51%
Wednesdays, 3-3:30 p.m.; Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m.
In America, women make up more than half the population. Worldwide, women are expected to outnumber men within the next fifty years - and every issue we face is one that affects us all. Whether it's the environment, health, our children, politics or the arts, there's a women's perspective, and 51% is a show dedicated to that viewpoint.
Host Jesse King talks to experts in their field for a wide-ranging, entertaining discussion of issues that not only fall into the traditional “women’s issues” category, but topics that concern all human beings and citizens of the global community. 51% highlights a wide range of women from Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, author and historian Amy Teitel on spaceflight and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her history and decision to enter law school.
Tune to 51% weekly throughout the U. S. on public and community radio stations, some ABC Radio Network stations, Armed Forces Radio stations around the world and on the internet.
Twitter: @51PercentRadio
Instagram: @51percentradio
Facebook: @51percentradio
For distribution information please fill out the Carriage Form and send to Tina Renick at trenick@wamc.org.
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The Supreme Court has struck down a ban on conversion therapy in Colorado, deciding the law violated the First Amendment protecting free speech. On this week’s 51%, we chat with Albany Law School’s Vin Bonventre about why the Supreme Court ruled the way it did, and what this means for similar bans in other states, including New York. WAMC’s Elias Guerra also speaks with a woman working to start the first Black trans-owned bookstore in New York’s Hudson Valley. -
It wasn't until the passage of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act in 1974 that women gained the right to open bank accounts, credit cards, and loans in their own names, without a male co-signer. On this week's 51%, we speak with Kathleen Godfrey, CEO of Godfrey Financial Associates, about how women's financial independence has evolved over the past 50-plus years, and what women can do now to secure themselves for the future. We also meet the new head of the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, New York. -
On this week's 51%, we recognize Endometriosis Awareness Month and speak with Dr. Gabriela Aguilar, medical director of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. Endometriosis is a painful and complex inflammatory disease impacting roughly 1 in 10 women worldwide. Despite how common it is, very little is still known about endometriosis, and too often patients report years of pain before getting an official diagnosis. Aguilar is a board-certified OB/GYN and complex family planning specialist in New York City. -
On this week’s 51%, we speak with author Kate Schatz about her new novel Where the Girls Were. Loosely based on her mother’s experience, Where the Girls Were tells the story of a bright teenage girl in the late 1960s who finds herself pregnant and is sent away to have the baby in secret and put it up for adoption. Schatz says secret homes for "unwed mothers" were not uncommon in the U.S. before the decision of Roe v. Wade enshrined abortion rights for (almost) the next 50 years. During the “Baby Scoop Era,” millions of unwed young mothers faced societal pressure to relinquish their newborns for adoption. -
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. -
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.
