On this week’s 51%, we chat with rising Broadway star Jasmine Amy Rogers about her Tony-nominated performance in BOOP! The Musical, and how she gets in character for the iconic role of Betty Boop. We also stop by a lecture with the author of Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her.

Guest: Jasmine Amy Rogers, actress and star of BOOP! The Musical on Broadway

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 "funny bunny" by LowLevA.

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On this week's 51%, we hear from NPR’s Emily Feng about her experience reporting in China, and her new book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China. Telling the stories of nearly two dozen people Feng encountered in China – before she ran afoul of the government herself – Let Only Red Flowers Bloom depicts how ordinary people continue to go against the grain under a government that restricts free expression.

Guest: Emily Feng, NPR international correspondent and author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China

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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On this week’s 51%, we learn about an organization offering community to children and teens impacted by incarceration and deportation. The Pathfinder Network, which merged with the POPS Club in 2022, has support groups in schools across the country, where students can share their thoughts and fears stigma-free. POPS Founder Amy Friedman also edits a regular anthology of students’ creative work. The latest edition is titled Home and Away. 

Guests: Amy Friedman, founder of the POPS Club, and Tyler Stonebreaker, a student with the Pathfinder Network in Portland, Oregon; Meaghan Smith, author of Widows Can Love Again

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 Mother's Day and sit down with Dr. Margo Lowy to discuss her book Maternal Ambivalence: The Loving Moments & Bitter Truths of Motherhood. A psychotherapist specializing in mothering, Dr. Lowy offers advice on how to navigate the conflicting emotions that come with being a parent, and how to accept the highs and the lows. In Maternal Ambivalence, Dr. Lowy argues that the darker feelings of motherhood are completely normal, and powerfully fuel the love we have for our children.

Guest: Dr. Margo Lowy, Maternal Ambivalence: The Loving Moments & Bitter Truths of Motherhood

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 contains the track "Serene Guitar Melody" by Universfield.

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On this week's 51%, we speak with Dionne Koller, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, about the benefits and dangers of youth sports, and what parents should know before signing their kids up. In her new book, More Than Play, Koller explains how today's youth sports became more privatized, more expensive, and less regulated. We also stop by a roller derby bout in New York's Hudson Valley. 

Guest: Dionne Koller, professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of More Than Play: How Law, Policy, and Politics Shape American Youth Sport

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 look back on some of our favorite conversations from 2024. Dr. Karen Tang gives us a lesson on everything from fibroids to endometriosis; youth mentor Chelsea Gooden shares how parents can better connect with their teenage daughters; and former NOW President Patricia Ireland remembers her early days fighting against gender discrimination — as a flight attendant for Pan American Airways. 

Guests: Dr. Karen Tang, OBGYN and author of It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told); Chelsea Gooden, author of Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls; Patricia Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, and Fly With Me Director Helen Dobrowski

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 Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday about her book, We the Men: How Forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality. Hasday explains how downplaying women's history and exaggerating our progress on women's rights prevents us from tackling the inequalities we still face. In We the Men, Hasday details court cases throughout American history where judges have praised the progress of women and, in the same breath, held them back. 

Guests: Jill Hasday, Centennial Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, and the author of We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality; Stephanie Woodward, disability rights attorney and executive director of the Disability EmpowHer Network

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 contains the track "Phasing" by Lo-Fi Astronaut on Free Music Archive.

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The House has passed the SAVE Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship from anyone registering to vote in federal elections. What might this mean for married women and other voters with changed names or hard-to-reach documents? We discuss the bill (and where it goes from here) with Dr. Elizabeth Matto, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. We also learn a little more about civil rights icon Elizabeth Freeman, who is one of two women to be honored with a bust in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber. 

Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Matto, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University - New Brunswick; Greta Bedekovics, associate director of Democracy Policy at the Center for American Progress

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 contains a track called "Just a Taste" by Beat Mekanik.

On this week’s 51%, we learn how to prep for and survive a recession with Professor Suzanne Shu of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. We also chat with business journalist Alison Kosik about her new book What’s Up with Women and Money? Part memoir, part how-to guide, Kosik’s book explains how women can feel more confident navigating their finances, invest for the future, and avoid getting taken for a ride at the car dealership.

Guests: Suzanne Shu, John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business; Alison Kosik, author of What’s Up With Women and Money? How To Do All the Financial Stuff You’ve Been Avoiding

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 Nanda Reddy about her new novel A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl. An exploration of identity and the immigrant experience, A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl follows Maya, an Indo-Guyanese woman, as she confronts the many versions of herself, she had to create in order to escape her traumatic youth and survive as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. Our associate producer Madeleine Reynolds also speaks with the directors behind RESPECT: This One’s for the Girls, a new musical making its debut in New York’s Hudson Valley. 

Guests: Nanda Reddy, author of A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl; Ann Citron, Ovi Vargas, and Dr. Dorothy Marcic, directors and playwright of RESPECT: This One's for the Girls

This episode touches on domestic violence and sexual abuse. If you or someone you love has been impacted, please know help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE, while the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.

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 a track called "Nights Like This" by Beat Mekanik.