On today’s episode, we interrogate the tradition of patronyms and, in the process, exploring the history of coverture laws, marital customs, and more as our guest—Amelia Hapgood—delves deep into the question of “what’s in a name?” Amelia Hapgood is a BYU student, a newlywed, a devout feminist, and a wanna be runner. She is from Arkansas, and loves being in a family of all girls!

Breaking Down Patriarchy in Our Naming System - with Amelia Hapgood

Breaking Down Patriarchy is a podcast for everyone! Learn about the creation of patriarchy and those who have challenged it as you listen to bookclub-style discussions of essential historical texts. Gain life-changing epiphanies and practical takeaways through these smart, relatable conversations.

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Amy is joined by activist and advocate Troy Williams to discuss his incredible coming out journey from the Eagle Forum to Equality Utah, plus how changing our perspective can help turn enemies into allies, and why people of all identities are needed in the struggle for equality. For the past two decades, Troy Williams has been a community organizer playing pivotal roles in passing laws and protections for the LGBTQ community in Utah, including the historic Utah Compromise, a statute against LGBTQ and racially inclusive hate crimes, and a ban on LGBTQ conversation therapy. In 2010, he co-wrote the award-winning play, "The Passion of Sister Dottie S. Dixon" with the late Charles Lynn Frost, and has since worked on various movies and series centered around real-life stories and people from the Mormon faith. He became the executive director of Equality Utah in the fall of 2014 and was named one of the nation's 50 LGBTQ Champions of Pride in 2022 by The Advocate magazine.

LGBTQ Activism through Bridge-Building - with activist Troy Williams

Amy is joined by author Kara Loewentheil to discuss her book, Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head—and How to Get It Out, plus strategies to change our thought patterns, break out of sexist social conditioning, and live our values from the inside out. After graduating Harvard Law School, litigating reproductive rights, and running a think tank at Columbia University, Kara Loewentheil did what every Ivy League feminist lawyer should do: quit a prestigious academic career to become a life coach! Less than a decade after leaving the law, Kara has taught hundreds of thousands of women how to close the “Brain Gap” that keeps them feeling anxious and dis-empowered. Her work enables women to identify the ways that sexist social messages impact their brains and how to rewire their thought patterns to create true, authentic confidence from within. Her internationally top-ranked podcast, UnF*ck Your Brain, has been recommended by sources from The New York Times to the We Can Do Hard Things Podcast with Glennon Doyle.

Take Back Your Brain - with author Kara Loewentheil

Amy is joined by Sola Mahfouz & Malaina Kapoor to discuss their book, Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education, and explore the ongoing struggle for women's education in Afghanistan as well as Sola's remarkable journey from Kandahar to quantum computing. Sola Mahfouz was born in Afghanistan and immigrated to the United States in 2016 to attend college. She is currently a quantum computing researcher at Tufts University Quantum Information Group. In her free time, she is focusing on reading and studying different styles of fiction, as well as writing about the rugged homeland he's left behind.  Malaina Kapoor is a writer from Redwood City, California. She previously served as a fellow at PEN America, where she advocated for international hu man rights, press freedom,. and election integrity. Kapoor served on the management team of a refugee resettlement organization an was the producer of In Deep, a nationally syndicated public affairs radio broadcast program. She as received national awards for her poetry, personal essays, and short stories, and will graduate from Stanford University in 2025.

Defiant Dreams - with authors Sola Mahfouz & Malaina Kapoor

Amy is joined by Dr. Randa Tawil to discuss the history of Palestine, how the ongoing atrocities in Gaza are a feminist issue, and the most effective ways for everyday people to take action for peace. Dr. Randa Tawil is an assistant professor of Women and Gender Studies at Texas Christian University. She received her doctorate in the Department of American Studies at Yale University and she specializes in Migration and Mobility, Ethnic Studies, and Arab Middle Eastern Studies. Her manuscript, Race in Transit: Mobilities Between Greater Syria and North America, examines knowledge production around the "good" and "bad" migrant from Syria through the lens of mobility. She has articles published in academic journals, The Washington Post, and Open Democracy, and is a member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective.

Palestinian Feminism - with Dr. Randa Tawil

Amy is joined by author Lisa Selin Davis to discuss her book, Housewife: Why Women Still Do It All and What to Do Instead, detailing the surprisingly recent invention of the 'traditional' housewife, plus laundry, lobotomies, and why modern day tradwives might have more equitable homes than we imagine. Lisa Selin Davis is a critically acclaimed essayist and journalist whose work has appeared in major publications including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time, The Free Press, and many others. She is the author of Tomboy as well as two novels and she lives in New York City with her family. Her most recent book is Housewife: Why Women Still Do It All and What to Do Instead.

Breaking Down Patriarchy in Our Naming System - with Amelia Hapgood

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