Welcome to another Feminist Friday! That time of the week where we normally share 3 videos we can’t get enough of right now, centered around a feminist theme. But this week, and next, we’re doing something a little different as we gear up for the 2020 US Presidential election. We are huge fans of podcasts and staying politically engaged and informed, so we’re sharing our fave female-driven podcasts that will keep you woke in two parts.
This week we’re kicking off with a series that has been described by Marie Claire magazine as the #2 best podcast to prepare people for the 2020 election cycle. The Brown Girls Guide to Politics is hosted and created by A’shanti F. Gholar in 2018 as a way to utilize her 15 years of working in politics and a decade of living in DC, with a specific target in mind.
The platform first started as a blog in 2018 and has since expanded to a podcast that caters to a demographic that saw record wins and runs for elected office that same year, following the first Women’s March in January 2017 as a response to Donald Trump’s election and inauguration.
“The Brown Girl’s Guide to Politics Podcast is all about amplifying the voices of women who are too often forgotten in most media coverage. This year was a record year for women of color running for — and being elected to — office. In the BGG to Politics blog, A’shanti Gholar created a space for women of color to learn about the current state of women in politics, to support others breaking into the political sphere, and to celebrate incredible people changing the course of the country,” says the website description.
As Terrell Jermaine Star writes in The Root, “black women are taking their political power to the podcast world.” Their very first episode was an interview with former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Take a listen to the podcast trailer below and then subscribe via Apple podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.
The second podcast we’re amplifying is actress and activist Alyssa Milano’s #SorryNotSorry, launched in April of this year as a way for her to have one-on-one conversations from a range of people including elected officials, candidates, activists, public figures and even some Hollywood stars. While most people are already familiar with Alyssa’s work on screen as well as her fierce dedication to feminism and progressive politics over the past few years, her podcast platform has allowed her to also get very personal.
In August she dedicated an episode to abortion and shared her own story of making the choice, alongside a slew of other voices who illustrated the nuance, complexity and emotion behind many abortion decisions. Abortion storytelling has become a powerful force in cutting through narrow and damaging rhetoric coming from news media, politics, and even some religious groups. Subscribe to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and Google Podcasts, and take a listen to a snippet of Alyssa’s story in the Tweet below:
.@Alyssa_Milano shares her abortion story on the latest episode of #SorryNotSorry. Listen here: https://t.co/2sQHffMpz4 pic.twitter.com/ATsUdikkve
— Sorry Not Sorry (@sorrynotsorry) August 19, 2019
The final podcast we’re highlighting this week is Call Your Girlfriend, hosted and created by writer and influencer Aminatou Sow, her best friend and journalist Ann Friedman, and produced by radio and podcast producer Gina Delvac. The podcast was launched back in 2014 and described as a weekly conversation between two girlfriends catching up over everything from pop culture to the latest in politics.
“We’re highbrow and lowbrow, fiercely opinionated, and not afraid to realtalk each other about everything from menstrual cycles and body shaming to the Cheeto in Chief and workplace drama. We highlight women who are agents, creators, movers, and shakers who have smart, interesting things to say. We also care deeply about the lived experiences of non-famous women who are just trying to get through the week. We’re here for every facet of women’s humanity,” says the description on the site.
Staying informed politically means staying informed culturally, and these ladies have it ALL covered in their episodes.
“We are unapologetic feminists who support everyone’s right to autonomy over their own body. We believe that friendship—particularly among women and femme-identified people—is a defining, important, and powerful relationship, and that conversations among friends can be the source of incredible social and political power. Women sharing their experiences with each other is a potentially life-changing act. It’s also really fucking fun. That’s one reason we aim to foster bonds among women of different ages and backgrounds. We believe in collective action against structural inequality, because we’re all just trying to get free together,” says their mission statement.
Be sure to subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or listen to an episode on the website, like the one we’ve embedded below:
