "Crisis Pregnancy Centers," the anti-choice movement's use of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (aka TRAP) laws to deter access to abortion, striving to be more intersectional feminists, and how the Hyde Amendment unfairly blocks low-income women and women of color from seeking reproductive freedom.
2016-09-1356 minThe Femtastic PodcastCampus Sexual Assault and Title IXIf you thought Title IX was just about sports, get ready for an interesting discussion. In this episode, Katie interviews seasoned campus violence educator and advocate, Tara Misra. Katie and Tara discuss the prevalence of sexual assault and relationship violence on college campuses, how survivors of campus sexual assault and other gender-based violence can use Title IX to seek justice (even after leaving school), and how the conversation around campus sexual assault has changed over the years. They also discuss why a survivor may not go to the police following an assault, the impact that trauma can have on acad...
2016-08-261h 34The Femtastic PodcastThe Sex Ed Teacher You Wish You HadKatie interviews sex educator Melanie Lucash - the sex ed teacher you wish you had. Melanie teaches modern sex education that is consent-based, trauma-informed, LGBTQ-inclusive, pleasure-positive, and completely shame-free. Katie and Melanie discuss the shortcomings of American sex ed, the importance of erasing shame from the sex ed classroom (and how she does it), the hilarity and importance of demystifying sex for young people (Can I masturbate too much? Is porn sex like real sex?), and why it is so crucial that educators come at sex education from an angle that is as inclusive and intersectional as possible - takin...
2016-07-271h 39The Femtastic PodcastA Public Defender on Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice SystemKatie interviews Julia Burke, a public defender in Queens, New York. They discuss what the life of a public defender is like, how patterns of domestic violence play out in the criminal justice system, and why someone may plead guilty to a crime they didn't commit. They also touch on the unique challenges of marginalized communities in actually receiving justice within the criminal justice system.
2016-07-1349 min
The Femtastic PodcastPlanned Parenthood Field Organizing Specialist Jillian CoffeyKatie interviews Jillian Coffey, the Field Organizing Specialist for Planned Parenthood of Colorado. Their conversation covers a litany of topics, such as how to become involved in the fight for reproductive rights in your state, what it was like working for PP in the aftermath of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting, and the frustrations of working in a political climate that often puts more focus on religious and moral arguments than on factual ones. *All views expressed are Jillian's own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Planned Parenthood organization.
2016-06-2959 min