In 2014 I had a vision
I wanted to amplify the voices of women change-makers. Six years ago, that was an ambitious goal! We were hearing a lot ABOUT women and power, but hardly anyone was talking WITH women on the radio–let alone on podcasts–about what it takes to gain power, how to use it, and what’s in our way. So I reached out to KALW 917.FM, my local public radio station in San Francisco and pitched the idea.
In the vanguard of women-focused shows
We were then, and still are, one of the only nationally syndicated radio programs and one of the first podcasts ever to take a close-up look at the changing roles of women in politics, academia, the arts, business leadership, activism and more. We were an inaugural member of Project Catapult from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PRX and this year, we won a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation.
"We are at an inflection point!"
On this show, we’ve documented the changes for women between two major milestones here in the US: From right before we thought we’d see our first woman President in Hillary Clinton, to today, when we might see our first VP woman of color, in Kamala Harris.
We ARE at an inflection point for women–and change is coming!
Change is good
I’m making a change too. You may have noticed we’ve been on a pandemic-related production hiatus for a few months now, and I have just made the bittersweet decision to pause production of Inflection Point indefinitely. I say “pause” and “indefinitely” because, well, I own the trademark and hey, you never know what’s around the next corner! UPDATE: We’re working on a book!
Moderating, creating and getting out the vote
I’ll still be moderating live events, consulting, and creating. I have a few new projects in the hopper–and of course I will still be working hard for equality and justice.
Stay in touch, will you?
It’s been an honor to have your ear for nearly 200 episodes. I hope you have gotten as much out of these conversations with world-changing women as I have. I’ll be archiving these incredible oral histories to ensure they are permanently accessible, and keeping them in the podcast feed as well.
I still want to hear from you. I want to know which organizations you are working with, and where you are putting your time to make change. Send me an email at lauren@inflectionpointradio.org. Celebrate yourself, and celebrate others! What are you excited about? WHO are you excited about?
Thank you for ensuring that these powerful women’s voices had their share of the air
Thank you again so much for listening, supporting and contributing to this show for so long. We’ll be seeing each other soon.
With love and action,
Lauren
PS That sassy paper-cut art of me is by Miriam Klein Stahl, a Bay Area artist, educator and activist, the New York Times-bestselling illustrator of Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide, and a guest on Inflection Point. The original, along with many other of Miriam's paper-cuts of feminists will be displayed next Spring at the Oakland Museum of California as part of their Hella Feminist exhibition. How cool is that? Another fun fact: the photo it’s based on is by author Kelly Corrigan.
PPS Watch the video, with more about the show and the many people who made it possible!
Thank you!
I’d like to thank my producer Eric Wayne for being an amazing creative partner, sounding board, and sound-man, recording every word and ensuring I and my guests all sounded good from day one. And to Matt Martin who as the station manager at KALW, believed in the idea and gave me a chance to pilot this show. Thanks to Tina Pamintuan for her ongoing support at KALW and to all the public radio stations who have carried it since. Alaura Weaver was my super smart, plugged in story editor and content manager and I even though we NEVER MET IN PERSON, I looked forward to our every conversation even when you pushed me out of my comfort zone. And thank you to my editorial board. You showed up for me every single time.
Thanks also to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for their early and generous grant, John Barth and Kerri Hoffman for bringing me into the fold as an inaugural member of their podcast accelerator, Project Catapult and to the team at PRX for distributing the podcast.
And especially, thank you to YOU who are reading right now for listening, supporting, donating and ensuring that these powerful women’s voices had their share of the air.
And this election season remember, when women rise up, we all rise up.
I’m Lauren Schiller. This is Inflection Point. And this is how women rise up!