On The Issues With Michele Goodwin

Welcome to “The Magazine,” our mini-pod, which gives a peek into Ms. magazine’s forthcoming and current issues. In this episode, take a glimpse inside our Spring 2026 issue, which explores how U.S. federal immigration agencies have become the enforcement arm of the nation’s racism and misogyny. Also in the Winter issue: a renowned women’s rights lawyer on Iran’s deadly crackdown, how the Trump administration is leveraging legislation meant to protect clinics for political persecution, and more. Get the magazine delivered right to your mailbox!

Joining us to discuss is our very special guest: 

• Kathy Spillar is the executive director and a founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, a national organization working for women’s equality, empowerment and non-violence, and the publisher of Ms. since 2001. She has been a driving force in executing the organizations’ diverse programs securing women’s rights both domestically and globally since its inception in 1987. She is also the executive editor of Ms. where she oversees editorial content and the Ms. in the Classroom program, and editor and contributor to 50 Years of Ms: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution.

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.

Support the show

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara—a landmark case that seeks to fundamentally rewrite the substance and meaning of one of the most important provisions of the Constitution: birthright citizenship. In this special episode of On the Issues, Dr. Goodwin unpacks Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship, which is widely recognized as one of the Constitution’s most fundamental rights and has been protected by the 14th Amendment for over 150 years, pointing out how it echoes a Confederate playbook, and seeks to reshape the fabric of our very nation. 

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.

Support the show

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of men declared that “all men are created equal,” casting a vision of liberty that has shaped the American imagination ever since. But even as they debated freedom in Philadelphia, women were writing, organizing, governing, resisting and insisting on their place within the nation taking form. 

As Ms. launches a new series on our country's Founding Feminists this month, Dr. Michele Goodwin is joined by the series' editor, Professor Janell Hobson, to discuss what America's 250th anniversary means for women and the feminist agenda. 

Joining us to discuss these issues is a very special guest: 

Janell Hobson: Janell Hobson is professor of women's, gender and sexuality studies at the University at Albany. She is the author of When God Lost Her Tongue: Historical Consciousness and the Black Feminist Imagination. She is also the editor of Tubman 200: The Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Project.

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.

Support the show

In this special episode, Dr. Michele Goodwin pays homage to the life of Rev. Jesse Lewis Jackson, Sr.—civil rights leader, faith leader, political leader and advocate. 

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.

Support the show

Menopause will affect most women during their lifetime—but until fairly recently, it was a topic largely relegated to the shadows. More and more, advocates are calling for the spotlight to be put on menopause—highlighting not just the important health issues at play, but the ways in which they affect diverse populations, from Black and brown women to queer and trans people to incarcerated people and more. 

Omisade Burney-Scott, creator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause, is one of those advocates. She joins Dr. Michele Goodwin to discuss why intersectional conversations around menopause are so important, and why these discussions are important for the preservation of democracy.

Joining us to discuss these crucial issues is our very special guest:

• Omisade Burney-Scott is a seventh-generation Black Southern feminist, storyteller and social justice advocate. She is the creator and curator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM), a multimedia project focused on normalizing menopause and aging through the centering of the stories of Black women, women-identified and gender expansive people. She has been featured in numerous outlets including Oprah Daily, Forbes, Vogue, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times. She currently resides in North Carolina.

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.

Support the show

Pregnancy loss is devastating. Yet despite how common it is, the grief experienced after pregnancy loss remains largely unspoken, shrouded in silence and shame. How do you support someone who’s gone through such an unimaginable loss? In this episode, Dr. Goodwin is joined by two special guests to delve specifically into how creative expression and clinical care can offer support to those affected by pregnancy loss.

Joining me to discuss these issues are two special guests:

Dr. Jessica Zucker: Dr. Zucker is a Los-Angeles-based psychologist specializing in reproductive health. She is the author of the award-winning books Normalize It: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women’s Lives and I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement.

Chari Pere: Chari Pere is an award-winning cartoonist behind the Unspoken Cartoonmentary series.

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.

Support the show

Welcome to “The Magazine,” our mini-pod, which gives a peek into Ms. magazine’s forthcoming and current issues. In this episode, take a glimpse inside our Winter 2026 issue, which delves into the promise and potential of the abortion medication Mifepristone—which has been shown to treat a striking range of diseases and conditions including fibroids, breast cancer, depression, endometriosis and more. Also in the Winter issue: Jess Michaels on surviving Epstein, the Iceland “Women’s Strike” turns 50, and more. Get the magazine delivered right to your mailbox!

Joining us to discuss is our very special guest: 

• Kathy Spillar is the executive director and a founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, a national organization working for women’s equality, empowerment and non-violence, and the publisher of Ms. since 2001. She has been a driving force in executing the organizations’ diverse programs securing women’s rights both domestically and globally since its inception in 1987. She is also the executive editor of Ms. where she oversees editorial content and the Ms. in the Classroom program, and editor and contributor to 50 Years of Ms: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution.

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.

Support the show

Mifepristone, one of the drugs in the two-pill medication abortion regimen approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is an extremely versatile drug. It has the potential to treat a striking range of diseases and conditions—from fibroids, breast cancer, depression, and endometriosis, to autoimmune diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis, according to scientists. Research also suggests that it could help prevent some forms of breast cancer, and it can serve as an effective weekly contraceptive without some of the side effects of hormonal birth control.  

Given its incredibly promising uses to aid women's health, why has its research been repeatedly undermined, derailed, and obstructed in the United States?

Joining us to discuss these issues is our very special guest: 

Carrie N. Baker: Carrie Baker is the a professor of the Study of Women and Gender and chair of the Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College. She is a contributing editor with Ms. Magazine and publishes a monthly column in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Her latest book, Abortion Pills: US History and Politics, was published in 2024 by Amherst College Press.

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.

Support the show

It’s been a harrowing year for many families. The Trump administration’s budget cuts are giving tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of funding healthy meals for students experiencing food insecurity; legislatures are banning books and attacking LGBTQ+ students; and immigration crackdowns are leaving many students afraid to go to school at all. Families have had a lot to be worried about—more than just tests and grades—this year. What are students, parents, and teachers worried about—and what policies are advocates watching?

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

Becky Pringle: Becky Pringle is president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union. Becky is a middle school science teacher with more than three decades of classroom experience and has distinguished herself as a fierce social justice warrior and defender of educator rights.

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.

Support the show

In the year since the Trump administration returned to office, there have been hundreds of executive orders, many of which district courts have ruled unconstitutional and illegal. As judges have noted, these actions have caused direct harm to Americans all across the country. And hard-hitting attorneys general have fought back. There are now over 450 lawsuits against the Trump administration, and in many of them district courts have ruled that the administration acted unconstitutionally. In this episode, recorded earlier this year, I’m joined by two Attorneys General who are leading this resistance: Massachusetts’s Andrea Campbell, and Michigan’s Dana Nessel. 

Joining me to discuss these important issues are two very special guests: 

Attorney General Andrea Campbell: Andrea Joy Campbell has been Attorney General for the state of Massachusetts since 2023. Prior to being elected AG, Campbell practiced law as a legal services attorney for the EdLaw project, defending the rights of children and their families; and at Proskauer LLP as an employment attorney. In her public service career, she has served as General Counsel at the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and legal counsel to Governor Deval Patrick. In 2015, she became the first woman to represent District 4 on the Boston City, Council, and in 2018, she was unanimously elected City Council President – the first Black woman to hold the title.

Attorney General Dana Nessel: Dana Nessel has been Attorney General for the state of Michigan since 2019. Prior to being elected Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel served as a Wayne County Prosecutor for over a decade. In her private practice, she was lead attorney for the plaintiffs in DeBoer v. Snyder, a precursor to the landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which codified same-sex marriage and granted adoption rights to same-sex couples nationwide.

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.

Support the show