Here is the show on YouTube.

First up, hear Lola Bessis, WLRN’s newest member greet the listener introducing herself and her professor, Victoria Brown, who later on in the program will talk about advances and setbacks in women’s health.

Next, open your ears for WLRN’s World News segment delivered by Mary O’Neill in which she highlights news from Iran and its death sentences for female activists, the Purple Saturdays movement in Afghanistan, and news from the Gambia where Parliament just voted to maintain the national ban on female genital mutilation.

After the news, hear Sylvia Bagge’s “Release the Medicine”, a song about a woman’s healing journey. Thistle met Sylvia in the year 2002 in the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at the National Rainbow Gathering. Her words and music are true medicine for the heart and soul.

Then it’s on to Lola’s interview with Victoria Brown in which they discuss Ms. Brown’s research before diving into the nitty gritty of the state of the medical establishment and women’s health.

Stay tuned ’til the very end for Sekhmet’s sobering commentary on the misogyny inherent within the medical system that underserves, ignores, and does actual harm to women and girls. She concludes her piece with encouragement for us to take charge of our health and to know that doing so is an act of radical feminism.

As always, thank you for tuning in to WLRN’s monthly handcrafted podcast put together by a team of volunteers who care deeply about the lives and matters of women.

To donate to the WLRN fundraiser Jenna and April talked about in today’s show, please click here.

Make a note that your donation is going to our FiLia Fund. Thanks for tuning in and thank you for your support.

Artist’s statement about this month’s cover art by Margaret, WLRN’s artist-in-residence.

I started by finding an image related to medicine and women.  I set that up on the right side, and found some silhouettes of women I had created previously, for the left side.

I layered over all of it with an image of a plant from my garden. I liked how the structure reminded me of capillaries and various configurations found in life. I also included an image of a Petri dish I had used previously (but more transparent this time around).

I made a green swish with the ‘procreate’ paintbrush and adjusted the colors and effects so that the hand of the medical personnel was highlighted (symbolically emphasizing the misogyny).

The face of the women in silhouette is ‘erased’ by the yellow box behind the type. The face of ‘medicine’ as well as the victims are obscured – as the damage to women is often hidden or overlooked.