Music is one of the keys that can unlock our memories, sometimes almost transporting us back through time. Whoever you are, chances are you have at least a few of these musical shortcuts to the past… Maybe you remember driving down the highway with your friends, windows down, singing together at the tops of your lungs. Or maybe you remember seeing a favorite band in concert and the electric energy when they played that one perfect song. Music can tie us to moments of community, of family, of gri...
Aug 16, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 32
On today’s episode we’re going to be exploring the systems of patriarchy at work in the sciences and the arts, hearing from two special guests – computer engineer JoCee Holladay Porter & artist Shannon Christie - as they help us reckon with both sides of this double-edged sword. Shannon Christie (she/her) is a social worker, artist and writer, and the founder of Ragtag Magazine, a web publication focused on creativity and community in the Pacific Northwest. When she has any amount of free ti...
Aug 09, 2022•49 min•Season 2Ep. 31
A church (which is just a building used for Christian worship) can look like all sorts of things. Some churches boast stunning stonework and intricate stained-glass windows, while others are only modest wooden structures. You can find churches built up in trees, in caves, or on top of volcanoes. Some swell with the sounds of solemn hymns while others are radiant with music and praise. What these churches all have in common, however, is that they’re centers of faith, of doctrine, and of community...
Aug 02, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Most of us would love to have a perfect memory, but we often fall far short of this aspiration. Who hasn’t forgotten someone’s name right after being introduced, or failed to remember where you left your car in the parking lot? Our memories are rarely as reliable as we’d like them to be. And more so, our memories – even some of our most formative ones – can alter over time. Like a game of telephone, each time we return to a memory it can change ever so slightly until the story in our mind — whil...
Jul 26, 2022•36 min•Season 2Ep. 29
How do you feel about beauty pageants? In 1968, the feminist group New York Radical Women organized a picket of the Miss America Pageant and paraded sheep around the area to protest models being judged like animals at a county fair. These activists refused to talk to male reporters, which forced newspapers to call in women reporters from their usual assignments covering second-tier stories. And then they set up a freedom trash can and they piled in their bras and false eyelashes and put in copie...
Jul 19, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 28
On today’s episode, we interrogate the tradition of patronyms and, in the process, exploring the history of coverture laws, marital customs, and more as our guest— Amelia Hapgood —delves deep into the question of “what’s in a name?” Amelia Hapgood is a BYU student, a newlywed, a devout feminist, and a wanna be runner. She is from Arkansas, and loves being in a family of all girls!
Jul 12, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Welcome to BDP! I’m AMA, and today we’re airing a special episode in response to the Supreme Court ruling on June 24, 2022, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. The right had been granted in 1973, by way of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, when the justices ruled that the decision of whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term was covered under the “right to privacy” clause of the 14th amendment. Nearly fifty years later, conservative judges appointed by Donald Trump led the...
Jul 07, 2022•50 min
Where are we today? Where do we want to be in the future? How do we get there? On today's episode we hear stories from Theresa Beauchamp and Delin Ruhl , two people who've taken action in moments of injustice. Our guests share their remarkable tales of standing up against oppression, whether that confrontation happens behind the lines of a phone bank or face to face in the streets. Theresa Beauchamp (she/her) is a retired family practice Physician Assistant and full-time political activist focus...
Jul 05, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Dr. Nanette Gartrell and Dr. Dee Mosbacher have been pioneers in the struggle for LGBTQIA+ civil rights for over forty years, contributing essential research, political action, and groundbreaking documentaries on gay and lesbian experiences. On today's episode, I'm honored to sit down with these personal heroes for a conversation about their lives, their activism, and their love. Nanette Gartrell , M.D., is a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at the Williams Institute and holds a Guest Appointment ...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 25
As new generations increasingly have the knowledge and social acceptance to explore their identities, the number of openly transgender people in our world—especially transgender youth—is rapidly rising. Yet despite these recent spikes— the transgender community is still comparatively small: making up roughly 0.6% of the global population. As a result, many cisgender people (meaning those of us whose gender aligns with the one we were assigned at birth) have little to no lived experience interact...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 24
It’s not exactly a secret that the Church of Latter-Day Saints and gay rights haven’t gone hand-in-hand historically. In fact, for many decades now the Church has vocally campaigned against marriage equality, making it one of the leaderships pre-eminent political concerns and codifying heteronormativity in Church doctrine. While some discriminatory policies have changed over time (for example, the Church no longer teaches that same-sex attraction can be ‘cured’ and no longer requires children of...
Jun 14, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Today I'm thrilled to be joined by Chloe Agyin and Lakshan Lingam . Chloe and Lakshan are members of a nonprofit organization called Encircle . Their mission is to bring together family and community to enable queer youth to thrive. Encircle provides services like support groups, educational and creative programs, and accessible mental health services in a safe and beautiful environment. In cities throughout Utah and other states where queer youth are most at risk. We're so happy to feature this...
Jun 07, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Today I'm thrilled to be joined by Sebastian Stuart-Johnson and Kylee Shepherd , two members of The Black Menaces. The Black Menaces started in February, 2022. The group made a reaction video to a BYU professor’s insensitive comments about black people in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the video instantly went viral on TikTok. The Black Menaces are a group of five friends; Sebastian, Kylee, Rachel, Nate, and Kennethia. Rachel and Nate are recent BYU alumni, Kylee and Ke...
May 31, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 21
As women and our allies continue to share knowledge, resources, and take action to dismantle oppressive structures, the progress we make is being met by oppositional movements. Here in America, the MRA Movement (or Men’s Rights Activism) continues to expand its reach and intensify its rhetoric, with prominent MRA leader Matt Forney going so far as to say “Women should be terrorized by their men; it’s the only thing that makes them behave better than chimps.” Meanwhile, crimes targeting women and...
May 24, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 20
In her landmark book, Of Woman Born, Adrienne Rich writes that “At certain points in history, and in certain cultures, the idea of woman-as-mother has worked to endow all women with respect, even with awe, and to give women some say in the life of a people or a clan. But for most of what we know was the “mainstream’ of recorded history, motherhood as institution has ghettoized and degraded female potentialities.” In this quote, Rich highlights the stark difference between the way our cultural th...
May 17, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Throughout history women have been misrepresented as villains and monsters: witches, demons, succubus, and beyond. And this misrepresentation of our bodies and minds as evil is no accident! Rather, the vilification of women is a practical tool of patriarchal systems which remains painfully relevant today. After all, if we cast women as monsters, that must make the men controlling them heroes—and who would want to listen to the words of a she-demon? Who would want to vote for one? The damage caus...
May 10, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 18
This week best-selling author Gabrielle Blair sits down with Amy for an unabashed interview about reproductive rights, contraceptives, and why we continue to prioritize men’s pleasure over women’s health and safety. Gabrielle Stanley Blair (she/her) created an award-winning blog called Design Mom (still going strong 15 years later!), wrote a NYT best-selling book, founded a popular conference called Alt Summit, wrote four viral Twitter threads (and counting!), moved to France, and is raising 6 k...
May 03, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 17
From the very beginning on this project it has been my belief that the unjust construct of patriarchy causes harm to people of all genders, including men. Today it’s my delight to be joined by a deep and generous thinker, Bob Rees, who’s going to help us interrogate that belief and unpack some specifics of both how patriarchy can painfully impact men as well as some of the ways men, and patriarchs even, can act as our allies in this work of dismantling oppressive structures. Along the way, Bob w...
Apr 26, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Many women face realities of patriarchy from alarmingly young ages — the damage that this can cause a child is something we’re still only first coming to understand…and yet, there’s another side to this equation as well: what happens when we hide the truth of our oppression from children? What happens when we raise little girls to believe that the ugliness of patriarchy is behind us, when we tell them feminism was a tool of the past and mis-represent our present-day world as an egalitarian fairy...
Apr 19, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 15
This week Amy is joined by Shannon Johnson to help us zoom in even further to more fully unpack the practice of polygamous marriage in the LDS church and its impact on individual women. Not only do we learn some surprising and essential history, but Shannon trusts us with the story of her own journey coming-of-age within the church community and wrestling with polygamy on a personal level. Shannon Olena Hyatt Johnson (she/her) grew up mostly in Utah and went to BYU, where she met her husband, wh...
Apr 12, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 14
We are so grateful to be joined by writer and podcaster Lindsay Hansen Park who does the work of unpacking polygamy on a regular basis and shares some of her discoveries with us today. Lindsay Hansen Park is an American Mormon feminist blogger, podcaster, and the Executive Director for the Salt Lake City-based non-profit Sunstone Education Foundation. She's worked as a consultant and guest on several film projects including Hulu forthcoming television series, Under the Banner of Heaven. You can ...
Apr 05, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 13
On today’s episode we’re going to be tackling a particularly tricky topic: how we and other women can—intentionally or unintentionally—become enforcers and perpetrators of patriarchy. Fortunately, we’ll have not one, but three spectacular guests joining us to help unpack this phenomenon by sharing their own experiences, emotions, and insights. Each of our contributors—Heather Sundahl, Carrie Salisbury, and Heather Renfro—has a unique, invaluable story to tell and I’m so grateful to have them all...
Mar 29, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 12
On today’s episode Amy is joined by Dr. Beverly Allen for an interview about her experiences studying the treatment of women and the roles that patriarchy played during the Yugoslav Wars, as well as the ramifications that her discoveries still hold for us today. This episode contains some challenging content — during our interview we discuss forms of violence, including the use of rape and torture. Please take care of yourselves accordingly. Beverly Allen (she/her) has taught at Cornell, UC Sant...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 11
On today’s episode we hear a stunning story from a woman on a mission for the Church of Latter-Day Saints. This story includes discussions of mental health, faith, false appearances, and how the systems around us shape our relationship with our bodies. Due to the sensitive nature of this material, the author of this essay has asked to remain anonymous . We're grateful to friend-of-the-podcast, Mary Piccard-Reischmann, for performing this story on our contributor's behalf. Mary Piccard-Reischmann...
Mar 15, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 10
On today's episode we celebrate International Women’s Day! This holiday traces its history all the way back to 1909 in NYC. While popular Women’s Day traditions include giving women flowers and small gifts, it is so critical that we not let this holiday become detached from its activist roots. Yes, the day is absolutely intended to be a time for us to recognize one another’s achievements as women, but it’s also a call to action, a day when we’re all encouraged to engage in difficult conversation...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Today in 1987, Congress passed a resolution designating March as Women’s History Month — but — not only is March Women’s History Month, here in the US March is also Irish-American Heritage Month! And what better way to ring in this new month than by learning about Ireland’s patroness saint and listening to the experiences of Irish women? First, we're joined by Ariana Baltay who contributed a fascinating segment about sacred female power, invisible labor, and the patroness saint, Brigid of Kildar...
Mar 01, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 8
On today's episode I'm joined by Emily Bell McCormick for an interview about the impacts of period poverty and the battle for economic justice unfolding in state legislatures right now. For those interested in getting involved with the fight against period poverty, or any of Emily’s other incredible work, please visit The Policy Project . Emily Bell McCormick (she/her) is founder of The Policy Project— a U.S. non-profit organization made up of individuals and like-minded organizations that help ...
Feb 22, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 7
This coming Friday, February 18th, will be the birthday of seminal American novelist, Toni Morrison. With her legacy in mind, it’s our honor today to be joined by poet Robert Lashley to share a stunning story about the books of Toni Morrison, American literature, and a son’s unyielding love for his mother. Robert Lashley is a 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and nominee for a Stranger Genius Award. Robert Lashley has had work published in The Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Poetry N...
Feb 15, 2022•27 min•Season 2Ep. 6
On today's episode I'm joined by one-of-a-kind chess champion and streamer, Anna Rudolf to discuss her experiences in the patriarchal world of competitive chess, including a crash course on the history of female chess champions and an honest discussion about why young women walk away from the game and how everyday people can show up and create change. Anna Rudolf (she/her) is an Olympic Chess-Player and three-time Hungarian Champion. She holds both the International Master and Woman Grand Master...
Feb 08, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 5
On today's episode we're joined by author and podcaster Cherie Burton, who talks to us about sacred rage, the anger of ancestresses, and how we can harness the indignant energy that patriarchy boils up inside us. Cherie Burton is a mom of 6, author, holistic health business owner, Women Seeking Wholeness podcast host, and hobbyist divine feminine scholar. She has worked as a clinical counselor in the fields of mental health and addiction and now specializes in the science and spirituality of emo...
Feb 01, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 4
