Women's Liberation Radio News

This month's edition is packed with women's voices from around the USA as the nation braces itself for the new regime led by president-elect Donald Trump.

First up, hear aurora linnea greet the listener before Mary O'Neill offers up news stories and information about women around the world. Then, enjoy the song "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" by Taylor Swift before listening to Thistle, aurora, Mary and Lola describe what led them to radical feminism and why they joined the WLRN team.

This show is dedicated to our future feminist endeavor of meeting up with likeminded feminists in person at the FiLia conference 2025 in the UK. https://www.filia.org.uk/tickets Please consider donating to our FiLia fundraiser by clicking on the donate button at wlrnmedia.com OR by going to the totally excellent radical feminist period products company GARNUU.COM and typing in "WLRN" at checkout. Thanks sisters! Be sure to share with your female friends and family! #WLRN #GARNUU #RadicalFeminism

Dear Listeners,

Thanks for your patience as we get used to working without the stellar strengths and abilities of our former sound engineer and producer, Ms. Jenna DiQuarto.

We made the call-out for new sound engineers and producers, dear listeners, and she came! Please welcome our two newest members to the team, Freda Bear and Ann Castile. Ann took up the reigns this month and worked into the wee hours last night to finish up the production of this show. Great job, Ann!

Thistle too, is unsure about how much longer she can keep it up with the WLRN collective, so stay tuned for some big changes around here, sisters!

Thankfully, the younger generation is pickin' up the slack and Ms. Lola Bessis took the reigns this month on the topic, the interview and even the commentary! Lola's is a compelling voice clamoring for critical and free thought in a world full of an apocalyptic din. Thank you, Lola, for your work!

Dr Dina Siddiqi is a distinguished feminist anthropologist whose work delves into critical development, transnational feminist theory, and the anthropology of labor and Islam. Lola interviewed her for this episode turning its attention to the regions of the world known and Israel and Palestine on this one-year anniversary of Hamas' retaliatory invasion of Israel.

In Lola's commentary, she talks about her own life and what it means to her to think critically about the forces at work in the Palestinian people's current situation. She begs the listener to do her research and look back at this region's history, peoples, and cultures.

The music featured this month is "The Urgent Call of Palestine" by Zeinab Shaath.

Cover artwork is by WLRN member, Margaret. Her artist's statement is below.

"This month’s image is based on the idea of reflections. There is the Israeli flag (with its Star of David - symbolizing the Jewish religion / ethnicity) in the sky - also ‘reflected’ in the water - that turns into Palestinian rubble. With the Palestinian Flag layered over the water and rubble.



Of course, there are questions of Whose land? Whose water? Who has what rights? Where did those rights come from? And all the various ways of interpreting that."

Greetings! Thanks for tuning in to our 101st show. Thistle, here!

It feels surreal to post this month due to the imminent departure of our beloved sound engineer and producer, Jenna DiQuarto.

Jenna has been with WLRN for 8 years and diligently produced our monthly show with care and craft. You leave some big shoes to fill, dear Jenna. Thank you for your years of service and dedication to the collective, to the station, and to our archives. You will be sorely missed by all of us!

Today's show begins with an announcement about our partnership with Garnuu.com/WLRN. Tune in to learn more about this exciting opportunity!

Our World News segment is written and delivered by Mary O'Neill with fill-in from Jenna DiQuarto. Caroline Parks was our editor this month and Jenna delivers her commentary about her experiences at this year's Fest as a shuttle driver and general volunteer around camp at the festival.

The interview segment is directly from the Land on a quiet morning before the mass haul out. Thistle got to sit down with her instructor, Elizabeth Boyce, WPI festival coach for the ukulele ensemble to hear her reflections on the event this year.

At the very end of the show, hear from our sponsor, Garnuu.com/WLRN and then it's onto our sign-offs by different members of the collective.

This month's musical selection is a song by Nedra Johnson, board member of WWTLC.org, singer/songwriter, and producer for Big Mouth Girl, an entity that produces a yearly festival on the Land in Michigan. The song is entitled August Moon and depicts the Michigan Magic women tap into when in hive mind mode among those sacred ferns.

Margaret's artist's statement follows about the featured cover art for this month's show. Thanks for tuning in!

Artist's Statement: "For Edition 101, I used some photos Thistle had from her time at the festival this summer. I basically took the photos and arranged them - emphasizing the banners - WLRN, PUSSY POWER, and RISE around a photo of a tent with musicians playing. I played with the colors - allowing it to become an abstract, and festive, unifying whole - like the festival itself."

First up, hear Lola Bessis, WLRN's newest member greet the listener introducing herself and her professor, Victoria Brown, who later on in the program will talk about advances and setbacks in women's health.

Next, open your ears for WLRN's World News segment delivered by Mary O'Neill in which she highlights news from Iran and its death sentences for female activists, the Purple Saturdays movement in Afghanistan and news from the Gambia where Parliament just voted to maintain the national ban on female genital mutilation.

After the news, hear Sylvia Bagge's "Release the Medicine", a song about a woman's healing journey. Thistle met Sylvia in the year 2002 in the woods of Michigan's Upper Peninsula at the National Rainbow Gathering. Her words and music are true medicine for the heart and soul.

Then it's on to Lola's interview with Victoria Brown in which they discuss Ms. Brown's research before diving into the nitty gritty of the state of the medical establishment and women's health.

Stay tuned 'til the very end for Sekhmet's sobering commentary on the misogyny inherent within the medical system that underserves, ignores and does actual harm to women and girls. She concludes her piece with encouragement for us to take charge of our personal health and to know that doing so is an act of radical feminism.

As always, thank you for tuning in to WLRN's monthly handcrafted podcast put together by a team of volunteers who care deeply about the lives and matters of women.

To donate to the WLRN fundraiser Jenna and April talked about in today's show, please click here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ULAE4ZHPARLFE&ssrt=1723204852902

Make a note that your donation is going to our FiLia Fund. Thanks for tuning in and thank you for your support!

Happy Independence Day! First up, hear Thistle greet the listener introducing the topic of "patriarchal patriotism" with Liz Miller and Sekhmet SheOwl.

After the greeting, hear WLRN's World News segment delivered by Mary O'Neill before enjoying American artist Whitney Houston's rendition of the patriotic song "America the Beautiful".

Next, stay tuned for a conversation Thistle had with Liz Miller, Contributing Editor of Spinning and Weaving, A Feminist Anthology for the 21st Century. They discuss this year's presidential election cycle, what it means for girls and women, and what we can do to build real democracy in our society.

At one point in the conversation, the Party of Women is mentioned. To learn more about the Party of Women go to: www.partyofwomen.org/

Finally, don't miss our in-house WLRN commentary by Sekhmet SheOwl who defines patriotism and points out how it is rooted in male power and is explicitly against women's interests for us to invest and participate in it. She says this is true no matter the nation and including right here in the good ole USA.

Thanks as ever for tuning in to WLRN's monthly handcrafted podcast. This month and going forward into the future until the FiLia conference in October 2025, WLRN is raising funds to send Thistle, Jenna and aurora as representatives of WLRN to participate in and report on the goings on. Our passes into the conference are covered but our flight and accommodations are not thus far... and that's where you come in!

To donate to the cause, please visit wlrnmedia.com and click on the donate button. Any amount is appreciated and we pledge to provide you with stellar WLRN coverage and participation in the FiLia conference 2025.

For more information about FiLia, go here: www.filia.org.uk/about-filia.

This month's cover image was created by Margaret, WLRN's graphic designer. Her statement about the piece is below.

"To make the image for Edition 99, Patriarchal Patriotism, I used a photo I took at a Memorial Day parade, one I took of some bunting, and I found a couple of photos of bombs. The parade photo includes old cars and flags - which represent tradition, the patriarchy, and patriotism. There is a woman who is obscured by a flag (that seemed symbolic of how women are hidden and/or ignored) so I copied, enlarged, & centered that part of the image. The way the image got duplicated, people seemed to have lost their heads (also symbolic) - as the cars (and time) seem to drive over them. Also appearing ‘underground’ (and in our collective unconscious) are the bombs - USA bombs and Russia’s bombs."

This Summer of 2024, put on your rain gear and come to Michigan for the Rise Festival on the Land and WPI. More info and how to get tickets here: https://wwtlc.org/summer/. All the women gathering on the Land is sure to make the Sun shine, sisters!

With guitars and grace, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival lived and thrived on what is now known as "the Land", a place that continues to be a gathering spot for thousands of women every year.

This month's show begins with a PSA for the FIST conference happening in San Diego, CA over 4th of July weekend. Next you'll hear the greeting from WLRN member aurora linnea who introduces the next segment, WLRN's World News, penned and delivered by our correspondent Mary O'Neill.

Next, enjoy the sweet sounds of Antje Duvekot with her song Long Way before Jenna shares excerpts of an interview she did with long-time MichFest family, Donna Every.

Next is the We the Women promo for that gathering happening in the Pacific Northwest this Summer over the weekend of July 20th. Then it is on to Jenna's second interview with long-time women's music documentarian, Toni Armstrong Jr.

Finally, hear Sekhmet read a passage from Donna's journal that she wrote the Summer of 2016 while camped in the woods of Michigan.

Thanks, as always, dear listeners, for staying tuned to feminist-powered community radio, WLRN. Please listen, like, comment and share widely.

First up, hear the We the Women promo WLRN created for that gathering happening in the Pacific Northwest this summer. More info at https://www.wethewomen.world/.

After the promo, we begin the show with a special 8th anniversary greeting from Thistle. Then, it is on to the world news with Mary O'Neill before we dive into our discussion of the Taylor Swift Phenomenon from the perspectives of Zinetta, Emily, KatyJean, and Jocelyn, and from the perspectives of authors Lierre Keith and Sheila Jeffreys. What a way to celebrate our 8th year together as a collective of media activist women! We are so blessed to have all of these amazing guests on our program to help us reflect on and understand ourselves better in the context of the Taylor Swift phenom and how it is impacting girls and women. We hope these discussions help us to make our OWN society of women speaking to women in an atmosphere of openness and mutual respect.

So, it is a long edition, Edition 97. Three hours long to be exact and it is packed with feminist community content. We are proud to present three PSAs this month for upcoming feminist events.

Kellie Jay-Keen will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 17th for a Let Women Speak event. Learn more at https://www.letwomenspeak.org/event-details/letwomenspeaknzjustice.

There is also a PSA for Feminist in Struggle's (FIST's) first national conference. Learn more at https://feministstruggle.org/ about that event happening the first weekend in July near San Diego.

WLRN is a place where we can take turns speaking and listening to each other to build ourselves up and into a movement powered by friendships and sisterhood. As Sekhmet says in her commentary this month, being part of a volunteer-powered collective is hard sometimes. Women don't always like each other or agree or get along, but at WLRN we have persevered because, as Sekhmet also says in her commentary, we are that loyal to the growth of feminism.

After the discussions of Taylor Swift, you'll hear a new song by Thistle called "The Tide" that she wrote after listening to Taylor Swift's Midnights and Folklore albums and getting inspired. She recorded it live in her apartment studio with a little "meow" right before she rocked it!

Emily also weighs in with a mini-commentary right before Thistle's song with some final reflections after the two discussions with our guests were completed.

And finally, stay tuned as ever for Sekhmet SheOwl's commentary at the end of the show. Thanks for listening.

First up, hear Thistle greet the listener before Mary ONeill delivers WLRN's World News segment for April 4th, 2024.

With Earth Day 2024 approaching, we wanted to express ourselves as individuals in our collective to help weather the storms of climate change on the horizon together. The situation is so dire, that our reflections and feelings about living through the hottest year on record and going into another apocalyptic summer felt important to express. We wanted to reach out to you from our hearts and minds to build our Sisterhood and abilities to break on through to the other side!

This month's commentators include in order of appearance in the show:

Sekhmet SheOwl

Emily Faye

Jocelyn Crawley

aurora linnea

Thistle Pettersen

After the commentaries, you'll hear Thistle's song "bike lane", https://soundcloud.com/thistleandthorns/12-bike-lane?in=thistleandthorns/sets/animal-dreams, a song written while on a bike music tour down the west coast the summer of '05 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana Coast.

We live in a world full of man-made disasters, sisters. Earth Day itself was born of an oil spill disaster off the coast of California in 1969. It's time to get those little boys to clean up their messes and for us to be in charge for a change! How do we make that happen? We here at WLRN believe it is in banding together that we find our weaknesses and strengths and we ultimately weave the strands of our community together into a patchwork quilt that heals hearts, minds, and bodies.

Happy Earth Day, dear WLRN listeners and followers!

At the end of the show, stay tuned for the WLRN-sponsored We the Women Event promo designed by our team members. We the Women is a women-only camping event happening in the Pacific Northwest this Summer from July 19th – 21st. For more information go to WeTheWomen.World.

This month’s cover art was designed by WLRN’s Graphic Designer, Margaret. The following is her statement about the cover:

“For the Earth Day 2024 image, I wanted to include an image of the earth and some images of women – with the show being women talking about the state of the earth.

I drew the earth image by referencing a NASA earth image, and got textures from an image of a beach, as well as an image of brain synapses. The image of women at the top (which were shadows of women turned right-side up) also includes the texture of the dirt – so it becomes women as part of the earth. Some of the brain synapses add color and texture, remind me of arteries and tree roots (etc.), and become symbolic of consciousness, connection, and life. The silhouettes of women on the bottom – with the part I used being the tops of their hair – also reminded me of landscapes. So another earth-woman connection. I added a blend and combined the layers with various effects on an iPad.”

Welcome to our 95th podcast in a monthly series that began back in May of 2016!

We are happy to present the work of Silvia Guerini this month as captured by WLRN member aurora linnea. Ms. Guerini released a book called From the 'Neutral' Body to the Post-Human Cyborg published by Spinifex Press in October.

First up, hear aurora greet the listener and introduce the content of the show before Mary O'Neill delivers our world news segment that includes stories from Gaza, the UK, and the US. There are supplemental stories added by Jenna and Jocelyn to conclude the segment. Here is the link promised about the letter from Jewish women calling for an end to the weaponization of rape and sexual assault in the war in the Middle East: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJfU_ooRqCKA8u3-PB8mV0FBkqoBelFN1VH_u3-MqWWQdFXQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2pRNTuGxdhtCNIbqXLAq5240Ex8q2NYLfd5oO8mKJvO0VQ2E_YLgbd9Os

Next, enjoy the song Heart of the House by Alanis Morissette before Emily introduces the WLRN interview segment with Silvia Guerini as read by Jenna and aurora.

The interview segment is followed by the song "Kill the Messenger" by Shawn Colvin.

Finally, be sure to stay tuned 'til the very end for Sekhmet SheOwl's poignant commentary on the state of female fertility and reproduction under patriarchy.

Thanks, as always, dear listeners, for staying tuned to WLRN, YOUR Feminist Community Powered Radio Station.

Statement from Margaret, WLRN's graphic designer, about the cover this month:

"With the images I create, my intent is to be more suggestive than literal. The primary image is a Petri dish with ova. The grid over the top of it all is from a photo I took during an eclipse (the sun shining through a patio chair with holes) - represents people trying to control nature with technology. The dots allude to women’s ova waiting to be fertilized with a machine (some of the dots within dots were created through layering). An image of the machine used to insert sperm into eggs in a Petri dish is in the background overlayed on top of some of the silhouettes of women. The silhouettes of women - are meant to look erased and/or distressed. I use ‘Procreate’ on an iPad to layer images and combine colors and textures, as well as adding text and information."

This month of February we explore the world of lesbian love and relationships with Leaf & Firewalker, a lesbian couple who have been together for 39 years and are thriving.

First up in the podcast, hear Emily Faye greet the listener before Thistle delivers the WLRN World News segment that includes stories about the World Health Organization's "Trans and Gender Diverse" guidelines, the plight of Ann Menasche in San Diego, CA, and new restrictions put in place for women and girls by the Taliban, among other stories.

Next, after enjoying Dolly Parton's song "All I Can Do", stay tuned for a 40-minute interview segment with Leaf & Firewalker, a lesbian couple Emily met at a women-only gathering a few years back that impressed her due to their love and devotion to one another and lesbian community. They founded WomonTown, a lesbian neighborhood that caught the attention of Kansas City Public Television which made a documentary about their project. https://www.kansascitypbs.org/local-shows/womontown/ Below, find the bios of these two amazing women they turned in to WLRN for publication.

B. Leaf Cronewrite is Maryann Hopper’s crone name. She hangs out with djembe drummers, creative writers, and old crones who inspire her wit and willingness to confront invisibility. Since the Womontown documentary about her activist pursuits with her partner, Drea Firewalker, was released, she's finding film festivals to show it and spread the word of lesbian community building. She is a writer and a storyteller who grew up in Mississippi. Her short story collection, Don’t Let the Flies In and her first novel, A Lineage of Deception, can be found on Amazon. Her next collection of lesbian adventure stories, Where Risky Women Travel, will be released in the spring. She is a member of the Georgia Writers Registry. She has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Memphis.

Drea Firewalker: As a crone, I realize standing in my power gives me the right to be bold, claim my wisdom, and pursue my life as I wish. I've traveled the world and listened and learned from many people while sharing what makes this life worth it all. I graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. I spent many years in property management and investment. I am one of the founders, along with my partner B. Leaf Cronewrite, of Womontown, an intentional womyn’s community that existed in Kansas City for a few years in the early 1990s. I enjoy reclaiming childhood stories. By introducing a fictional character, MyTe Dyke, into these tales, I empower the heroines and add magical communication with many beings. I hope to challenge many to retell their tales with inspiration from MyTe Dyke. Today, I create my glass art, tend my flower gardens, hold powerful rituals for womyn, and love this life.

Finally, stay tuned 'til the very end for Sekhmet SheOwl's commentary that gets to the heart of the matter of lesbian love which is to say that it can only happen in a healthy way if we find our own self-love first.

Thanks, as ever, dear listeners, for tuning in to WLRN's monthly podcast. Please consider donating to the cause of feminist-powered community radio by clicking on the donate button at wlrnmedia.com. #lesbianlove #ValentinesDay #RomanticLove