The Women's Current

For most of us (especially women), our relationship with food is complex, as is our perception of what we should look like. To break it all down, I spoke with Cole Kazdin, Award-winning journalist and author of What’s Eating Us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety.

Women of all ages and backgrounds struggle with a preoccupation with food and body anxiety. Cole was one of those women. She suffered from disordered eating. People would tell her how great she looked and asked for her secret. Her secret was quite a secret…she purged after eating.

‘Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, and the Fight They Didn’t See Coming’ written by Lisa along with Tucker Booth. Lisa tells her story of a toxic working environment. It’s a story that so many have lived through. A story that not many have the courage or the ability to take the repercussions that come along with using your voice.

Lisa Cornwell is an Award-winning on-air sports media reporter. The trouble came to a head after seven years with the Golf Channel. December 31, 2020 was her last day at the Golf Channel. So on January 1, 2021 Lisa was ‘free to speak up for the many women who have been marginalized, belittled, berated and treated like second class citizens’. She had been one of those women. Now she was giving a voice to women. And not just in the field of sports media, but to all women working in a toxic environment.

We're Back! It's almost the end of summer. Labor Day is around the corner and so our hiatus is coming to an end. And a new season of my podcast is upon us.

Tuesday, September 5th, Sylvia & Me is back with more extraordinary and inspiring women:

Lisa Cornwell - Award-winning on-air sports reporter and author of Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, and the Fight They Didn't See Coming 

Cole Kazdin - Four-time Emmy winning television journalist and author of What's Eating Us: Women, Food and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety

Jaclyn Geller, PHD - Associate Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University and author of Moving Past Marriage: Why We Should Ditch Marital Privilege, End Relationship-Status Discrimination, and Embrace Nonmarital History

And this is just the beginning. There's nothing I love more than having conversations with extraordinary, inspiring women.

What better way to give thanks to being able to use your voice. International bestselling author Wendy Walker sets out to interview me, Sylvia Beckerman, CEO & Founder Life Après and Après Divorce. Author of psychological thrillers, Wendy has been a guest on the podcast numerous times and a speaker at several Life Après and Après Divorce events. So the question is...who better to uncover the story behind the story?

Why the journeys? And what was the beginning? 135 episodes later...135 extraordinary women and now for some answers. How a shy, divorced, single working mom of two found her voice and in turn, created a platform for so many women. A journey that started at the age of 65 and I'm still going strong six years later. Who knows what's next.

Tova Friedman, 'Daughter of Auschwitz', is one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust. She wants us to never forget. Never forget the innocent children who were murdered during the Holocaust.  Together with Malcolm Brabant, Tova is the co-author of 'The Daughter of Auschwitz', her story of resilience, survival and hope.

From the age of one, Tova lived through the Holocaust. In 1945 at the age of 6, along with other children in her barrack in Auschwitz, Tova entered the crematorium. A glitch took place and the children were told to get dressed and return to their barracks.

We continue our conversation with Laura Kaplan, author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. A member of the Abortion Counseling Service, code name Jane, Laura recounts the evolution of the organization. And the power of women helping women. Jane was a feminist underground of  diverse women who provided low-cost abortion services, counseling and referrals before abortion was legalized in 1973. With the Dobbs decision and the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the story is one that we are reliving.

Part 2 of our conversation...how the women took control after learning the doctor wasn't a real doctor. The arrest of 7, the passing of Roe v. Wade and the underground.

Laura Kaplan was one of the members of the 1970’s underground abortion service, Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation. Code name ‘Jane’, the Chicago based organization was a place for women seeking an abortion. There they could find a level of protection and financial help. Laura is the author of The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.

Cindi Bigelow is the 3rd generation President and CEO of the family-owned Bigelow Tea company. She was born with the name. But name alone does not make for sustainability at the top. It takes the skill and determination to make themselves better every day. For over 25 years, Cindi has made sure that she’s better and better every day.

Bigelow Tea is the national market leader of specialty teas. Cindi’s initiatives have included leading the company’s greening efforts.  Conserving water and natural gas earned Bigelow Tea’s 2012 designation of being a ‘Zero Wat to Landfill’ company.

Reimagining Jane Austen's 1813 Pride & Prejudice, New York Times bestselling author Sayantani DasGupta gives us her debut YA novel -  Debating Darcy. Sayantani moves the story to the 21st century. It's set in the ultra competitive world of high school speech and debate tournaments. Debating Darcy explores the class conflict between private and public schools and the diverse world of American high school culture. Pride vs persistence. Sayantani allows her female characters to do all the things that their 1813 counterparts couldn't.

Sayantani DasGupta is the author of the critically acclaimed, Bengali folktale and string theory - inspired Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond books. She is also the author of She Persisted: Virginia Apgar, a part of Chelsea Clinton’s She Persisted series. A pediatrician by training, Sayantani currently teaches at Columbia University.

Rachel Vail's picture books explore the power of Big Feelings. The pandemic has turned the lives of children and parents upside down. We're in the midst of a mental health crises. For some children the start of the school year across the United States can be terrifying, Most have been out of the loop of social interaction with other children. Rachel's latest picture book Sometimes I Grumblesquinch explores, in just a few words the emotional metamorphosis of growing up.

It's a book to be read by parents to their children with parents learning the complexity of helping children dealing with big feelings by exploring the key to Social Emotional Skills. It's okay to share thoughts and seek comfort from adults.   A must read for parents as they read to their children.