Breaking Down Patriarchy

Amy is joined by Breaking Down Patriarchy collaborator Celeste Davis to discuss her late-blooming into feminism, taking up space, re-writing the marital script, and how we can all build better relationships by holding love and accountability in equal measure.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyCeleste Davis is the writer behind the popular Substack ‘Matriarchal Blessing’. She is a certified spiritual director through the Chaplaincy Institute, specializing in LDS faith transitions. She lives in Spokane, Washington with her husband and four kids.

Amy is joined by Somatic Educator Pamela Madsen to discuss sexual self-confidence, feeling good about vulvas, the healing power of pleasure, and how we can all come back to our bodies through sex and somatic practices.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyPamela Madsen is a veteran advocate, activist, and educator. As the founder of Back to the Body, which is now in its 13th year of operations, Pamela’s full-bodied mix of intelligence, humor and vulnerability has made her one of the most mediagenic advocates for integrated sexuality and a taboo-buster around body image. Pamela has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a Certified Somatic Sex Educator.

Amy is joined by author and educator, Dr. Michael Kaufman, to discuss the manosphere, loneliness, hatred, and other risks to today's men and boys, plus practical advice for men who want to help themselves and others by getting involved in the work of gender equity.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyMichael Kaufman, PhD, is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction books. As an advisor, activist, and keynote speaker, he has developed innovative approaches to engage men and boys in promoting gender equality and positively transforming men's lives. Over the past four decades his work with the United Nations, governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations, trade unions, and universities has taken him to fifty countries.

Amy “levels up” her video game knowledge with Game Developer Ashley Ruhl, who teaches us about feminism in gaming, Gamergate, women wastelanders, 'pink games', and how all of us can help support gender equity and representation in this massively popular pastime. Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyAshley Ruhl is a Narrative Director, Narrative Designer, Cinematic Designer, and Writer exclusively in games. Over the past 13 years she has focused on a multi-prong approach of character-driven narrative, eye-catching cinematics, and intuitive game design. She was the first woman at Telltale to hold the titles of Episodic Director and Assistant Episodic Director, credited for Episode 3 and Episode 1 of "Tales from the Borderlands" respectively, and was selected for Forbes "30 under 30" list in video games in 2016. Ruhl focuses on cinematic delivery and strong emotional agency in game narrative, creating memorable moments that encourage players to be authors of their own stories.

Amy is joined by author & illustrator Rebecca Burgess to discuss their graphic novel, Speak Up!, and explore the impacts of patriarchy on the neurodivergent community. Rebecca shares their personal stories of growing up with autism, discusses the importance of representation, and shares invaluable advice for parents and peers of autistic children.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyRebecca Burgess a freelance illustrator currently living in Bristol. Their favorite things are nature, history, comics, psychology, and cuddling their girlfriend. Burgess is most well known for their various long and short comics that explore and explain autism. Their comics are also known for showing big feelings and loveable characters that people can connect to on a personal level. They have both written and illustrated several award winning YA and children’s books/comics, including Speak Up! and How to be Ace.

Amy is joined by author Kathy Iandoli to discuss her book, God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop, exploring the incredible history of female pioneers in hip-hop history from old school crews like The Mercedes Ladies to contemporary superstars like Lil' Kim.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyKathy Iandoli is a critically acclaimed journalist, author, podcaster, media coach, and documentarian. She has nearly 25 years  experience working in the music industry—from media, to publicity, radio, and artist management. Her first book, God Save The Queens: The Essential History of Women In Hip-Hop was named an NPR Best Book Of the Year. She is the author of the biography Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah, as well as the co-author of rapper, Lil’ Kim’s memoir, The Queen Bee. Kathy has written about music and gender for two decades, with bylines in VIBE, The Source, XXL, Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, BUST, Teen Vogue, PAPER, Playboy, i-D, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, The Guardian, VICE, and many others. Kathy was a professor-in-residence of Music Business at NYU for 7 years as well as an alum of Steinhardt's Music Business Graduate Program and has served as a pundit (television, radio, and panels) for discussions on hip-hop and gender.

Amy is joined by filmmaker Sarah Perkins to discuss her documentary, The Basement Talks, hearing a powerful and pertinent story about women coming together in the wake of violence, recognizing the humanity in our political rivals, and what we talk about when we talk about abortion.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchySarah Perkins is a filmmaker and PhD student at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, though she currently resides in rural southeast Idaho with her family. Together with her husband, she is the co-director of The Basement Talks. Previously, she worked as production manager on American Tragedy, which won Best Documentary at the Boston Film Festival and as the editor for the Herbe Nassour story. In her graduate work, she studies 20th-century literature and theology around the question of theodicy.

Amy is joined by Lindsay Hansen Park of Year of Polygamy and The Sunstone History Podcast to shine a light on the painful history of Mormon polygamy, communities who still practice it, and the best ways to uplift and empower plural wives.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyLindsay Hansen Park is a women’s rights activist, a feminist writer, and an advocate against gender violence. She was recently the cultural and historical consultant for Hulu’s limited series, Under the Banner of Heaven and is currently heavily involved in the Mormon Feminist movement. Lindsay is the Executive Director for the Sunstone Education Foundation and the founder of the Year of Polygamy podcast. She wrote for six years at FeministMormonHousewives.org about women’s issues and now podcasts for the Sunstone Mormon History podcast. Her work has been referenced by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR,Quartz Magazine, and many other Utah publications.  She and her family live in Utah where she raises three beautiful kiddos, gardens, and rages against the machine.

Amy returns to a book from Season One - Unwell Women - now joined by the author Dr. Elinor Cleghorn! This conversation unpacks the history of women's healthcare, looks at medical myths and women's pain, and explores the patriarchal shadow which still looms over our health outcomes.Listen to the original episode about Unwell Women here.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyDr Elinor Cleghorn has a background in feminist visual culture and history, and her critical writing has been published in several academic journals including Screen. After receiving her PhD in in 2012, Elinor spent three years as a post-doctoral researcher at the Ruskin School, University of Oxford, working on an interdisciplinary medical humanities project. She has given talks and lectures at the British Film Institute, where she has been a regular contributor to their education programme, Tate Modern, and ICA London, and she has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 discussion show The Forum. In 2017, she was shortlisted for the Fitzcarraldo Editions essay prize. She now works as a freelance writer and researcher. Her non-fiction debut, Unwell Women, was published in June 2021. She is currently working on her next book on intersectional feminist history of women and mother-led knowledge around reproduction, pregnancy, birth and mothering.

Amy is joined by educator Ben Blair of Newlane University to discuss actionable steps towards building a more egalitarian education system, how new technologies can expand learning opportunities across the globe, and why we should question the popularity of time-based assessments, student competition, adversarial teachers and more.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyBen Blair holds a PhD in Philosophy and Education from Columbia University. He is a co-founder and President of Newlane University. Started in 2017, Newlane is an online university with a mission to make quality liberal arts higher education accessible to anyone on earth by breaking down barriers of cost, schedule, and geography. Ben and his wife Gabrielle have six children. After six years in Oakland, CA they now live in Normandy, France.