Opinionated

Samhita and Amanda are very sorry they ran off to the circus for a week, and promise not to do it again. Post-circus topics: Sex selective abortion in the U.S. is a hoax. Mitt Romney's people make it clear that they think the female half of voters aren't important in the slightest. Also, the triumphant return of #femquery!

Samhita and Amanda discuss the battle over the Violence Against Women Act, and how the mail order bride industry got involved. New numbers from the Census show that non-white babies outnumber white ones, and more research shows that we might have the causal relationship between teenage pregnancy and poverty reversed. Also: dropping our asses to Biggie Smalls. 

Erika Nicole Kendall comes on to talk about feminist approaches to weight and health, and to denounce the NY Times yet again for making a pointless spectacle out of black women. Amanda and Samhita talk about the limits to our understanding of mental health and answer your #femquery. Also, turns out Obama's taking his marching orders from this podcast.

Samhita has a birthday and an anniversary of quitting the demon tobacco. Amanda parties with the rednecks. Both are deeply saddened by the death of Adam Yauch and want to remember him for the great guy he was. On this week's you-suck list: Michele Bachmann, Sean Hannity, Jesse Lee Peterson, and Ted Nugent. 

The Violence Against Women Act is running against reauthorization problems. The Christian right is to blame, of course, but why this is especially appalling during our economic times. Reactions to Mona Eltahawy's piece continue a very hard discussion, but people are being surprisingly calm and polite. Dan Savage speaks truth to power, and a bunch of whiny babies throw a tantrum.

Samhita and Amanda discuss Mona Eltahawy's powerful and complex piece on misogyny in Muslim nations. In their version of lightening the mood, they also discuss our comical shock troops for ladies who hate ladies, specifically Lila Rose and S.E. Cupp. For this week's #femquery, they take on the question of post-feminism, that slippery beast. 

Samhita and Amanda are appalled by Katie Roiphe's aggressive anti-feminist trolling. The hologram of Tupac Shakur creates a rift in the space-time continuum, causing your hosts to wonder what your post-death hologram will show you doing. More #femquery answers, and Amanda is traumatized by the results of a momentary brain fart on a public bus. 

Samhita and Amanda welcome special guest Aminatou Sow to discuss why not every man living in the friend zone wants to be in the bone zone with his female friends. Ashley Judd uses the word "patriarchy" in public, and the feminists online are so thrilled. A defense and critique of music snobbery, and learning to embrace your inner Beyonce fan.

An anti-choice legislator in Georgia compares women to farm animals in an effort to strip away their rights to basic medical care. Terrorists attack a Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin. Samhita and Amanda are pissed. But it's all okay, because this week's #femquery has a question about boobs, lovely boobs.

Jesse Taylor joins the show to talk about Trayvon Martin and dealing with the irrational fear of black men and boys that leads to violence. Samhita and Amanda are peeing-their-pants happy about "Mad Men", but much less enthused about beauty pagaents.