The Women's Current

A Life Après® Podcast

Season Two
Exploring the systems shaping women’s lives—from healthcare and reproductive law to media visibility and climate activism.

2025 Bring It On

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
2025 Bring It On
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This year has been a whirlwind, hasn’t it? For Sylvia & Me, October marked a huge milestone – our 5th anniversary! Five years of conversations, stories, and connections. Five years of incredible women sharing their wisdom, their laughter, and sometimes, their tears.

Over these past five years, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing just under 200 women. Each one with a unique story to tell, each one inspiring and empowering in their own way. This podcast has always been about giving women a platform to share their experiences, their triumphs, their challenges, and their wisdom.

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Life Après Retirement with Mary Barneby

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Life Après Retirement with Mary Barneby
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When I decided to retire, I said now I’m going to do the little things that have been tucked away.

Just in time to celebrate the holidays…Mary Barneby is back! Forget rocking chairs and bingo! Mary Barneby is rewriting the rules of retirement. She’s ‘rewiring’! This former CEO is trading boardrooms for book launches and wedding vows. Join me as I catch up with Mary, one of our first-ever guests, and discover how she’s embracing her “life après” with energy and enthusiasm. Get ready to be inspired to live your best life, no matter what stage you’re at!

Former CEO of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut and Regional CEO of the American Red Cross, Mary shares her secrets to finding purpose and passion in this new chapter. Plus, we delve into the fascinating fact that both organizations she led were founded by women in their 50s and 60s – proving it’s never too late to make a difference!

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Reimagining Spinsterhood with Lucy Maggeson

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Reimagining Spinsterhood with Lucy Maggeson
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Join me with fellow podcast host Lucy Meggeson, the host of Spinsterhood Reimagined.  Lucy debunks myths about relationship bliss and celebrates the freedom and fulfillment of being single and childfree.

In this insightful podcast, Lucy Meggeson delves into the myths surrounding relationships and challenges societal expectations placed on women.  Listeners will be empowered to take control of their lives. Believing and loving yourself is key to being happy. Spinsterhood is no longer the old, lonely woman sitting by the window. Whether you’re happily childfree or seeking liberation from societal norms, this episode will leave you feeling positive and excited about your life on this vast, spinning planet we call home.

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Accidental Influencer with Chutzpah with Annie Korzen

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Accidental Influencer with Chutzpah with Annie Korzen
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Who knew … really, she had no idea but her ‘why not’ attitude made Annie Korzen an ‘accidental influencer’. Who would want to watch an eighty-something on Tik-Tok? Turns out over 435,000 would. Annie calls herself ‘a comedic storyteller’, a term she coined as we spoke. She’d appeared in the hit series Seinfield because she said ‘why not’. That attitude has led her to take risks, to live life with humor and not be afraid to face life. Annie is a writer, teacher, speaker, actress and sensation. And author of The Book of Annie: Humor, Heart, and Chutzpah from an Accidental Influencer.

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Celebrating Live with Women of a Certain Age

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Celebrating Live with Women of a Certain Age
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Live from Noble Salon we celebrate the 5-year anniversary of “Sylvia & Me’  with Women of a Certain Age. Our first live, in-person podcast and a conversation with a group of Women of a Certain Age.  Sharing stories, insights and experiences, these ladies are not going to be ‘aged out’! Friendship, trust, overcoming fear and having each other’s backs! With more than 30 years on various stages, Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theater and more, ladies let’s kick up our heels. Going past their comfort zone, anything goes. The ladies: Ann Alford, Lynne Colatrella, Tracey Marble, Ellen Krinick-Porto and Gail Yudain and their musical director Jerold Goldstein.

A huge shoutout to all who have had my back and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. And a big thank you to all the women who have shared their stories.

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She Wolves of Wall Street with Paulina Bren

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
She Wolves of Wall Street with Paulina Bren
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Her novel The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free could have been the precursor to her newly released ‘She Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street.’ As author and historian Paulina Bren told me, she ‘followed the women out of the Barbizon Hotel in New York to Wall Street’ from the late 1950s and 1960s to 9/11, Women looking for interim work, found their way to Wall Street. Out of the three jobs that were available to women: receptionist, secretary or clerk, Wall Street paid the most. And so began the entry of the She Wolves of Wall Street. The men were the brokers making the money, the women were their support staff. The women were watching and learning. Wall Street was being manned by women!

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Witch of Wall Street Breaking Glass with Patricia Walsh Chadwick

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Witch of Wall Street Breaking Glass with Patricia Walsh Chadwick
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he ‘Witch of Wall Street’ breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’. That would be Patricia Walsh Chadwick. When we last talked with Patricia in 2020 her first book “Little Sister, A Memoir” had just been released and we were left with the idea that there was more to come. A woman of resilience and determination, Patricia’s story continues. At the age of seventeen she had been ejected from the only home she’d known since she was five. Turns out it was a cult, a cult that had cut her off from the outside world.

How did this teenager who had never even used a phone, turn into a dynamo on Wall Street? Patricia’s new book “Breaking Glass, Tales from the Witch of Wall Street” tells the story of a woman who didn’t take no for an answer and broke through the old boy’s club. Her career started in 1972 at a time when a woman’s role on Wall Street was mainly administrative. How then did Patricia work her way up to becoming a portfolio manager overseeing $6 billion dollars of client assets? Listen to a fascinating conversation with Patricia.

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Third Girl from the Left with Christine Barker

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Third Girl from the Left with Christine Barker
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The Other Side of Broadway and the AIDS Epidemic

Christine’s dream had come true, she was a dancer, the ‘Third Girl from the Left’ in the cast of the Tony Award-winning show A Chorus Line, first in London and then Broadway. Unfortunately it was the early 1980s and the onset of the AIDS epidemic. A conversation with Christine Barker, author of Third Girl from the Left, her story of what life was like for her, a young woman having to make impossible choices. Her start in New York, her dream job, and eight shows a week. In the middle of it all was the AIDS epidemic and its impact on those around her affected by this unknown. Among them was her brother Laughlin. Christine’s choice was to take care of her dying brother and others she was close to. When asked why she wanted to write this, Christine answered ‘Because sometimes the story is all that is left.’

Christine retired from her theater career and has turned her sights to another dream – writing. She holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. She is currently working on her next project.

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Outdoor Adventures at Any Age

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Outdoor Adventures at Any Age
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This week, with Award-winning and New York Times-Bestselling author Caroline Paul. Caroline had been an outdoor adventurer her whole life. In her newest book, “TOUGH BROAD,” Caroline explores how outdoor adventure can improve our lives as we age, defying societal norms and expectations.

Caroline delves into the positive impact of outdoor adventure on brain health, physical vitality, mindset, and overall well-being. Through inspiring stories, she urges women in their fifties, sixties, and beyond to embrace the outdoors, redefining their futures.

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Children Survival and Hope

The Women's Current
The Women's Current
Children Survival and Hope
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What happens after we survive and experience something life-changing and traumatic? Award-winning young adult author Veera Hiranandani’s new historical fiction Amil and The After addresses this question. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Veera also asked herself how can we heal as individuals and as a society? Written in part through the drawings of young Amil, the story follows the aftermath of the partition of India and Pakistan. It’s a journey like the one members of her family had made. ‘We as humans keep finding ways to divide ourselves and attack marginalized communities.’ Although her books are called ‘young adult’, adults need to read them. Veera’s novels gives us an understanding of a child’s perspective. And a boy’s longing for stability and hope during a tumultuous time.

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