What if we could disagree in a way that encouraged empathy and understanding? What if this was even possible with people you’re tempted to hate? In this episode, Loretta Ross, Professor of White Supremacy at Smith College, charges us to use her Calling In technique to hold people accountable with compassion. After her personal experience healing from sexual violence and working with reformed rapists and Klan members throughout her 50-year career as an activist for reproductive justice, Ross has a unique approach to healing our growing political divide.
Read moreDivorce & What It Means to Choose Yourself
Calling all divorcees & divorce curious! Going through a divorce is a decidedly sucky process. While still taboo, the dreaded D word is extremely common—in the U.S., about 1 million women file for divorce every year. Interestingly, throughout US history, women have initiated the majority of divorces in hetero unions. But the reasons women jump ship have changed. In this episode, we’ll explore a core similarity many women describe within their marriages today—self abandonment—and how, in many cases, divorce is the only way to reclaim themselves.
Read moreThe Only Black Man in Town
2020 will go down in history as not only the year of the coronavirus pandemic but also as a year of racial reckoning. Reporting from Iowa, just a few hours’ drive from Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed by the police in May, host Donna Cleveland grapples with the state of racism in the Midwest. While Midwesterners are known for being neighborly, with slogans like Iowa Nice, it turns out that flyover country harbors a history of racist policies and practices, the legacy of which we’re still living with today. The result is that racial inequality in the Midwest is greater than anywhere else in the country, even the South. This episode explores what it’s really like to live in the Midwest if you’re a person of color, how we got here, and what we can do about it.
Read moreLies About Growing Old
Does the thought of growing old fill you with dread? If so, have you thought about why? In episode 6 of Thread the Needle, discover what the internal experience of old age is really like. The closer you look at the research, the more contradictions you’ll find.
Read moreIjeoma Oluo on Dismantling Systemic Racism - from Inflection Point
The recent tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are painful reminders of the urgent need to dismantle systemic racism in this country now.
In this episode of Inflection Point that you’re about to hear, host Lauren Schiller talks to Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want to Talk About Race about the dangers of white feminism. Oluo wakes us up to the fact that solidarity between all women cannot happen until white cis women hold themselves accountable to the ways they have benefitted from systems of oppression.
Read moreLyz Lenz Says Your Anger Is Not a Problem
Raised evangelical Christian, feminist writer Lyz Lenz grew up believing her anger made her bad. In the fifth episode of Thread the Needle, find out what happens when Lyz starts listening to her feelings. Along the way, discover the dark underbelly of repressed rage.
Read moreBonus Episode: It's Not a Phase
Often the questions we ask about the LGBTQ community betray underlying negative beliefs. In today’s bonus episode, Host Donna Cleveland revisits episode 2, which centers around the suicide of a 14-year-old transgender boy in her hometown of Fairfield, Iowa. She invites Clinical Social Worker Dr. Damon Constantinides to the show to explain what the gender affirmative model is, why you shouldn’t ask if gender dysphoria is a phase, and how to be a true ally to trans youth.
Read moreWhy Won’t He Do the Dishes? The Politics of Housework
In the fourth episode of Thread the Needle, Donna explores why women are still stuck doing most of the housework and uncovers a perplexing research finding—splitting chores fairly does not create happier couples.
Read moreHot Moms—Motherhood, Sexuality & the Public Gaze
Why do we desexualize women when they become mothers? The third episode of Thread the Needle explores the messages society sends us about how mothers should look and behave. Discover the strange history behind why many women still feel they must leave their sexual identity behind once they have a baby in their arms.
Read moreWhen Gender Is a Matter of Life or Death
The suicide of a 14-year-old trans boy in small-town middle America leaves a community grappling with questions about the nature of gender. There are 1.4 million transgender adults living in the United States, a staggering 41 percent of which have reported attempting suicide at least once in their lifetime. The second episode of Thread the Needle explores the question—What does our society need to understand about gender and how it influences our sense of self in order to better support this vulnerable population?
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Read moreDoes Wanting a Guy to Pay for Dinner Make You a Bad Feminist?
The way we date has changed drastically in the last decade, from hookup culture to the advent of dating apps. However, traditional (and gendered) dating etiquette is still alive and well—many women still want men to pay for dates. In the first episode of Thread the Needle, your host Donna Cleveland explores the history of heterosexual dating in America in order to answer the question: can you be a feminist and still want a guy to pick up the tab?
Read moreA Preview of Thread the Needle—Season 1
Journalist and feminist Donna Cleveland is on a mission to make sense of the mixed messages we send women. See where this journey leads with Season 1 of Thread the Needle, a monthly podcast that debuts Wednesday, October 2.
