The Babblery Podcast

This month’s guest on the Babblery podcast is retired judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell. I first interviewed LaDoris about her work with the African American Composer Initiative. In both interviews, she gives a passionate defense of what she calls today’s “dirty word”—DEI. In this Minibabble, producer Suki Wessling reflects on what it means to hold the door open for others. Read the full text on Babblery.Substack.com …
Retired judge LaDoris Cordell is known for her groundbreaking career as a judge in Northern California and then her stint as Independent Police Auditor for the City of San Jose. Join us in a wide-ranging conversation, from a segregated childhood, an unusual education, and an unlikely acceptance to Stanford Law School, to retired judge, community activist, musician, artist, and grandmother …
What leads radical feminists to exclude transgender women from their gatherings? What happens whentrauma and expectations meet the need for community and acceptance? Every woman has a story. Listen to transgender theorist Sandy Stone and musician Nancy Vogl speak about trauma, exclusion, acceptance, and moving forward together.  Related: An Amazing Time to be Alive with Sandy Stone What is a woman? In conversation with Sandy Stone Two Strange Moments with Writer Joan Gelfand Mentioned in this episode:  Berkeley Women’s Music Collective Nancy Vogl Music: “Lonely Blue, Holy Blue” by Patricia Taxxon from the album Ten Skies, 2024 “Bones” by Pretty Swans from the album Blackbird Nice, 2020 (read more about the artist, Never Angeline North) …
BABBLERY.com: Transgender icon Sandy Stone on TERF hatred, from the 1970s women’s communities to today …
BABBLERY.com: Writer Joan Gelfand’s career has been bookended by two “strange moments,” with the power of the 70s women’s movement at one end and the fight against authoritarianism on the other …
BABBLERY.com: What does it take for an independent filmmaker to shoot a film in a country that lacks a functional government? Haitian filmmaker Alexandrine Benjamin speaks about the difficulty of shooting her short film, N Ap Boule, which is a fictional exploration of the crisis of maternity care in Haiti …
BABBLERY.com: Haitian filmmaker Alexandrine Benjamin is on a mission to make films that tell important stories for her people. But how can she help a country where she can no longer live? …