Nothing like a holiday to turn up the heat on hard conversations. In this Season 2 Finale, Kassia and Sabrina reflect on conversations they've had with family and friends who don't necessarily agree with their points of view, including: Sabrina's history of heated arguments with her uncle and how they finally managed to have a calm conversation about abortionKassia's tendency to come in a little too hot with family members who disagree on humans rights issues like vaccinationThe tragic moment...

We’ve never met a woman without a complex relationship to her own hair. Shorter, longer, curlier, straighter, lighter, darker, up, down. For many women—especially Black women—hair can be a complicated thing. Founder of Parting the Roots, Simone Wright is working to educate people and organizations on the history, politics, and significance of Black hair and the Black Canadian identity. She joins Sabrina to talk about: • The historical importance of Black hair in pre-colonial Africa, how...

130 years. That's how long it will take to achieve gender equity at the highest levels of global politics. Around the world, women are still less likely to be encouraged to run for public office at every level - this starts with what we tell young girls about what is possible and ultimately influences women's lack of confidence to step into the race. Erin Loos Cutraro founded She Should Run to give women from all walks of life the tools they need to run for public office. In this re-release...

Contrary to what society would like us to believe, not every woman wants to be a mother. Some women regret the choice altogether. Orna Donath was only 16 years old when knew with certainty that she never wanted to be a mother. In the decades that followed she never waivered in that decision. Today, Orna is a sociologist and author in Tel Aviv, Israel. In this rerelease of one of our most beloved season one episodes, she joins Kassia and Sabrina to talk about: • Her personal experience of...

Every year, one in five women in the United States struggles with mental health. Income disparities, caregiving responsibilities, higher rates of poverty and violence are just a few of the risk factors that leave women especially susceptible to chronic stress. Dr. Beth Ricanati is no stranger to burnout. She was the mother of three children and a physician working full time when she realized she needed to prioritize self-care. At the recommendation of a friend, she turned to baking bread as...

In honor of Sexual Health Month and our recent conversation with Zoe Mendelson, Sabrina and Kassia are opening up - like really, intimately opening up - about sexual health. We're walking through Zoe’s book, Pussypedia, discussing some of its more shocking takeaways, and our relationships with our mothers who were often our own source of education when we were young girls. In this no-holds-barred conversation, we end up talking about: • Not soaping your slit and other things we all wish we...

When Zoe Mendelson first googled squirting, she had no idea the rabbit hole of sexual education she was about to go down. The internet was riddled with inconsistent information and even experts disagreed on some of the simpler questions she was curious about. An information designer by training, Zoe became passionate about curating a comprehensive platform for accessible and inclusive sex education. She has since dedicated the better part of a decade to learning about, writing about, and...

Around the world, 1 in 3 women experiences physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. In India, where a woman is raped every fifteen minutes, the outlook is especially dire. ElsaMarie D'Silva walked away from a twenty-year career in aviation to launch SafeCity - the world's foremost crowdmapping platform for gender-based violence. An entrepreneur, activist, and survivor, she joins Kassia to talk about: The various forms of gender-based violence—including physical, sexual, and...

Did you know the word “homosexual” didn’t appear in the Bible until 1946? Neither did we. And neither did Kathy Baldock until a gay friend said, “Even God doesn’t love me,” and Kathy, a heterosexual, practicing Christian, went looking for answers. Today, Kathy is an author (Walking The Bridgeless Canyon), LGBTQ advocate, international speaker and educator. She has done more research than almost anyone in the world on the origins of Christianity's discrimination against the LGBTQ community....

Women account for less than 10% of leadership positions in governments around the world. At this rate, we will not achieve gender equality in these highest positions of power for 130 years. Marissa Conway is not surprised. Neither intimidated nor impressed by the foreign policy sector dominated by older, white men, Marissa has had a front row seat to the patriarchal systems in which policies are made. A vivacious young analyst and activist, Marissa made a name for herself founding the...

Despite the influence of civil rights icons Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, their mother's stories were all but erased from history. That is until Dr. Anna Malaika-Tubbs came along. While pregnant with her first child, Dr. Mailka-Tubbs wrote the award-winning book The Three Mothers: How the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. Her original research details the lives and influence these women had, and is a catalyst for...

Abortion saves lives. Abortion is healthcare. Abortion should never have been politicized. But it was. And in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, when we're mostly full of anger and sorrow, we really need glimmers of hope. One such spark can be found in a place one might expect fervent opposition to abortion: Ireland. In this rerelease of one of our very first episodes, Ailbhe joins Sabrina & Kassia to share how she organized a national movement to legalize abortion in Ireland....

Many double standards exist for women and men, but perhaps none as ubiquitously as how they use their voice. A loud little girl is called bossy, a bold assertive woman is called a bitch. The same leadership qualities that we celebrate in men we often silence in women and Phumzile van Damme has experienced this at every turn of her career. Elected to serve as a Member of Parliament for South Africa at the age of 31, van Damme went on to hold positions of National Assembly Whip, Shadow...

Ever been called an angry feminist? Us too. Soraya Chemaly is a writer, speaker, and activist who studies the many reasons women have to be angry, and why they're called bitches, hot-headed, crazy feminists when they are. She is an award-winning activist, the best-selling author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, and director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project. She joins Sabrina to discuss: • The reasons women have to be angry, from microaggressions to...

We’re releasing a bonus episode from 1972! Just kidding. We’re releasing a bonus episode from 2022 about what to do now that the United States is about to revoke the rights of millions of people with uteruses. Sabrina reaches back out to human rights attorney and previous guest, Julie Kay to talk about: •        What this legal ruling might mean for other rights •        Which interventions are and are not likely to work once Roe v. Wade is overturned •        How we keep going, keep...

It's not often that a poet's first paid piece of writing jumps to the top of the New York Times bestseller lists. Kate Baer's did. Her first book, What Kind of Woman was published in 2020 and followed shortly by a book of erasure poetry, I Hope This Finds You Well (2021). Both tackle the underlying treatment of women and mothers in modern society. Even if you haven't picked up one of her books (yet), you've probably seen her work, which regularly goes viral online. She joins Kassia to talk...

In a country that criminalizes homosexuality, Kaz is an openly queer individual. Bisexual, lesbians, and transgender persons are not recognized by the Kenyan constitution and yet she lives openly and authentically while encouraging others to do the same. Kaz started her career as a singer and performer. In 2006, she won the Kora Award for The Most Promising Female Artist in Africa and was dubbed the Kenyan Queen of Soul. Today she is the host of The Spread, a sex-positive podcast that...

Five kids between the two of them, Sabrina and Kassia know a thing or two about pregnancy. From infertility to miscarriage, morning sickness to stretch marks these ladies could write a real epic. That's why they're pulling back the curtains - not as experts on any one of these issues, but as mothers and friends who want to dispel some of the ways society tends to sugar coat pregnancy. We're talking about: The first trimester and the burden of being expected to endure it in secretMiscarriage...

Comprehensive sex education is not standardized in schools across Arab countries and more than 40% of pregnancies are unintended. Since moving from Chicago to Dubai in 2014, Dr. Salem has defied tradition and delivered sex education to women through her OB-GYN clinic as well as through her Instagram account. With more than 20k followers, she answers questions, busts myths, and provides advice to women who don't otherwise have access to sex ed. She joins Kassia to talk about:  Providing...

Reproductive freedom is in grave danger across the United States. Experts predict that it is not a question of if Roe will be overturned this year, but rather when. Kathryn Kolbert is one of the most influential reproductive rights attorneys in the country. Julie Kay is a passionate human rights attorney who came up under the mentorship of Kitty at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Collectively, these women are two of the most aggressive and accomplished defenders of reproductive rights...

Season two is coming soon and this is our little love letter to those loyal listeners who are waiting oh so patiently. It's been a few months since our 43rd episode dropped to wrap up Season 1. And since then, we've been chasing babies, growing businesses, and planning how to knock your socks off in our second season. A few of the to dos on our list? • Mix up the show format • More intimate one-on-one conversations with world-changing guests • Launching a powerful and practical email...

Rules were bent. Glass was broken. Minds were expanded. Join Sabrina and Kassia in reflecting on the audacious, gutsy guests whose stories, advice, and badassery comprised season one. The co-hosts discuss the conversations that left a mark and opened their eyes to the vast array of experiences women are facing around the world. Sabrina reveals the episode that most challenged her, and Kassia shares how she has personally grown in unexpected ways.

Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell grew up in rural Kenya with two parents who were deeply committed to her education. The daughter of a village chief, it wasn’t until she completed her PhD and was deep into her career in public health and population studies that she realized child marriage had been happening all around her. Today, Dr. Faith is the CEO of Girls Not Brides where she leads a network of global organizations working to end child marriage. She joins us to reflect on her own childhood, how...

Erin Jorgensen is an artist, musician, and a somewhat accidental abortion activist. Having grown up in a Mormon family in rural Washington, Erin eventually turned her back on the church and moved to the coast to pursue a career in music. A struggling artist, she resorted to sex work to make ends meet. After four abortions, Erin's roommate and dear friend urged her to open up about her experience and to her disbelief, Erin found that her story wasn't unique at all. In fact, nearly one in four...