On this week's 51%, we speak with Keene State College Professor Dr. Lisa DiGiovanni about "militarized masculinity," and the connection between authoritarianism, state violence, and misogyny. In her new book, Militarized Masculinity in Spain and Chile, DiGiovanni outlines how hyper-masculinity and the idolization of the military contributed to the rise of Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco in the 1930s and Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s. In both cases, DiGiovanni says backlash to social progress for women and minorities helped catapult these men to power. She also examines how the arts were used to resist or expose these regimes in their later years, and lays out the warning signs that other countries, including the U.S., should watch for. 

Guest: Dr. Lisa DiGiovanni, professor of modern languages and cultures and Holocaust and genocide studies at Keene State College, author of Militarized Masculinity in Spain and Chile: Remembering Violence Through Film and Literature

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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The Food & Drug Administration recently decided to remove "black box" warnings from the packaging of hormonal therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause. On this week's 51%, we speak with internist Dr. Heather Hirsch, founder of the Menopause Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts, about the change. We also dive into Dr. Hirsch's new book, The Perimenopause Survival Guide, and discuss how to recognize what she calls the “evil little sister” of menopause and start treatment early. 

Guest: Dr. Heather Hirsch, board-certified internist and author of The Perimenopause Survival Guide: Make Sense of Your Symptoms and Build Your Personalized Treatment Plan

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week's 51%, we speak with Allison Daminger, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin, about her research into "cognitive" household labor, and how couples divvy up the planning, scheduling, and decision-making that goes into raising children and keeping a home. Daminger found that women were more likely to carry the brunt of cognitive labor in heterosexual relationships — even among egalitarian couples, and even if their partners worked as literal project managers at the office. Daminger explores why this is and compiles her research in her new book, What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life.

Guest: Allison Daminger, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin and author of What's on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life.

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week's 51%, we hear from pipa virtuoso Wu Man about her work with the famous Silkroad ensemble, and the group’s latest tour of "American Railroad," recognizing the immigrant communities that built the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad. We also hear a performance from Catskill, New York singer-songwriter Kendra McKinley, and chat about why she loves to write “music for smoking weed with your bra off.”

Guests: Wu Man, founding member of the Silkroad ensemble; Kendra McKinley, singer-songwriter

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week's 51%, we recognize Veterans Day and speak with Edie Meeks, a veteran of the Army Nurse Corp who was one of roughly 10,000 nurses to serve in the Vietnam War. From 1968 to 1969, Meeks worked in the Intensive Care Units of the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon and the 71st Evac Hospital in Pleiku. Now 81, Meeks shares memories of her service — and her struggle to adjust after coming home — in an upcoming episode of the PBS series After Action.

Guest: Edie Meeks, veteran of the Army Nurses Corp featured on PBS' After Action

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also contains the track "Dark Times" by Jangwa.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dr. Elizabeth Boham about her new book Breast Wellness, and the various lifestyle factors that can contribute to breast cancer risk. Dr. Boham is a board-certified physician and dietitian who also practices functional medicine. In Breast Wellness, she discusses her own experience battling breast cancer in her thirties, and how a healthy lifestyle can support you before and after a diagnosis. 

Guests: Dr. Elizabeth Boham, Breast Wellness: Tools to Prevent and Heal from Breast Cancer

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week's 51%, we recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month and speak with author Helen Winslow Black about her new book Seven Blackbirds, following main character Kim as she escapes an abusive marriage and builds a new life for herself and her child. We also speak with a Binghamton University student calling for better access to birth control on campus, and stop by the University of Vermont, where Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor recently spoke about her life’s work and the various challenges at the country’s highest court. 

Guest: Helen Winslow Black, author of Seven Blackbirds

This episode contains a discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you love has been impacted by domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE or by texting "START" to 88788.

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also contains the track "Nights Like This" by Beat Mekanik.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dickinson College Professor Amy Farrell about her new book Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girls Scouts of the USA. A former Girl Scout herself, Farrell explores how the organization has both empowered girls and reinforced discrimination throughout its more than 100-year history. Intrepid Girls tells the nuanced story of how the Girl Scouts shaped the lives of more than 50 million girls while also segregating scouts of color, operating in Japanese incarceration centers, and avoiding the word "feminist." 

Guest: Amy Farrell, professor of American studies and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Dickinson College, and author of Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girls Scouts of the USA

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also features the track "Going Home" by Mr. Smith.

On this week’s 51%, we speak with artist Barbara Benish about how she started the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts in the Czech Republic, and how artists continued to work under the totalitarian regime of former Czechoslovakia. Benish came to the Czech Republic from Los Angeles in 1989, just as a revolution overturned the country’s long-running Communist regime. Initially hoping to explore her roots, Benish saw how the arts survived decades of censorship through community, how creativity continued to influence and change society, and how the arts flourished after the revolution. Benish tells the story of this time and the creation of her community in her new book ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia. 

Guests: Barbara Benish, founder of the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts and author of ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia; Lulu Grey, Dreaming in Grey

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also contains the track "Deborah" by Jangwa.

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On this week’s 51%, we recognize the 25th anniversary of the Food & Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, which, in conjunction with misoprostol, is now used for the majority of abortions in the U.S. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons speaks with abortion-rights advocate and vlogger Marissa Rudd about her experience using mifepristone, and why she personally chose to have an abortion. We also chat with Kimberly Mutcherson, a professor at Rutgers Law School, about the challenges mifepristone faces in court and in the Trump Administration. 

Guests: Marissa Rudd, founder of For the Family; Kimberly Mutcherson, professor of law at Rutgers Law School

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode also contains the track "Butterfly" by Kate Kody.

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