ALL EPISODES
More women than ever are raising their hands to run for office. But what does it actually take to to win? And what will be different when they do? Kate Black, now at the FCC, recorded with me in August when she was Chief of Staff for EMILY's List, an organization that helps pro-choice, Democratic women run for office. And she has her own story of awakening to the fact that we need more women in office.
Kate Black
Will this be the moment, this time?
Read MoreLISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | PANDORA | SPOTIFY | NPR ONE | MORE
It took Jennifer Brea over a year of seeing doctors and getting second, third and fourth opinions to even land on a diagnosis for a disease that suddenly left her bedridden for days, weeks, months–sometimes unable to turn on a light or even listen to music because of unbearable pain. Was the reluctance to diagnose Jennifer due to a lack of knowledge about a condition that affects millions of people in the US–mostly women? Or were there other, unstated prejudices standing in the way of Jennifer getting treatment?
To show the world that this is a real disease with a truly debilitating impact on her life–not just in her head–and to inspire the medical community to take the lead on finding answers–Jennifer created a film, mostly from her bed, out of the videos she captured of herself, others like her and the few experts there are. Her film is called "Unrest."
Photo by Sam Heesen
Erin Ganju believes that world change starts with educated children. I spoke with her in 2015 when her goal was to reach 10 million children. Just two years since she and I spoke on this show, Room to Read has now reached 11.6 million children with quality education. And, they will be reaching their 20,000th school community and 50,000th adolescent girl with their Girls’ Education Program
This is one of my favorites from the archives.
ERIN GANJU, ROOM TO READ
LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | PANDORA | SPOTIFY | NPR ONE | MORE
Leila Janah founded Samasource to connect the poorest people in developing countries to digital work through a pioneering approach she calls “impact sourcing.” We spoke in 2015 and we’re re-releasing this episode now because she’s written a book based on her experiences called Give Work. You’ll also hear her talk about Samahope, which merged last year with Johnson & Johnson’s CaringCrowd platform.
LEILA JANAH, SAMA GROUP
LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | PANDORA | SPOTIFY | NPR ONE | MORE
Whitney Bell got tired of receiving unwanted sexually explicit photos from men, and decided to do something about it: She gathered 200 of these images and put them on display in an art gallery show entitled "I Didn't Ask For This. A Lifetime of Dick Pics." Her conversation with Lauren provides interesting insights into post-modern sexualized male aggression & how women can respond.
Ashton Applewhite is on a mission as old as humanity itself -- to change our attitudes about age and ageing. Her book is "This Chair Rocks. A Manifesto Against Ageism," and her August, 2017 Ted Talk received a standing ovation. She's onto something. This week on Inflection Point, she talks with Lauren about how she plans to end what she calls "the last acceptable prejudice."
When she was young Jeannette Walls wanted nothing more than to escape her crazy, chaotic family. She grew up in poverty, in a crumbling home, where her parents couldn’t always put food on the table. They moved from place to place and school to school. After putting her past behind her to become a successful journalist and author, Walls finally revisited her upbringing in her memoir, "The Glass Castle." Her book was recently adapted into a film, and this week on “Inflection Point,” Walls discusses her unusual upbringing and how she rose out of a seemingly impossible situation.
Jeannette Walls on the set of "The Glass Castle" photo by Jake Giles Netter
LISTEN ON: APPLE PODCASTS | STITCHER | PANDORA | SPOTIFY | NPR ONE | MORE
When Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO in August, 2014 and the protests began, Sabaah Folayan felt the media’s coverage was overly focused on the looting, rioting and property damage, and not nearly enough on the stories of the people who rose up. So she dropped everything and went to Ferguson to see for herself what was happening on the ground and to talk with the people who live there. The result is her documentary film Whose Streets? She shares what it was like to be there and how she made her film in such extraordinary circumstances. Whose Streets comes out August 11th.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Most of us don’t know what to say when we are grieving or how to reach out when the people we love go through something awful. Dr. Kelsey Crowe’s own experiences with grief helped her realize that so many people suffer alone because the people around them don’t know what to do or say. So Kelsey actually shifted her career focus to understand what grieving people want, and what they don’t. She surveyed 900 people about their experiences with grief, founded Help Each Other Out to provide empathy bootcamps, and wrote a book about what she learned. The title of her book sums it up: There is No Good Card For This: What To say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful and Unfair to People You Love. Lauren talks with Kelsey about what she learned and how we can all help each other out.
