Buried History: The Woman Who Created the Home Pregnancy Test
This episode was originally published in 2014, and this episode is a republishing of the Feb 28, 2024 Encore, titled “The Feminist Birth of the Home Pregnancy Test.” In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to...
Exposed Part One: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunter’s Point from SF Public Press
Today we present the first half of a two-part radio documentary from our friends at the San Francisco Public Press, “Exposed,” opening a window into the little-known history of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The sprawling abandoned naval base, in San Francisco’s southeast waterfront Bayview neighborhood, is currently the site of the city’s largest real estate development project. The base played a key role in the Cold War nuclear...
Mothers, Markets, and Migration: How South Korea Became a Major Source for International Adoptions
In this week’s episode, we take a look at how over six decades after the Korean War, South Korea processed the most international adoptions in history and how the demand for a “domestic supply of (adoptable) infants” may be playing a role in increasing threats to autonomy over pregnancy in the US. Featuring: Independent Producer and Founder of Rowhome Productions, Alex Lewis Producer, Schuyler Swenson Registered...
Birth Parents on Adoption
Because of the fall of Roe v. Wade, we’re hearing a lot more about adoption as an alternative for women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy. And even before, media portrayals of adoption have always painted it as an easy ethical conclusion to a difficult circumstance. But the real, lived experiences of birth parents who give up their children for adoption have never been part of the conversation. Do birth parents...
How the Legacy of Colonialism Keeps Puerto Rico’s Healthcare System in Shambles
Almost half of Puerto Rico’s doctors have fled the island over the past decade, leading to a lack of specialists and treatment and incredibly long wait times. And this isn’t just an inconvenience. People are dying from lack of care. Why is Puerto Rico’s health care system collapsing, and why are doctors fleeing the island? We take a look at its deeply dysfunctional private medical system and why attempts to fix it,...
Tackling the Intimate Partner Violence to Prison Pipeline
We catch up with journalist and intimate partner violence (IPV) survivor Natalie Pattillo to talk about the folks fighting for justice for criminalized survivors of IPV. Listen to find out the story behind Oklahoma activists that led the state to adopt a new law based on New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, and how you can get involved. And finally, Stanford Criminal Justice Center’s Regilla Project just...
