On The Issues With Michele Goodwin

In this episode, we’re bidding farewell to 2021 and hello to 2022 with our annual year in review episode!  It’s been just over a year since armed insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win. In the year since, what have we learned about the attack, and what it says about the current state of American demo...

In this episode, we are on the ground after the oral arguments in one of the most important Supreme Court cases of a generation. On December 1, the Supreme Court held oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization— a case that some believe could overturn Roe v. Wade. The case involves a Mississippi abortion provision, banning most abortions after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for ra...

In this episode, we’re talking about a uniquely American form of terrorism — violence at the abortion clinic. Our episode comes as Americans grapple with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on five counts in the wake of his killing two protestors and injuring a third last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Meanwhile in Georgia, the fate of three men caught on camera killing Ahmaud Arbery has yet to be dec...

In this episode, we take our program to the community: We are on the ground with the American Constitution Society (ACS) for a show with Colorado state Representative Leslie Herod and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. Along with host Michele Goodwin, Herod and Ford discuss being Black in public office: namely, how they deal with the challenges and demands while staying true to themselves.  (This...

It’s been just over a year since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. We reckon with recent revelations and ask the important questions: How did her death shape the current fight around abortion rights and other issues? Should she have retired? And what comes next at the Supreme Court?    Helping us to sort out these questions and set the record straight is special guest: Irin Carmon , senior corresp...

In this episode, we discuss the dark money underwriting anti-abortion laws like Texas's near-total abortion ban, S.B. 8, which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest AND places a bounty on those who aid or abet people who want to terminate their pregnancies.  But people are fighting back. The Abortion Ban Accountability project—led by Corporate Accoun...

In August, the United Nations General Assembly moved to create a Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. There was pushback. Yet, on an international level, the demand for a reckoning with anti-Blackness reverberates around the world. Advocates know learning about the African Diaspora, histories of anti-Blackness and the need for reparations is more important than ever. Consider this: The Br...

Today’s show is all about reproductive health, rights and justice. We are unpacking the Texas abortion law, S.B. 8, talking about the Supreme Court, and what the legacies of legislative interference with reproductive decision-making and autonomy mean for women, people who can become pregnant, and for U.S. democracy.    We’re diving right in with a very special guest and pioneer in the reproductive...

It’s 20 years after 9/11—what have we learned? In May, when U.S. and international troops began to withdraw from Afghanistan, feminists and Afghanistan experts warned of the brutal impact that would likely be felt by women and minorities with the return of the Taliban and in the vacuum of leadership. They were right.   The Taliban have announced their provisional government, which does not include...

The recent rise in documented anti-Asian violence—which saw grandmothers being punched on the streets, and a major shooting in Atlanta—has raised questions about the current status of Asian American identity and safety in the U.S.     How does “Asian” fit into the American racial taxonomy, which has for so long relied on a dichotomy of Black and white?     Helping us to sort out these questions an...

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been rife with controversy—from rulings targeting Black athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson, to COVID protests taking place just outside the stadium, to transphobia directed at the first openly trans athletes to ever compete on this highest international stage. And what about protecting mental health and threats against Simone Biles?  Is the Olympics an uneven play...

Republican lawmakers in Texas seem obsessed with passing extreme voter suppression legislation, banning critical race theory and outlawing abortion outright. In protest, Texas House Democrats have fled the state en masse and are making national news while camped out in the U.S. capital. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest legislators when they return from Washington, D.C., *and* vo...

In this exciting episode, we’re having the sex talk you wish you got from your parents.  Do you remember Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret ? Well, today it’s me , host Michele Goodwin, asking the questions and inviting you to join us as we talk about sex, periods, non-binary healthcare, maternal health—and what don’t we know or ignore about our own bodies.     Today we ask: Wh...

In our second '15 Minutes of Feminism’ episode, the Badass Women of Podcasting take on the Supreme Court. As the court goes into recess, we’re recapping the highs and lows of the past year. What was at stake? What did feminists win — and whose rights remain at risk? We update you on the state of the court, cases feminists should be keeping their eyes on going forward, and more.     Helping us...

What does independence mean for the rest of us? Women have long asked this question—as have groups that have felt or experienced being shut out, excluded, colonized or enslaved.  On July 5, 1852—a time in which the U.S. reaped benefit from the enslavement of kidnapped and trafficked Black people from the shores of Africa—Frederick Douglass put it this way: “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?...

In this joyous episode, host Michele Goodwin is joined by music icon Anita Pointer of the three-time Grammy Award-winning R&B group the Pointer Sisters and her brother Fritz Pointer, acclaimed professor and historian and former music manager. They celebrate Juneteenth and unpack their award-winning memoir, Fairytale: The Pointer Sisters' Family Story.  Fritz and Anita Pointer discuss comi...

All eyes are on Washington D.C., with commissions to study the January 6 insurrection, expansion of the Supreme Court, and coronavirus origins. But that means much can be overlooked at home. Do you know the names of your local school board members? What about the folks on your city council?  It’s time to dive into local leadership and why it matters. Helping us to address these questions and more...

This week, we’re giving listeners a new way to listen to Dr. Michele Goodwin’s reporting, rebelling and truth-telling: 15 Minutes of Feminism , where we give a serious take on an important issue featuring a single guest (okay, fine—maybe two from time to time.) In these jam-packed, bite-sized episodes, you can expect voices from the center of the story—people you should know, those who roll up the...

" Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women. ”  —Professor Jessica Calarco In this episode, we're focusing on moms, child care, single parenting and teen parenting. We know that women have been hit hard by COVID—causing many to dub the economic downturn a “she-cession.” And as it stands, current U.S. laws and policies are woefully inadequate—leaving mothers, particularl...

On March 31, the Biden administration released the American Jobs Plan, which establishes broad goals for achieving a cleaner and more equitable future, including significant investments in green jobs like caregiving and clean energy infrastructure. On April 22—Earth Day—Biden further raised the stakes, committing the U.S. to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent below 2005 levels...

In this episode, we confront the question at the center of Derek Chauvin’s trial: Who killed George Floyd? Our guests unpack that question as an issue central to police and societal violence. Examining who killed George Floyd means taking stock of legacies of racism in the Twin Cities, including redlining, school segregation, policies that undermine equality, and disparate rates of policing and ma...

It's tax season! It’s time to talk race, taxation and D.C. statehood. The U.S. tax system raises serious questions about equity and inclusion and—according to our guests—taxation is at the root of many social and economic injustices.  So, who does the U.S. tax code benefit? Who does it leave behind? How does racism manifest in the U.S. tax system? What role does D.C. statehood play in all of...

Brooke Baldwin is a renowned CNN anchor and author of a new book, HUDDLE: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power , out this month. Huddle examines the phenomenon of "huddling,” or what happens when women lean on one another—in the arts, activism, politics, Hollywood and everyday friendships—to lift up each other and to provide empowerment, support, inspiration and the creativity and courage...

Gender-based and sexual violence are pervasive symptoms of a larger violence issue in this country. This reality is exemplified by recent reports that some insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6 have histories of violence against women, including domestic violence and sexual assault. Of course, we also remain in mourning for the lives lost to gun violence in America—most recently th...

The 2020 election revealed the deep fractures in U.S. democracy and its electoral system. Many were already there, but this past election truly pushed our voting system to its limits.    “Many of the familiar procedures for translating the people’s will into the choice of a president depend on norms of behavior, not laws,” guest Rick Hasen put it—evident from the significant efforts undertaken to...