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Fifty-One Percent

51%

The best of 2025

By Jesse King

Published December 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM EST

On this week's 51%, we look back on some of our favorite conversations from 2025: Dr. Heather Hirsch discusses the FDA’s decision to remove “black box” warning labels from hormonal therapies used to treat symptoms of menopause; Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson explains how President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” blocks Medicaid funding for its clinics; and former CIA intelligence officer Christina Hillsberg makes the case for why women make better spies.

Guests: Dr. Heather Hirsch, author of The Perimenopause Survival Guide; Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood; Christina Hillsberg, author of Agents of Change: The Women Who Transformed the CIA

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, New York. Jesse King is our producer and host. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.

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51% best of planned parenthood women FDA CIA

Jesse King

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's former Hudson Valley bureau chief. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."

See stories by Jesse King

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