In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Carol Adams, feminist writer, activist, and author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, whose work examines the connections among feminism, animal rights, violence, and the treatment of female bodies.

Carol shares how growing up among her parents’ libraries nurtured a lifelong relationship with books, and how her work took her from advocating for women’s studies and volunteering at an abortion clinic to organizing around domestic violence, homelessness, housing, and racism. 

She also recounts the death of Jimmy, her pony, and the startling realization that followed. That moment led first to vegetarianism, then veganism, and eventually to the ideas that became her landmark book.

They explore grief as a source of consciousness, the connections Carol sees between feminist politics and animal agriculture, the practice of journaling, and her decision to preserve letters, postcards, papers, and journals so that the lives and visions of women from another era remain available to future generations.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Sally Jean Fox, an author, artist, organizational storyteller, and educator who taught management and leadership for twenty-five years.

After a career in international development, startups, and nonprofits, Sally began asking what might nourish the part of her life that could not be satisfied by achievement alone.

Sally shares how returning from Japan and suddenly hearing the word “peonies” became a doorway into beauty and creative expression. At sixty-nine, after believing she wasn't an artist, she began drawing and discovered creativity as a form of healing.

Her memoir, Meeting the Muse After Midlife: A Journey to Meaning, Creativity, and Joy, grew from conversations with a mysterious muse. Sally also talks about Zumba, her younger self, and letting go of the need to be smart, credible, and accomplished.

This is a conversation about choosing a life beyond achievement, listening for what wants to come alive, and the courage to share it with the world.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Judith Dupré, an architectural historian, Brown University and Yale Divinity School graduate, and bestselling author whose books on skyscrapers, bridges, churches, and monuments have changed how readers understand the built world. After decades of writing nonfiction, she is now completing her first novel, inspired by the unlikely meeting of philosopher William James and showman P.T. Barnum.

Judith discusses why architecture is as much about human experience as engineering, and the delight she finds in following questions wherever they lead. This is a woman who has spent a lifetime observing the world, and is now turning her attention inward.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with April Alliston, a professor of comparative literature at Princeton University, writer, and mother who became a parent in her late fifties after decades devoted to scholarship and teaching. Born in New Orleans and raised outside Washington, DC, April brings a lifelong love of literature, history, and language to a conversation about time, purpose, and what the experience of love truly is.

April shares the story behind her father’s antique pocket watch, her decision to pursue motherhood after years of infertility and uncertainty, and the two guiding mottos that continue to accompany her life. The episode explores writing, love, loneliness, and the ongoing practice of trusting yourself, and forgiving yourself when you haven't.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Eliza Minden, the founder of Gaynor Minden, a dancewear company that transformed the traditional pointe shoe by bringing modern materials and engineering into the world of ballet. A former dancer and arts administrator, Eliza left her career in dance management to create a shoe that would address the pain, waste, and injuries caused by traditional pointe shoes.

Eliza shares the story of examining pointe shoes with her brother’s bandsaw and discovering that many were still made with materials and methods that had changed little over generations. She talks about the resistance she encountered from a traditional ballet world, the support of dancers like American Ballet Theatre’s Gillian Murphy, and the work of rebuilding her company after the devastating impact of the pandemic on the performing arts.

Editor’s Note: Eliza Minden is the author of The Ballet Companion, a reference book for ballet students. She describes it as the book written for her younger self, and one she wished she’d had when she was a student. In the photo accompanying this episode, Eliza is signing a copy of The Ballet Companion.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Lynn Carman Bodden, an intentional interim minister who spent more than thirty years helping churches through seasons of transition by asking enduring questions about identity and purpose. Now retired in Schenectady, New York, Lynn has found joy in walking the Camino de Santiago, working at a local urban farm, and spending time outdoors with the people she loves.

Lynn shares the story of the civil disobedience protest that changed how she understood her own authority, the decision to take every class pass/fail at Yale Divinity School, and the quiet work of learning to trust herself after a lifetime of trying to meet other people's expectations. 

Together, they explore calling and community, and what it means to answer the question, “Why not you?”

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Sylvia Brownrigg, a writer whose work explores family, memory, and the questions that persist through a lifetime. Raised between Northern California and England, Sylvia has built a literary life through fiction, nonfiction, and creating spaces where writers can gather across cultures.

Sylvia talks about the family histories explored in her memoir, the unexpected presence of an absent father, and how love, loss, and motherhood inform her writing. She also shares the Mediterranean Artists Project, a literary gathering in the south of France bringing writers, artists, journalists, and thinkers together across creative fields.

This deeply personal conversation explores how what’s missing can leave its own imprint, and how searching for answers can deepen our understanding of ourselves.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

This episode includes discussion of chronic pain and suicidal thoughts. Please take care while listening.

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Candace Corson, MD. From growing up during the Little Rock school integration crisis and entering Yale as part of its first class of women, to practicing family medicine in rural North Carolina, she has spent a lifetime asking what it truly means to heal.

She shares the seven years of debilitating chronic pain that transformed her from doctor to patient. With remarkable clarity, Candace reveals why she believes kindness and gratitude are the most powerful medicines we have, and how the small acts of kindness can change the course of a life.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Barbara Wagner, who looks back on a life of expanding what was possible: from entering Yale as one of the first women at the college, to forging a career in corporate law when women were still being asked how fast they could type.

She also shares what it was like to navigate Yale's first years of coeducation and the sexism she encountered along the way. With candid honesty and thoughtful perspective, Barbara reflects on the unconventional partnership she and her husband built, and how together they challenged traditional ideas about work, family, and what a woman's life could become.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Patty Louratolo Hymanson, a neurologist, former Maine state representative and chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, and longtime community leader whose life has been shaped by curiosity, courage, and connection.

Patty reflects on her Italian immigrant heritage, her upbringing in Yonkers and summers by the sea in Massachusetts, and her family story across generations, from grandparents who arrived from Italy as teenagers to a home shaped by compassion and care. She shares stories from her early medical training during the AIDS crisis in New York City, her years in private neurology practice on the Maine coast, and her later work in public service and health policy, including sponsoring medical aid in dying legislation in Maine.

She also opens up about a life guided by exploration through travel, teaching, music, painting, and community, and the lesson that continues to return: know and be true to yourself.

Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0