Dear Katie: Survivor Stories

'The pattern that we know now ... had definitely been established by the 1960's.'

Nick Syrett is a historian of gender and sexuality, and is currently a Professor and Chair of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work focuses on the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among other books, he has published on the history of traditionally white college fraternities and the organizations' links to sexual assault and misogyny.

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

'I couldn't win.'

Stephanie shares her incredible journey navigating the crushing weight of an abusive relationship, trying to please a perpetrator who was never satisfied. She was sitting in anticipation of another 'one of those nights' when a voice told her to leave. As she drove away, something inside of her said, 'you're not coming back' and she never did. 

Stephanie Strickland, author of Finding Peace Within, offers thoughtful guidance for cultivating calm, balance, and inner well-being. She is a survivor, an advocate, and a believer. Stephanie believes that our past experiences do not define our present and that a love that constantly tears you down isn't really love. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

'It felt like someone took a blowtorch to the whole country and suddenly I could go anywhere I wanted to.'

Nancy finds her doors opened with the passing of Title IX, navigating a new world as a young adult and student-athlete. While on a run, she is violently assaulted by a stranger. After reporting her rapist to the police, Nancy embarks on a journey of healing, supported by those around her, and goes on to win four Olympic medals. Today, she advocates for female athletes through her organization Champion Women. 

Nancy Hogshead is an Olympic Champion, a civil rights lawyer, and the founder of Champion Women, an organization dedicated to providing legal advocacy for girls and women in sports. Her work to make sport safer for athletes is fueled by the lessons learned when she survived a violent rape while out running. She understands the power of sport in a girl's and a woman's life and works to expand opportunities and protections for all.

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

'It's not about us, it's about them.'

Coming to activism at a young age, Julie finds an identity through advocacy work. However, in her private life, she navigates a disruptive, abusive relationship. Feeling like a 'bad feminist', she finds the opportunity to leave, but is plagued by her stalker for years after. Drawing on this experience, Julie advocates for stronger laws against stalking, speaking out for herself and others. 

Julie S. Lalonde is a multi-award-winning women's rights advocate, public educator, and writer living in Ottawa, Canada. She works with various organizations dedicated to ending gender-based violence through community care. She is also a survivor of intimate partner violence and stalking who uses her story to expose the complicated nature of resilience.

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

"Domestic violence and sexual assault are the least investigated, least prosecuted, and least coming to conviction crimes in the country... That cannot be your standard."

Rita Smith is a nationally recognized expert in domestic violence who has appeared on many local and national radio and television news shows, including the Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, NPR, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. She began her career in 1981 as a shelter crisis line advocate and ascended to lead the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) from 1992-2014. Smith currently serves as a senior advisor to the National Football League on policy and training issues related to domestic violence and sexual assault. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

Asleep in the living room, 13-year-old Lavinia is assaulted by a stranger who breaks in through the living room window. Seeking justice, she is dismissed by the police, and evidence for her case goes unused for decades. Fueled by her own experiences, Lavinia advocates for herself and others, changing Texas law and pushing for systemic change.  

Dr. Lavinia B. Masters is a nationally recognized survivor advocate, author, keynote speaker, and DNA justice reform leader who has transformed her personal story of sexual violence into a powerful mission for systemic change. After learning that evidence from her assault at age 13 had remained untested for more than two decades, she became a leading voice in the fight to address the sexual assault kit backlog and improve survivor-centered justice practices. Her advocacy helped inspire HB 8, The Lavinia Masters Act, signed into Texas law in 2019. She was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2023 and continues to serve survivors through advocacy, education, consulting, and mentorship. Grounded deeply in her Christian faith, Lavinia believes in leading with compassion, courage, and her guiding principle: “Empathy First. Justice Always.”

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

"Whenever you're ready and you feel safe to, sharing your experiences can and will change the world... Your story is your power, and they can't take it away."

Taken advantage of as a sophomore in high school, Leah found themselves exposed when an older boy used their intimate photos as trading cards. Finding their voice, they share the power they found through the vulnerability and nakedness of speaking their truth. 

Leah Juliett is an award-winning writer, speaker, organizer, survivor advocate, technology safety expert, and social media strategist whose work sits at the intersection of digital safety, LGBTQ+ identity, tech accountability, and survivor justice. For more than a decade, Leah has advocated for survivors of image-based sexual abuse and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, working to transform how we understand harm in an increasingly digital world. A survivor of image-based sexual abuse and CSAM, Leah founded the March Against Revenge Porn campaign in 2016 and has since become a nationally recognized voice on technology-facilitated abuse, survivor-centered policy, and Big Tech accountability. Their work has taken them from the White House Gender Policy Council and the U.S. Capitol to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, where they have advocated for survivor-centered approaches to technology design and childhood sexual violence prevention.

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

"When we're talking about disrupting a male-dominant society, we're talking about disrupting sexism. But we at A Call to Men do this work with an intersectional lens, which means you can't end one group's oppression while perpetrating others."

This week, Tony Porter shares his incredible stories of activism and insights into a culture of violence and misogyny, while bringing us to the forefront of change. Porter is an author, educator, and activist working to advance gender and racial justice and create a more equitable society. He is internationally recognized for his efforts to prevent violence against women while promoting a healthy, respectful manhood, which he does through his organization A Call to Men. 

Find out more at https://www.acalltomen.org/ or listen to Tony's incredible TED Talk, 'a call to men'. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

Today’s guest is Paul Drayton, actor, animal activist and author of Ride or Die Trying. With honesty and dark humour, he shares his journey through addiction, identity, public scrutiny and rebuilding his life after years just outside the celebrity spotlight. From growing up in Sunderland to navigating fame alongside comedian Alan Carr, Paul’s story is one of resilience and self-discovery. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang

'I had learned to be very comfortable in the gaps between two lives.' 

Jessica Teich began dancing at a young age, encountering the highly sexualized world of dance at a young age. Preyed upon by a much older man, she convinces her family to send her overseas and ends up living with a French family. Like so many survivors, Jessica never told anyone about the ongoing sexual assaults, but wrote her story on scraps of paper she still has today. Now, she shares her story with us, bringing to light the words she put to paper in some of her darkest moments. 

Host: Katie Koestner

Editor: Evan Mader

Producers: Catrina Aglubat and Emily Wang