When they want silence, she brings laughter.

This week on The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show, I'm joined by Lizz Winstead - comedian, activist, co-creator of The Daily Show, co-founder of Air America Radio, and founder of Abortion Access Front. Lizz has spent decades weaponizing humor against oppression, and in this conversation, we dig into how comedy becomes resistance.

We talk about:

This is a fearless conversation about what it takes to keep fighting when the stakes couldn't be higher. Because when they want us ashamed and silent, the most radical thing we can do is laugh out loud and tell the truth.

Subscribe to Feminist Buzzkill wherever you get your podcasts. Support Abortion Access Front at AbortionAccessFront.org.

Amanda Zurawski, reproductive rights advocate and one of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year, joins Dr. Kristin Lyerly to share the devastating reality of pregnancy complications under Texas's abortion ban and how she has used her own life-threatening experience to fight back. 

At 18 weeks pregnant with a wanted baby, Amanda’s water broke and she was denied standard medical care until she developed a life-threatening infection - because Texas politicians decided they knew better than her and her doctors.

In this powerful interview, Amanda discusses:

Dr. Lyerly, a board-certified OB-GYN who successfully challenged Wisconsin's 1849 criminal abortion ban, brings her medical expertise to explain why abortion restrictions are dangerous medical policy - and why this issue isn't going away despite the Trump administration's shock-and-awe political environment.

As we approach the 2026 midterms, Amanda's story is a crucial reminder of what's at stake when politicians practice medicine. This is required listening for anyone who cares about reproductive healthcare, maternal mortality, pregnancy complications, and holding lawmakers accountable for the human cost of abortion bans.

Mandela Barnes was Wisconsin's first Black Lieutenant Governor. In 2022, he ran a nationally watched Senate race against Ron Johnson and lost by just 27,000 votes. Now he's running for Governor, and Wisconsin voters have questions.

In this episode, I sit down with Barnes for a no-BS conversation about what happened in 2022, what he learned from losing, and why he thinks he can win this time. We tackle the controversies head-on: the crime attacks, accusations about "defunding the police," and how he plans to message differently in a Governor's race.

As an OB-GYN who's fought for reproductive rights in Wisconsin, I push Barnes on healthcare access, reproductive freedom, and whether he'll actually fight for patients. We also discuss his vision for education, working families, and climate change.

This isn't a puff piece. I ask the tough questions because Wisconsin can't afford to get this Governor's race wrong. Barnes shares his working-class Milwaukee roots, reflects on his time as Lieutenant Governor, and lays out what's at stake in this election.

Listen to the full interview and decide for yourself whether Mandela Barnes is the right choice for Wisconsin.

In this episode, Dr. Kristin Lyerly sits down with Missy Hughes, the former CEO of Wisconsin's Economic Development Corporation and longtime Organic Valley executive who's running on a platform of economic opportunity for all 72 counties. Listen HERE.

How do you turn political fear into sustained action? Jess Craven has been answering that question for her massive Substack community every weekday since November 2016.

In this episode of The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show, Dr. Lyerly welcomes the face of “Chop Wood, Carry Water”, Jess Craven: political activist, content creator, and widely-followed organizer.

The daughter of legendary horror director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), Jess has unironically applied lessons about confronting fear to building one of the most engaged grassroots organizing communities in America…and she’s just hitting her stride! (Image copyright Wireimage)

Topics include: 

Whether you're a longtime activist or someone who's never made a political phone call, this conversation offers practical tools, inspiring stories, and a roadmap for turning anxiety into impact.

What happens when telling patients the truth gets you fired? This week, Dr. Kristin Lyerly sits down with Nikki Sapiro Vinckier, PA-C—an OB/GYN physician assistant who spent over a decade in clinical practice before being pushed out for refusing to stay silent. 

Nikki's new book We Deserve More: Why Reproductive Healthcare is Broken—And What You Can Do About It exposes the gap between what clinicians know, what lawmakers think they know when they write abortion bans, and the flood of misinformation patients face online.

In this conversation, Kristin and Nikki dig into:

This is medicine, unfiltered. 

While the Trump-Vance administration has attempted to freeze funding, strip healthcare coverage from millions, and attack reproductive rights, one organization has been fighting back in court - and winning.

Democracy Forward didn't wait for Inauguration Day to prepare. Anticipating the threats of Project 2025, they built a strategic network of over 650 diverse partner organizations, positioning legal expertise exactly where it would be most effective: in the courts. The result? The moment Trump took office, they were ready, and they've been winning ever since.

This week, Dr. Lyerly sits down with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward and one of “TIME100’s Most Influential People in the World” to discuss the hundreds of legal victories they've secured since January 20th. From protecting immigrant communities to shielding medication abortion from legal attacks, Democracy Forward is serving as a critical check on executive overreach.

If you're tired of feeling helpless, this conversation will remind you that resistance isn't futile - it's winning.

Last week, everything changed in an instant. A serious car accident turned this doctor into a patient, and the strangers who became heroes - the volunteers and healthcare workers who rushed to help - reminded me exactly why we do this show. Community isn't just a buzzword. It’s how we take care of each other. It's our foundation. It's what builds our democracy.

And what a year of community building it has been! In 2025, I sat down with some of the most interesting and engaging voices in Wisconsin and beyond - people who step up and speak out in the places where they are needed the most. These aren't just interviews, these are the conversations that shaped the year.

From the fight for healthcare to the future of Wisconsin, from tariffs to protecting our voting rights, we've covered it all. Join us as we relive the moments that hit hardest, celebrate the wins, and get fired up for what's coming next…because we’re just getting started!

Guests:

Credits:

Wisconsin's 2026 gubernatorial race is wide open - and the stakes couldn't be higher. With no incumbent for the first time since 2010, a large and diverse field of Democrats are vying for the nomination in what will be one of the most watched races in the country.

In this episode, Dr. Kristin Lyerly sits down with Missy Hughes, the former CEO of Wisconsin's Economic Development Corporation and longtime Organic Valley executive who's running on a platform of economic opportunity for all 72 counties.

Hughes isn't your typical candidate. She lives in western Wisconsin on a farm outside of Viroqua with 70 sheep, two donkeys, and a passion for growing dahlias. She's run eight marathons. She's a lawyer who spent 17 years in the dairy industry before leading the state agency that brought Microsoft, Eli Lilly, Milwaukee Tool, and Kikkoman to Wisconsin - securing over $10 billion in investment and 45,000 jobs.

Her pitch?

I'm not a politician, and that's the point.

We talk about her unlikely path from growing up in New York to rural Wisconsin, what a "Main Street Economy" actually means in practice, how she plans to bridge urban and rural divides, and what sets her apart.

This is the fourth in our series of conversations with candidates for Wisconsin governor across the political spectrum.

Wisconsin State Senator Kelda Roys is running to be the state's next governor, leveraging years of legislative experience and proven bipartisan wins to make her case to Wisconsin voters. Listen HERE

Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez joins Dr. Lyerly to discuss her campaign to become Wisconsin's first female governor. Listen HERE

This week on The Dr. Kristin Lyerly Show, Dr. Lyerly sits down with Kate Duffy, founder of Motherhood for Good, a movement mobilizing moms across Wisconsin and beyond into a powerful political force.

From the origin story of turning social media frustration into grassroots action, to her new venture with Kristin Brey, Kate shares how mothers are reclaiming the political narrative and building real power.

In this candid, entertaining conversation, Kate and Dr. Lyerly discuss what makes moms unique, which issues are driving mothers to the polls, and why politicians should be paying attention. They explore the intersection of motherhood and activism, the future of mother-led organizing, and what it takes to sustain a movement while still packing school lunches.

If you've ever wondered whether mom rage can be a political strategy - or if you're ready to channel yours - this episode is for you.

Gerrymandering isn't just a political buzzword—it's the practice of manipulating voting district boundaries to predetermine election outcomes, and it's happening in states across America right now to stack the deck in favor of the people in power.

In this episode, Dr. Kristin Lyerly sits down with Mark Gaber, Senior Director of Redistricting at the Campaign Legal Center, to break down the current battles over fair maps.

From landmark cases in Texas and California to emerging fights in Indiana and Illinois, Mark walks us through how partisan gerrymandering undermines democracy, what's being done to stop it, and where fair maps have won in the past (hint: Michigan and Wisconsin, at least for now).

You'll learn:

Whether you're new to redistricting or following these cases closely, this conversation offers critical insight into one of the most consequential—and least understood—threats to American democracy.

Credits:

Producer: Abraham Lyerly

Music: Nic Tierman & Abraham Lyerly