On this week’s 51%, a Stage IV pancreatic cancer survivor motivates and inspires other cancer patients. We also hear about women adapting when the pandemic hit, who moved their dance party online.

Dr. Sharon Ufberg returns with her 51% segment “Force of Nature.” This time she interviews Marisa Harris who, years ago, received a devastating diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer. Harris tapped the power within herself, as well as chemotherapy, to become a long-term survivor. Now she’s committed to motivating and supporting individuals in finding and using their power to heal their bodies, minds and souls. Over the last 15 years, she has focused on helping thousands of cancer patients to flourish and succeed during adversity.

DJ Shannon Blowtorch & Host Minneapolis Adonia have years of experience working the crowds and pumping up the energy in the room. Keeping their love for entertainment alive during COVID-19, they present “Quarantine Live: Online Dance Party” every week. The music and dance event streams live on multiple platforms. KFAI’s Dixie Treichel shares their story.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1616.

On this week’s 51%, we speak with Dr. Bilha Fish about her new book Invincible Women, which takes an in-depth look at the lives of 21 American immigrants. We also hear about one woman's quest to support black writers, and more.

 

Dr. Bilha Chesner Fish is an Israeli-American immigrant living on Long Island and in New York City. Dr. Fish, a distinguished radiologist, founder of Manhasset Diagnostic Imaging and Pathways Women’s Health. Dr. Fish is a longtime advocate for community service and women’s empowerment. In her new book Invincible Women: Conversations with 21 Inspiring and Successful American Immigrants, she speaks with women from around the world about their journeys to America and the obstacles they faced. She shared her own story of immigrating to the U.S. with 51%’s Elizabeth Hill.

When one white woman working in Hollywood received a surprise residual check, she skipped the bank and went to Twitter. She decided to offer the money, $100 at a time, no questions asked, to support black women writers. During America's current racial reckoning, Beanndrea July asks whether Venmo donations offer a small but significant new-age form of reparations.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1615.

On this week’s 51%, some calls reporting domestic violence have been different since COVID; and there’s a program offering online help to women living with a problem drinker.

Service providers and others were fearing that the COVID-19 pandemic would intensify domestic and sexual violence. In Berkshire County, Massachusetts, one center is an example seen in other parts of the country. The Elizabeth Freeman Center is Berkshire County’s 24/7 resource for people experiencing domestic abuse and sexual assault. Executive Director Janis Broderick tells 51%’s Josh Landes the center faces a sharp increase in the number and intensity of assault and abuse cases.

If you’re a woman living with a partner who drinks too much, a researcher at the University at Buffalo may want to speak with you. Dr. Robert Rychtarik is senior research scientist in clinical psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and he’s behind a project called Stop Spinning My Wheels. He spoke with 51%’s Ian Pickus.

Poet Lisa Marie Brimmer addresses personal and social issues. She is a co-editor of Queer Voices: Poetry, Prose, and Pride Anthology from the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Brimmer teaches at Century College. KFAI’s Dixie Treichel produced this audio portrait.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1625.

On this week’s 51%, we hit the streets. We stop by a rally for the Women’s March in Albany, New York. And we also speak with author and researcher Heather McKee Hurwitz about what we can learn from the Occupy Wall Street movement, 10 years later.

Guests: Heather McKee Hurwitz, author of Are We the 99%? The Occupy Movement, Feminism, and Intersectionality

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Our producer is Jesse King, our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.

Follow Along

You’re listening to 51%, a WAMC production dedicated to women’s issues and perspectives. Thanks for tuning in, I’m Jesse King. We’re talking women in activism today - starting with the Women’s March. 

On October 2, thousands of protesters marched in cities across the U.S. for the fifth official Women’s March. The movement, prompted in opposition to the election of former President Donald Trump, has never quite seen the turnout it first received in 2017, when hundreds of thousands of women marched in Washington D.C., and an estimated millions more followed suit in cities across the globe. But this month’s march had added fuel in the form of the now more conservative Supreme Court and Texas Law S.B. 8. The Supreme Court is expected to take up a case that could threaten the future of Roe v. Wade by the end of the year, and in September, Texas enacted the “Texas Heartbeat Act” to restrict abortion at the six-week mark - before many women even know they are pregnant. 

The combination has led to enormous outcry from aboriton providers and abortion rights activists across the country. National organizers for the Women’s March actually bumped up this year’s event from its usual winter/spring slot specifically to “rally for abortion justice.” In Albany, New York, a woman's right to an aboriton is much more protected by state law, but a few hundred people still rallied outside the State Capitol in support of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood. Chelly Hegan is the center’s president and CEO.

"We all deserve to be seen as full, human members of our society. We deserve to make decisions about our own destinies. We deserve to be free from violence, from oppression, from shame, from stigma. We deserve to live the dignified lives in front of us," says Hegan. "Today we stand together for abortion justice, but we will come together again for justice in all its forms. Together we are an unstoppable force. I will stand with you, I will hear you, I will fight with you, and I will win with you."

The rally outside the State Capitol was perhaps a lot less tense than it may have been in D.C. or Texas, with very few counterprotesters in attendance and almost a party-like atmosphere within the crowd. Making my way through the crowd, I found many protesters lounging on the Capitol lawn, dancing with friends, or taking selfies in front of the Capitol building - plus many, many signs, ranging from the typical “I stand with Planned Parenthood,” and “My body, my choice” to more...creative pieces that I can’t read over the air. 

Alana Yannick, Molly Merola and Margo Springer all came with friends, both for the community and the cause. 

“Without basic healthcare of any kind - which this is basic healthcare - you can’t have a functioning society," says Yannick.

Her friend, Merola, nods. "I came here because I think that every one deserves the right to their body, and I think the Texas law is absolutely disgusting. It just really bothered me when I heard it, and how much Albany does for women is just amazing to me. So every time there's an event, Alana and I are out here. Women just deserve the right to choose no matter what age they are. I just love women and think women deserve everything that a man has, honestly."

“For me, as an older person, it’s so great to see young people here. My friends are here with their children, their g

On this week’s 51%, hear from the first woman expected to serve as Vermont Senate Pro Tem, and another woman has taken disaster prepping to another level.

A record number of women will serve in Congress next year. And women are gaining political ground in a number of states, including Vermont. In fact, when the new biennium of the legislature begins on January 6th, the first woman to serve as the Vermont Senate Pro Tem is expected to be confirmed. During a caucus in November, Democrat Becca Balint won the nomination and with Democrats controlling the Senate, her election to the post is secure. Balint, a Brattleboro resident who is openly gay, is one of a cadre of women assuming top positions in the Statehouse in 2021. She tells 51%’s Pat Bradley why she wants to be pro-tem of the Vermont Senate.

This next story comes to us from Wyoming Public Media’s podcast HumaNature. Host Erin Jones introduces us to a woman who wanted to be prepared…but found herself the odd one out.

This story was produced by Wyoming Public Media’s podcast HumaNature. To hear more episodes, subscribe to the podcast. Search for HumaNature…with just one N.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1639.

On this week’s 51% we speak with a sports studies professor, who says the COVID-19 pandemic is costly for women’s sports in particular.  We also hear about a study examining support for transgender service members and much more.

Dr. Amy Bass is a sports studies professor at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. She says certain areas of sports will take bigger hits than others during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be especially costly for women's sports.

A recent study from UCLA shows broad support among service members for transgender troops serving in the military. The Trump Administration bans transgender people from openly enlisting as such. Emily Elena Dugdale reports from Los Angeles for the American Homefront Project.

Dr. Sharon Ufberg returns with her 51% segment “Force of Nature.” This time she interviews the founder of Interns 4-Good, Ellie Zimmerman, who will be a high-school senior, in Westchester County, New York. Zimmerman’s non-profit provides high school students an opportunity to offer digital support to nonprofits through virtual, skill-based internships. And when the COVID-19 crisis hit, and students and teachers took to virtual learning, interest in virtual help with homework and tech support took off. Zimmerman tells Ufberg what inspired her to start Interns 4-Good.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1614.

On this week’s 51%, we hear about a women’s prison choir. We also hear how homeless female veterans are finding refuge.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, nearly six in every 10 women incarcerated in U.S. state prisons are survivors of physical or sexual violence. Prison often compounds the trauma. Amanda Weber had this in mind when she started a choir inside the women’s prison in Shakopee, Minnesota. Natalie Pollard joined. The two are working together to start what’s thought to be the country’s first re-entry choir. KFAI's Anna Stitt reports.

Female veterans in New York without a permanent place to live have strikingly few options — and with the COVID-19 pandemic stretching on, they face more challenges than ever. Just a warning, this story contains details some listeners will find difficult to hear. 51%’s Jackie Orchard reports.

Motus Monologues the UndocuAmerica Series, features stories from the front lines of your undocumented neighbors. The stories were developed as part of a creative collaboration between Motus Theater in Colorado, and a group of undocumented people living in the U.S.

In this monologue, you'll hear Kiara Chavez speak about returning to Mexico for the first time since she was four. She was able to travel as part of the Advance Parole program, which once allowed youth with DACA (or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status to leave the country for work, education or humanitarian reasons. These visits are no longer allowed because the Advance Parole program was terminated in 2017.

Follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1622.

On this week’s 51%, a jazz musician talks about contracting COVID-19, and three generations of women keep an olive farm in production in California.

Tara O’Grady is the subject of our first story as Dr. Sharon Ufberg returns with her 51% segment “Force of Nature.” Initially, her interview was supposed to focus solely on jazz music and a book, but when her interviewee contracted COVID-19, the subject matter shifted. Ufberg speaks with Tara O’Grady, a self-acclaimed bliss ambassador. O’Grady, a former English teacher turned jazz blues singer, recording artist and songwriter, has released five albums of jazz, blues and folk music and performs worldwide with her band. O'Grady lives in New York City and shares how COVID-19 impacted her health and profession.

On this week’s 51%, COVID has changed so much in our lives. Community dance is off the table, and a group of senior citizens is learning to get by without it, for now.

About four months ago, we brought you a story about a woman who had co-founded a community dance class that helps senior citizens fight inactivity and isolation. The group dancing was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking away a social outlet so vital for many. The community class was still on hold at the time of this airing. Joann Jones is the co-founder of the free line-dancing class for senior citizens in Nashville, Tennessee's Hadley Park neighborhood. WPLN producer David Condos brings us an update to his earlier story from 51% episode #1609.

Meantime, the COVID-19 pandemic has left some military families in limbo. This spring, the Pentagon issued a "stop movement" order, prohibiting service members from transferring to new bases. Now, months later, some moves are taking place, but other troops - and their families - remain frozen in place. From San Diego, Steve Walsh reports for the American Homefront Project.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Tina Renick for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio This week’s show is #1627.

On today’s 51%, we speak with one of the people responsible for bringing Hollywood to upstate New York. And we meet a producer of HBO’s new series “The Gilded Age,” which was filming this spring in New York’s Capital Region.

Holly Rymon is a producer on HBO’s new series, “The Gilded Age.”

“It's set in 1882,” Rymon said. “It's sort of the beginning of, you know, this sort of amazing time in history, which quite admittedly, I didn't know a whole lot about before I got involved in this project, where, you know, industry and you know, railroads, and all of these businesses are sort of just like taking off and there became people with an enormous amount of wealth. So, there's not a lot of checks and balances yet. And it was just like, insane wealth. So they were building mansions, and they were making homes. And there was new money and old money. Sort of a loose premise of the show is there is a family that has new money and they're ready to be in society and do all the things and then there's a family that's from the old money. And they're very, quite proud of that. And they're not really ready to accept the new folks. So there's a little bit of drama there.”

Rymon and I are sitting in Riverfront Park in Troy, New York. They filmed just a block away, transforming storefronts into hat boutiques and cigar shops from 1800s New York City. Rymon says the scenery was her favorite part of filming.

“It's gorgeous. Oh my god, I can't wait for people to see the show. It's just the costumes, the sets. It's just literally, literally stunning. It's really, really beautiful.”