© 2025
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Fifty-One Percent
51%

Dr. Samra Zafar on "Unconditional"

By Jesse King
Published March 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM EDT
Collins/Samra Zafar
Book cover and Dr. Samra Zafar

We internalize a lot of ideas about womanhood, good and bad, as we grow up. On this week’s 51%, we speak with Dr. Samra Zafar about how to ditch the bad ones. In her new book Unconditional, Zafar shares her journey of escaping an abusive, forced marriage and unlearning her long-held beliefs around love and womanhood. Zafar also offers advice on how to "unlearn" harmful or traumatic beliefs while protecting your mental health, and learning to love yourself unconditionally.

Guest: Dr. Samra Zafar, author of Unconditional: Break Through Past Limits to Transform Your Future

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio based in Albany, New York. It's produced and hosted by me, Jesse King. Our associate producer is Madeleine Reynolds, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue. This episode contains a track called "Just a Taste" by Beat Mekanik.

————

Tags
51% bookDr. Samra Zafar
Jesse King
Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."
See stories by Jesse King
Related Content
  • Fifty-One Percent
    Jane McManus on ‘The Fast Track’
    Jesse King
    On this week’s 51%, we speak with sports journalist Jane McManus about the history and business of women’s sports, as detailed in her new book The Fast Track.
  • Fifty-One Percent
    The Women of NOW
    Jesse King
    On this week’s 51%, we sit down with longtime feminist activist Muriel Fox to chat about how the National Organization for Women got started in the 1960s, and how it fought for many of the rights and opportunities women cherish today.
  • Fifty-One Percent
    Heather Pringle on “The Northwomen”
    Jesse King
    When most of us think of the Viking Age, we think of its men: powerful warriors sailing ships, building armies, and sacking cities across Europe. But new research shows Viking women were warriors, too – and that they were traders, artisans, explorers, landowners, and respected leaders in their own right. On this week’s 51%, we kick off Women’s History Month by speaking with science writer Heather Pringle about her book The Northwomen, on how women helped shape Viking society and culture.
  • Fifty-One Percent
    Kimberly Heckler on “A Woman of Firsts”
    Jesse King
    On this week’s 51%, we chat with Kimberly Heckler about her book A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer.
Load More