Stuff Mom Never Told You

IUDs and implants are among the most effective contraceptive options, but their popularity in the US is only now spiking. Cristen and Caroline explain the different types and explore how stigma and sterilization fears have slowed their spread. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly one fifth of pregnancies and births are associated with mental health disorders. Cristen and Caroline detail why antenatal and postpartum anxiety and depression happen, where the gaps are in treatment and how culture factors into healthcare. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adoption has always been fraught with stigmas surrounding sexuality, single motherhood, race and immigration. Cristen and Caroline decode the underlying messages of how we perceive orphaned children, adoption stereotypes and the meaning of family. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brands like Zara and H&M churn out mass-produced fashion at an astounding rate, but the true cost is left off the price tags. Cristen and Caroline explore fast fashion's effects not only for the environment, but for women's rights around the globe. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For LGBTQ characters on TV, it's been an especially deadly year, and fans are fed up. Cristen and Caroline unpack the Bury Your Gays trope, how it affects offscreen culture and whether the Lexa Pledge will make a difference. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cristen and Caroline trace the intersectional origins of social work, celebrate unsung African-American women social workers and why the job has grown notorious for overwork. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The nonprofit sector is made up of 74 percent women, but men tend to fill organizations' highest ranks. Cristen and Caroline donate an episode to nonprofit's not-so-generous gender dynamics and burnout-prone working conditions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is mansplaining, and why are millennial women complaining about it all the time? Cristen and Caroline unpack its origin, meaning and why you don't have to be a man to be guilty of it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens after America elects its first female President? With history as their guide, Cristen and Caroline forecast to what extent a gender revolution in the Oval Office will affect long-term equality at large. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been hailed as one of the most feminist shows in TV history. Cristen, Caroline and HowStuffWorks galpal Lauren Vogelbaum dive into the Hellmouth to assess how effectively Buffy and the Scooby gang slayed the patriarchy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Evil women and villainesses are the spice of pop culture life. Cristen and Caroline mine the dark side for what Ursula, Catwoman, Cersei and other mavens of immorality can tell us about real-world women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Until recently, invention and patenting have been guy things, though not for women's lack of innovation. Cristen and Caroline discover the American history of women inventors and why the patent gender gap has been so challenging to close. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shirley Chisholm didn't want to be known solely as the first African-American woman in U.S. Congress and to run for the Democratic nomination for president. Cristen and Caroline detail the life and legacy of this Brooklyn educator ahead of her time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ads selling empowerment might depict women in a better light than sexist ads of yore, but do they actually contribute to equality? Cristen and Caroline look at the history of using feminism to sell products and whether advertisers' intentions matter. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yogurt is one of the most gendered foods in the grocery store -- but why? Cristen and Caroline cook up the uncanny marketing history of how the soured dairy product sweetened up to women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uber, AirBnb and others are reshaping how we work, but they leave loopholes to discrimination and abuse. Cristen and Caroline look at sharing economy privilege and why collaborative consumption leaves out the people who most need its services. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As commercial airlines took off, so did the fetishizing of the white, eligible stewardesses on board. Cristen and Caroline discuss the original stewardesses, how sex sold airline tickets and flight attendants' fight for professional recognition. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are more than 40,000 period apps, some of which claim to help you get pregnant or prevent pregnancy. Cristen and Caroline explore the apps' effectiveness and dig into one developer's claim that infertility is just an "information problem." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.