51 Percent

On this week’s 51% , we speak with feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Leymah Gbowee about their new children's book, "Rise, Girl, Rise: Our Sister-Friend Journey. Together for All." Describing their unique paths as feminists fighting for gender equality and peace, "Rise, Girl, Rise," reminds readers young and old of the power of collective action and global sisterhood. We also meet a fashion design...

Love isn't always easy, but how do you know when it's time to walk away? On this week's 51% , we speak with counselor Kate King about the difference between good relationships, bad relationships, and toxic ones. King boasts nearly 20 years of experience as a licensed counselor and board-certified art therapist in Denver, Colorado. Her latest book, called Mend or Move On , helps readers identify th...

On this week's 51% , we chat about The New Rules of Women's Health with veteran health journalist Meghan Rabbitt. For too long, Rabbitt says the broader medical field has limited conversations around women's health to "bikini medicine" — reproductive concerns and breast health — while otherwise assuming women have the same bodies as men. But women have their own unique health needs, and often...

On this week’s 51%, we speak with Kat Koppett, co-director of The Mopco Improv Theatre in Schenectady, New York and founder of Koppett, a consultancy company that uses improv to help businesses improve their workplace culture and collaboration. Koppett says the tools used in improvisational theater can apply to many aspects of our lives, including business. Koppett recently released a new edition...

On this week's 51% , we speak with Dr. Frank Putnam, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, about the Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS), which he co-founded with the late Dr. Penelope Trickett in 1987. The FGDS, which is still running today, has followed the lives of more than 100 girls to assess the impacts of child sex abuse on female de...

On this week's 51% , we speak with author and playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes about her debut novel, The White Hot. Hudes is the Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright of Water by the Spoonful  and the musical In the Heights , which she also adapted for the screen. The White Hot  takes the form of a letter written by a mom to her 18-year-old daughter, explaining — but not apologizing for...

On this week's 51% , we speak with the founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, a registry and education network for those navigating divorce, difficult breakups, and other major life changes. Olivia Dreizen Howell founded Fresh Starts Registry with her sister, Jenny, after her own divorce left her feeling isolated and scrambling for basic items in 2019. What started as an online gift registry ha...

On this week's 51% , we look back on some of our favorite conversations from 2025:  Dr. Heather Hirsch discusses the FDA’s decision to remove “black box” warning labels from hormonal therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause; Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson explains how President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” blocks Medicaid funding for its clinics; and former CI...

On this week's 51% , we speak with Emory University Professor Miriam Udel about how a 20th Century movement of Yiddish literature strived to help Jewish children make sense of a tumultuous world and shape the future of Jewish culture. Udel’s latest book on the subject — including how some Yiddish stories helped to promote equality for young girls — is Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Chil...

On this week's 51% , we hear from author Brianne Brinker, assistant athletic director at Union College, about her experience coming out and transitioning as a transgender woman in 2019. Brinker says “skating out of the vault” has allowed her to be her most confident self, and she considers finding herself to be her greatest accomplishment. Brinker reflects on her experience in her new book Skating...

On this week's 51% , we speak with Keene State College Professor Dr. Lisa DiGiovanni about "militarized masculinity," and the connection between authoritarianism, state violence, and misogyny. In her new book, Militarized Masculinity in Spain and Chile , DiGiovanni outlines how hyper-masculinity and the idolization of the military contributed to the rise of Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco in the...

The Food & Drug Administration recently decided to remove "black box" warnings from the packaging of hormonal therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause. On this week's 51% , we speak with internist Dr. Heather Hirsch, founder of the Menopause Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts, about the change. We also dive into Dr. Hirsch's new book, The Perimenopause...

On this week's 51% , we speak with Allison Daminger, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin, about her research into "cognitive" household labor, and how couples divvy up the planning, scheduling, and decision-making that goes into raising children and keeping a home. Daminger found that women were more likely to carry the brunt of cognitive labor in heterosexual relationships...

On this week's 51% , we hear from pipa virtuoso Wu Man about her work with the famous Silkroad ensemble, and the group’s latest tour of "American Railroad," recognizing the immigrant communities that built the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad. We also hear a performance from Catskill, New York singer-songwriter Kendra McKinley, and chat about why she loves to write “music for smoking weed with...

On this week's 51% , we recognize Veterans Day and speak with Edie Meeks, a veteran of the Army Nurse Corp who was one of roughly 10,000 nurses to serve in the Vietnam War. From 1968 to 1969, Meeks worked in the Intensive Care Units of the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon and the 71st Evac Hospital in Pleiku. Now 81, Meeks shares memories of her service — and her struggle to adjust after coming home —...

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dr. Elizabeth Boham about her new book Breast Wellness , and the various lifestyle factors that can contribute to breast cancer risk. Dr. Boham is a board-certified physician and dietitian who also practices functional medicine. In Breast Wellness , she discusses her own experience battling breast cancer in her thirties, and how a healthy lifestyle can support you...

On this week's 51% , we recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month and speak with author Helen Winslow Black about her new book Seven Blackbirds , following main character Kim as she escapes an abusive marriage and builds a new life for herself and her child. We also speak with a Binghamton University student calling for better access to birth control on campus, and stop by the University of Verm...

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dickinson College Professor Amy Farrell about her new book  Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girls Scouts of the USA . A former Girl Scout herself, Farrell explores how the organization has both empowered girls and reinforced discrimination throughout its more than 100-year history. Intrepid Girls tells the nuanced story of how the Girl Scouts s...

On this week’s 51% , we speak with artist Barbara Benish about how she started the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts in the Czech Republic, and how artists continued to work under the totalitarian regime of former Czechoslovakia. Benish came to the Czech Republic from Los Angeles in 1989, just as a revolution overturned the country’s long-running Communist regime. Initially hoping to explore he...

On this week’s 51% , we recognize the 25th anniversary of the Food & Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, which, in conjunction with misoprostol, is now used for the majority of abortions in the U.S. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons speaks with abortion-rights advocate and vlogger Marissa Rudd about her experience using mifepristone, and why she personally chose to have an abortion. We also...

The Trump Administration is promoting an unproven link between Tylenol and autism, urging pregnant women not to take the painkiller. On this week's 51% , we speak with Dr. Stacy De-Lin, associate medical director of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, about what expectant mothers should know about the drug, and why she feels it's still safe to prescribe. We also learn about what the end of funding...

On this week’s 51% , we speak with psychologist Dr. Jennifer Bradtke about the physical and emotional impacts of stress and burnout, and how you can better implement tools to de-stress. Burnout can affect not just working women, but caregivers, moms and activists as well. Contrary to what you might think, Bradtke says the key to addressing burnout is not getting away from it all, but creating dail...

On this week's 51% , we speak with psychologist Dr. Ingrid Clayton about her new book, Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves — and How to Find Our Way Back . Many of us are familiar with the three main survival responses: fight, flight and freeze. When those options seem too dangerous or unavailable, Clayton says drawing closer and appeasing a painful person/situation can feel li...

On this week’s 51% , we chat with Julie Gedro, dean of the College of Business at SUNY’s Empire State University, about what the decline in remote jobs means for women workers. We also learn about a new mentorship program for underserved women in New York’s Ulster County, and debate where the Equal Rights Amendment stands today. Guests: Julie Gedro, dean of the College of Business at Empire State...

On this week's 51%, actor and comedian Alison Larkin explores how grief encouraged her to live (and love) more fully in her new memoir Grief…A Comedy. We also take a drive up to Staatsburg, New York, to speak with the artists behind the “Unearthing the Light” reflecting on loss, healing, and the former “New York Training School for Girls.” WAMC’s Josh Landes also speaks with some of the survi...