Katie 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.
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
In 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.
Katie 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 expose ourselves to on social media.
Show Notes:
- The Health at Every Size Movement
- Meredith Noble's list of body-positive Instagram accounts
- Jes Baker's "135 Ways to Diversify Your Instagram Feed"
- Link to the GoFundMe for Katie's Harvard tuition
Katie 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.
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 Katie's Harvard tuition here.
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 pleasure, and explore new things! It's like having a personal trainer - you might already be in great shape, but there's always more improvement to be had. We also discuss Juicebox's iOS app, a platform that offers free resources for people who want to learn more about sex, dating, and relationships from experts (and peers), as well as an extremely AFFORDABLE service that connects you with a professional coach you can chat with on demand, 7 days a week. Listeners of Femtastic can even try out coaching for FREE. Listen to the episode to learn more!
In 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 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 the Middle Eastern countries they deployed to), how little we talk about the struggle of coming home from war, and how sharing their experiences with one another brought them closer together and helped them both heal from the traumas of war. The beautiful, heartfelt, and often tearful interview, which lasted about 90 minutes, is a powerful testament to the bond between mothers and daughters, and to the healing power of sharing our stories, no matter how difficult. (Head to Femtasticpodcast.com to see photos of Lauren and Debbie overseas and at home. There's a super cute pic of Debbie's homecoming to her three kiddos that you're not gonna want to miss.)
Katie 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 that can happen on the childbearing continuum, regardless of one's gender identity, sexual orientation, or pregnancy outcome.
This 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.
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 teach our kids about human reproduction, and how we can start doing so.
Katie 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.
Katie 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 Chiara discuss ways in which we can all combat stigma surrounding periods, regardless of where we live.
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 surrounding Cesareans and medical pain relief (like epidurals), and how we can reframe the conversation to combat these taboos and support mothers - no matter what their childbirth journey looks like.
In 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 general population. Lastly, Leslie offers surprisingly simple steps we can take to combat issues of poverty and homelessness, and fight the stigma surrounding these issues, in our own communities.
Katie 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, and why the approach of Iesha Learning ultimately did not go far enough to create broad change in the context of gender in India. She provides recommendations for how cultural change initiatives should be undertaken, and some encouragement for those of us feeling weary about the state of our world today.
Katie 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 bodies and choices.
If 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 impact of cancer, and how to support a loved one going through treatment.
Katie 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.
In 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.
In 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 that cause a psychoactive effect (read: get ya high) versus types that do not (and how to pick a product for your desired effect)
* the various mediums through which you can consume cannabis, like edibles, vaporizers, oils, and topical ointments (TL;DR: smoking is so high school)
* the complex legal environment surrounding the industry
* what to look/ask for when visiting a dispensary
* the racist history of the word "marijuana"
* how cannabis can be used to treat anxiety or conditions that cause pain, nausea, or movement issues (like menstrual pain, endometriosis pain, joint pain, migraines, chemotherapy-induced nausea, epileptic seizures, or Parkinson's-induced muscle tremors).
* AND MORE!
It might just be the most educational conversation about cannabis you've ever heard.
In 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.
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 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 the Middle Eastern countries they deployed to), how little we talk about the struggle of coming home from war, and how sharing their experiences with one another brought them closer together and helped them both heal from the traumas of war. The beautiful, heartfelt, and often tearful interview, which lasted about 90 minutes, is a powerful testament to the bond between mothers and daughters, and to the healing power of sharing our stories, no matter how difficult. (Head to Femtasticpodcast.com to see photos of Lauren and Debbie overseas and at home. There's a super cute pic of Debbie's homecoming to her three kiddos that you're not gonna want to miss.)
In 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 by those whose "values" include white, Christian heteronormativity, and who want to limit the "freedom" of our laws from religion.
In 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.
