The Takeaway

Science journalist Rachel E. Gross explores how the evolution of medical terminology seems to have stalled when it comes to pregnancy. Patients are encountering terms like “geriatric pregnancy” and “incompetent cervix” that not only add an element of blame to a pregnancy, but also lack the specificity needed for medical care. 

Read her recent piece in The Atlantic, "Don't Call My Cervix Incompetent."

Listen to Gross's interview with The Takeaway about her book, "Vagina Obscure: An Anatomical Voyage."

Medication abortions are the most common method in the U.S. for terminating a pregnancy, and the FDA recently moved to allow retail pharmacies to sell the abortion pill. So despite continuing attacks on abortion rights and access, the abortion pill has been an incredibly lucrative gamble for a secretive group of private equity investors — who are now battling each other for control of its future.

We speak with Mother Jones reporter, Hannah Levintova. Her new story is "The Abortion Pill’s Secret Money Men." 

Regina Twala was one of southern Africa’s most important intellectuals: a pioneering writer, academic, political activist and feminist. Why, then, has she been all but forgotten? That’s the question Written Out: The silencing of Regina Gelana Twala by Joel Cabrita looks to answer.

Dr. Joel Cabrita, Associate Professor of History at Stanford University argues that editors, white academics, apartheid officials, and politicians whose politics were at odds with Regina’s – conspired to erase her literary legacy.  

In January, Florida's Department of Education rejected an Advanced Placement course in African American studies. Governor Ron Desantis called the course curricula "indoctrination." This move is in line with the state’s Stop Woke Act of 2022, which assumes that Critical Race Theory is running rampant throughout politics and education, that programs focused on race and diversity are discriminatory, and that strictly limits how topics like racism in American history can be discussed in Florida classrooms. 

We speak with John Diamond, Professor of Sociology and Education Policy at Brown University and author of “Despite the Best Intentions: How Inequality Thrives in Good Schools," about the importance of Black studies.

Brittney Johnson is an accomplished actor, artist, and the first Black woman to play the title role of “Glinda” in the Broadway musical Wicked.

She brings an exhilarating and sincere performance to any character she portrays. Brittney made Broadway History by being the first Black Woman to play the title role of “Glinda”, in Wicked on Broadway. You can watch this spellbinding performance for yourself, live, through February 12, 2023 at The Gershwin Theatre in New York City.

Johnson, who has also appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables, Motown, Sunset Boulevard, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls, will succeed Ginna Claire Mason. 

As many as 23 million people in the United States are struggling with long Covid. The sometimes debilitating symptoms include brain fog, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and depression or anxiety. 

But almost a year after the Biden administration released guidance stating that people with long Covid can be included under the Americans with Disabilities Act, receiving benefits has been a struggle.

Even before the pandemic, roughly one in four Americans were living with a disability. And while people with disabilities are more likely overall to experience financial difficulties…that is particularly true for people of color with disabilities. According to The Century Foundation, one in four Black disabled people were living in poverty as of 2020. That’s compared to one in seven white disabled people.At the end of May, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion held a hearing on financial inequities for people with disabilities, including those with long Covid.

Disability rights advocate and Century Foundation fellow, Vilissa Thompson testified at the hearing, and spoke with us more about the economic barriers that people with a disability face and gave us an intersectional framework for understanding economic justice for people living with a disability.

Brad Onishi is a professor of religion and a former evangelical Christian. As he watched the January 6, 2021 insurrection in progress, he wondered: “would I have been there?” That experience is the lens through which he explores history and the future in his new book: “Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next.” 

According to zoologist Lucy Cooke, scientists have traditionally defined females in the animal kingdom with Victorian, sexist stereotypes. In her new book, “Bitch: On the Female of the Species,” Cooke debunks these outdated notions using examples throughout the animal kingdom of females breaking out of their passive roles and displaying aggression, competitiveness, and promiscuity.

We spoke with Lucy Cooke about looking at female animals with a new lens, one that shows that males and females are not as different as previously thought.

This Black History Month, Black.Queer.Rising. is back! We are profiling Black and Queer politicians/changemakers, artists, influencers, and more in this month-long series where we honor the impact of Black Queer legacies on today’s society and culture while we forge Black Queer futures.

For our first edition, we speak to Davante Lewis, Public Commissioner for Lousiana’s Third District. Lewis is the first Black, openly LGBTQ+ person elected to Louisiana's state government. We spoke with him about holding political office, representation, and what Black.Queer.Rising means to him.

SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of the most critical policy tools we have to address hunger and poverty in the U-S. And during the pandemic, it was a literal lifeline. 

Congress temporarily increased SNAP benefits giving a boost of 15 percent to everyone who needed it and allowing all families to max out their eligibility based on the size of the family.  This month, the nearly three-year boost to a benefit used by more than 41 million Americans will end.  And now that a carton of eggs costs about as much as college tuition, millions of families will have to stretch their food dollars even further. It’s a tough blow, especially given Child Tax Credit, expanded for the pandemic, was also allowed to expire.  

Data from the Brookings Institute show that those monthly checks of up to $300 dollars per child lifted more than 3 and a half million children out of poverty. Something the Biden Administration was very proud of. 

We speak with Jamila Michener, associate professor of Government at Cornell University. Co-Director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, and Author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics.