Greetings on this fine November day! The women of WLRN invite you to sit back and relax with A Tribute to the Women Who Came Before Us. This special herstorical podcast focuses on the achievements and experiences of second wave feminists. Our foremothers built the groundwork for liberation years ago, and we must heed their advice to nurture this movement as they have, with clear intentions and courageous hearts. As the seasons change, let us dedicate a moment or two to our righteous feminist past.
This month, our podcast begins with Sarah's hand-crafted headlines from all around the globe and then the song Misty Mountain by classic lesbian musician, Ferron. Next, Julia interviews Falcon River, who shares her stories of the second wave as an out butch lesbian, blazing a fresh trail Home. After a brief interlude with "Ancestor's Song" by Kellianna, Amanda interviews Linda Bellos, a candid second waver who's been no-platformed from Cambridge University. Paula Cole's "Tiger" is followed by Thistle's interview with Tara Ayers, a stalwart organizer who ensures the accessibility of physical sisterhood. Rounding out the hour is Sekhmet's incendiary commentary to feed the flames of feminism in all of us.
Brew a cup of clover, and dust off that old fleece. Your sisters are waiting.
Guests' Bios:
Falcon River is a professional craftswoman, massage therapist, intuitive archer, and ordained priestess. As a butch lesbian in the early 70’s, River found employment as a drag king, winning the title of “Mr. Roanoke” for two consecutive years. In 1975, she and her partner founded the very first multi-functional lesbian bar in Louisville, Kentucky. That same year, River helped establish and defend the first Michigan Women’s Music Festival. In 1999, she met Ruth Barrett, and together they founded the Temple of Diana, a female-only congregation of dianic witches.
Linda Bellos is a proud out Lesbian feminist, a mother and grandmother with an African Father who came to England in 1942 and a Jewish mother born in England.
Ms. Bellos has been involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement before it fell apart, and in Municipal Government. In 1984 she wrote and published a short paper called The Limitations of Identity Politics. Later she became active in Black Sections of the Labour Party.
Ms. Bellos was barred from speaking last month at Cambridge University in the UK due to her gender-critical stance.
Tara Ayres is a cultural activist who has spent the last 43 years producing women’s and lesbian and gay concerts, theater and other cultural events, first in Kansas City, then in Connecticut and Wisconsin, and now in the San Francisco Bay Area. After years of producing women’s concerts and dances in Madison, WI, she served for 9 years as the Artistic Director of StageQ, Madison’s LGBT theater troupe.
She was involved in community radio for 35 years, on WYBC-FM in New Haven as part of the Come Out Tonight collective, and then at community radio station WORT-FM in Madison as an anchor and producer for Her Turn, a feminist radio news collective and Queery, a program about LGBTQ+, and as a music programmer for Her Infinite Variety and Better Living Through Show Tunes.
Ms. Ayres currently serves on the board of directors for the We Want the Land Coalition (WWTLC), a feminist organization seeking to purchase the land the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival happened on for forty years.
