Breaking Down Patriarchy

Amy is joined by guest Cassy Chsitianson to discuss Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. Topics include midwifery, witch trials, forced sterilization, and how patriarchy has hindered women’s healthwork.

Cassy Christianson is a therapist working in pediatrics and maternal health and inclusion specialist. Much of her writing focuses on Global Women’s Health—a subject she is really passionate about. Her research involves the history of medicine, especially women’s health in the Early Modern period in France. Cassy talks and writes about this alongside covering current research in both pediatrics and maternal health and is currently working on an exhibition on Women in Science and Medicine during the Renaissance that will be at Stanford in Fall 2023. Cassy has been happily living on the West coast for a long time but grew up in Florida, living for quite a while on the island of Key West. Her family, originally midwesterners, came from strong Scandinavian roots so she is a mix of that and the Latin culture so prevalent in Florida. She is also French, through marriage, and raising three bilingual, bicultural boys.

Amy is joined by guest Lane Anderson to discuss Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Topics include the ways patriarchy cages women, social conditioning, self-knowing, and the integrity of not disappointing ourselves.

Lane Anderson was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has an undergraduate degree from BYU, and a graduate degree from Columbia University. She has spent much of her career as a full-time journalist, publishing hundreds of articles on inequality, human rights, gender, and social and family issues. She has received several Society of Professional Journalists Awards, and a fellowship from the USC Annenberg School of Journalism for her writing on human trafficking. She lives in New York City with her partner and young daughter, and she is full-time faculty at New York University where she is a Clinical Associate Professor teaching writing. She co-writes Matriarchy Report, a newsletter about family issues from a feminist perspective on Substack, and on Instagram @matriarchyreport

Amy is joined by guest Jenny DeGraaff to discuss For the Love of Men by Elizabeth Plank. Topics include toxic masculinity, testosterone, men’s mental health, the pressure to provide, and what it means to be a real man.

Jenny DeGraaff was raised in West Virginia and Nebraska, but currently lives in the Bay Area, California, where she teaches science in elementary school. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in German from Duke University and her Master’s degree in education from Stanford University, where she focused on culture in bilingual education programs. She and her husband have three sons, one in high school and two in college. She enjoys hiking with her dog, taking road trips with her family, and, as part of self-care, watching animal videos. She is honored and thrilled to be a part of this remarkable podcast.

Amy is joined by guest Sara Abbasi to discuss The Moment of Lift by Melinda French Gates. Topics include the delicacy of implementing change, honor killings, contraceptive access, and the transformative power of education.

Sara Abbasi is a philanthropist who has been committed to spreading access to education worldwide. Her charitable work on various boards is marked by a dedication to breaking down cultural barriers and enabling cross-cultural understanding. Sara is Founding Board member of Developments in Literacy (DIL), an international nonprofit organization working to advance literacy in remote areas of Pakistan. Sara currently serves on the Board of Directors of Stanford Healthcare, is a member of the Community Council at Stanford Health Care, and serves on the Director’s Advisory Board of the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. In 2003, Sara and her husband, Sohaib Abbasi, endowed the Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University, a key forum for interdisciplinary research and teaching in Islamic Studies on the west coast. Sara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business from Santa Clara University, and a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Stanford University.

Amy is joined by guest Barbie Harper to discuss Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. Topics include the generic masculine, women’s restrooms, unconscious bias, and the real cost of overlooking data from women.

Barbie Hada Harper was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California where academics, team building, and community service were early core values. She attended Brigham Young University where she studied Public Relations and Psychology, then ultimately received an undergrad in Fitness and Wellness Management. She has worked for early-stage companies in public relations, content marketing, and social media. Barbie is currently working towards credentials in the fields of functional nutrition and bio-lymphatic detoxification. She loves spending time with her husband and their four children, and feels most balanced when she makes it to her Pilates class.

Amy is joined by guest Louisa Gillett to discuss Women and Power by Mary Beard. Topics include hostility towards women speaking publicly,  victimhood, and how we recognize female power.

Louisa Gillett has produced, presented, written and commissioned documentaries about arts, culture and science, for British public radio and tv, and theatrical release. Since the birth of her daughter and her move to the USA five years ago, she has returned to the joys of academic life, and is currently a postgrad at Stanford writing a thesis that draws on theories of art, literature, philosophy, aesthetics, embodied cognition, and comic books(!) to examine the radical art and visionary poems of William Blake. If she had to give herself a label, it would probably be ‘womanist humanist’ and she is honored to be a part of this incredible project.

Amy is joined by guest Dr. Chantal Dolan to discuss Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong by Angela Saini. Topics include women in STEM, outdated ideas about the female brain, and our evolving views of sexuality.

Dr. Chantal Dolan received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University, her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from UC Berkeley, and her PhD in Epidemiology from the Stanford University School of Medicine. She brings over a decade of experience working in the biotechnology industry both in-house and as a consultant. She has worked in all phases of clinical trials to design and implement scientifically sound epidemiology and outcomes research studies to support the biologic license applications of biotechnology products. She has experience working in many clinical areas including oncology, endocrinology, immunology, pulmonary diseases, and ophthalmology. Dr. Dolan is committed to protecting and enhancing public health by providing the highest level of scientific epidemiology and health outcomes research to her clients. Dr. Dolan lives in Sandy, Utah, with her husband, two kids, and a dog and cat.

Amy is joined by guest Natasha Helfer to discuss Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein. Topics include feeling sacred and icky, sexuality versus sexualization, modesty, and purity culture.

Natasha Helfer is an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, speaker, writer, podcaster and supervisor with 20 years of experience treating individuals, couples and family systems. She has a special interest in helping clients work through issues regarding their interpersonal relationships, sexual development, and faith or spiritual journeys. She especially enjoys helping those wanting to navigate their religious cultures in healthy ways—whether they desire to stay within their faith communities or leave all together. Natasha presents at various conferences, speaks at universities, holds retreats, trainings and workshops, and has worked with thousands of clients in private practice and agency settings. She is an advocate for sexual health in marginalized populations (LGBTQ+, religious minorities, women) and champions de-stigmatizing sexual lifestyle choices due to cultural/personal/religious bias.

Amy is joined by guest Neylan McBaine to discuss Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter. Topics include half truths, resilience, the continuum of competition and caregiving, and what it really means to be a working parent.

Neylan McBaine was born and raised in New York City. She studied piano at the Juilliard School in high school, then graduated from Yale University in English literature. In 2009, she and her family settled in Salt Lake City, and she became creative director at Bonneville Communications where she worked on the “I’m a Mormon” advertising project. Neylan self-published her first book in 2009, How to be a Twenty-First Century Pioneer Woman. In 2010, Neylan founded the Mormon Women Project, a 501c3 nonprofit that collects and publishes interviews of Mormon women from various countries around the world. Her second book, Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact, was published in 2014. In 2017, McBaine co-founded Better Days 2020, a non-profit that popularizes Utah women’s history through education, legislation, and art, and her third book, Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West, was published in 2020.

Amy is joined by guest Malia Morris to discuss Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. Topics include the intersection of sex and racism, calling in v. calling out, bossiness, mansplaining,  and seeing humanity in others.

Malia Morris is a performing artist and voice teacher in the Bay Area. She studied Music Performance and Sociology in her undergraduate at Arizona State University, where she graduated with honors. In graduate school, she studied Dramatic Arts at Harvard University. Malia was awarded a thesis prize for her research on Broadway director Diane Paulus. Her research was selected for presentation at Harvard Symposium.