Breaking Down Patriarchy

Amy is joined by Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald to discuss her book, Unbroken, exploring the ways we talk (or don't talk) about trauma, the wear and tear of patriarchy on our nervous systems, plus exercises for responding to trauma, grounding, and empowering ourselves.

MaryCatherine McDonald, PhD, is a research professor and life coach who specializes in the psychology of trauma, stress, and resilience. She has been researching, lecturing, and publishing on neuroscience, psychology, and the lived experience of trauma and stress for over a decade. She's passionate about destigmatizing trauma, stress, and mental health issues in general, as well as reframing our understanding of trauma in order to better understand and treat it. After receiving her master's degree at The New School, where she researched traumatic loss and mourning, she went on to complete her PhD at Boston University. She has published several research articles and book chapters, as well as three books on trauma. Her most recent book came out in March 2023 with Sounds True Publishing and is called Unbroken: The Trauma Response Is Never Wrong, and Other Things You Need to Know to Take Back Your Life.

Amy is joined by friend Kristy Carter to discuss how the institution of divorce always has and continues to fail women, placing divorcees and their children at risk. Kristy bravely shares her personal story of re-starting life in a society which continues to treat women like children.

Amy is joined by Dr. Sarah Hernandez to discuss her book, We Are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Tradition exploring the devastating affects of missionary mistranslations and the ongoing effort to reclaim sacred stories in the Oceti Sakowin tradition.

Sarah Hernandez (Sicangu Lakota) is an assistant professor of Native American literature and the director of the Institute for American Indian Research at the University of New Mexico. She is the literature and legacy officer for the Oak Lake Writers Society, an Oceti Sakowin-led nonprofit for Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota writers. Under Sarah’s leadership, the Society launched #NativeReads: Great Books from Indigenous Communities, a national reading campaign that increases knowledge and awareness of the Oceti Sakowin literary tradition. She has also published articles in the Wicazo Sa Review, Studies in American Indian Literature, English Language Notes, and Great Plains Quarterly.

Sarah's book, We Are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Tradition, was published February 2023 by the University of Arizona Press in the U.S. and the University of Regina Press in Canada. 

Amy is joined by Dr. Julianne Newmark to discuss the book Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacyof Zitkala-Ša by Tad Lewandowski and dive deep into the story of author, activist, and artist Zitkala-Ša.

Dr. Julianne Newmark is the  Director of Technical & Professional Communication and Assistant Chair for Core Writing at the University of New Mexico. As a researcher, she focuses on usability/UX/UCD and TPC pedagogy.  She also teaches, conducts research, and publishes in Indigenous Studies, particularly concerning early-20th-century Native activist writers’ rhetorically impactful bureaucratic writing, particularly in Bureau of Indian Affairs contexts. In recent years, she has received multiple grants to fund archival research for this project, including grants from CCCC/NCTE and the American Philosophical Society.  Her second monograph is provisionally titled "Reports of Agency: Retrieving Indigenous Professional Communication in Dawes Era Indian Bureau Documents.” Her 2015 book The Pluralist Imagination from East to West in American Literature was published by University of Nebraska Press. She is Editor-in-Chief of Xchanges, a Writing Studies ejournal.

Amy uses Dr. Henrietta Mann's book, Cheyenne Arapaho Education, to explore the history of the Cheyenne (Tsitsistas) people of the Great Plains, investigating historical gender roles, the devastating effects of white supremacy and colonialism, and the shameful history of American Indian Boarding Schools.

Amy is joined by Hitha Palepu to discuss her book, We're Speaking: The Life Lesson of Kamala Harris, and learn more about Vice President Harris's history, the breadth and depth of her experience, and the mold-breaking significance of her current presidential campaign.

Hitha Palepu is a woman of multitudes: a feminist, a lifelong politics enthusiast, a daughter of immigrants, and a mother raising feminist sons. These multitudes spill into her multi-hyphenated career as an entrepreneur, investor, writer, and speaker. Hitha’s passion for the news and politics is captured in #5SmartReads, a Webby honored social series that shares five must-read articles every day to keep our community informed without being overwhelmed. Hitha's longtime blog, Hitha on the Go, established her as an authority on lifestyle topics and gave way to her book and collaborations with leading brands such as Headspace, Google, and Northwestern Mutual. Her book How to Pack was published by Clarkson Potter in 2017, and her book We're Speaking: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris was published in 2021.

As CEO of Roshan Pharmaceuticals, Hitha oversees financing, partnerships, and strategy for the company. Hitha also puts her money where her values are through early-stage investing. A partner in Adama Ventures, which is her family office, she has invested in innovative companies primarily founded by women and focused on women. She is a sought-after speaker on politics and the news, investing, entrepreneurship, work-life juggle, and motherhood. 

Amy is joined by Osprey Orielle Lake, author of The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis, to confront the damage that patriarchy and endless economic growth have caused to our planet, discuss the realities of climate disaster, and talk about the ways we can still save our living world.

Osprey Orielle Lake is the founder and executive director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, or WECAN. She works internationally with grassroots, BIPOC, and Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and diverse coalitions to build climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized, clean energy future. She sits on the executive committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and on the steering committee for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Osprey's writing about climate justice, relationships with nature, women in leadership, and other topics has been featured in The Guardian, Earth Island Journal, The Ecologist, Ms. Magazine, and many other publications. She's the author of the award winning books Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature and The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis.

Amy is joined by Heather Sundahl & Katie Ludlow Rich of the Exponent II to discuss their book 50 Years of Exponent II, explore the history of this essential publication, and celebrate the history and future of Mormon feminism.

Heather Sundahl believes in the power of stories. In the pursuit of this, she has volunteered with Exponent II for twenty-eight years. As a writer and editor, Heather works to amplify the voices of marginalized folks and has collected the oral histories of Batswana, South African, Native American, and queer Mormon women. She received an MA in English from BYU in 1994 and an MA in Marriage & Family Therapy from UVU in 2023. Heather currently works at a residential treatment center where she helps her teenage clients find narratives that promote growth and healing. She lives in Orem, Utah.

Katie Ludlow Rich is a writer and independent scholar of Mormon women's history. Her work focuses on centering women's voices and their agentive decisions even when functioning within a patriarchal tradition. She has a bachelor's in history and a master's in English, both from Brigham Young University. Her writing has appeared in Exponent II, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, The Journal of Mormon History, and The Salt Lake Tribune. She lives in Saratoga Springs, Utah.

Amy is joined by V, author of The Vagina Monologues, to discuss her revolutionary writing, the power of apologies, and the urgent need for all of us to take action against late-stage psychotic patriarchy.

V (formerly Eve Ensler) is the Tony award-winning playwright, activist, performer, and author of the Obie award-winning theatrical phenomenon The Vagina Monologues, which has been published in over 48 languages, performed in over 140 countries, and heralded by The New York Times as one of the "best American plays" of the past 25 years.

Amy is joined by Levi Murray to explore the damage which patriarchy causes to men, how systems of oppression cultivate emotional immaturity and psychopathy, and discuss the ways we can heal the harms of patriarchy and become more fully ourselves.

Levi Murray is a native of New Mexico and has been living in Colorado for almost 20 years. Murray works as the community health dentist, practicing in Southern Colorado. He and his wife Barbara have four kids. His hobbies include running and engaging int he work of preaching anti-patriarchal theology, a work he says feels like a necessary part of becoming more fully human.