The Babblery RADIO-READY

How do you talk to people you don’t agree with so that you can continue the conversation? Karin Tamerius was passionate about politics as a young person, but she also noticed that her arguments with family didn’t go anywhere. Eventually, Karin melded her early political career with training in psychiatry to create a method of […]

Warning: This episode invokes “the G-word,” and by that we mean gifted. It’s the term used by educators, psychologists, and parents, despite the fact that everyone knows it evokes a whiff of elitism and implies that others have no gifts. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. In this episode, host Suki Wessling […]

“In the next six years, one of the biggest wealth transfers this country has ever seen is happening. And by 2030, women are going to control $30 trillion in this economy.” Janine Firpo Many of us find trips to new places inspiring. For Janine Firpo, what started with a getaway led to a career change […]

What happens when your children don’t meet society’s expectations for development and behavior? Rebecca and Wendy agreed to an interview for last month’s “Motherhood in the 21st Century” episode, but as soon as we began to talk, it was clear that their perspectives as mothers were worth exploring in more depth. We only used first […]

A deep connection to humanity This month’s episode delves into a common refrain heard from young women contemplating motherhood: “It sounds so hard!” According to the moms interviewed for The Babblery, it is hard, but it’s also an experience like no other, one that leads women to a sense of deep satisfaction. Listen to women, […]

Jana Marcus So what happens when a photographer, a mature woman herself, welcomes older women into her studio to get the full glamour treatment? In this episode, we explore how a session with Santa Cruz photographer Jana Marcus inspired and thrilled the women who took part. Even though beauty is supposed to be a superficial […]

Ever wondered about the voices you hear on KSQD? You might tune in and hear an intriguing conversation about dreams and psychedeliccs on Saturday. Or maybe you were driving on a Monday at 5 and heard a deeply researched piece about local infrastructure. Or your political ideas were challenged by a deep conversation about an […]

“We need to get away from the violence in our speech and try to develop one filled with loving kindness, filled with compassion, filled with a vision of justice that’s not vengeful.” These are the words of Bettina Aptheker, noted feminist scholar who is often described as a “radical” feminist. In conversation about her life, […]

Umi is unusual in the field of herpetology, not only is she often the only woman in the room, but she is definitely the only woman in a headscarf. Over the years, many have suggested that she tell her story. But Umi realized that her story really wasn’t all that unique. She joined with two […]

The stories we tell about ourselves have long focused on men’s experiences. The story of the United States is no exception: American women, especially working women, have not been included in our history the way that men have. Carolyn Zola is one of the budding historians working to rectify the invisibility of American women in […]

“I never felt like I was ‘enough’,” Mimi Fox explains. “And now, for the most part, on my better days, I do. And that is a real gift of my aging and my healing, the changes I’ve gone through in my life. I’m really grateful for that ‘enoughness.’ That sense of being enough is great […]

KSQD Chief Engineer Sandy Stone, also known as the founder of Transgender Studies, sits down with the Babblery to talk about the question that pursued her through much of her young life: What does it mean for her to be a woman? Sandy’s answer to that question, and her generous view of the right for […]

Book artist Felicia Rice, UCSC emeritus professor and longtime former resident of Santa Cruz County, joins host Suki Wessling on The Babblery to talk about her life as an artist, a mom, and a community member. Felicia lost her home, her studio, and her life’s work in the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire, and has […]

What happens when women feel open to telling their stories, even when they aren’t professional writers? When writer Julia Nusbaum was a graduate student, the course of her life changed in answer to this question. This episode features an in-depth exploration of women’s storytelling, from talking about the roots of Julia’s business, Herstry, to the […]

Her Most Authentic Self: Women in Comedy This episode features two amazing funny women, Karin Babbitt and Leah Rogers, speaking from the heart. For them, and for all comedians of their ilk, comedy is about bringing their authentic selves to the stage. It’s about being able to express deep, difficult feelings and ideas in a […]

The Babblery is a podcast about women’s lives, and though identified female at birth, transgender men are not women. Recent events underscore, however, that LGBTQ rights and women’s rights are deeply entwined. And people’s views of pregnancy and birth are intrinsically tied to their perspectives on women. What can the experiences of transgender men who […]

“If you were a landscape”: Women walking, creating, and becoming This new podcast from The Babblery, featured on Talk of the Bay, explores the importance of walking in the writing lives of two women, Patrice Vecchione and Tania Romanov. Host Suki Wessling leads them through a conversation about their books about walking, as well as […]

by Suki Wessling When I found out that Santa Cruz had a female lighthouse keeper for 31 years, I naively wondered whether there were other female lighthouse keepers in her time. It turns out that Victorian women lighthouse keepers were a “thing”—stunningly, at the turn of the 20th century there were at least four of […]

Growing and making a great life “The nurturing instinct of women brings a new perspective and quality to the wine industry.  Our attention to detail, patience and emotional stamina coincide well with the painstaking winemaking process.  Women are creators and their skills can bear rich fruit. It is a satisfying lifestyle from vintage to vintage.” […]

In this episode of The Babblery on Talk of the Bay, host Suki Wessling speaks with three women scientists, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Shanna Howard, and Sarah Claus, who study and work at UC Santa Cruz. Although they love the school and their work and studies, they say that women face implicit biases that impede their progress. […]

On Talk of the Bay: When Russia attacked Ukraine, Lidiya was safe back in Kansas with her family. But it didn’t seem right just to sit there, so this teacher and homeschooling mom helped evacuate vulnerable people and learned to source gear and medicines for the military.  When Kiev was hit with bombs, Victoria was […]