Underheard: A ROUNDUP OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS PODCASTS THAT DESERVE A WIDER AUDIENCE

LET’S FACE IT: A YEAR INTO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, YOU’RE SICK OF darting around your kitchen pretending to be on “The Great British Baking Show.” If you’re ready for something more stimulating, pop in your earbuds and check out this roundup of six of our favorite reproductive rights, health and justice podcasts. Each selection brings you exchanges and dispatches from the front lines of the movement. Despite the weight of an imminent post-pandemic world, these shows transport listeners into the struggles and victories of others—leaving you with the wisdom of leaders, community members and co-conspirators, and the fire to forge ahead for social change.

“rePROs Fight Back”

Hosted by Jennie Wetter

“rePROs Fight Back” is the one-stop shop for all things reproductive rights, health and justice. Jennie Wetter gets all the rePROs in front of a mic to talk about their work. Wetter offers access to challenging, intimate, collaborative and fun conversations about the constellation of work in this movement. Engaging global experts on issues ranging from infertility to feminist foreign policy, Wetter breaks the boundaries of mainstream conversations in reproductive rights, health and justice. Structured like an informational coffee interview about the life-changing work and RRHJ journeys of the top rePROs, this podcast is a great place to start if you’re just getting to know the movement. A bonus? CFC President Jamie Manson was recently on the pod, as was I back in 2019!

“Boom! Lawyered”

Hosted by Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire News Group Calling all law nerds!

“Boom! Lawyered” is dedicated to the latest on sex, abortion, parenthood and power, all with a special love-hate relationship to the U.S. court system. Get to know the justices, judges, lawyers and activists propagating (and fighting) the “absolute buffoonery” in reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, health care and religious liberty litigation. The hosts’ magic power of distilling the complex legalese of the RRHJ policy and law worlds into accessible and hilarious segments will have you laughing out loud on public transit. Working tirelessly to peel back the curtain on the courts, they prepare even the most unlikely of audiences to talk as if they have been repro lawyering for years. To top it off, their Mystery Science Theater-esque miniseries “We’ll Hear Arguments” is the look into Roe v. Wade you never knew you needed.

“Black Feminist Rants: Conversations on Reproductive Justice and Activism”

Hosted by LaKia Williams

The podcast “centers black women and femmes navigating social justice spaces and the world, covering topics within the reproductive justice framework and beyond.” Supported by SisterSong, Williams guides listeners through essential topics with the foremothers and leaders, uplifting the voices and experiences of young BIPOC starting out in RRHJ work. Look no further than BFR for the information, inspiration and introspection needed to sustain the fire burning in all of us to do RRHJ work. A model for how a successful movement continues to build and share knowledge for meaningful change, each minute of BFR is worth soaking up.

“The Lie That Binds”

Hosted by Jess McIntosh

Based on the acclaimed book by NARAL Pro-Choice America’s outgoing president, Ilyse Hogue, “The Lie That Binds” provides a comprehensive look into how today’s U.S. radical right wing stands united under an anti-choice banner. A tried-and-true exploration of the opposition, “The Lie That Binds” journeys through the development and continuing evolution of the radical right movement. Beginning with religious liberty fights around desegregation, the podcast brings listeners forward to the present, providing a working thesis on the political, moral, religious and ethical lie(s) that binds and underlies the movement that stormed our nation’s Capitol Jan. 6. Outlining how the shock and awe of the Trump years was the culmination of a political, religious, and moral strategy built for the long haul, “The Lie That Binds” lays out how the RRHJ movement can learn to anticipate, stand up to and fight back against the opposition’s future moves.

“Ordinary Equality” (Season 2)

Hosted by Kate Kelly and Jamia Wilson

“Ordinary Equality” (Season 2) provides the U.S. abortion storytelling narratives we’ve been waiting for. Initially spring boarding from more personal abortion stories, “Ordinary Equality” quickly takes a deep dive into our nation’s collective abortion story— exploring reproductive autonomy from Indigenous peoples, chattel slavery, the Industrial Revolution, the beginning of the pre-Roe era and beyond. With poise and keen ears for difficult conversations, the podcast covers everything in the repro ether you could name. Whether the Jane Collective, Sherri Chessen, abortion in Judaism—you name it— topics challenge listener to expand their worldviews. Not content with their own impressive expertise, Kate Kelly and Jamia Wilson pull in scholars, policymakers, organizers and abortion storytellers to guide listeners. A multifaceted, humble and emotional look at our collective abortion narrative, Season 2 of “Ordinary Equality” is sure to leave you wanting more. “

ACCESS: A podcast about Abortion”

Hosted by Garnet Henderson

Living up to its name, “ACCESS” is the only podcast I know of that is all abortion, all the time. With incredible skill, Garnet Henderson holds space for abortion storytellers, providing hours of the joys, complexities, questions and solutions of real people with abortion experiences. Whether focused on abortion storytellers, providers, clinic staff, scholars or artists, ACCESS narratives touch a tender part of the human experience society does not spend nearly enough time exploring. These are the narratives that need to be heard on the streets, in the halls of legislatures and at dinner tables.