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 entrepre...
May 14, 2021•51 min
CONTENT 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 e...
May 02, 2021•1 hr 53 min
What 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. ...
Apr 16, 2021•33 min
You 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 be...
Mar 29, 2021•39 min
In 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...
Mar 02, 2021•1 hr 15 min
[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 Spot...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 19 min
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 India...
Feb 02, 2021•50 min
Have 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 l...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Lord 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...
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr 21 min
Ever 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 ...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 49 min
After 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 Mo...
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Imagine 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...
Nov 24, 2020•1 hr
Robyn 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 20...
Nov 14, 2020•1 hr 33 min
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 sho...
Oct 02, 2020•1 hr 18 min
How 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 Universi...
Aug 18, 2020•47 min
The 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...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 22 min
Amidst 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 - an...
Jul 01, 2020•1 hr 14 min
In 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 intervi...
Mar 09, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Sometimes, 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 ...
Feb 27, 2020•35 min
Caitlin 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 ...
Feb 27, 2020•40 min
Katie 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 ...
Jan 16, 2020•29 min
The 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 m...
Dec 04, 2019•44 min
Hendrika 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 shape...
Nov 13, 2019•1 hr 9 min
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 e...
Oct 21, 2019•37 min
In 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 198...
Oct 07, 2019•55 min
Marika 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 peop...
Sep 23, 2019•30 min
Katie 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 o...
Aug 08, 2019•45 min
Prior 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 ...
Jun 09, 2019•1 hr 1 min
Katie 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...
Apr 28, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Katie 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 th...
Apr 05, 2019•1 hr 13 min
