American women are so entrenched in our system of birth that it’s hard to see other possibilities, but doula Anne Wallen and the women she works with and trains are evangelical about how different it could be. In this conversation, Anne explores the ‘typical’ doctor-led birth, then describes the births she assists. The contrasts could […]

Shilpi Chhotray is a storyteller with a purpose. An environmentalist from an early age, her perspective has developed and deepened during her career. Having found inspiration in the social justice movement, she and her production team are now embarking on a project to tell stories about environmental justice through “A People’s Climate.” The new podcast […]

From Suki Wessling: Reporting from the October 18 No Kings Rally in Downtown Santa Cruz today, I heard a clear message: What’s happening in this country is not OK. People from all walks of life came together with a message of unity and hope. Although there was anger, there was a distinct lack of partisanship […]

In feminist scholar Dr. Bettina Aptheker’s early years, she found herself front and center in the 1960s controversy over free speech. As a young academic, she found herself mired in a legal dispute over freedom of association. And throughout her career, she has been able to push boundaries due to academic freedom. Recently Bettina gave […]

Dr. Eve V. Clark has spent a career in academia pursuing one seemingly simple question: How do children learn to talk? The theory in vogue at the beginning of her career was advanced by Noam Chomsky, whose theory of Universal Grammar was all the rage amongst linguists. As a woman outnumbered by men, Eve pursued […]

On April 5, 2025 Dr. Heather Ford stood at the steps of the Santa Cruz County Building, joining other scientists around the United States to protest the Trump Administration’s witch hunt against his imagined “woke science agenda.” Since World War II, the US has seen a broadly bipartisan support for the federal funding of science, […]

Why are you proud to be American? In these interviews at an Independence Day parade on Coastal California, residents talk about reaching for their pride at a time when our political landscape is so fraught.

with Joanne Foster and Patrice Vecchione What is creativity, how can we nurture it, and what can it do for us? In this conversation we speak about creativity from two directions: Dr. Joanne Foster researches and writes about creativity in education, and Patrice Vecchione teaches and practices creativity in her writing and visual art. Interviewed […]

Sharon Sewell-Fairman’s path to become CEO and President of New York City-based nonprofit Women Creating Change was hardly set at birth. She started life in a rural area of Jamaica, her only advantage being her family’s emphasis on the importance of education. Sharon pins her success on the support of women: her grandmother and mother […]

Carol Fisher Saller moved from her career as an editor to a writer of children’s books not knowing that she was witnessing the end of an era. Her first books were published by traditional, mainstream publishers who were running their businesses the way they had been run for decades. Then Carol, along with many other […]