Popaganda

Capitalism has complicated our cultural definition of “glamour”—and in the process, it has corrupted how we see and express ourselves. Host Carmen Rios talks to journalist Tansy Hoskins, who’s the author of 2014’s Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion and 2020’s Foot Work: What Your Shoes Are Doing To The World; girls’ empowerment speaker Brie Mathers (Love the Skin You’re In) and People Tree founder and author Safia Minney (“Naked Fashion: The Sustainable Fashion Revolution,” “Slow Fashion: Aesthetics Meets Ethics,” “Slave to Fashion”) in pursuit of something better—glamour beyond capitalism—in this episode of Popaganda.

In the sixth episode of Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season, host Carmen Rios meets up with Davida Hall from Lipstick Lobby in Los Angeles—and finds out the stories behind each shade of the feminist beauty brand’s movement-oriented products.   Use the code “Bitch15” for 15 percent off your favorite feminist shade at https://thelipsticklobby.com! Share a selfie in your favorite shade with the hashtag #ProtestWithABoldLip!   This episode of Popaganda is sponsored by Lewis & Clark College’s 39th annual Gender Studies Symposium in Portland, Oregon, from March 11–13. Don’t miss out on this exciting series of free lectures, workshops, and panel discussions, an art exhibit, and keynote talks by Jack Halberstam and Feminista Jones. Learn more at go.lclark.edu/gendersymp. We’ll see you on campus!

Host Carmen Rios investigates the labor crises facing women who work in fashion’s supply chain—and challenges listeners to become part of a better fashion economy—in the fifth episode of Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season. Featuring: Ethan Snow (UNITE HERE), Ruth Ogier (WAR ON WANT), Sarah Ditty (FASHION REVOLUTION).

In the fourth episode of Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season, host Carmen Rios heads to Oakland, California to visit feminist artist Michele Pred—and find out how she makes the political purses you’ve seen on red carpets and across the Internet.

Host Carmen Rios tries to figure out what sustainable fashion looks like—and assesses the devastating impacts of the industry on the planet—in the third episode of Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season. Featuring: Cat Chiang (The Restitchtance), Sarah Dupont (“River of Gold”), Aditi Mayer (ADIMAY), Leah Musch (The Un-Material Girl) and A. Tianna Scozzaro of the Sierra Club.

In the second episode of Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season, host Carmen Rios explores the powerful potential of witchy beauty rituals—like hexing the patriarchy, carrying empowering talismans and invoking the names of powerful goddesses alone to yourself in your room. Featuring: Pam Grossman (host of The Witch Wave podcast and the author of “Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power”), Gabriela Herstik (author of “Inner Witch: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Craft” and the “Ask A Witch” columnist at Nylon Magazine), Dianca London (former online editor of Well-Read Black Girl and prose editor of LIT Magazine) and Maria Vashakidze (owner and formulator of Seagrape bath+body).

Popaganda’s GLAMOUR season is finally here—and in the first episode, host Carmen Rios charts the course toward a feminist future without diet culture. Tune in to hear from The F*ck-It Diet founder Caroline Dooner; Sabrina Strings, author of “Fearing the Black Body;” Kimberly Dark, author of “Fat, Pretty and Soon to Be Old;” and Virgie Tovar, author of “You Have the Right to Remain Fat” on the steps all of us can take to escape from diet culture, and to start building a world without one.

With the 2020 election looming closer than ever, Popaganda host Carmen Rios calls up four women leading the fight for gender parity in politics—A’shanti Gholar, from EMERGE America; Erin Vilardi, of VoteRunLead; Aimee Allison, founder of She The People; and Jennifer Mandelblatt, founder of PLATFORM—and political reporter and author Prachi Gupta to talk about the fierce feminist leadership of The Squad, and what it will take to help advance their mission to shake up the system.

Popaganda’s HEAT season comes to a fiery conclusion this week—with host Carmen Rios in conversation with a slew of inspiring feminist trailblazers. Inspired by her own crisis of conscience, and her own feelings of displacement and isolation in the movement, Carmen calls on iconic movement leaders and shakers and encourages listeners to appreciate the sacrifices and the challenges that women like them face in real-time when they work to build a better feminism.

Popaganda host Carmen Rios is taking listeners out for some mission-driven meals in the latest episode of the podcast's HEAT season. This week, she's joined by Miry's List Founder Miry Whitehill and Christy Anderson, who runs the organization's supper club series; KCRW's Good Food host Evan Kleinman; and refugee chef Maaysa Kanjo—all of whom offer up insights into the impact of the organization's work to serve up social change and foster community support for re-settling families.

This week, Popaganda’s HEAT season heads away from the fire—and marches directly toward the smoke. In this week’s episode, host Carmen Rios talks to a slew of “puffragettes” fighting to end the drug war, foster a more equitable cannabis industry and forge a feminist future in weed. 2019 has already heralded in a whole lot of victories in the fight for laws that decriminalize and legalize cannabis possession and distribution—and studies show that more women are lighting up than ever. When marijuana business boomed, the number of women in leadership positions in the industry fell, and the national patchwork of drug laws leaves people of color at risk for criminalization and incarceration every day. But women aren’t surrendering to the patriarchal and corporate forces threatening the future of cannabis. Instead, they’re organizing at the state and national level for comprehensive marijuana laws, building networks for women in the business of bud, and creating space for marginalized communities to reclaim and redefine weed culture. Carmen talks to policy experts, business leaders and community-focused stoners in this episode—digging into the importance of comprehensive drug laws with Karen O’Keefe from the Marijuana Policy Projects, talking shop with The Incubator founder Amy Margolis and Ellementa co-founder Aliza Sherman, envisioning queer cannabis culture with 420 Queer co-founder Irene Urias and appraising the landscape of the sector with Mary Janes: The Women of Weed filmmaker Windy Borman.  Carmen came to every interview with the same question: What does a feminist weed culture look like? She came away with the knowledge that there are a lot of moving parts — and a lot of work ahead — in the fight to create equity in cannabis. But she’s hopeful, like the women she talks to, that the future of weed is feminist — and that together, we can take down the capitalist stoner bros trying to convince us it never was.

Popaganda’s HEAT season is back—and as burnt out as ever. Through conversations with feminist writers Feminista Jones and Tiana Clark, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund Senior Advocacy and Communications Officer Ledys Sanjuan, Feminist Oasis founder Crystal Paradis and feminist academic Rosemary Clark-Parsons, host Carmen Rios explores the challenges of building a sustainable movement for gender equality and forges a path toward a feminism beyond burnout.  

Popaganda’s HEAT season marches on this week—and walks right into the bedroom. In the second episode, host Carmen Rios talks to "Wordslut" author Amanda Montell, sex educator and former rape crisis counselor Mala Munoz, Playboy features editor Anita Little and Yes Means Yes co-editor and What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety author Jaclyn Friedman about what it will take for us to rewrite the script on sex and instigate a feminist sexual revolution. Along the way, she looks back on her own feminist awakening and coming-of-sluttiness—and realizes just how necessary sexual liberation is to smashing the patriarchy.

Welcome to Popaganda's HEAT season! In the first episode, host Carmen Rios looks back on the impact of the Spice Girls as they enter into their reunion tour. 20 years after girl power became a global phenomena, she investigates the legacy of the band in pop culture and the messages they impressed on an entire generation --  talking to feminist writers Jill Gutowitz and Sady Doyle about the promise of girl power and re-watching Spice World with comedian Brittani Nichols in order to wade back into the debate that rages on today about marketplace feminism and fauxpowerment.

This episode originally aired on August 3, 2017. The beach is supposed to be a place of relaxation. But, as we all know far too well, it’s also a place of high anxiety. Nothin’ puts body positive feelings to the test quite like slipping into what’s essentially colorful underwear and parading around in the midday sun in front of a bunch of strangers. This episode of Popaganda, “Beach Bodies,” takes listeners from the sandy sun to the woods, to the pool, and back again, all while having conversations about how we feel about our bodies and how to deal with the anxieties people have around having their bodies being on display outside. We talk with Unlikely Hikers creator Jenny Bruso about diversifying outdoor-industry media, hear from model Sawyer DeVuyst about telling visual stories from trans perspectives, and dish on fat-positive fashion with style blogger Jessica Torres. We also share oral histories of a 1930s resort called Dreamland, which catered to African Americans living in the segregated Jim Crow South.  And bonus: interviews from a nude beach. Tune in!

Originally broadcasted on November 10, 2016   We are here to make the future less terrible. This episode features guidance on talking to kids about all kinds of complicated issues. Writer and photographer Margaret Jacobsen explains how she speaks frankly with her kids about pretty much everything, including her open relationship. Everyone is Gay co-founder Kristin Russo shares ideas for discussing queer identities with kids of all ages. A dozen Popaganda listeners call in with stories of one thing they each do to help raise a future generation of feminists. Oh, and host Sarah Mirk phones her parents. Tune in.   

This episode originally aired on October 23, 2015. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself? Give me a break. What about being afraid of murder? Indefinite detention? Stand-up comedy? On this episode, we explore some of the many things that make us afraid. The show begins with a story from filmmaker Assia Boundaoui, who grew up in a mostly Arab American neighborhood that was under FBI surveillance. Then, we have two perspectives on feminism and horror films: Writer Leela Ginelle discusses how films like Funny Games and Panic Room tie into real-life fears of domestic violence and film buff Sara Century looks at the history of queer women in horror (bring on the lesbian vampires!). We end the show with comedian Jenny Yang, who explains how the only way to get beyond your fear of getting onstage is to actually get onstage. 

This episode was originally released on April 27, 2017.   “Family values” has been co-opted by right-wing folks. But what the hell! Feminists have strong values, and we have strong families, too. On today’s episode, we’re queering family values. For a lot of queer folks, the traditional concept of family is wrought with complicated feelings—a lot of blood families refuse to accept or celebrate queerness, so LGBTQ people have in many ways redefined “family” for themselves. I talk with two queer feminist activists about what the word “family” means to them and which “family values” they try to live by and teach.   Writer and photographer Margaret Jacobsen and writer Yasmin Nair are two awesome feminist thinkers who have different ideas on what it means to have a family, what it means to get married, and how our ideas of family shape our ideas of the world.

From Metropolis to Westworld, female robots have always played out complicated power dynamics onscreen. While the term “fembots” conjurs up the image of killer mechanical sex-kittens from Austin Powers, cinematic stories about female robots often deal with much darker and deeper dynamics.   In this episode, filmmaker and professor Allison de Fren walks us through the history of female robots onscreen in movies like The Stepford Wives, Ex Machina, and Her and how their stories revolve around issues of power and control. Then, for you Westworld obsessives, poet and scholar Margaret Rhee discusses the race and gender dynamics of hit HBO series Westworld. But, of course, robots are all around us in real life, too. Feminist researcher Miriam Sweeney delves into the world of virtual assistants that have female voices and bodies, from the modern Siri to the old-school Ms. Dewey.