How does becoming a mother—or choosing not to—shape women’s lives? Time and again, mothering is fundamental to how women do their work. Whether women choose to be mothers or not, the choice affects their lives deeply. Having children often changes or postpones career choices, but mothering also informs how women do their work outside the home. In this interview, you will hear how mothering or choosing not to mother fundamentally changed the lives of twelve women: Retired judge LaDoris Cordell, Smart Politics founder Karin Tamerius, artist and writer Enid Baxter Ryce, filmmaker Brooke Berman, writer and nonprofit founder Rickey Gard Diamond, doula educator Anne Wallen, abortion rights crusader Merle Hoffman, historian Ruth Rosen, environmentalist Shilpi Chhotray, writer Joan Gelfand, and anonymous mothers Wendy and Rebecca. [Platform listeners: Visit https://babblery.com for the full show notes.] “Quote” Looking back, I had to be totally insane to do what I did”Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell …
Gloria Steinem died this week. In death, she’s being memorialized, but in life, one woman remembers her grace and perseverance …
Abortion, race, and the second wave History records that Black women felt excluded from Second Wave Feminism. In this short piece, historian Barbara Winslow reflects on the issue through her experience as a radical feminist activist in Seattle. She traces the movement’s roots to the anti-war and Civil Rights movements, but Barbara argues that there were complications that led to Black women’s voices being stifled. While the media played a large role in ignoring the leadership of Black women, she explains, white feminists also had trouble listening to and understanding the concerns of Black women. For a more in-depth discussion, please check out the full version of this episode, “Turning the World Upside-Down with Barbara Winslow.” Music: “Outta Sync” © 2026 by Suki Wessling, …
When Barbara Winslow moved to Seattle with her husband in the late 60s, she was already a radical feminist. But when she joined up with other women in the struggle for their basic rights, she became an effective activist. In this conversation, we explore Barbara’s work, the importance of thinking local when fighting for civil rights, and her advice for the new generation fighting the same old battles we thought we’d won …
Enid Baxter Ryce has just published a book that explores spells and incantations across time and cultures. In this short version of the full episode, Enid reads and explains some of her favorite spells. Please visit BABBLERY.com to listen to the full interview, in which we discuss magic and spells, but she also addresses the importance of nature and education in the age of artificial intelligence …
Enid Baxter Ryce is an artist who is a writer, she’s a professor who tells her students to put the computers away, she’s a mom who asks her kids to go dig a hole. In this wide-ranging conversation, we learn how Enid moved from a “feral” childhood to a life of the mind, never forgetting to keep her hands in the dirt and her self open to possibility …
In this short adaptation of the full episode, “Living within the questions,” women’s healthcare pioneer Merle Hoffman speaks about the importance of trusting women to know their own bodies and needs. She speaks about how hard it is to talk about such a fundamental issue when people tend to shy away from deep conversations. And she speaks about her fundamental trust in herself, which has led her to fight on, from founding one of the nation’s first women’s health clinics in 1971 to fighting for women’s rights in the post-Roe world …
