Reading Materials: Gail Galdwell writes, "I had a friend, and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that, too." The author shares with us the importance of her friendship with Caroline Knapp through the book "Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship" (via La Times). Sometimes you have [...]

Reading Materials "Starting from the Scratch," the new book by Susan M. Gilber-Collins will make you laugh at some parts and weep in others. It’s a quick read but definitely worth it (via Feminist Review). Lori Freedman is a sociologist and she wrote the book "Willing and Unable: Doctors’ Constraints in Abortion Care." Through this book, [...]

Lots of young fems making lists today. I’m joining in! Why am I a young feminist? Because I will not give up my right to choose. And yes, I do think that right is in danger. Because I hate knowing how likely it is that I’ll have to choose between having a family and having [...]

Reading Materials: Particularly relevant to the times: Eliza Griswold brings us "The Tenth Parallel," a book that describes “where Muslims and Christians drew lines in the sand" (via NY Time). "The Gerbil Farmer’s Daughter" is a true story by Holly Robinson — one she didn’t always want to share. She emphasizes in the best way [...]

Reading Materials: A book full of feminine energy! "Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading from the heart" The book is a collection of essays edited by Nina Simons with Anneke Campbell (via Feminist Review). How we can bridge the gap between two different worlds: Western students and Eastern teachers? Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan approaches [...]

June through August, HBO has presented a line up of documentaries, which serves as an alternative to the lightweight fare prevalent during the summer months.  Out of seven films, five take on socially relevant themes including the hazards of domestic natural gas ("Gasland"), the story of Iranian symbol Neda Agha-Soltan ("For Neda"), the evolution of [...]

Reading Materials: Remember those high school summer reading lists? SKM over at  Shakesville gives us her own list for this summer. Some great recommendations, and check out the comments for even more. Melissa Arjona introduces us to the new book "Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women’s Activism in the Beauty Industry" by Tiffany M. Gill [...]

Stay cool this weekend and spend your time with good friends and family: What about us? We are heading to the beach. Reading Materials: Charlotte Chandler‘s lated, I Know Where I’m Going: Katharine Hepburn, A Personal Biography. At the opening of the first chapter, she says: ‘Onliness is my word for what I call my [...]

Listen to my interview with Nora Shourd, mother of Sarah Shourd, one of three imprisoned hikers in Evin prison, Iran. For the past ten and a half months she’s been in solitary confinement in Evin prison, Iran. Before that she was traveling in Syria, Yemen and Ethiopia, writing about women in these cultures, struggling to [...]

Yesterday, protesters from Codepink were in Houston to protest BP’s handling of the Gulf Coast spill. Nearly 100 protesters turned out — some wearing nearly nothing but their shoes and others costumed like birds and fish covered in oil — and demanded that BP end offshore drilling. (Click the photo below for the entire Flickr [...]