Friday, November 18th 2016
Excerpt: Dr. Roxana Hickey joins Kate to talk ladybugs – or rather, the vaginal microbiome.
Summary: It’s been a rough week for everyone. As a white woman, I have to say I feel there are a lot of white women right now who need to do some serious soul-searching. A majority of us voted for the racist, misogynist lizard monster. Forty-nine percent of college-educated white women voted for him.
I have so many more thoughts about this, but I’m saving them for a separate episode.
In the meantime, I have found solace in creative work like this podcast, and in enjoying the podcasts of others. New to me? Check out my archives! I love them all, but if you want to talk politics I’d especially recommend Episode 6 where I interview Periods for Politicians founder Sue Magina.
This episode is also great fun. Like episode 8, I’ve interviewed a scientist – in this case, Dr. Roxana Hickey, a microbiome data scientist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon. Dr. Hickey will be teaching us all about the vaginal microbiome, particularly how it relates to puberty, menstrual cycles, and even pad and tampon use. You can find Dr. Hickey at roxanahickey.wordpress.com, and on Twitter at @roxana_hickey.
The great Dr. Roxana Hickey, vaginal microbiome expert.
Dr. Hickey and I discuss several articles in this episode. Want to read them yourself? Here they are:
Finally, Dr. Hickey and I discussed one other article off the air about making yogurt… vagina yogurt. One of Dr. Hickey’s collaborators was interviewed for this article. Check it out!
Subscribe to PERIOD so you don’t miss an episode! Subscribing, especially on iTunes, helps us a ton with promoting the podcast and getting the word out to more people. So does leaving a review, so please do that too! You can also find information about the podcast at Period Podcast on Facebook.
Want a better PERIOD?
Call or write me! I am collecting two things right now: your period questions, and first period stories. Leave me a voicemail with either or both at 262-PERIOD-2 (262-737-4632). Don’t forget to tell me how to contact you if you don’t mind my following up.
Other ways to contact me:
I can’t wait to hear what you think! Thanks for listening!
Direct download: here
Permalink: here
RSS: here
Friday, November 11th 2016
Excerpt: Kate interviews Dr. Felisa Reynolds about their shared experience of a workplace bathroom, and Dr. Jessica Brinkworth about the health consequences of inaccessible menstrual hygiene.
Summary: I love my job, I really do. I don’t love the bathroom by my office. It is a pastel pink dump with a couch and nowhere to put my bloody pads. The women of my department find ourselves convening in the bathroom quite often, which means the lack of menstrual hygiene is a not infrequent topic of conversation.
The weird couch in our bathroom. Good for putting my bag down, but not great for changing babies or hygienically disposing of menstrual waste. Also note the “sanitary bags” on the window sill, rather than in the stalls.
One day, after one too many conversations about that bathroom, I decided I needed to make an episode about it. I decided to interview two people: Dr. Felisa Reynolds, who is a neighbor and friend and has had to teach in my building and thus endure our bathroom; and Dr. Jessica Brinkworth, an evolutionary immunologist who knows a thing or two about the nasties you can get if menstrual blood gets left around.
My cool friend Dr. Felisa Reynolds. We talk about books and periods and racism and sexism and our daughters.
We talked not only about our building’s unwillingness to put some form of menstrual waste disposal in the stalls, but the difficulty we have in having this conversation other than scrawled on our bathroom’s walls.
![The signs in our bathroom stalls. The text from our building service workers reads "Please do not flush tampons they clog the toilet thank you!!!" The left sign has 2 comments: 1) Please provide a trash bin, 2) Walk to trash can - 7 steps. And the sign on the right has 3 comments: 1) Please provide a trash bin so that I don't have to carry a used tampon out of this stall, 2) Amen sister!, and 3) It's to [sic] small, don't be lazy.](https://kateclancy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/bathroom-signs-1-e1478840730574.png)
The signs in our bathroom stalls. The text from our building service workers reads “Please do not flush tampons they clog the toilet thank you!!!” The left sign has 2 comments: 1) Please provide a trash bin, 2) Walk to trash can – 7 steps. And the sign on the right has 3 comments: 1) Please provide a trash bin so that I don’t have to carry a used tampon out of this stall, 2) Amen sister!, and 3) It’s to [sic] small, don’t be lazy.
Dr. Brinkworth also taught me about the kinds of diseases that can be contracted from inappropriately disposed menstrual blood, and why OSHA doesn’t seem to regulate menstrual blood waste like it does regular blood waste. Which is worrisome since both are, you know, blood. So this episode is a return to period science. I think you’ll really enjoy it!
Subscribe to PERIOD so you don’t miss an episode! Subscribing, especially on iTunes, helps us a ton with promoting the podcast and getting the word out to more people. So does leaving a review, so please do that too! You can also find information about the podcast at Period Podcast on Facebook.
Want a better PERIOD?
Call or write me! I am collecting two things right now: your period questions, and first period stories. Leave me a voicemail with either or both at 262-PERIOD-2 (262-737-4632). Don’t forget to tell me how to contact you if you don’t mind my following up.
Other ways to contact me:
I can’t wait to hear what you think! Thanks for listening!
Direct download: here
Permalink: here
RSS: here
Friday, November 4th 2016
Excerpt: Kate interviews musician Kiran Gandhi and inventor Heli Kurjanen about having periods in public.
Summary: In this episode, I talk to two women with periods on their mind – Kiran Gandhi, who freebled the London Marathon in 2015, and Heli Kurjanen, inventor and founder of the Lunette menstrual cup. Kiran and I discuss the public and private experience of having periods, the effect of menstrual taboos on young girls, and what it means to live a life of hiding ourselves. Kiran has leveraged her fame from the London Marathon to continuing her period activism and consciousness raising across multiple platforms. Follow her on Twitter at @MadameGandhi and on her website at kirangandhi.com.
Badass Kiran Gandhi. In addition to freebleeding a marathon, she drums for MIA and Thievery Corporation and has her own musician project called Madame Gandhi. You know, NBD.
Heli and I discuss how one goes from making your own diapers for your baby to being inspired to invent and market your own brand of menstrual cups. We also discuss the environmental and ethical issues that go along with making and selling menstrual products. Lunette is doing great work for women all over the world, and I was proud to have her on as a guest. Follow Heli at @HeliK_Lunette, her product at @Lunettecup, and the Lunette cup website at lunette.com.
Finnish menstrual cup inventor Heli Kurjanen. Feminist entrepreneurs FTW!
Subscribe to PERIOD so you don’t miss an episode! Subscribing, especially on iTunes, helps us a ton with promoting the podcast and getting the word out to more people. So does leaving a review, so please do that too! You can also find information about the podcast at Period Podcast on Facebook.
Want a better PERIOD?
Call or write me! I am collecting two things right now: your period science questions, and first period stories. Leave me a voicemail with either or both at 262-PERIOD-2 (262-737-4632). Don’t forget to tell me how to contact you if you don’t mind my following up.
Other ways to contact me:
I can’t wait to hear what you think! Thanks for listening!
Direct download: here
Permalink: here
RSS: here
