On this week’s 51%, we speak with a woman who launched an airbrush-free women’s magazine. We meet a woman who helps Crow children connect with their heritage and a female scientist fills us on a cat parasite that could be especially harmful to women who are pregnant. I’m Allison Dunne and this is 51%.
Before we get into our first interview, I’d like to point out that bit of song you just heard, “Try,” by Colbie Caillat, has an accompanying video that shows the singer all made up and by the end of the video, she removes her makeup, faux lashes, and such, to reveal, well, herself. There are several other women in the video, of various shapes, sizes and ages, who do the same. And this is a relevant lead in to our first piece.
Enchantress Magazine is a new destination for millennial women. It’s airbrush free and you won’t find any beauty tips among the pages. The inaugural issue was launched earlier this year, and features New York City’s women firefighters. It also contains a Q&A with six accomplished women who discuss the biggest problem facing American millennial women today and, more importantly, how do we start solving it. And there’s a lot more. Chloe Kent is the magazine’s writer and editor-in-chief. She writes, “To speak metaphorically for a moment, if GQ is a leather Chesterfield sofa and Vogue the set of porcelain elephant end tables in Joan Didion’s living room, Enchantress is an IKEA armchair—not because we’re cheap or made in Sweden, but because we’re something you can really get comfortable with. We’d like to think we aren’t aspirational but inspirational. We’re relatable.” I asked her the genesis of Enchantress.
That was Chloe Kent, writer and editor-in-chief of Enchantress Magazine. The first issue, “Fire” can be found at enchantressmag.com
As a child on Montana's Crow Reservation, Peggy White Well Known Buffalo was taken from her home, put on a bus (the first she had ever seen) and sent to a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school out of state. She was punished for speaking her language, and for following traditional Crow spiritual practices. The experience, as it was for most Native kids, was a traumatic one. As an adult, Peggy has dedicated her life to helping Crow children connect with their history, their culture, their language and their place.
Cat-lovers know that their feline friends carry a certain risk… and it’s not the danger of snagged sweaters. One Virginia scientist says the notorious cat-loving parasite “toxoplasma” can infect humans, but cats aren’t the only things exposing us to this brain-altering parasite. Lilia Fuquen has more.
And that's our show this week. Thanks to Patrick Garrett for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio
