On this week’s 51%, we sit down with longtime feminist activist Muriel Fox to chat about how the National Organization for Women got started in the 1960s, and how it fought for many of the rights and opportunities women cherish today. Fox is a public relations executive who co-founded NOW and helped shape it into what it is today. Fox shares how women (and men) fought for equal rights in the 1960s, and how they can continue to fight today. WAMC’s Josh Landes also speaks with North Adams, Massachusetts City Councilor Ashley Shade about what it’s like to be a transgender woman in politics right now.

Guests: Muriel Fox, co-founder of the National Organization for Women and author of The Women’s Revolution: How We Changed Your Life;Ashley Shade, vice president of the North Adams, Massachusetts city council

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. 

On this week’s 51%, we speak with sports journalist Jane McManus about the history and business of women’s sports, as detailed in her new book The Fast Track. From pay gaps to broadcasting hurdles, McManus says a number of forces have held women’s sports back since the passage of Title IX in the 1970s, but she maintains the idea that “people aren’t interested in women’s sports” has always been a myth. With the rise of stars like Caitlin Clark and Megan Rapinoe, McManus says interest in women’s sports is becoming harder for industry leaders to ignore, and there is a lot of money to be made in it.

Guest: Jane McManus, author of The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women’s Sports

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 chat with Kimberly Heckler about her book A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer. Kimberly is the daughter-in-law of the late politician Margaret Heckler, who served as a Republican Massachusetts Congresswoman from 1967 to 1983. During her time in Congress, Margaret Heckler fought for women’s rights on multiple fronts and worked on bills such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Title IX, and the Equal Rights Amendment. Kimberly looks back on her mother-in-law’s legacy, and how her experience compares to that of women running for office today.

Guests: Kimberly Heckler, author of A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer

This episode contains a segment that discusses domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you love has been impacted by these issues, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/6 at 1-800-799-SAFE or by texting "START" to 88788. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-4673.

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. 

When most of us think of the Viking Age, we think of its men: powerful warriors sailing ships, building armies, and sacking cities across Europe. But new research shows Viking women were warriors, too – and that they were traders, artisans, explorers, landowners, and respected leaders in their own right. On this week’s 51%, we kick off Women’s History Month by speaking with science writer Heather Pringle about her book The Northwomen, on how women helped shape Viking society and culture.  

Guest: Heather Pringle, author of The Northwomen: Untold Stories from the Other Half of the Viking World

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 activist and sociologist Betsy Leondar-Wright about her new book, Is it Racist? Is it Sexist? examining why white Americans increasingly disagree on their definitions of the two. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons also sheds light on Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month with Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly. 

Guests: Betsy Leondar-Wright, co-author of Is it Racist? Is it Sexist? Why Red and Blue White People Disagree, and How to Decide in the Gray Areas; Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly

This episode discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you love has been impacted by these issues, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/6 at 1-800-799-SAFE or by texting "START" to 88788. Love is Respect also has a hotline for teens with questions about dating violence at 1-866-331-9474. 

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 Carol Cleaveland and Michele Waslin, author of Private Violence: Latin American Women and the Struggle for Asylum. As President Trump effectively shuts down processing at the southern border and ramps up deportations, asylum seekers in the U.S. are left in a precarious position, especially women fleeing domestic and gender-based violence. Through interviews and eyewitness accounts of closed court proceedings, Cleaveland and Waslin demonstrate how difficult it is for these women to seek shelter in the U.S., and why “gender-based violence” is still not considered grounds for asylum — even before the second Trump Administration. 

Guests: Carol Cleaveland and Michele Waslin, authors of Private Violence: Latin American Women and the Struggle for Asylum

This episode discusses domestic violence and sexual assault. If you or someone you love has been impacted by these issues, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/6 at 1-800-799-SAFE or by texting "START" to 88788. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-4673.

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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What makes a good life? According to the world’s longest scientific study of human happiness, our relationships play a key role. On this week’s 51%, we speak with Dr. Robert Waldinger, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. In his book with researcher Marc Schulz, called The Good Life, Waldinger details the study’s findings and gives advice on how to make connections and nurture your relationships. WAMC’s Sarah LaDuke also chats with her friend, singer-songwriter Al Olender, about finding strength in vulnerability, and writing about love.

Guests: Dr. Robert Waldinger, psychiatrist and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, co-author of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness; singer-songwriter Al Olender

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 author Joelle Kaufman about her new book Crushing the Cancer Curveball. After helping both her mother and sister battle breast cancer, Kaufman voluntarily sought a mastectomy in 2023 — only to be diagnosed with cancer the day before her surgery. Part memoir, part guidebook, Crushing the Cancer Curveball compiles Kaufman’s best advice on how to advocate for yourself as a patient, how to break the news to family and friends, and how to feel like you’re still living your life, even when you're fighting for it.

Guest: Joelle Kaufman, author of Crushing the Cancer Curveball: A Playbook for the Newly Diagnosed and Their Family and Friends

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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Before leaving office, former President Joe Biden declared that he considered the Equal Rights Amendment to be “the law of the land.” On this week’s 51%, we speak with Georgetown Law Professor Victoria Nourse about why the ERA has been in limbo for so long, what it would do, and whether it currently stands as the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We also stop by a local version of the People’s March in New York’s Hudson Valley, and remember the late activist and former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.

Guests: Victoria Nourse, Ralph V. Whitworth Professor in Law at Georgetown Law; Chelly Hegan, president and CEO of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood

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 journalist and author Pagan Kennedy about her new book The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story, tracking the life and work of Martha “Marty” Goddard, who invented the country’s first extensive rape kit system in the 1970s. The kit and process designed by Goddard and Louis Vitullo, a Chicago police sergeant, has allowed countless survivors of sexual assault to present evidence against their abusers in court, but it took a lot to get it going — and it has yet to reach its full potential. Kennedy gives us a glimpse at the woman behind the rape kit, and how we can make reporting easier for survivors today.

Guest: Pagan Kennedy, author of The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story

This episode discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you love has been impacted by sexual abuse, the RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is open 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673 and on its website. 

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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