Reproductive Left

Welcome back for our second episode of the Summer 2026 season of Reproductive Left! Join our host Aspen for a conversation with Destie Hohman Sprague of Maine Women's Lobby to talk about feminist advocacy and fighting for gender justice. As mentioned in the caption of our last episode and in this conversation with Destie, the anti-trans ballot question that was expected to be on the ballot in Nove...

Join us as we kick off our 2026 Summer Season with an interview with Gia Drew (she/her) of EqualityMaine! In this episode, we chat LGBTQ+ advocacy in Maine, finding joy in movement work, and fighting against attacks on the trans community. Speaking of attacks on the trans community--as of the airing of this episode, the anti-trans ballot question is now slated to no longer be on the ballot this No...

Join our host Aspen for the final episode of our Winter 2026 season! This month, we're diving into the history of the hormonal birth control pill and how it was created. Big heads up for medical racism, medical sexism, and eugenics. How was the first birth control pill created? What does colonialism and the mistreatment of Puerto Ricans have to do with it? How did Catholicism play a factor? How do...

We're back for our second episode of the Winter 2026 season, and we're diving into long-acting reversible contraceptives (aka LARCs)! How do LARCs work? How many kinds are there? What kind of pain management is available? Speaking of pain management, what is the deal with pain and IUD insertions? Answer these questions and more as our host dives into LARCs! Image: Reproductive Health Supplies Coal...

Join us as we kick off our Winter 2026 season with an episode about condoms! How long have they been around? How useful are they? How many kinds are there? How will our host sneak in a pasta analogy? Answer these questions as we dive into the world of condoms! Image: Deon Black via Unsplash

Join us for our last episode of the Fall 2025 Season! Our host Aspen is back with more hot takes--this time, focusing on body hair and its removal, particularly through a gendered lens. When did it become common for women in the US to remove their body hair, and why? Why do so many razor commercials targeted at women feature a woman shaving her already hairless legs? What makes so many men insist...

Join us for our Fall 2025 season kick-off as our host Aspen shares their hot takes on online fetish content. More specifically, they'll be diving into "trad wife" content as fetish content, along with talking about how some real "go-getter" misogynists trick other people online into fulfilling their kink. We hope you enjoy this wild start to the season! Image: Glenn Carstens-Peters via Unsplash

We're wrapping up our Summer 2025 season with an interview with our very own Nurse Practitioner MaryAlice to discuss endometriosis! Join our host Aspen as they ask MaryAlice all of the questions you didn't know you had about endometriosis. What is it? How is it diagnosed and treated? Is there any hope of relief for those with endometriosis? What's the deal with the state of endometriosis research?...

We're continuing our Summer 2025 season with a dive into Diet Culture! Join our host Aspen as they discuss the ways that diet culture harms us and how it intersects with a range of topics. Who is harmed by diet culture? What does racism have to do with it? Answer these questions and more in this month's episode of Reproductive Left! Introductory resource into what diet culture is-> https://www.ebs...

We're kicking off our Summer 2025 season with an interview with Dr. Meaghan, local pelvic floor physical therapy extraordinaire! What even is the pelvic floor? Who has one? (Hint: everyone who has a pelvis) Can anything be done about pelvic pain? Answer these questions and more in this episode of Reproductive Left! Learn more about Dr. Meaghan and her services at her website -> https://www.refinep...

For our final Winter 2025 episode, our host Aspen is joined by Mabel's provider Dr. Nicole to discuss menopause and perimenopause! What are they? How common is menopause? What can people do to manage it? Answer these questions and more in this episode of Reproductive Left! We'll see you again in May to kick off our Summer 2025 season. Image: Ricardo Gomez Angel via Unsplash

This episode continues our Winter 2025 season as our host Aspen explores PCOS! What is PCOS? Who's affected? Where do the ovarian cysts come in? Answer these questions and more in this episode of Reproductive Left! Image created via Canva

For our Winter season, we thought we'd focus on topics below the belt, and we're kicking things off by unpacking some common misconceptions around sex and genitalia! Join Aspen as they dive into the mysteries and misunderstandings of vulvas, penises, and more. Image: Taras Chernus via Unsplash

In this episode, we wrap up our Fall Into Responsibility season with an interview with Jamie Beck of Dignity First! For those unfamiliar, Dignity First is an organization based in Bangor with a mission to, "cultivate a permanent supportive village for unhoused people and intentional neighbors." Together, we explore what responsibility means in relation to not just the work of Dignity First but of...

In this episode, we continue our Fall Into Responsibility season with an interview with Lisa Sockabasin of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness! Fun fact--we can thank Lisa for our season theme and the importance of looking at responsibility as something rooted in care rather than shame. In this episode, we explore her perspective of responsibility, particularly in relation to the work of Wabanaki...

Join us for the first episode of our Fall Into Responsibility season! In this season, we'll be approaching the idea of responsibility not as something rooted in shame, but as something rooted in care. We're kicking off the season with an interview with Amy Roeder of the Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center in Bangor! Along with talking about the important work of Together Place, we'll be diving...

Thank you for joining us for the final episode of our "Hope is a Discipline" summer season! This month, we'll dig into one of our host Aspen's favorite topics--abortion advocacy. We know that anti-abortion sentiments certainly exist today, but have they always been around? How long have people been having abortions anyway? Why are there so many abortion rallies with people dressed in green? Thanks...

For our second episode of our summer "Hope is a Discipline" season, our host Aspen interviews Karen of MCEDV, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence! In this episode, we discuss how systems of violence are connected, including the connections of intimate partner violence and acts of mass violence, with a focus on how we build a safer world. Content warning for discussion of violence (though...

We're kicking off our Summer "Hope is a Discipline" Season with some Pride Season Prep as we head into June! Anyone who has listened to our host Aspen before has probably heard them reference the quote "hope is a discipline" from prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba, which can be summarized as viewing hope not simply as an emotion, but as a deliberate choice and something that requires work. This mont...

Join Aspen for the final episode of the Winter Access series as they interview someone familiar--Abbie Strout-Bentes! Abbie is the Executive Director of SAFE Maine, a fierce feminist, and the original host of Reproductive Left. In this episode, the pair tackle the role of abortion funds, how they impact access to care, and how you can help. Learn more about SAFE Maine at their website: https://www...

Join Aspen as they chat with fierce feminist friend Elayne Richard from GRR! In our second Winter Access series episode, we tackle the topic of anti abortion centers (also often called crisis pregnancy centers) and how they negatively impact access to not just abortion care, but all competent sexual and reproductive healthcare. You can learn more about GRR! at their website: https://grandmothersfo...

Reproductive Left is kicking off 2024 with our Winter Access season! We're starting out chatting about sterilization and access to this care, including a short interview at the end with the fabulous Dr. Rachel. She'll chat about her work providing vasectomies at Mabel Wadsworth Center, while Aspen will set the groundwork for sterilization more generally in the first portion of the show. What even...

For our final episode of the Fall Autonomy season, join Aspen as they interview Hannah Lord (doula, lactation specialist, and Mabel's volunteer extraordinaire). What role do doulas play in autonomy for pregnant people? What even is a doula? How does lactation and the ways we feed our babies play into autonomy, especially for marginalized birthing parents? Listen to this episode as Aspen and Hannah...

For our second episode of our Fall Autonomy season, join Aspen as they interview Casey Faulkingham of Partners for Peace about the intersections of domestic violence and autonomy. How do these topics intersect? What is reproductive coercion? How can loved ones of those experiencing abuse help in a meaningful way? Aspen and Casey address these questions and more! Learn more about Partners for Peace...

Kicking off our Fall Autonomy season we have an interview with Julie Jenkins and Christie Pitney of Abortion Freedom Fund. Join us as we discuss autonomy for pregnant people in the context of abortion funds, medication abortion, and accessing care in a post-Dobbs US. Abortion Freedom Fund focuses on funding telehealth abortion care nationally, and you can learn more about their work at abortionfre...