When do we care about women in conflict zones? Feminist activist Lina AbiRafeh has spent decades doing exactly that and witnessing the disproportionate impact of war and terrorism on women firsthand. She takes us to Nepal, Afghanistan, Palestine and back to unpack the realities of gender-based violence, the necessity of moving beyond despair paralysis and hierarchies of pain. Highlights include: actionable rage, feminist whataboutery and Yalla Feminists: Arab Rights and Resistance . Follow Unlad...
Jul 23, 2024•38 min•Ep. 250
Inspired an unlady told her big nose needed "fixing", this 2022 gem asks: What happens when refusing a nose job means defying family tradition? Filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum shares why her mother endlessly agonized over the bump in her nose. Then, medical historian Sharrona Pearl deconstructs the "Jewish nose" myth, big nose stigma and rhinoplasty's vain reputation. Follow Unladylike on Instagram and TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop merch Advertise with Multitude Productions Learn more about y...
Jul 16, 2024•58 min
Why is menstruation still so misunderstood? Ask Kate Clancy , the anthropology professor and period scientist who cared enough to study the relationship between COVID vaccination and temporary cycle changes when nobody else was. Cristen talks to Kate about intersectional feminist period science, what "normal" means and Period: The Real Story of Menstruation . Highlights include: an imaginary menarche, problematic faves, pathologizing vs contextualizing, a serendipitous Slack and menstrual libera...
Jul 09, 2024•38 min•Ep. 249
** UNLADIES' ROOM teaser ** Cristen's calling it. The presidential election in November ain't gonna be Trump v Biden. dun dun dunnnn! To hear the full, ad-free episode , join the Patreon - and THANK YOU!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jul 07, 2024•7 min
Why is number two extra taboo for girls? This listener fave originally aired in 2019, but unlike Joe Biden, it does not get old. Cristen revisits a pair of comedian "poop friends" and an IBS expert to find out how gender gets in our guts, the side effects of poop shame and generally dealing with unruly bowels. Highlights include: the Moth for poop stories, colonoscopy fun, wee pads and sad improv. Follow Unladylike: Instagram and TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop merch Advertise with M...
Jul 02, 2024•30 min
As the old saying goes, horses sweat, men perspire, and women glisten. In which case, call me a horse; I'm dripping. Cristen (and her signature sweat mustache) dives into the gender- and class-coded human superpower that is SWEATING. Science journalist Sarah Everts ( The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration ) explains why our bodies make sweat and how deodorant marketers spun it into a societal problem for women. Highlights include: mythbusting sweat detoxes, smell dating, wild pig ...
Jun 25, 2024•36 min•Ep. 248
Sharing a preview of the Say More podcast, where, in a special series, Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung is opening up the conversation about stress and burnout to help listeners feel less alone and inspired to get help. In this episode, Krista Tippett, says the uncertainty of the times we’re living in requires a larger spiritual quest for meaning and stillness in modern life. Krista shares her own journey managing burnout and “befriending reality” in all its glorious messiness. Then, she sha...
Jun 20, 2024•27 min
Samhita Mukhopadhyay is done sacrificing herself to ambition. Editorial director of The Meteor and former Teen Vogue executive editor, Samhita details how corporate feminism failed us, what got lost in the fall of the girlboss and why we have to think beyond the fact that work suuuuucks. Her new book is The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning . Follow Unladylike on Instagram and TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop merch Contact Multitude Productions for ad rates, etc. Learn more abo...
Jun 18, 2024•35 min•Ep. 247
Women initiate 70 PERCENT of divorces in husband-wife marriages. But why? Are no-fault divorce laws to thank/blame? Cristen digs through the legal history divorcing women, surprising stats and an old LIFE magazine to help explain the paradoxical and persistent relationship between women and divorce. Highlights include: faking affairs, mythbusting "too easy" divorce, America's hottest divorce colony, cooling off periods, and the 1980s "Divorce Wars." This episode originally aired in the Unladies ...
Jun 12, 2024•32 min•Ep. 246
Are diaries the ultimate form of authenticity? How do our stories shift when we're journaling for no one to see? On Theme co-hosts Yves Jeffcoat and Katie Mitchell read into Black women's diaries for the personal reflections, everyday details and emotional nuance that goes unseen elsewhere. Highlights include: social media vs. journal authenticity, Harlem Renaissance tea, Octavia Butler's bills, and Whose Diary Do You WISH You Could Read? Follow Unladylike on Instagram and TikTok Join the Unladi...
Jun 04, 2024•37 min•Ep. 245
What do 400 years-worth of women's published diaries tell us about the kinds of secrets and feelings we keep to ourselves? From a 16th-century spiritualist to the diaries of Anne Frank and Ma Yan, writer Sarah Gristwood reveals the everyday histories they document, the age-old frustrations they share and why she's a proponent of hanging onto your old journals. (Yes, even the embarrassing ones!) Highlights include: writing in code, pie for dinner, peach lingerie and notes to future selves. Sarah'...
May 29, 2024•38 min•Ep. 244
How did Bumble get its (celibacy-themed) rebrand so wrong? What does it tell us about general dating app burnout? Cristen revises the brand's millennial girlboss origin story, its promise of female empowerment and Whitney Wolfe Herd's path to self-made billionaire. Highlights include: AI dating coaches, a sketchy Russian billionaire, corporate apologies, a Bumble-themed nunnery and costly roses on Hinge. SPILL YOUR DATING APP THOUGHTS AND STORIES: hello@unladylike.co Follow Unladylike: Instagram...
May 21, 2024•36 min•Ep. 243
Imagine having to host the Pope and the Chinese President. On the same day. Plus, a whole press corps and socialite circle is watching and waiting to blame you for anything that goes wrong. That’s what Deesha Dyer walked into when she was promoted to White House Social Secretary for the Obama administration in 2015. But even more than her high-stakes responsibilities, Deesha had to reckon with her own imposterism in a system setting her up to fail. Highlights include: a Condom Queen, 90s hip-hop...
May 15, 2024•41 min•Ep. 242
NeW ePiSoDeS returning next week, unladies! In the meantime . . . What happens when women in long-term relationships with straight men realize they're bi, and why are they less likely to come out? Writer and Culture Club host Maggie Zhou shares her own reckoning with the " Bittersweet Privilege of Straight-Passing in Queer Communities ," queer imposterism and bisexual erasure. Maggie and Cristen also offer advice to two married unladies feeling stuck in the bisexual closet. (Originally aired May...
May 08, 2024•35 min
What happens when adult women discover they're autistic? Cristen busts the gender stereotypes and neurotypical myths of Autism Spectrum Disorder with help from unladies who've been there. The Loudest Girl in the World host and producer, Lauren Ober, details the (expensive!) jungle gym she had to cross for a middle-age diagnosis. Meanwhile, listener Sarah has mixed feelings about self-diagnosis, and listener Anna feels finally free to unmask. Highlights include: refrigerator-mom blame, too-tight ...
Apr 30, 2024•44 min
Exiled from a world of engineered perfection, Demetria crash-lands into the brutal reality of the Outerlands. Distrusted by the defiant survivors, her only hope lies with a mysterious AGI, First Belle. But the secrets it holds could break her... or forge her into the hero she never knew she could be. From Wondery, the makers of Academy and Dr. Death, The Last City stars actors Rhea Seehorn, Jeannie Tirado, and Maury Sterling. Listen to The Last City on the Wondery App or wherever you get your po...
Apr 25, 2024•7 min
Could an 1873 law that hasn't been enforced in nearly a century be a national abortion ban just waiting to happen? Legal friend of the pod Natalie Birnbaum ( Repro Solutions ) returns to explain what the Comstock Act is, why it's getting so much attention lately and whether it could it ban medication abortion and even birth control. Highlights include: Gilded Age abortionist Madame Restell, a postmaster general gone wild, fake-out abortion referenda and Justice Samuel Alito's revisionist legal h...
Apr 24, 2024•36 min•Ep. 241
**Unladies' Room Patreon preview** What does it take to erect a monument to women's history? Just ask Diane Carlson Evans, without whom the Vietnam Women's Memorial would not exist... To hear the full, ad-free episode, join the Patreon - and THANK YOU!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Apr 21, 2024•8 min
Magician Nicole Cardoza has never met another illusionist who looks like her. The reasons why are no stage magic secret. This episode, Nicole debunks the default pale, male magician and his "lovely assistant" and reclaims the power of suspending disbelief. Highlights include: spiritual appropriation; taboo magic; the Queen of Coins; sexist pockets; and America's first Black female magician, Ellen Armstrong. Follow Unladylike on Instagram and TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Patreon Shop Unladylike...
Apr 16, 2024•34 min•Ep. 240
What do vision boards and Princess Diana conspiracy theories have in common? They both rely on a kind of magical thinking called proportionality bias. It's one of many cognitive biases that returning guest Amanda Montell connects to all the woo-woo and delulu going around these days. From the sunk cost fallacy of toxic relationships to the halo effect of female celebs to the declinism of everyday doomsday speak, Amanda makes even the most mindboggling and brainrotting realities of today's (mis)i...
Apr 09, 2024•39 min•Ep. 239
**Unladies' Room Patreon preview** A labor-free life of feminine leisure, and/or the ultimate self-care con? The SAHGs (stay-at-home girlfriends) of TikTok have been described as a manifestation of Gen Z, anti-girlboss culture. Except, they’re still getting paid to work!! To hear the full, ad-free episode, join the Patreon <3<3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/pr...
Apr 07, 2024•7 min
What's the difference between a white feminist and a mean girl? Not so much, as Kim Hong Nguyen explains this episode. From colonial era white women to TERFs on main today, mean girl feminism is a new term for an old problem that's all show, no go and oblivious to racialized white feminisms. We also meet its four familiar faces: Whitesplaining White Lady of Liberal Reason; Girlboss, a Self-Promotional Equity Lady; Karen with Illegible Rage; and Power Couple Wife with Resting Bitch Face. Kim is a...
Apr 02, 2024•35 min•Ep. 238
Are butch-femme roles in queer relationships just recycling the same old hetero his 'n' hers gender boxes? What happens when toxic masculinity invades queer relationships and spaces? In an Unladylike FIRST, we're re-asking and re-answering a listener advice request–and with empathetic expertise from Autostraddle editor in-chief Carmen Phillips and membership editorial and ops wrangler and writer Nico Hall . Carmen and Nico break down butch misogyny, femme objectification and why lesbian relation...
Mar 26, 2024•34 min•Ep. 237
**Unladies' Room Patreon teaser** With spring a few days away, tis the season to talk BODY HAIR! But my 2019 interview with spoken word artist and performer Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa isn't the same old to-shave-or-not-to-shave body hair binary. Sukhjit is a practicing Sikh, and letting it all grow (aka keeping kesh ) is an article of faith. And as you might imagine, that was easier said than done for Sukhjit once puberty rolled around, and visible hairiness attracted ALL of the unwanted attention. To ...
Mar 24, 2024•7 min
Have you ever wondered what the zodiac can reveal about your favorite artists? Then you have to listen to Stars and Stars with Isa, the podcast where we look to the stars above with the stars below. Every episode our charismatic, funny and insightful host and astrologer, Isa Nakazawa, sits down with the most talented creators and thinkers of our time to read them their birth chart. In the show, Isa delves into what the planets reveal about the star’s life’s purpose and why they love, create, and...
Mar 21, 2024•9 min
Of all the aunt tropes in pop culture–spinster aunts, sinister aunts, weird aunts, witchy aunts–why is The Cool Aunt so popular these days? More importantly, who is she really, beyond (alleged) disposible income and TikTok aesthetics? Los Angeles Times art and design columnist Carolina Miranda appraises the figure as a timely foil to tradwives, as well as an underappreciated part of the family. Highlights include: Cristen's formative fictional cool aunt, Fresh Prince's Aunt Viv, Empire's Cookie ...
Mar 19, 2024•32 min•Ep. 236
It's not like a regular podcast episode. It's a cool episode. Right, Regina? Andi Mitchell and Sabrina Kohlberg from Pop Culture Moms take us on a pop cultural tour of The Cool Mom, from Mean Girls to Euphoria, and her defining qualities on screen. But as we also learn from her disregard for boundaries, the Cool Mom isn't all trope and no substance. Highlights include: Munchausen by proxy, Peg Bundy, cool dads and whether The Cool Mom is just The Cool Girl with kids. Follow Unladylike: Instagram...
Mar 13, 2024•34 min•Ep. 235
Wtf just happened with frozen embryos, fertility clinics and IVF in Alabama?? Get ready for the un-true crime, sci-fi Jesus saga of LePage v Center for Reproductive Medicine . As in, the case behind the Alabama state supreme court’s ruling that frozen embryos for IVF are “EXTRAUTERINE CHILDREN” in a “CRYOGENIC NURSERY” and therefore are full-ass people?? Cristen ragesplains how this anti-abortionist legal buffoonery happened, the fetal personhood of it all and why “save IVF” is a bait and switch...
Mar 10, 2024•6 min
In 1974, what had started as a sexist gimmick became the first and only (so far) professional women's football league in US history. It wasn't a feminist stunt, either. Sports writer Frankie de la Cretaz tells us the incredible - and incredibly queer - story of the National Women's Football League, the hundreds of women who played and how it changed their lives. Highlights include: breast padding, "Harlem Globetrotters with rip-away skirts," Dallas lesbian bars and your new favorite Linda. Frank...
Mar 05, 2024•36 min•Ep. 234
The feminist blogosphere era officially ended last November when Jezebel, website and water cooler of millennial feminism, was shut down by its media overlords. But even though Jezebel was swiftly put on life support by Paste magazine, its long-term survival remains unclear partly due to the same, old "business problems" of feminist media. First, senior lecturer Melanie Waters shares what happened 50 years ago when Ms. magazine launched with a million-dollar investment but never turned a profit....
Feb 27, 2024•46 min•Ep. 233
