Season Two
Exploring the systems shaping women’s lives—from healthcare and reproductive law to media visibility and climate activism.
A Mother’s Day Special ‘There is so much beauty in this world if you just look for it. ‘ -Kate Swenson, Mom, Author, Inspiration So many quotes to choose from… ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way mom told you to in the beginning.’ – unknown ‘I want my children to […]
A Mother’s Day Special with Kate Swenson, a very special mom.
Kate dreamed of being a mother from a very young age. While other young girls dreamed of being a ballerina or president, being a mother was hers. And that dream came true 11 years ago with the birth of her son, Cooper. Kate and her husband now have two more sons and a daughter. Her dream though came with an unexpected path. At the age of three, Cooper was diagnosed with nonverbal autism.
Kate is the creator of the blog and Facebook page Finding Cooper’s Voice and the author of the newly released Forever Boy: A Mother’s Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy. Yes, the word is JOY. Listen to a woman who exceeds our expectations of what motherhood is. Cooper now has a vocabulary of 20 words.
Dr. Klodas is a cardiologist who is looking to put herself out of business, as she would say. Why? Because, according to the CDC, 80% of all heart disease should not exist. It’s proved by people who live in what’s called ‘Blue Zones’ around the globe. They’re home to some of the oldest, healthiest, and happiest people. A large reason comes from how they manage what they eat.
After years of treating her patients with statins, she noticed that the overarching cause of their heart issues were not because of a deficiency of the right drugs, but deficiency of eating the right foods. With tenacity and willpower in her blood, she decided to go out on her own and do something about it.
‘Misinformation goes viral much quicker than the good old-fashioned truth.’
The first thing that jumped out at me as needing clarification had to do with birth control. It was the weirdest thing that was going viral – the idea that melatonin (quote-unquote) ‘cancels out your birth control.’
And so, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln went viral – viral with facts. Jennifer is a board-certified OB GYN who uses social media to educate and bust myths. She’s the sex education educator who should be in every school. No shame, no judgment, Dr. Lincoln demystifies sex ed and breaks down stigmas. Her passion is helping girls, women and those assigned female at birth to understand their bodies and feel empowered to advocate for themselves.
Dr. Kate Biberdorf is the author of It’s Elemental: The Hidden Chemistry in Everything. Best known as Kate the Chemist, Kate is a chemistry professor, author, scientist and ultimate Science Entertainer. A self-proclaimed pyromaniac, Kate’s is on a mission to show young girls that you can be a fashionista, wear makeup and be a brilliant scientist and chemistry nerd all rolled into one.
30 Years Behind Bars: Trials of a Prison Doctor is Karen Gedney’s story, from her first day at the prison to her last. This next chapter for Karen is advocating for prison reform and mentoring children at risk. Now out of the system, Karen is able to make herself heard about the criminal justice system.
It wasn’t until 1976 that prisons had to offer medical care if there was a serious medical need. Not only was Karen one of the first doctors in a prison, but she was also one of the first female doctors. A male prison with male inmates and male guards. Two years into her start, Karen was taken hostage and raped by one of the inmates. And yet she stayed. She stayed through the Aids epidemic, through changing of guards, through years of years of change in the system. Karen stayed because she felt she was making a difference. And she did make a difference for so many of the inmates and their families.
A riveting conversation with Karen:
The beginning
A kidnapping and rape and the decision to stay
Rules, no rules and systems
Being a female in an all-male environment
She’s white, her husband is Black – they thought she gave preferential treatment to Black inmates
Evening programs and mentoring
The power of redemption
Seeing the results
Advocating for criminal justice & prison reform
From the start of her law education, Susan Bandes discovered that emotions and law are connected. She felt anger about the reasoning behind a decision that had been handed down by the courts. It was a case discussed in one of her first law classes. But Susan stayed silent. ‘I learned very quickly that if I said I was angry, I would be labeled as too emotional to be a good lawyer.’ On top of that, she was a minority of women in her class – ‘Emotion was going to be connected to my gender, women are just too emotional to be lawyers.’
Emotions come in all types. There’s anger, disgust, closure, fear, empathy, hate … just to name a few. Susan has spent the last 20 years examining the law and the claim that ‘it’s an emotion free zone.’ Can we really take our emotions out of decisions that are made?
For years Susan had been writing in the predominantly male fields of federal courts and criminal procedure. She was one of only two women on the list of the 20 most cited law professors in criminal law and procedure. But two Supreme Court cases flipped the switch and set her on the path she would follow for the next 20 years and counting: exploring the role of emotion in law.
A conversation with Susan and what we probably don’t think about
Holding back the anger and questions
A woman in a field of men
The law and emotions
Closure
Fear
A decision but no real data
Can it be an emotion free zone
Human behavior and all the assumptions
A Pioneer
Susan is a pioneer in the emerging study of the role of emotion in law. Her legal career began in 1976 at the Illinois Office of the State Appellate Defender. She became staff counsel for the Illinois A.C.L.U. in 1980 where she litigated a broad spectrum of civil rights cases. Susan helped draft and secure passage of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
Susan joined the DePaul faculty in 1984. She was named Distinguished Research Professor in 2003 and Centennial Distinguished Professor in 2012, Susan has authored over 50 articles and is among the most widely cited law professors in the field of criminal law and procedure. Her work appears in the Yale, Stanford, University of Chicago, Michigan and Southern California law reviews.
Susan Granger, a product of Hollywood, born into Hollywood ‘Royalty’.
A little name dropping here is more than okay. Let’s consider that her father, S. Sylvan Simon was director/producer at MGM and Columbia. After his sudden death while filming From Here to Eternity, Susan’s mother remarried and her step-father was Armand Deutsch, and MGM producer. Her godfathers were Red Skelton and Milton Berle. Lucille Ball carried her out of the hospital after she was born. Her horse was given to Elizabeth Taylor. Milton Berle set her up on a date with a newly arrived Elvis Presley. He brought her flowers and sang a Frank Sinatra song to her. And Errol Flynn read lines from Romeo and Juliet with her.
Having been born into the business, Susan knows it inside and out. Therefore, who better to be a movie and drama critic?
A fun and entertaining conversation with Susan:
Born in the Golden Age of Hollywood
Playing ‘let’s pretend’ and working with her father
King Charles, National Velvet & Elizabeth Taylor
A date with newbie Elvis Presley
Her stepdad and an honest conversation – actress vs journalist
Journalism and Pierre Salinger
Why an entertainment critic
History of the movie business
Women and them movie industry
Pandemic and its effect on the industry
Factors to look for when reviewing
‘What I looked for are films that would hold up over the years and be new to my children and grandchildren. And as the years go on, they would find them entertaining.’ (On how she chose the films for her book.)
For more than 25 years Susan has been bringing her unique perspective to the field of communication. Her commentaries, reviews and interviews are distributed around the world. Susan is also the author of 150 Timeless Movies where she reviews classic and contemporary timeless movies.
Susan has worked extensively doing speech and presentation coaching for top management and executives in several industries. Her articles have been published in WORKING WOMAN, PLAYBOY, THE NEW YORK TIMES, REDBOOK, LADIES HOME JOURNAL, FAMILY CIRCLE, TRAVEL AGENT, and COSMOPOLITAN…and many others.
Susan studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College. She then graduated with highest honors in journalism with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
‘If you’re conscious you’re aware of something. The question is, what are you aware of?’ – Kashonia Carnegie
We don’t always think much about what it truly means to be conscious. Does it only mean that we are awake? Or that we actually see what’s around us and understand it? Are we truly conscious? Is there a difference between social consciousness and ethical consciousness? Kashonia Carnegie is a moral philosopher who has researched ethics and conscious change. And what is conscious change? It’s all about ethics. Looking for patterns, she studied her own life. Kashonia became her own life-coach, before life coaching was a thing. Her findings about her own life journey resulted in the realization that each step had to do with consciousness. They included conscious business skills and conscious leadership when she became Australia’s first female oil company representative. She then went on to become a radio broadcaster using conscious communication skills. And her entrance into academia led her to conscious intelligence competencies.
Meet Kashonia Carnegie
Kashonia is a Moral Philosopher with a PhD in Ethics of Conscious Change. She is the author of the ‘Conscious Change’ series of books. As a life-long learner, woven throughout all of her media and university work are extensive academic and independent studies. These studies include areas such as spirituality, religious studies, creative thinking, storytelling and positive psychology.
Her work includes leadership coaching; corporate and community workshop design and facilitation. In addition, Kashonia is a sessional mediator/conciliator for state government departments in the Australian states of Victoria and Queensland. She has conducted over 200 mediation/conciliation conferences with a successful resolution in excess of 90%.
A very conscious changing conversation with Kashonia:
Growing up on a sheep and dairy farm
Defying her mother
Living under the stars
‘Road to Damascus’ experience and the awakening of her own consciousness
Australia’s 1st Female Oil Representative & defying the male-dominated business
Media career and the pre-#Metoo movement
The conscious change movement and ethics
Conscious change, Covid and the rise of feminine energy
Having a purpose in life
Dorothy Wickenden and The Agitators
New York Times bestselling author Dorothy Wickenden’s latest book – The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women’s Rights. The Agitators is the true story of Harriett Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright and Frances A. Seward. One a former slave, one a Quaker mother of 7 and one a politician’s wife. Although three very different women, they came together to fight for abolition and women’s rights in the mid-nineteenth century in Auburn, New York.
Much history has gone into the fight for abolition and women’s rights. Many have heard of Harriet Tubman, a former slave who was the conductor of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape into Free states and Canada.
But not many have heard of Martha Coffin Wright or Frances A. Seward. By introducing us to them, Dorothy shines a light on the story of three women who worked together. Yes, three women who worked together at a time when women had little control. So little that a married woman didn’t own anything. And yet somehow Frances, Martha and Harriet fought for the end to slavery and advocated for women’s rights.
Dorothy is the executive editor of The New Yorker and the host of its weekly podcast Politics and More.’ She is also the NY Times bestselling author of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West. Dorothy edited The New Republic Reader: Eighty Years of Opinion and Debate.
A conversation and a lot of history with Dorothy:
Why these three women
The connection
The women
Upper and middle class women and their roles
Witnessing abuse and feeling helpless
Frances’ awakening and Martha’s aide
Meeting Harriet
Their families
The bold move that allowed Francis to sell Harriet the house
How Harriet established herself
