On this week's 51%, we look back on some of our favorite conversations from 2024. Dr. Karen Tang gives us a lesson on everything from fibroids to endometriosis; youth mentor Chelsea Gooden shares how parents can better connect with their teenage daughters; and former NOW President Patricia Ireland remembers her early days fighting against gender discrimination — as a flight attendant for Pan American Airways. 

Guests: Dr. Karen Tang, OBGYN and author of It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told); Chelsea Gooden, author of Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls; Patricia Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, and Fly With Me Director Helen Dobrowski

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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The state of Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas patient via telemedicine. On this week’s 51%, we discuss the case with Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis and a leading historian on the U.S. abortion debate. We also get some tips on how to destress around the holidays and speak with psychiatrist Dr. Judith Orloff about why empathy is important not just for our own wellbeing, but for that of our communities. 

Guests: Mary Ziegler, Martin Luther King Jr. professor of law at the University of California, Davis; Dr. Judith Orloff, psychiatrist with the University of California, Los Angeles and author of The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, & the World

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On the latest 51%, we speak with sociologist Gretchen Sisson about her book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. Sisson studies the relationship between abortion and adoption in the U.S., and is part of a team of researchers for "The Turnaway Study" at the University of California, San Francisco. In Relinquished, Sisson compiles a decade's worth of interviews with women who gave their newborns up for adoption through a private adoption agency. In unpacking how some agencies pressure (and rely on) struggling moms to relinquish their children, Sisson pushes back on the idea that adoption is an ethical alternative to abortion, and questions whether it's really a choice at all.

Guest: Gretchen Sisson, sociologist with Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California San Francisco, author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week's 51%, we speak with journalist and author Julie Fingersh about her debut memoir Stay: A Story of Family, Love, and Other Traumas. Fingersh is the former executive director of the volunteer organization Boston Cares, and her journalistic work has appeared in The New York Times, O Magazine, and The Huffington Post. In Stay, she reflects on her decision to leave her career and become a stay-at-home mom, as well as the importance of mental healthcare and the cost of family secrets. 

Guests: Julie Fingersh, author of Stay: A Story of Family, Love, and Other Traumas

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. ------------

On this week's 51%, WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with NPR Life Kit host Marielle Segarra about the importance of breast cancer screening, and her own battle with breast cancer as a woman in her mid-30s. We also speak with Dr. Niraj Sharma of Cardinal Spine & Pain Medicine about some non-surgical treatments for chronic pain, and the struggles faced by independent, small-town doctors. 

Guests: Marielle Segarra, host of Life Kit on NPR; Dr. Niraj Sharma, Cardinal Spine & Pain Medicine

You can listen to Life Kit's episode on breast cancer here. 

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week’s 51%, we speak with physician and author Dr. Alice Rothchild about her new memoir, "Inspired and Outraged: The Making of a Feminist Physician." Rothchild worked almost 40 years as an OB/GYN, taught at Harvard Medical School, contributed to the first edition of "Our Bodies, Ourselves," and co-founded an all-women’s practice in Boston in the late 1970s. In "Inspired and Outraged," Rothchild uses poetry to explore her transformation from a 1950s “good girl” to a fierce physician and activist. 

Guest: Dr. Alice Rothchild, author of "Inspired and Outraged: The Making of a Feminist Physician"

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.

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On this week’s 51%, we speak with Erin Loos Cutraro, founder and CEO of the nonprofit She Should Run, about why Kamala Harris’ loss should not discourage women from running for office. Also, the reelection of former President Donald Trump has piqued some Americans’ interest in the “4B movement,” a fringe freminist movement from South Korea where women swear off sex, dating, marriage and childbearing with men. We speak with Yale University’s Meera Choi about how the 4B movement got its start, and whether it could actually gain traction in the U.S.

Guests: Erin Loos Cutraro, CEO and founder of She Should Run; Meera Choi, sociology PhD. candidate at Yale University

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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Donald Trump will once again be president of the United States. The former president defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in this month's general election, marking the second time Americans have chosen Trump over a woman candidate. On this week’s 51%, we check in with Ange-Marie Hancock, a political science professor and Kamala Harris Project scholar with The Ohio State University. Also, for 10 states, abortion rights were literally on the ballot this year in the form of various ballot proposals. We’ll take a look at the results with the Center for Reproductive Rights. 

Guests: Ange-Marie Hancock, executive director of OSU's Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, and the curator of the Kamala Harris Project, a consortium of scholars studying Harris' tenure as the first woman vice president; Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy for the Center for Reproductive Rights

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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Election Day is November 5. Is anyone else nervous? We speak with Shevaun D. Neupert, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University, about the impacts of election anxiety and how to cope before and after voting. We also hear from the sisters behind the “Vote Without Fear” campaign, reminding women — especially those in controlling relationships — that who they vote for is not public information.

 Guests: Shevaun D. Neupert, professor of psychology at North Carolina State University; Olivia Howell Dreizen and Genevieve Dreizen, co-founders of Fresh Starts Registry and the "Vote Without Fear" campaign

This episode discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner abuse, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 by calling 1-800-799-SAFE, or by texting “START” to 88788.

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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On this week’s 51%, we recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons speaks with Equinox Inc. counselor Melissa Kovelman about what domestic violence looks like in different types of relationships and how to seek help. We also check in with Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood about the various services it offers to patients struggling with menopause.

 Guests: Melissa Kovelman, LMHC with Equinox; Bree Samson, director of clinical services at Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood

This episode discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner abuse, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 by calling 1-800-799-SAFE, or by texting “START” to 88788.

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.

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On this week’s 51%, we recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month and learn why doctors are being instructed to tell patients about their breast density after mammograms. We also speak with Dr. Elizabeth Lucal of Nuvance Health about the impacts of iron deficiency and anemia on women. And Natasha Senjanovic of the New York Public News Network brings us a report on how the healthcare industry is responding to one of the top causes of maternal mortality: femicide.

Guests: Dr. Arnold Baskies, former chairman of the national board of the American Cancer Society; Dr. Elizabeth Lucal, OB/GYN with Nuvance Health

This episode discusses femicide and domestic violence. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner abuse, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 by calling 1-800-799-SAFE, or by texting “START” to 88788.

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. 

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