In this episode, we talk about the origin of the disconnect between economic indicators and our household realities. Women operate in an economy that was designed to ignore and devalue much of the work we provide. Rickey describes our economic system not as an inevitable fact, but instead as a story to be retold with all people in mind. …
The Babblery has been official for a year, and that year feels very full. I interviewed women on the topics of science, winemaking, comedy, history, music, art, pregnancy, and writing. I explored how our gender looks through a transgender lens. I spent many hours talking to people, and many more at my computer, cutting and pasting bits of sound together. I did an enormous amount of work for KSQD, which was both in the spirit of giving but also self-serving: I love to learn about new things and each time another programmer asked a question, it was like a portal into another cranny of our fascinating world. Outside of The Babblery, the state of women’s lives continued its two-steps-forward, one-slide-back rhythm, like hiking up a steep sand dune. It was frustrating how politicians around the world seem to be growing bolder in their attempts to control women’s bodies and expression …
In this episode, we discuss how one woman’s work in the 21st century is illuminating some of America’s invisible women of the past. Through painstaking research, Carolyn Zola is finding, naming, and honoring them. This episode not only features Carolyn’s work, but also performances of songs and texts from the time …
Today’s thoughts on the Babblery: It’s a mistake only to be thankful for that which we enjoy …
“I never felt like I was ‘enough’,” Mimi Fox explains. “And now, for the most part, on my better days, I do. And that is a real gift of my aging and my healing, the changes I’ve gone through in my life. I’m really grateful for that ‘enoughness.’ That sense of being enough is great because a lot of things can flow from there.” Mimi Fox is a mature woman at the height of an unusual career for a woman her age: she is an in-demand performer and composer for jazz guitar. In this conversation, we delve into some of the aspects of her life and personality that may have given her the drive and personal strength to walk into venues where she was clearly not welcomed. We also learn about the people and music that did welcome her into jazz and fed her soul as she learned her trade …
A Minibabble: Pondering what the experiences of transgender theorist Sandy Stone tell us about being a woman …
Special episode for LGBTQ History Month, 2023 “I really became a person, a human being, however you want to say that, when I became a woman.” These days, Sandy Stone is a community elder. She’s a vital force behind the radio station that hosts The Babblery, KSQD in Santa Cruz, CA. She’s retired from academia, which she joined after retiring from her illustrious career as a recording engineer. There’s a lot to say about Sandy’s many life achievements. But in this episode, we explore all sides of a question that has followed Sandy throughout her life: What is a woman? Identified male at birth, in a time when identification at birth was the only gender option available, Sandy always knew she was different. But what that difference was, and what it meant to her, was a question she sought to answer. She didn’t see herself reflected in the Jewish housewives …
