women

On this week's 51%, we kick off Women's History Month and preview an exhibit about Ulster County’s first elections with women voters in 1918. Women in New York won the right to vote a few years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The Ulster County exhibit, opening March 11 on the second floor of the county office building in Kingston, features archival voter rolls and artifacts from the county board of the elections as well as the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region, giving a glimpse into the lives of the everyday women who jumped at the opportunity to vote.

On this week's 51%, we kick off Women's History Month and preview an exhibit about Ulster County’s first elections with women voters in 1918. Women in New York won the right to vote a few years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The Ulster County exhibit, opening March 11 on the second floor of the county office building in Kingston, features archival voter rolls and artifacts from the county board of the elections as well as the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region, giving a glimpse into the lives of the everyday women who jumped at the opportunity to vote.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, about her new book The Pain Brokers. Burch is a scholar of mass torts, the large civil lawsuits typically filed as a result of harmful products and recalls. Mass torts are meant to be an efficient way to provide relief to a large number of victims, but for thousands of women with pelvic mesh, Burch says that was not the case. The Pain Brokers investigates a complex scheme of call centers, doctors, and lawyers who Burch says preyed on pelvic mesh patients and used them to make millions off mass torts.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, about her new book The Pain Brokers. Burch is a scholar of mass torts, the large civil lawsuits typically filed as a result of harmful products and recalls. Mass torts are meant to be an efficient way to provide relief to a large number of victims, but for thousands of women with pelvic mesh, Burch says that was not the case. The Pain Brokers investigates a complex scheme of call centers, doctors, and lawyers who Burch says preyed on pelvic mesh patients and used them to make millions off mass torts.

Once again, the House has passed a version of a bill that would require voters to present proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote. On this week's 51%, we speak with Wren Orey of the Bipartisan Policy Center about what the "SAVE America Act" would entail, and whether it would impact married women and others who have changed their names. We also speak with the author of You Can't Catch Us about former First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, and the trailblazing campaign tour she embarked on to sway southern voters ahead of the 1964 election.

Once again, the House has passed a version of a bill that would require voters to present proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote. On this week's 51%, we speak with Wren Orey of the Bipartisan Policy Center about what the "SAVE America Act" would entail, and whether it would impact married women and others who have changed their names. We also speak with the author of You Can't Catch Us about former First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson, and the trailblazing campaign tour she embarked on to sway southern voters ahead of the 1964 election.

On this week’s 51%, we speak with feminist icons Gloria Steinem and Leymah Gbowee about their new children's book, "Rise, Girl, Rise: Our Sister-Friend Journey. Together for All." Describing their unique paths as feminists fighting for gender equality and peace, "Rise, Girl, Rise," reminds readers young and old of the power of collective action and global sisterhood. We also meet a fashion designer in New York's Capital Region who crafted the inauguration suit for the city of Albany's first Black mayor.

Love isn't always easy, but how do you know when it's time to walk away? On this week's 51%, we speak with counselor Kate King about the difference between good relationships, bad relationships, and toxic ones. King boasts nearly 20 years of experience as a licensed counselor and board-certified art therapist in Denver, Colorado. Her latest book, called Mend or Move On, helps readers identify the traps of abusive relationships (romantic, familial, and platonic) and decide when to say goodbye.

On this week's 51%, we chat about The New Rules of Women's Health with veteran health journalist Meghan Rabbitt. For too long, Rabbitt says the broader medical field has limited conversations around women's health to "bikini medicine" — reproductive concerns and breast health — while otherwise assuming women have the same bodies as men. But women have their own unique health needs, and often experience diseases in different ways. Rabbitt's new guide compiles the knowledge of more than 130 medical experts to help women address all aspects of their health at any age.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Dr. Frank Putnam, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, about the Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS), which he co-founded with the late Dr. Penelope Trickett in 1987. The FGDS, which is still running today, has followed the lives of more than 100 girls to assess the impacts of child sex abuse on female development, and how trauma crosses generations. Putnam says child abuse can affect a survivor's physical and mental health in a way that accelerates their biological aging, putting them at an increased risk for early puberty, obesity, premature births, mental illness, cognitive decline and more. Putnam compiles more than 35 years' worth of papers from the FGDS — and outlines ways to better prevent child abuse — in his new book Old Before Their Time.