Fifteen Minutes of Feminism

The unspeakable has finally come to pass: The Supreme Court has ruled, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson, to overturn Roe v. Wade and roll back abortion rights across the U.S. For the first time, the Court has taken away a fundamental right that so many depend on. 

This unprecedented assault on bodily autonomy will unleash significant harms across the country — particularly for those most marginalized, including poor women and girls, women of color, LGBTQ people and disabled people. It also raises fundamental questions when it comes to the dismantling of privacy protections — the opinion calls into question other fundamental rights decided by the court including the right to birth control, same sex marriage, and more. 

How can this decision be justified in light of glaring rates of maternal mortality and mortality? How can we move forward and secure the rights of those most impacted by this devastating ruling? And how can we center those most vulnerable among us, and ensure they’re included in the promise of our constitution? 

In this episode, "On The Issues" host Dr. Michele Goodwin speaks directly to our audience, unpacking the Dobbs decision and what comes next.

Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.


Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

In this episode, we’re recognizing the 50th anniversary of Title IX — the historic federal legislation that transformed the landscape of gender equality in public education. We’re also honoring the legacy of its chief proponent: Patsy Takemoto Mink, who defied all odds in many ways as the first woman of color in Congress.  

Joining Dr. Goodwin for this episode is a very special guest:

Professor Gwendolyn Mink. Wendy Mink is the daughter of Patsy Takemoto Mink, and the co-author of Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

The future of abortion care is here: A safe, legal abortion in the comfort of your own home—accessed via mail and telehealth, delivered right to your door.  

So, what do you need to know about abortion pills? How do they work? How long has medication abortion been available? Is it safe? (The answer’s yes!) Is it legal? (Yes!) Is it effective? (Extremely.)
 
Joining Michele Goodwin for this episode is an expert on the subject:
 
Dr. Julie Amaon, a family medicine doctor working for Just the Pill, a nonprofit telemedicine abortion provider based in the Twin Cities and serving people in Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming, as well as people coming from surrounding states.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

In this episode, we’re turning back to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings, and the messaging we saw play out. Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, what were Republican senators signaling? What's ahead for the First Amendment?  Criminal Justice?  LGBTQ equality?  Are senators signaling the desire to do away with fundamental constitutional protections and why?  What issues should we be concerned about?  Joining us for this timely discussion is a very special guest:

Jill Wine-Banks: Jill Wine-Banks is an MSNBC legal analyst. She began her career as the first woman to serve as an organized crime prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. After just over four years, her trial capabilities and win record led her to be selected as one of the three assistant Watergate special prosecutors, where she, again, was the only woman.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

President Biden has announced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the nominee to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court.  Who is she?  What’s her background? And why is she one of the most qualified and prepared nominees that this process has seen in nearly a century? In this episode, we unpack Judge Jackson’s qualifications and examine what’s next in the process.
 
This episode is the second installment of our Road to Confirmation series. “On the Issues” will be taking you through each step of the confirmation process as it happens in real time, with commentary and analysis from experts.
 
Helping us to answer these questions and more is a very special guest.  
 

• Danielle Holley-Walker is the dean and a professor of law of Howard Law School, and a former clerk for Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart on the 5th Circuit. Her research focuses on the governance of public schools, and diversity in the legal profession. 

In this episode we also hear from an "On the Issues" regular guest

• Steve Vladeck is a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law, and military justice and the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law. Vladeck has argued multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. He is also the co-host of the award-winning National Security Law Podcast. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

In this episode, we’re delving into the fight for a $15 minimum wage. Even before COVID, Americans in all 50 states were facing severe economic struggles, making it difficult to afford rent, mortgage, childcare and basic needs. The pandemic has made economic disparity exponentially worse. Admittedly, then, it may be hard to understand why discussion of minimum wage is controversial at all.  So why is a livable minimum wage so important to feminists and labor organizers everywhere? And how can a living wage boost the U.S. economy? 

 Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is our very special guest:

• Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents over 2 million members throughout the United States and Canada. She is the first woman to lead the union, and was named one of TIME magazine’s most influential people of the year in 2020. She’s also helped spearhead the Fight for $15 movement, which is advocating for a livable wage for workers internationally in hundreds of cities. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
 Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.
 
Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

Saturday, Jan. 22, 2021, marks the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. But it may very well be its last. In a few short months we face the likelihood the Supreme Court will overturn Roe. Already, 2021 was the worst year for abortion rights in almost half a century. And in Texas, abortion has already been virtually outlawed.

In 1972, Ms. ran a bold petition in which well-known U.S. women declared they had undergone abortions—despite laws rendering the procedure illegal. We know it is time again.  (To add your name to the petition for safe, legal and accessible abortion and birth control, go to MsMagazine.com)

In this episode, we discuss the relaunch of the iconic “We Have Had Abortions” petition, the history of the evolution of abortion access in the U.S. and the future of abortion rights in a possible post-Roe world.

Joining us for this episode is a friend to Ms. and a signatory to the petition:

• Amy Brenneman, an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and producer best known for her extensive television work in shows like NYPD Blue, Frasier, Private Practice, The Leftovers, and Judging Amy, which she co-created and starred in. She has also starred in various films, including Heat (1995), Fear (1996), Daylight (1996), Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), Nine Lives (2005) and The Jane Austen Book Club (2007). She is the founding member of the Cornerstone Theater Company which specializes in site-specific original theater productions centered on the themes of social justice.  She is a longtime advocate for various social justice causes and organizations including: The Feminist Majority Foundation, NARAL and The Brady Center for Gun Control. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

It’s been just over a year since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. We reckon with recent revelations and ask the important questions: How did her death shape the current fight around abortion rights and other issues? Should she have retired? And what comes next at the Supreme Court? 
 
Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is special guest:

• Irin Carmon, senior correspondent at New York Magazine and the co-author of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

In this episode, we discuss the dark money underwriting anti-abortion laws like Texas's near-total abortion ban, S.B. 8, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest AND places a bounty on those who aid or abet people who want to terminate their pregnancies. 

But people are fighting back. The Abortion Ban Accountability project—led by Corporate Accountability Action—is calling out corporations who fund legislators who stand against abortion rights and LGBTQ rights. While the #OffTheBANWagon campaign aims to put pressure on several companies, one is singled out in particular: AT&T. The company has spent almost $700k financing the campaigns of the primary sponsors of S.B. 8 in Texas—all while claiming “one of the company’s core values is gender equity and the empowerment of women.” 

We’re diving right in with a very special guest:

• Cecile Richards, an activist, reproductive rights advocate and former president of Planned Parenthood. She is also the co-founder of the women’s political action group Supermajority, and co-chair of American Bridge PAC. Most recently, she helped launch the #OffTheBANWagon project, which aims to hold the corporations that bankroll extreme anti-abortion state legislators accountable. Richards is the author of the memoir Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead and the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. 

In August, the United Nations General Assembly moved to create a Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. There was pushback. Yet, on an international level, the demand for a reckoning with anti-Blackness reverberates around the world. Advocates know learning about the African Diaspora, histories of anti-Blackness and the need for reparations is more important than ever.

Consider this: The British government paid the equivalent of 17 billion pounds (in today’s currency) to compensate slave owners for the lost capital associated with abolition. These reparations debts by the British government to slaveowners and their descendants were paid off in 2015. 
 
How does this hidden history fit into contemporary discourse about global slavery, Black Lives Matter, civil rights and more? 
 
We’re diving right in with a very special guest:

• Dr. Amara Enyia, a public policy expert and strategist. She is also the managing director of Diaspora Rising, a transnational advocacy organization working on issues of concern to the Global Black Diaspora around the world.  

Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.
 
Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action.

Tips, suggestions, pitches? Get in touch with us at [email protected].