Breaking Down Patriarchy

We are so grateful to be joined by writer and podcaster Lindsay Hansen Park who does the work of unpacking polygamy on a regular basis and shares some of her discoveries with us today. Lindsay Hansen Park is an American Mormon feminist blogger, podcaster, and the Executive Director for the Salt Lake City-based non-profit Sunstone Education Foundation. She's worked as a consultant and guest on several film projects including Hulu forthcoming television series, Under the Banner of Heaven. You can find her work (and listen to her amazing podcast, Year of Polygamy) at YearofPolygamy.com and at Sunstone.org.Visit the Episode Page here.

On today’s episode we’re going to be tackling a particularly tricky topic: how we and other women can—intentionally or unintentionally—become enforcers and perpetrators of patriarchy. Fortunately, we’ll have not one, but three spectacular guests joining us to help unpack this phenomenon by sharing their own experiences, emotions, and insights. Each of our contributors—Heather Sundahl, Carrie Salisbury, and Heather Renfro—has a unique, invaluable story to tell and I’m so grateful to have them all with us.Heather Sundahl (she/her) is a writer and editor and studying to be a marriage & family therapist. Her favorite pastime is swapping stories with family and friends. Caroline Salisbury (she/her) lives in Los Angeles, California where she works as a musician, educator and business entrepreneur. She holds music degrees in Viola Performance and was homeschooled as a child and teen. Raised with doomsday preppers, Carrie frequently experienced childhood homelessness and poverty while preparing for upcoming global disasters. She is a survivor of a college sexual assault. Today she is President of the Suzuki Music Association of California - Los Angeles Branch, a music education non-profit for teachers and families, and owner of Gerona Rose Music Studio.She has written about religion and feminism at the Exponent blog as ViolaDiva.She currently shares her creative projects, music, and writing at www.carolinesalisbury.com and on IG and FB @carolinesalisbury  Caroline is mother to three children with her husband, pianist-composer Benjamin Salisbury. Heather Lewis Renfro (she/her) works as an educator at a high school in the San Francisco bay area and as a University Supervisor for beginning teachers. She is also a mom to two awesome teenagers. Outside of the things that keep her busy, she can be found swimming, reading, and walking her dog. *Please note that this episode contains some explicit language, as well as limited discussion of sexual violence*Visit the Episode Page here.

On today’s episode Amy is joined by Dr. Beverly Allen for an interview about her experiences studying the treatment of women and the roles that patriarchy played during the Yugoslav Wars, as well as the ramifications that her discoveries still hold for us today. This episode contains some challenging content— during our interview we discuss forms of violence, including the use of rape and torture. Please take care of yourselves accordingly.Beverly Allen (she/her) has taught at Cornell, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Zagreb. Her books are in Italian Studies and Cultural Studies, including Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. Recipient of numerous awards and prizes, she held the William P. Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Humanities at Syracuse. She received a Masters from Columbia University and a PhD from UC Berkeley. Visit the Episode Page here.

On today’s episode we hear a stunning story from a woman on a mission for the Church of Latter-Day Saints. This story includes discussions of mental health, faith, false appearances, and how the systems around us shape our relationship with our bodies. Due to the sensitive nature of this material, the author of this essay has asked to remain anonymous. We're grateful to friend-of-the-podcast, Mary Piccard-Reischmann, for performing this story on our contributor's behalf. Mary Piccard-Reischmann (she/her) is a theatre artist, illustrator, and podcast enthusiast from St. Petersburg, Florida. She studied English, Spanish, and Communication Design at Washington University in St. Louis and earned her Masters in Humanities from the University of Chicago. She is currently the Scenic Charge Artist for Portland Center Stage and spends her free time going to movies and spending too many hours playing on her Nintendo Switch. Visit the Episode Page here.

On today's episode we celebrate International Women’s Day! This holiday traces its history all the way back to 1909 in NYC. While popular Women’s Day traditions include giving women flowers and small gifts, it is so critical that we not let this holiday become detached from its activist roots. Yes, the day is absolutely intended to be a time for us to recognize one another’s achievements as women, but it’s also a call to action, a day when we’re all encouraged to engage in difficult conversations, to challenge institutions, and to embolden our push for gender parity across the world.   With this dedication to progress in mind, it was our thrill to be joined by, Vanessa Loder, who shared not only the story of her personal journey to empowerment, but also provided her professional guidance to help each of us unravel our inner patriarchs, set boundaries, and tap into the energy that motivates us.Vanessa Loder is an inspirational keynote speaker and sought-after expert on women’s leadership, mindfulness, stress management and sustainable success. Vanessa’s work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, the Huffington Post and Glamour magazine, among others. Her TEDx talk “How To Lean In Without Burning Out” has over 150,000 views, over 14,000 people have taken Vanessa’s paid online courses and her guided meditations have been streamed over 787,000 times globally. Vanessa provides in-person and online educational tools that support high potential women leaders. By distilling powerful techniques for meditation, visualization, and self-compassion into simple tools and daily practices, Loder teaches women how to quiet their minds, set boundaries without feeling guilty, let go of the pressure to be “perfect”, and get more of what they want in life. Vanessa has taught at AirBnB, Bain & Co, Castlight Health, Charles Schwab, Cisco, Flextronics, Goldman Sachs, Google, LinkedIn, Mattel, PwC, Salesforce, Stanford Graduate School of Business, StubHub!, The North Face, Uber, YouTube, and many other organizations. After spending close to a decade working in finance on Wall Street and Silicon Valley, Vanessa felt that she had climbed to the top of the wrong ladder. Her personal transformation and soul awakening, subsequent research and work have led to thousands of brilliant, overwhelmed women finding their way back to soul. Vanessa received her MBA from Stanford University and her BA from Columbia University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude. Loder is a certified Executive Coach, trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, past life regression and Vipassana meditation with Jack Kornfield. Vanessa currently lives in Lafayette, CA with her husband and two children, who remind her to take “mommy time-outs” when she’s about to lose her marbles. Visit her at https://vanessaloder.com/.Visit the Episode Page here. Additional resources referenced in this episode include:Feminine/Masculine ChartValues ToolHow to Say No Without Feeling Guilty Cheat SheetRichard Schwartz's "No Bad Parts" Interview on Insights On the Edge Richard Schwartz's book No Bad PartsMary Wolynn's It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle 30 Day Meditation Challenge 

Today in 1987, Congress passed a resolution designating March as Women’s History Month — but — not only is March Women’s History Month, here in the US March is also Irish-American Heritage Month! And what better way to ring in this new month than by learning about Ireland’s patroness saint and listening to the experiences of Irish women?First, we're joined by Ariana Baltay who contributed a fascinating segment about sacred female power, invisible labor, and the patroness saint, Brigid of Kildare. Ariana Baltay is a teacher, a mom, and a recent Stanford MLA (Masters of Liberal Arts) grad. She loves painting, traveling and swimming with the PCC Masters team. Welcome Ariana.Later in the episode, we hear from Maureen Hernon, a teacher, restauranteur, and writer who tells us about her life growing up in rural Ireland. We are so grateful that she’s joining us today to share stories from her life and, regrettably, the role that patriarchy has played in it. Visit the Episode Page here.

On today's episode I'm joined by Emily Bell McCormick for an interview about the impacts of period poverty and the battle for economic justice unfolding in state legislatures right now.For those interested in getting involved with the fight against period poverty, or any of Emily’s other incredible work, please visit The Policy Project.Emily Bell McCormick (she/her) is founder of The Policy Project— a U.S. non-profit organization made up of individuals and like-minded organizations that help educate around and move forward healthy, long-term policy at a local and national level. Emily is also the editor of Utah’s NBC affiliate KSL Studio 5 "Smarter" series--informing viewers about issues, government, policies and politics of the time and helping to empower viewers to find their place in it all. Emily is an experienced communication strategy consultant with a history of working in a myriad of industries including government, policy, NGOs, tech and fashion. Emily has a master’s degree in communication from The Ohio State University and a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Brigham Young University.Visit the Episode Page here.

This coming Friday, February 18th, will be the birthday of seminal American novelist, Toni Morrison. With her legacy in mind, it’s our honor today to be joined by poet Robert Lashley to share a stunning story about the books of Toni Morrison, American literature, and a son’s unyielding love for his mother. Robert Lashley is a 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and nominee for a Stranger Genius Award. Robert Lashley has had work published in The Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Poetry Northwest, McSweeney’s, and The Cascadia Review. His poetry was also featured in such anthologies as Many Trails to The Summitt, Foot Bridge Above The Falls, Get Lit, Make It True, and It Was Written. His previous books include THE HOMEBOY SONGS (Small Doggies Press, 2014), and UP SOUTH (Small Doggies Press, 2017). His latest book THE GREEN RIVER VALLEY, was released from Blue Cactus Press on June 17th, 2021 Content Warning: this episode contains discussion of sexual abuse and self-harm. Please take care of yourselves accordingly.Visit the Episode Page here.

On today's episode I'm joined by one-of-a-kind chess champion and streamer, Anna Rudolf to discuss her experiences in the patriarchal world of competitive chess, including a crash course on the history of female chess champions and an honest discussion about why young women walk away from the game and how everyday people can show up and create change.Anna Rudolf (she/her) is an Olympic Chess-Player and three-time Hungarian Champion. She holds both the International Master and Woman Grand Master titles. In 2013 she recorded her first video series in the studio of chess24 and has since established herself as an acclaimed chess commentator, streamer and reporter.Outside of her playing career, Anna is a regular chess commentator at high-profile tournaments, having worked with both Chess.com and chess24. She was the official commentator for the 2018 World Chess Championship together with her childhood idol Judit Polgár. She had started producing instructional videos for chess24 in 2013, and has co-hosted a series with fellow IM Sopiko Guramishvili where they are known respectively as Miss Strategy and Miss Tactics. She launched her own Twitch channel in 2018 and also runs her own YouTube channel.To learn more about Anna, you can visit her website annarudolfchess.com or tune in to one of her livestreams at twitch.tv/anna_chessVisit the Episode Page here.

On today's episode we're joined by author and podcaster Cherie Burton, who talks to us about sacred rage, the anger of ancestresses, and how we can harness the indignant energy that patriarchy boils up inside us.Cherie Burton is a mom of 6, author, holistic health business owner, Women Seeking Wholeness podcast host, and hobbyist divine feminine scholar. She has worked as a clinical counselor in the fields of mental health and addiction and now specializes in the science and spirituality of emotional healing and sensory integration; a "whole soul" approach. Cherie is a former Mrs. Utah and guides women in her Stand Speak Shine private coaching programs, retreats and online school. She travels internationally, empowering audiences with knowledge and tools to heal their trauma, find their soul callings, and embrace their wholeness.Learn more at www.CherieBurton.comVisit the Episode Page here.