Julia kicks off the second season of Keep Calm and Cook On with Cecile Richards, who was the president of Planned Parenthood for more than a decade and who Vogue magazine has called a “heroine of the resistance.” Cecile’s late mother, the incredible Ann Richards, was the Governor of Texas and Cecile so clearly follows her mother’s meaningful footsteps doing work fighting for social justice and women’s rights. As she wrote about in her book Make Trouble, Cecile has been an activist ever since she was taken to the principal’s office in 7th grade for protesting the Vietnam War. As a young woman, Cecile worked as a labor organizer and went onto do more advocacy work in various progressive leadership roles.

One thread through Cecile’s work is that she brings other women along with her. Lauren Peterson, the coauthor of Make Trouble, joined Cecile and Julia for this episode. Before working with Cecile on her book, Lauren wrote speeches for both Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

Together they all talk about everything from pie and hot sauce to the correlation between women's rights and food justice.

Some notes from the show:

Here’s the slaw recipe that Cecile referred to. It’s from Now & Again which is available here!

Check out Rep. Gwen Moore speaking on the House floor and reminding us if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.

The show also includes answers to listeners’ questions about cooking and a shout out to the National Domestic Workers Alliance. While we’re on the topic, check out this NYT Overlooked obituary for Dorothy Bolden who started a movement for domestic workers, too. For more about Julia and her work, head to her site or follow her on Instagram.