All tagged feminism

Trailer | S7

Trailer | S7

Katharine Heller

Feminist thinkers, activists and authors Idelisse Malavé, 74, and Joanne Sandler, 70, created and host Two Old Bitches, a podcast featuring conversations with women in the second half of life whose perspectives and experiences disrupt what it means to be “old” and reclaim what it means to be a “bitch.” Over the past six seasons they have welcomed edgy progressive activists, a zen priest, performers, filmmakers, visual artists, scholars, a chef, journalists and writers, politicians, and more. These women make their own rules – whether it’s about politics, love, sex, art, work, family or fashion. They haven’t stopped rebelling, re-imagining and reinventing themselves. If anything, they are bolder with age.

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Lipstick! | S6 E01

Lipstick! | S6 E01

Katharine Heller

"When I'm wearing matte, it's like 'I dare you to come closer!”

So warns feminist activist Houry Geudelekian in this episode on the joys, power and history of lipstick...at any age. Join us to hear Houry, feminist economist Radhika Balakrishnan and writer Sandra García Betancourt talk about their and our own checkered histories wearing lipstick --or not. People have colored their lips for at least 5,000 years. It began as an emblem of aristocratic status for women and men equally. Over time it became the province of sex workers and then marching suffragists as an act of defiance and solidarity. And today? Our guests make the connections between feminism and lipstick, suggest the best shades as we age, and share many other musings and magic about painted lips. And we finish with some wisdom from the inimitable AOC about how "beauty is an inside job."

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Lucero Gonzalez – The Feminist Who Could | S5 E04

Lucero Gonzalez – The Feminist Who Could | S5 E04

Katharine Heller

“Moving from dream to desire to reality.”

That describes the life of our magical friend, activist and photographer, Lucero Gonzalez. At 72, Lucero's feminism, her love of freedom and pleasure, her artistry, her Oaxacan roots, and her profound connection to family and friends all blend, beautifully, into an extraordinary range of creative and social justice initiatives that enlighten and challenge us. These days, she spends her time curating the ever-growing virtual Museum of Mexican Women Artists (MUMA) and producing a documentary about the creation of el Colectivo La Revuelta- a feminist newspaper she started with close friends in the 1970s. We visited Lucero -- and her partner of 30+ years, political cartoonist Gonzalo Rocha -- in Mexico City this summer and marveled at the endless joy and generosity they share so willingly.

We interviewed Lucero in Spanish and so - for another TOB first -- we've produced two episodes. You can listen to Lucero in Spanish below or you can listen to the wonderful Sandra Garcia Betancourt (TOB, Episode #2, Season 1) re-enact our conversation in English here.

One way or the other, here's our invitation to spend some time in the light and love that Lucero offers to the world. And be sure to visit her virtual museum (http://www.museodemujeres.com/en/) and stay tuned for her upcoming documentary.

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Sondra Lee - As I Was Saying | S2 E08

Sondra Lee - As I Was Saying | S2 E08

Katharine Heller

"I’m someone who’s very lucky. I didn’t come from anything fancy. I’ve always been determined to do whatever it was I should be doing. There’s nothing in the arts that I haven’t attempted. I’m still at it."

At 86, Sondra Lee is simply unstoppable. At 16, she stormed a Broadway theater after auditions were over and landed not only a part but a lifelong friend, Jerome Robbins. Robbins was the one one who cast her as the original Tiger Lily in Peter Pan, an unforgettable performance on the stage and television. Over the years, her career expanded to directing, teaching and coaching, as well as painting and sculpting. Whether she is reflecting on her friendship and affair with Marlon Brando or sharing insights about feminist organizing in New York City in the 1970s, her skill as a storyteller makes each aspect of her fascinating life a lesson in standing up for yourself, following your dreams, and kindness. Sondra’s first memoir, I’ve Slept with Everybody, introduces us to the legions of well-known people she’s known and loved. Her upcoming book – As I Was Saying – will tell her fans even more. Now at the point in life where the obituaries in the morning paper too often include her friends, Sondra continues to face disappointment and loss with her old stand- by: Getting to work!

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Aruna Rao - Feeling Good | S2 E02

Aruna Rao - Feeling Good | S2 E02

Katharine Heller

Aruna Rao, 61, is co-founder and Executive Director of Gender at Work, a global network of people dedicated to building cultures of equality. She dreams of singing “the blues like Nina Simone and rock like Janis Joplin!” And, as you’ll hear in this episode, she has the voice to do it. She's lived and worked in more countries than anyone we know, growing up as the daughter of an Indian diplomat who moved from Pondicherry, to southern Africa, Canada, Japan, the U.S. and many more places. A disrupter-at-heart, Aruna's writings and voice have had a reverberating impact on the way we understand how invisible and entrenched gender discrimination operates in our workplaces, our communities and in countries across the world. With resident Bitch Joanne Sandler and colleagues David Kelleher and Carol Miller, Aruna wrote Gender at Work: Theory and Practice for 21st Century Organizations, released just last year. And good news: Aruna and her colleagues at Gender at Work are starting their own podcast in the next couple of weeks, so check out www.genderatwork.com and join with Aruna and Gender at Work to put patriarchy on life support and then pull the plug!!

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