Women's Liberation Radio News

Today's edition starts off with a greeting from Thistle, our resident singer/songwriter and founder of WLRN before diving into our world news segment with Cat Bradfield. After the news, hear Ani DiFranco's song, Atom, in its entirety to get an idea of the enormity of the problem and its root in male dominion and madness. Next, stay tuned for an interview Thistle did with Professor Cynthia Enloe of Clark University about the global nature of the nuclear problem and the different responses, actions and solutions of governments and peace activists. Cynthia emphasizes the work of ICAN, the International Campaign to End Nuclear Weapons https://www.icanw.org/and the book Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy by Ray Acheson. Then, hear riveting commentary delivered by aurora linnea in which she discusses the phallic nature of the Bomb and the absurdity that all of human history, culture and life could end in a moment of males punching in codes to blast off large penis-shaped bombs. Aurora explores the anit-nuclear movement led by feminists in the 1980s to show how women organized in the past and could do it again. She highlights the work of Dr. Helen Caldicott, among other inspirational anti-nukes feminists. Finally, dive into the song Jezebel that Thistle wrote and recorded over 20 years ago about women's simultaneous bondage and resistance to the patriarchal nuclear age. The cover art this month was created by Margaret who brings us this artist's statement: "To create the image for Edition 113, The Nuclear Threat, I used a photo of the ‘Fat Man’, the 21 kiloton implosion-type plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, along with an image of a woman with atomic bomb injuries, an image of Nagasaki after the explosion, and an atomic bomb plume. I added red colors to the Nagasaki image, and magenta to the bomb plume. We see the woman from the back - over laid with blues and purples - and with the ruins of Nagasaki bleeding through her body. She is facing the destruction, the effects, but we can’t see her expression. The Fat Man bomb sits nestled next to the woman, taking up space, like the space that the nuclear war threat occupies in our society and our sensibilities." Thanks for staying tuned to feminist-powered community radio, WLRN.

Welcome to the 112th edition of WLRN's monthly handcrafted and collectively created podcast! This month features four Dianic Priestesses who speak with Thistle about the Red Tent they set up at National Women's Music Festival (NWMF) in Madison, WI every year. Harvest Brown is an ordained Dianic Priestess of the Red Tent. She and her Red Tent clan have set up and worked within the Red Tent space at NWMF for ten years. Holin Blackmoon is a Dianic High Priestess and Land Witch. She has been reading the cards for over 50 years. She is happiest among plants and animals, especially her beloved hens. Rain Foster is an ordained priestess, practicing in the Dianic tradition for 24 years. She is a member of the Red Tent clan in Madison, WI, offering sacred, women born women-only spaces. FireHawk is an ordained priestess of transformation and transition in the Dianic tradition. She has been a practitioner of wicca for over 30 years and a steward of mother earth and her creatures great and small since she was a small child. To learn more about the National Women's Music Festival, visit this link: https://nwmf.info/ The World News segment is brought to you by Cat Bradfield and our show is produced with tender love and care by Ann Castile. WLRN commentary this month is by Freda Bear. Thanks for tuning in to WLRN!

July 3rd, 2025 MADISON -- First up, be greeted by WLRN's founder, Thistle Pettersen before she hands the baton to WLRN's newest member, Ms. Cat Bradfield, who delivers the world news segment. After enjoying Tracy Chapman's song "The Promise", hear Arianne of LGB Alliance USA speak with Thistle about Pride 2025 just before Arianne hopped into the woods for a RadFem summer camp in the Pacific Northwest this June and July. Then, hear a rendition of aurora linnea's first piece she turned in to WLRN in 2021 that April Neault loved so much, she made into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiJGYYpXhWo After the reading of aurora's essay entitled "Pride: Corporate Patriarchy's Celebration in the Streets", we end our show by thanking our guest, Arianne of LGB Alliance USA, and signing off. This month's artwork is by WLRN's graphic designer and artist, Margaret Moss. Edition 111 Artist's Statement : "I started the featured image with an oil sketch Berthe Morisot created in 1885. The drawing/painting she made is a self-portrait that includes a portrait of her daughter. All loosely rendered. I kept the background of Berthe Morisot’s oil sketch, and I digitally sketched an image of our guest Arianne of LGB Alliance USA, and Tracy Chapman, whose song, ‘The Promise’ is included in this month’s podcast. I included purple and green because I especially like those colors - and I appreciate that they have a connection to (British) suffragists. I enjoyed interacting with Berthe Morisot’s artwork. Even though she created her painting in 1885, it has a modern feel. I expect that Morisot had a greater influence on Modern Art than she is given credit for. I appreciate women such as Berthe Morisot, all the suffragists, Arianne, and Tracy Chapman for their contributions to our culture. And I appreciate WLRN for lifting up women so their voices can be heard more widely."

First up, hear Thistle greet the listener with an appeal for support to get the team at WLRN over to England this Fall for the FiLia conference. Learn more here: https://wlrnmedia.com/2025/03/28/filia/. Next, stay tuned for WLRN's world news segment written and delivered by aurora linnea in which she features stories from the UK, France, Mexico and the USA. The world news is followed by the song "Goodbye Mississippi" by Jess Hawk Oakenstar, a song suggested by our guest this month, Dianne Post. It's a beautiful and sad song with heart-felt lyrics about a mother and daughter trying to escape male violence. Following the song, hear the interview Thistle did with Ms. Dianne Post about the male bias present in the law in the United States and what feminist women need to do to combat it. Finally, stay tuned for the replaying of Sekhmet's brilliant commentary about female sexuality in the face of the commercial sex industry that seeks to exploit it for male gain. Thanks for tuning in to feminist community powered radio, WLRN! #prostitution #DiannePost #WLRN

Happy Nine-year anniversary to WLRN! That's right! We have been bringing you a free, volunteer-produced feminist podcast for nine whole years since our humble beginnings in 2016. We couldn't have done it without YOU, dear listeners, so please consider a "happy anniversary" donation to help with our costs to attend the FiLia conference. You can learn more about that fundraising campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f09AG_mmgw&t=9s First up, hear WLRN's Mary O'Neill deliver the world news segment for the last time until further notice. Email info@wlrnmedia.com with your resume and cover letter if you are interested in taking over Mary's job of collecting and reading the world news every month. We love having new members join the team! Thank you, Mary, for your two years of service to the collective! After the world news, enjoy the song "And Leave" by Solely before hearing an interview Freda did with two women who exited prostitution and contribute to the podcast Red Light Expose. Red Light Expose highlights the voices of women who have exited prostitution and combats the growing acceptance and endorsement of "sex work" ideology. redlightexpose.com Finally, Sekhmet SheOwl rounds off the podcast with her compelling commentary about women, sex and sexuality. SheOwl emphasizes that it is not sex that is the problem, rather it is male dominance and violence that ruins sex for women. She encourages us to explore our sexuality away from all the hype of the male gaze and to base our encounters on love and care. Thanks again for tuning in to WLRN. #WLRN #feminism #radicalfeminism #redlightexpose On Exiting from Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Insights from Sex Trade Experienced Persons Written by Andrea Heinz (interviewee on edition 109) https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol5/iss1/8/ redlightexpose.com A new platform for critical voices of the sex industry https://nordicmodelnow.org/ The Nordic Model approach to prostitution (sometimes also known as the Sex Buyer Law, or the Swedish, Abolitionist, or Equality Model) decriminalises selling sex, provides support services to help those involved to exit, and makes paying for sex a criminal offence, in order to reduce the demand that drives sex trafficking womensliberationfront.org Working to restore, protect, and advance the rights of women and girls https://rights4girls.org/ Defending the dignity and human rights of young women and girls who experience gender violence and exploitation https://www.epikproject.org/ Men working to disrupt the demand for commercial sexual exploitation https://clementine-megalodon-86hj.squarespace.com/ The organization Wake Up Brother seeks to mobilize men to create a society free from prostitution and sexual exploitation

Welcome to the 108th edition of WLRN's monthly podcast! First up, hear aurora greet the listener before handing the mic to Mary O'Neill who delivers WLRN's world news featuring stories from Louisiana, Russia and Iran. After the world news, stay tuned for the song "Mother Rage" by Kathy Fire, an anarchist feminist songwriter who released this gem in 1978. Next, hear the interview Thistle did with Lierre Keith about the significance of the re-release of Andrea Dworkin's Right Wing Women by Picador in February of 2025. Lierre Keith (www.lierrekeith.com) is a writer, small farmer, and radical feminist activist. She is the author of six books including, The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, which has been called “the most important ecological book of this generation.” She is also coauthor, with Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay, of Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. She’s been arrested six times for acts of political resistance. Finally, stay tuned 'til the very end for commentary from WLRN member aurora linnea in which she aptly compares Trump to Ronald Reagan and ties it all together for us regarding the force of right wing politics in the United States. She also, however, rightly points out, as did Ms. Dworkin, the misogyny and cruelty toward women on the left, and how women don't have a viable option for dignity and respect in general in American life. Thanks for tuning in to another WLRN monthly handcrafted podcast. We would love to hear from you so please listen, like, comment and share widely! #WLRN #AndreaDworkin #RightWingWomen #LierreKeith #auroralinnea

Continuing our exploration of ecofeminist theory and practice, March's edition puts an emphasis on ecofeminist practice and actions we all can take to put women in places of power to (re)generate the healing changes and salves we need in society to work together to overcome greed and land grabs, and work for a future of sane decision making in the direction of catastrophe prevention, including in the rebuilding of LA. Hear from Ava Park, Priestess of the Temple of the Goddess of Orange County, tell us a bit about her women-only organization and a bit about her philosophy and then go on to tell us about how members of her community were impacted by the fires, including a member who called her in the middle of the night because she had lost everything, except the clothes on her back. At the end of the interview with Ava, she makes an appeal to WLRN listeners to write to Mayor Karen Bass at mayor.helpdesk@lacity.org and let her know that you support the reinstatement of lesbian fire chief Kristin Crowly. Below, find the template letter Ava suggests you work with. Dear Mayor Bass: Please reconsider the termination of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. The circumstances of our recent fires here in Southern California were extreme and unusual. Many respected community leaders support Fire Chief Crowley, believe she has done a fine job, and that this may not be the time to make a drastic change. Crowley has the experience needed; she can learn from this past fire season and doubtless handle matters better with that knowledge. A new fire chief will have a big learning curve. Even if she has made mistakes, let our community benefit from the experience Crowley has now gained. Please reinstate Fire Chief Crowley and meet with her to design a plan for facing our coming fire season next year with all that you, your staff, the fire department and other Los Angeles leaders have learned from our recent disaster. Give Crowley the budget she says she requires to run the department properly. Nothing could be more important. See how she performs in the coming year. If you feel she is not competent, you can terminate her then and no one would question your judgment. Thank you. - (Your name and any title or location info you want to put to validate you are a real person) After the interview with Ava, stay tuned for Thistle's interview with comedian and actor Goldie Hoffman who reports that when she returned home there was a gray dust covering her yard, "...the bushes, the trees, the grass, everything." She describes touching it and going on to tell about the possible toxic content she and others likely have ingested and may continue to be ingesting. These are scary times and real stories coming from women on the front lines of ecofeminism in the sense of staying alive as the world burns around them, and aiding in a spirit of cooperation and community when possible. Finally, hear Sekhmet SheOwl's poignant commentary about how the number of homes destroyed in the fires really impacts how people are handling the aftermath and that men are raping and trafficking women in increased numbers due to their destitution, vulnerability and homelessness. Sekhmet calls for us to build our female friendships and community as the human ship goes down. Finally, on an up note, Freda invites us to learn more about WoLF Summer Camp for Radfems and to sign up here: https://womensliberationfront.org/2025-summer-camps

Welcome to the 106th edition podcast of Women's Liberation Radio News. First up, hear aurora linnea greet the listener before handing the mic to Mary O'Neill for women's news from around the world. Next, enjoy the song "Heaven is a Place on Earth" an old 80's pop favorite re-imagined by Allison Lorenzen. After the song, stay tuned for excerpts of a LIVE round table discussion the WLRN team held on January 11th with aurora to discuss her book, Man Against Being: Body Horror & the Death of Life. Finally, enjoy this month's commentary from WLRN team member Margaret Moss who speaks to us about how human society is organized around serving the alpha males, something we should have left behind long ago in our journey here on earth. To learn more about ecofeminism, aurora has put together a list of books and articles to explore published below. AN ECOFEMINIST READING LIST This list does not claim nor attempt to be comprehensive; instead it is meant as a primer for readers keen to delve into ecofeminist theory. Jane Caputi The Age of Sex Crime (1987) Gossip, Gorgons & Crones: The Fates of the Earth (1993) Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power, and Popular Culture (2004) Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962) Andree Collard with Joyce Contrucci, Rape of the Wild: Man’s Violence Against Animals and the Earth (1989) Irene Diamond, Fertile Ground: Women, Earth, and the Limits of Control (1994) Francoise d’Eaubonne, Feminism or Death: How the Women’s Movement Can Save the Planet (1974) Greta Gaard, Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens (1998) Susan Griffin Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her (1978) Pornography and Silence: Culture’s Revenge Against Nature (1981) The Eros of Everyday Life: Essays on Ecology, Gender and Society (1995) Susan Hawthorne Wild Politics (2002) Vortex: The Crisis of Patriarchy (2020) Marti Kheel, Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective (2007) Freya Mathews, Reinhabiting Reality: Towards a Recovery of Culture (2005) Carolyn Merchant The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution (1980) Radical Ecology: The Search for a Livable World (1992) Reinventing Eden: The Fate of Nature in Western Culture (2003) Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (1993) Rosemary Radford Ruether, New Woman, New Earth: Sexist Ideologies and Human Liberation (1975) Ariel Salleh, Ecofeminism as Politics: Nature, Marx and the Postmodern (1997) Vandana Shiva Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development (1988) Monocultures of the Mind (1993) Oneness Vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom (2018) Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies, Ecofeminism (1993) Charlene Spretnak, The Resurgence of the Real: Body, Nature and Place in a Hypermodern World (1999) Karen Warren Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature (1997) Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What it Is and Why it Matters (2000) ANTHOLOGIES Reclaim the Earth: Women Speak Out for Life on Earth, eds. Leonie Caldecott and Stephanie Leland (1984) Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism, ed. Judith Plant (1989) Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism, eds. Irene Diamond & Gloria Orenstein (1990) Ecofeminism and the Sacred, ed. Carol Adams (1993) Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature, ed. Greta Gaard (1993) Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, eds. Carol Adams and Josephine Donovan (1995) Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals and the Earth, ed. Carol Adams (2014)

Happy New Year from the team at WLRN! This month, Lola Bessis takes the reigns and offers up an interview she did with an 18 year-old UN Women nonprofit organizer who wishes to remain anonymous. They have a lively discussion about what it means to be a globally minded feminist and the work our guest does for women and girls and how it feels to be from the global south and to usually be the youngest member of the panels and organizations she participates in. First up, hear the greeting from WLRN founding member, Thistle. If you would like to apply to be WLRN's new Business Manager, please reach out to us at info@wlrnmedia.com. We need a new volunteer to manage WLRN's finances, fundraising and website as we transition to becoming an LLC. If we are unable to fill this position by the end of February, we may not be able to continue the good work of WLRN so please apply! No experience is necessary! After the greeting, stay tuned for WLRN's world news segment with Mary O'Neill in which she reports on the impact the Cass Review is having in the UK, the Taliban and the plight of Gisele Pelicot. After the news, you'll hear the street song "El violador eres tú" from five years ago when women in Latin America took it to the streets and it went viral worldwide. After the song, hear the interview Lola did with a young UN Women organizer who talks about what it's like to be young and a feminist organizer, and who shares her views on the importance of solidarity in our movement. Finally, both Lola and Sekhmet chime in with commentaries on the subject before we sign off. Thank you, as ever, for tuning in to WLRN!

First up, hear the greeting by Thistle before listening to Mary O'Neill deliver WLRN's world news segment. Then, enjoy Thistle's original song Sticky Red Egg before tuning in to aurora's commentary on the US Presidential Elections cycle. After aurora shares her views, it's on to Lola and her take on the American electoral political scene. Finally, our oldest member Sekhmet SheOwl weighs in with her powerful words before our special guest, Katherine Acosta gives us her analysis of this last election cycle and what it means for women. You can check out more of Kathy's work at https://katherinemacosta.substack.com/. Thanks for tuning in to feminist community powered radio, WLRN! #WLRN #presidentialelections #Kamala #Trump #elections

This month's edition is packed with women's voices from around the USA as the nation braces itself for the new regime led by president-elect Donald Trump. First up, hear aurora linnea greet the listener before Mary O'Neill offers up news stories and information about women around the world. Then, enjoy the song "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" by Taylor Swift before listening to Thistle, aurora, Mary and Lola describe what led them to radical feminism and why they joined the WLRN team. This show is dedicated to our future feminist endeavor of meeting up with likeminded feminists in person at the FiLia conference 2025 in the UK. https://www.filia.org.uk/tickets Please consider donating to our FiLia fundraiser by clicking on the donate button at wlrnmedia.com OR by going to the totally excellent radical feminist period products company GARNUU.COM and typing in "WLRN" at checkout. Thanks sisters! Be sure to share with your female friends and family! #WLRN #GARNUU #RadicalFeminism

Dear Listeners, Thanks for your patience as we get used to working without the stellar strengths and abilities of our former sound engineer and producer, Ms. Jenna DiQuarto. We made the call-out for new sound engineers and producers, dear listeners, and she came! Please welcome our two newest members to the team, Freda Bear and Ann Castile. Ann took up the reigns this month and worked into the wee hours last night to finish up the production of this show. Great job, Ann! Thistle too, is unsure about how much longer she can keep it up with the WLRN collective, so stay tuned for some big changes around here, sisters! Thankfully, the younger generation is pickin' up the slack and Ms. Lola Bessis took the reigns this month on the topic, the interview and even the commentary! Lola's is a compelling voice clamoring for critical and free thought in a world full of an apocalyptic din. Thank you, Lola, for your work! Dr Dina Siddiqi is a distinguished feminist anthropologist whose work delves into critical development, transnational feminist theory, and the anthropology of labor and Islam. Lola interviewed her for this episode turning its attention to the regions of the world known and Israel and Palestine on this one-year anniversary of Hamas' retaliatory invasion of Israel. In Lola's commentary, she talks about her own life and what it means to her to think critically about the forces at work in the Palestinian people's current situation. She begs the listener to do her research and look back at this region's history, peoples, and cultures. The music featured this month is "The Urgent Call of Palestine" by Zeinab Shaath. Cover artwork is by WLRN member, Margaret. Her artist's statement is below. "This month’s image is based on the idea of reflections. There is the Israeli flag (with its Star of David - symbolizing the Jewish religion / ethnicity) in the sky - also ‘reflected’ in the water - that turns into Palestinian rubble. With the Palestinian Flag layered over the water and rubble. 

Of course, there are questions of Whose land? Whose water? Who has what rights? Where did those rights come from? And all the various ways of interpreting that."

Greetings! Thanks for tuning in to our 101st show. Thistle, here! It feels surreal to post this month due to the imminent departure of our beloved sound engineer and producer, Jenna DiQuarto. Jenna has been with WLRN for 8 years and diligently produced our monthly show with care and craft. You leave some big shoes to fill, dear Jenna. Thank you for your years of service and dedication to the collective, to the station, and to our archives. You will be sorely missed by all of us! Today's show begins with an announcement about our partnership with Garnuu.com/WLRN. Tune in to learn more about this exciting opportunity! Our World News segment is written and delivered by Mary O'Neill with fill-in from Jenna DiQuarto. Caroline Parks was our editor this month and Jenna delivers her commentary about her experiences at this year's Fest as a shuttle driver and general volunteer around camp at the festival. The interview segment is directly from the Land on a quiet morning before the mass haul out. Thistle got to sit down with her instructor, Elizabeth Boyce, WPI festival coach for the ukulele ensemble to hear her reflections on the event this year. At the very end of the show, hear from our sponsor, Garnuu.com/WLRN and then it's onto our sign-offs by different members of the collective. This month's musical selection is a song by Nedra Johnson, board member of WWTLC.org, singer/songwriter, and producer for Big Mouth Girl, an entity that produces a yearly festival on the Land in Michigan. The song is entitled August Moon and depicts the Michigan Magic women tap into when in hive mind mode among those sacred ferns. Margaret's artist's statement follows about the featured cover art for this month's show. Thanks for tuning in! Artist's Statement: "For Edition 101, I used some photos Thistle had from her time at the festival this summer. I basically took the photos and arranged them - emphasizing the banners - WLRN, PUSSY POWER, and RISE around a photo of a tent with musicians playing. I played with the colors - allowing it to become an abstract, and festive, unifying whole - like the festival itself."

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 personal 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: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ULAE4ZHPARLFE&ssrt=1723204852902 Make a note that your donation is going to our FiLia Fund. Thanks for tuning in and thank you for your support!

Happy Independence Day! First up, hear Thistle greet the listener introducing the topic of "patriarchal patriotism" with Liz Miller and Sekhmet SheOwl. After the greeting, hear WLRN's World News segment delivered by Mary O'Neill before enjoying American artist Whitney Houston's rendition of the patriotic song "America the Beautiful". Next, stay tuned for a conversation Thistle had with Liz Miller, Contributing Editor of Spinning and Weaving, A Feminist Anthology for the 21st Century. They discuss this year's presidential election cycle, what it means for girls and women, and what we can do to build real democracy in our society. At one point in the conversation, the Party of Women is mentioned. To learn more about the Party of Women go to: www.partyofwomen.org/ Finally, don't miss our in-house WLRN commentary by Sekhmet SheOwl who defines patriotism and points out how it is rooted in male power and is explicitly against women's interests for us to invest and participate in it. She says this is true no matter the nation and including right here in the good ole USA. Thanks as ever for tuning in to WLRN's monthly handcrafted podcast. This month and going forward into the future until the FiLia conference in October 2025, WLRN is raising funds to send Thistle, Jenna and aurora as representatives of WLRN to participate in and report on the goings on. Our passes into the conference are covered but our flight and accommodations are not thus far... and that's where you come in! To donate to the cause, please visit wlrnmedia.com and click on the donate button. Any amount is appreciated and we pledge to provide you with stellar WLRN coverage and participation in the FiLia conference 2025. For more information about FiLia, go here: www.filia.org.uk/about-filia. This month's cover image was created by Margaret, WLRN's graphic designer. Her statement about the piece is below. "To make the image for Edition 99, Patriarchal Patriotism, I used a photo I took at a Memorial Day parade, one I took of some bunting, and I found a couple of photos of bombs. The parade photo includes old cars and flags - which represent tradition, the patriarchy, and patriotism. There is a woman who is obscured by a flag (that seemed symbolic of how women are hidden and/or ignored) so I copied, enlarged, & centered that part of the image. The way the image got duplicated, people seemed to have lost their heads (also symbolic) - as the cars (and time) seem to drive over them. Also appearing ‘underground’ (and in our collective unconscious) are the bombs - USA bombs and Russia’s bombs."

This Summer of 2024, put on your rain gear and come to Michigan for the Rise Festival on the Land and WPI. More info and how to get tickets here: https://wwtlc.org/summer/. All the women gathering on the Land is sure to make the Sun shine, sisters! With guitars and grace, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival lived and thrived on what is now known as "the Land", a place that continues to be a gathering spot for thousands of women every year. This month's show begins with a PSA for the FIST conference happening in San Diego, CA over 4th of July weekend. Next you'll hear the greeting from WLRN member aurora linnea who introduces the next segment, WLRN's World News, penned and delivered by our correspondent Mary O'Neill. Next, enjoy the sweet sounds of Antje Duvekot with her song Long Way before Jenna shares excerpts of an interview she did with long-time MichFest family, Donna Every. Next is the We the Women promo for that gathering happening in the Pacific Northwest this Summer over the weekend of July 20th. Then it is on to Jenna's second interview with long-time women's music documentarian, Toni Armstrong Jr. Finally, hear Sekhmet read a passage from Donna's journal that she wrote the Summer of 2016 while camped in the woods of Michigan. Thanks, as always, dear listeners, for staying tuned to feminist-powered community radio, WLRN. Please listen, like, comment and share widely.

First up, hear the We the Women promo WLRN created for that gathering happening in the Pacific Northwest this summer. More info at https://www.wethewomen.world/. After the promo, we begin the show with a special 8th anniversary greeting from Thistle. Then, it is on to the world news with Mary O'Neill before we dive into our discussion of the Taylor Swift Phenomenon from the perspectives of Zinetta, Emily, KatyJean, and Jocelyn, and from the perspectives of authors Lierre Keith and Sheila Jeffreys. What a way to celebrate our 8th year together as a collective of media activist women! We are so blessed to have all of these amazing guests on our program to help us reflect on and understand ourselves better in the context of the Taylor Swift phenom and how it is impacting girls and women. We hope these discussions help us to make our OWN society of women speaking to women in an atmosphere of openness and mutual respect. So, it is a long edition, Edition 97. Three hours long to be exact and it is packed with feminist community content. We are proud to present three PSAs this month for upcoming feminist events. Kellie Jay-Keen will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 17th for a Let Women Speak event. Learn more at https://www.letwomenspeak.org/event-details/letwomenspeaknzjustice. There is also a PSA for Feminist in Struggle's (FIST's) first national conference. Learn more at https://feministstruggle.org/ about that event happening the first weekend in July near San Diego. WLRN is a place where we can take turns speaking and listening to each other to build ourselves up and into a movement powered by friendships and sisterhood. As Sekhmet says in her commentary this month, being part of a volunteer-powered collective is hard sometimes. Women don't always like each other or agree or get along, but at WLRN we have persevered because, as Sekhmet also says in her commentary, we are that loyal to the growth of feminism. After the discussions of Taylor Swift, you'll hear a new song by Thistle called "The Tide" that she wrote after listening to Taylor Swift's Midnights and Folklore albums and getting inspired. She recorded it live in her apartment studio with a little "meow" right before she rocked it! Emily also weighs in with a mini-commentary right before Thistle's song with some final reflections after the two discussions with our guests were completed. And finally, stay tuned as ever for Sekhmet SheOwl's commentary at the end of the show. Thanks for listening.

First up, hear Thistle greet the listener before Mary ONeill delivers WLRN's World News segment for April 4th, 2024. With Earth Day 2024 approaching, we wanted to express ourselves as individuals in our collective to help weather the storms of climate change on the horizon together. The situation is so dire, that our reflections and feelings about living through the hottest year on record and going into another apocalyptic summer felt important to express. We wanted to reach out to you from our hearts and minds to build our Sisterhood and abilities to break on through to the other side! This month's commentators include in order of appearance in the show: Sekhmet SheOwl Emily Faye Jocelyn Crawley aurora linnea Thistle Pettersen After the commentaries, you'll hear Thistle's song "bike lane", https://soundcloud.com/thistleandthorns/12-bike-lane?in=thistleandthorns/sets/animal-dreams, a song written while on a bike music tour down the west coast the summer of '05 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana Coast. We live in a world full of man-made disasters, sisters. Earth Day itself was born of an oil spill disaster off the coast of California in 1969. It's time to get those little boys to clean up their messes and for us to be in charge for a change! How do we make that happen? We here at WLRN believe it is in banding together that we find our weaknesses and strengths and we ultimately weave the strands of our community together into a patchwork quilt that heals hearts, minds, and bodies. Happy Earth Day, dear WLRN listeners and followers! At the end of the show, stay tuned for the WLRN-sponsored We the Women Event promo designed by our team members. We the Women is a women-only camping event happening in the Pacific Northwest this Summer from July 19th – 21st. For more information go to WeTheWomen.World. This month’s cover art was designed by WLRN’s Graphic Designer, Margaret. The following is her statement about the cover: “For the Earth Day 2024 image, I wanted to include an image of the earth and some images of women – with the show being women talking about the state of the earth. I drew the earth image by referencing a NASA earth image, and got textures from an image of a beach, as well as an image of brain synapses. The image of women at the top (which were shadows of women turned right-side up) also includes the texture of the dirt – so it becomes women as part of the earth. Some of the brain synapses add color and texture, remind me of arteries and tree roots (etc.), and become symbolic of consciousness, connection, and life. The silhouettes of women on the bottom – with the part I used being the tops of their hair – also reminded me of landscapes. So another earth-woman connection. I added a blend and combined the layers with various effects on an iPad.”

Welcome to our 95th podcast in a monthly series that began back in May of 2016! We are happy to present the work of Silvia Guerini this month as captured by WLRN member aurora linnea. Ms. Guerini released a book called From the 'Neutral' Body to the Post-Human Cyborg published by Spinifex Press in October. First up, hear aurora greet the listener and introduce the content of the show before Mary O'Neill delivers our world news segment that includes stories from Gaza, the UK, and the US. There are supplemental stories added by Jenna and Jocelyn to conclude the segment. Here is the link promised about the letter from Jewish women calling for an end to the weaponization of rape and sexual assault in the war in the Middle East: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJfU_ooRqCKA8u3-PB8mV0FBkqoBelFN1VH_u3-MqWWQdFXQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2pRNTuGxdhtCNIbqXLAq5240Ex8q2NYLfd5oO8mKJvO0VQ2E_YLgbd9Os Next, enjoy the song Heart of the House by Alanis Morissette before Emily introduces the WLRN interview segment with Silvia Guerini as read by Jenna and aurora. The interview segment is followed by the song "Kill the Messenger" by Shawn Colvin. Finally, be sure to stay tuned 'til the very end for Sekhmet SheOwl's poignant commentary on the state of female fertility and reproduction under patriarchy. Thanks, as always, dear listeners, for staying tuned to WLRN, YOUR Feminist Community Powered Radio Station. Statement from Margaret, WLRN's graphic designer, about the cover this month: "With the images I create, my intent is to be more suggestive than literal. The primary image is a Petri dish with ova. The grid over the top of it all is from a photo I took during an eclipse (the sun shining through a patio chair with holes) - represents people trying to control nature with technology. The dots allude to women’s ova waiting to be fertilized with a machine (some of the dots within dots were created through layering). An image of the machine used to insert sperm into eggs in a Petri dish is in the background overlayed on top of some of the silhouettes of women. The silhouettes of women - are meant to look erased and/or distressed. I use ‘Procreate’ on an iPad to layer images and combine colors and textures, as well as adding text and information."

This month of February we explore the world of lesbian love and relationships with Leaf & Firewalker, a lesbian couple who have been together for 39 years and are thriving. First up in the podcast, hear Emily Faye greet the listener before Thistle delivers the WLRN World News segment that includes stories about the World Health Organization's "Trans and Gender Diverse" guidelines, the plight of Ann Menasche in San Diego, CA, and new restrictions put in place for women and girls by the Taliban, among other stories. Next, after enjoying Dolly Parton's song "All I Can Do", stay tuned for a 40-minute interview segment with Leaf & Firewalker, a lesbian couple Emily met at a women-only gathering a few years back that impressed her due to their love and devotion to one another and lesbian community. They founded WomonTown, a lesbian neighborhood that caught the attention of Kansas City Public Television which made a documentary about their project. https://www.kansascitypbs.org/local-shows/womontown/ Below, find the bios of these two amazing women they turned in to WLRN for publication. B. Leaf Cronewrite is Maryann Hopper’s crone name. She hangs out with djembe drummers, creative writers, and old crones who inspire her wit and willingness to confront invisibility. Since the Womontown documentary about her activist pursuits with her partner, Drea Firewalker, was released, she's finding film festivals to show it and spread the word of lesbian community building. She is a writer and a storyteller who grew up in Mississippi. Her short story collection, Don’t Let the Flies In and her first novel, A Lineage of Deception, can be found on Amazon. Her next collection of lesbian adventure stories, Where Risky Women Travel, will be released in the spring. She is a member of the Georgia Writers Registry. She has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Memphis. Drea Firewalker: As a crone, I realize standing in my power gives me the right to be bold, claim my wisdom, and pursue my life as I wish. I've traveled the world and listened and learned from many people while sharing what makes this life worth it all. I graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. I spent many years in property management and investment. I am one of the founders, along with my partner B. Leaf Cronewrite, of Womontown, an intentional womyn’s community that existed in Kansas City for a few years in the early 1990s. I enjoy reclaiming childhood stories. By introducing a fictional character, MyTe Dyke, into these tales, I empower the heroines and add magical communication with many beings. I hope to challenge many to retell their tales with inspiration from MyTe Dyke. Today, I create my glass art, tend my flower gardens, hold powerful rituals for womyn, and love this life. Finally, stay tuned 'til the very end for Sekhmet SheOwl's commentary that gets to the heart of the matter of lesbian love which is to say that it can only happen in a healthy way if we find our own self-love first. Thanks, as ever, dear listeners, for tuning in to WLRN's monthly podcast. Please consider donating to the cause of feminist-powered community radio by clicking on the donate button at wlrnmedia.com. #lesbianlove #ValentinesDay #RomanticLove