HerStance

"If you can’t do great things, you can do small things in a great way."

After a year of storytelling and connection, we reach the final chapter of the HerStance podcast. In this episode, we shift from the global stage to the internal one. Join us for a personal reflection on taming a "sizzling nervous system," finding compassion in a chaotic world, and the 32 lessons gathered from a year of podcasting. This isn't just an end; it’s an invitation to keep the flame alive in your own community.

Listen to the finale and explore the full archive at HerStance.

The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house." These famous words by Audre Lorde continue to challenge how we approach activism and identity today. In this episode, host Sandra Koelle explores the legacy of the "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" who redefined intersectionality.  

In this episode:

Discover Lorde’s journey from Harlem to becoming the New York State Poet Laureate.  

Learn about her role in co-founding Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press and her impact on the Afro-German movement in Berlin.  

Explore her "Theory of Difference" and why she believed language is our most powerful tool for resistance.  

Join the HerStance Challenge to turn your silence into language and action.  

Audre Lorde taught us that without community, there is no liberation. Listen now to find your tools for change.

Subscribe & Follow: Visit www.elevateherexistence.com to join the mission and sign up for our monthly newsletter.  

#AudreLorde #HerStance #FeministPodcast #BlackHistory #Intersectionality #WomenEmpowerment

In this HerStance episode, we honor Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Bhikkhunī and the woman who opened the Buddhist path to women. Through a feminist lens, we explore her persistence, spiritual authority, and lasting legacy—challenging patriarchal narratives in Buddhist history and re-centering women’s wisdom, resistance, and liberation on the path.

In the modern world, the winter solstice is often buried under neon lights, "shop till you drop" commercialism, and patriarchal narratives that distance us from the season’s primal power. But what happens when we strip away the tinsel and look into the dark?

In this episode, we "peel the cosmic onion" to reclaim the Divine Feminine hidden within our winter traditions. From the ancient Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht (Mother’s Night) to the biological truth of the Reindeer Mother—the actual antlered sun-bearer of the north—we explore how this season was once a sacred celebration of female ancestors and the wisdom of the Dark Goddess.

Join us as we reject the "hustle" and embrace the "Hibernal Urge." Learn why the solstice isn't just a day on the calendar, but a three-day pause—a time for receptivity, gestation, and honoring the women who shaped us.

In this episode, we discuss:

The "Paint Stripper" Effect: Moving past the Victorian rebranding of St. Nicholas and the domesticating of Mrs. Claus.

Mōdraniht: The ancient "Night of the Mothers" and the honoring of the Dísir.

The True Sun-Bearer: Why the reindeer on your holiday cards are actually symbols of a powerful female deity.

Coming Home to the Dark: How to find the "sacred" in the stillness and welcome the rebirth of the light from the womb of the night.

Stop trying to cut through the noise. Sit in the silence with us. Let’s celebrate the feminine divine that rests at the heart of the dark.

Have you been keeping up with the headlines coming out of the Department of Education this week? Major fields like nursing, architecture, accounting, and education are risking reduced student loan access under the new "One Big Beautiful Bill." Critics argue this isn't just bureaucratic accounting—it's an attempt to limit advanced thinkers and future policymakers, disproportionately affecting women and women of color and crushing the dreams of first-generation college students.

This urgent crisis makes the words of our luminary woman today hit so hard: “One of the best ways of enslaving a people is to keep them from education.”

Join us as we explore the life and enduring impact of Eleanor Roosevelt: The First Lady of the World. Discover how she not only navigated the political landscape as an activist and diplomat but also tirelessly championed education and social justice, setting a global standard for human rights that is more relevant than ever.

In this episode of HerStance, we pull back the curtain on the true architect of the New Deal: Frances Perkins, the woman who wasn't just the first female Cabinet Secretary but the driving force behind the most significant social reforms in American history.

We explore her journey from a strict, conservative upbringing to a radical social reformer, tracing the moment her conscience was awakened—specifically, by the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—which cemented her lifelong commitment to labor reform.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, Perkins fought tirelessly for the structural safety nets that define modern America, including Social Security, the minimum wage, and the 40-hour work week.

Discover the strategic genius of the woman who navigated a hostile, male-dominated cabinet, famously filing away her observations in a folder labeled "Notes on the Male Mind." We delve into the intense backlash she faced, including an impeachment attempt, and how she used her position to "establish the right of others... to sit in the high seats."

Perkins believed that "The people are what matter to government," and this episode honors the quiet, tenacious revolutionist whose legacy is woven into the very fabric of American fairness and economic security.

The Nobel Prize honors monumental achievement, a recognition that inspires us to uphold the ideals of knowledge, compassion, and courage. But for countless women, that recognition has been slow to arrive, even as their work fundamentally shaped our understanding of the world. 

This episode dives deep into the lives and work of women who have fundamentally shaped our world and our understanding of it. These are the scientists who made monumental discoveries for the sheer fun of doing physics, the writers who gave vital life to essential human complexities, and the peace advocates who never quit. 

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The Nobel Prize honors monumental achievement, a recognition that inspires us to uphold the ideals of knowledge, compassion, and courage. But for countless women, that recognition has been slow to arrive, even as their work fundamentally shaped our understanding of the world. 

This episode dives deep into the lives and work of women who have fundamentally shaped our world and our understanding of it. These are the scientists who made monumental discoveries for the sheer fun of doing physics, the writers who gave vital life to essential human complexities, and the peace advocates who never quit. 

Their achievements enrich our world and remind us that diversity is necessary for true breakthrough. 

Selected further reading about and by the Nobel Winners in today's episode:

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi:  The Secret War Over the Human Immune System: Discovery, Betrayal, and the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 

Full Interview: Seattle scientist Mary Brunkow talks about winning the Nobel Prize

Nobel Laureate Book 5 of 5 - Maria Corina Machado A Biographical Account of her work leading to this award.

Maria Corina Machado: The Woman Who Defied a Dictator (The Minds Behind the Prize Book 5) 

The Story of Marie Curie: A STEM Biography with 25 Experiments, Ages 8 - 12 (Women in STEM, Book 2)

The Good Earth Trilogy: The Good Earth, Sons, and A House Divided, by Pearl Buck

Boxed Set: The Bluest Eye, Beloved and Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison

O The Chimneys; Selected Poems, including the Verse Play Eli, 1st Edition/1st Printing 1967 by Nelly Sachs

Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War, by Svetlana Alexievich

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MERCH:

Here at HerStance we promote Kindness, Compassion, Empathy, and Inclusion. Check out this merch on Amazon that will help spread the seeds of kindness wherever you go this season!

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Today, we're diving into the dramatic, controversial, and deeply moving story of María Eva Duarte de Perón—better known simply as Evita. Her ascent from rural poverty to become the most powerful woman in Argentine history is one of Latin America's most compelling tales. She forever changed her nation's political landscape, but was she a proto-feminist icon or an iron fist cloaked in glamour? Stay until the end for two HerStance challenges to put Eva Peron's inspiration into action.

Sanger’s revolutionary work fundamentally changed the world for millions, giving women bodily autonomy. But her legacy is undeniably complicated. In her pursuit of a revolutionary public health concept, she embraced and supported the American eugenics movement, aligning herself with the deeply flawed rhetoric of her era.

We are here not to apologize for the messiness of history, but to unpack it—examining a true revolutionary not as a saint or a demon, but as a person whose actions brought both profound progress and at times, harm.

In this episode, you can expect us to discuss sensitive and hard-hitting topics:

Reproductive rights and the historical weaponization of law.

The shame surrounding unwanted pregnancy and lack of access to care.

The thorny, unsettling history of the American eugenics movement.

How Sanger's radical empathy drove her to fight the establishment.

The modern-day stakes of information sharing and empathy in public discourse, especially as facts become harder to access and divisive arguments grow louder.

This is a history lesson with real-world, modern stakes. If you need to hit pause, please do, but we encourage you to stay for a discussion that is more relevant now than it has been in decades.