As our country has collectively decided to rally around women athletes, the stark racist and sexist wage gaps of professional basketball players has taken center court. Black women have been the backbone of entire industries—including sports leagues—and it is essential that they be fairly compensated for their work, so why aren’t they? WNBA stars Alysha Clark and Aliyah Boston and Executive Director of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association Terri Carmichael Jackson join us to talk about the intersectionality of it all and how we can really support Black women.

Resources

• More information on the WNBPA
• Resources on the wage gap
• You can follow Aliyah Boston here
• You can follow Alysha Clark here

The rise and fall of the girlboss movement was swift—and thank goodness for that. From LinkedIn hustlers to overly positive Instagram posters and Trad wives, a movement that was supposed to empower the “sHero” and “goal digger” in all of us has become the butt of every joke on the internet but still has such a hold over our lives. We talked with Lola Kolade about how we can truly overcome the girlboss within all of us.

Read Lola’s substack The New New | Lola Kolade | Substack

Follow Lola’s tiktok lola | nyc writer (@lolaokola) | TikTok

Your favorite billionaire might pay less in taxes than you do. And that’s by design! The U.S. tax code has sexism and racism baked right into it. But if we taxed the patriarchy, we’d have enough money for the things that really matter—from child care and health care to education and housing. We talked to activist, philanthropist, and filmmaker Abby Disney and NWLC tax genius Amy Matsui about why it’s past time for Taylor, Jay-Z, Elon, and Jeff to pay their fair share.

Resources:

• Learn more about Abby’s latest movie, The American Dream and Other Fairytales
• Try out NWLC’s Tax the Patriarchy calculator, where you can tax the rich and decide how to invest that money to benefit our country
• Learn more about the Patriotic Millionaires
• See the Tax Justice Is Gender Justice series of reports
• Read The Faulty Foundations of the Tax Code: Gender and Racial Bias in Our Tax Laws

With the SAG-AFTRA and Writers’ Guild of America strikes, 2023 was the year of the union. While the media buzzed about the solidarity and popularity of unions, we have known for a while that unions have always been beneficial for all workers, but especially women workers. What caused the resurgence in support for unions? How do unions play a major role in the fight for equal pay? Why should you seek unionized workplaces when job searching? We talked with Liz Schuler and Jesica Bush about the importance of unions in creating workplaces that at minimum keep us safe and at maximum allow us to thrive.

Resources:

1. Info from the AFL-CIO on how to start a union: https://aflcio.org/formaunion
2. NWLC Fact Sheet on Why Unions Are Good for Women: https://nwlc.org/resource/unions-are-good-for-women/

Even as Black women reach the highest levels of our political system, they’re still faced with racist, sexist attacks we’d like to think are ancient history. Yet, we still depend on Black women to “save” us. No one knows the paradox of what it means to be a woman in politics better than Barbara Lee—who joins us for a special live episode as she reflects on her early days with Shirley Chisolm, her political career, and what the future holds.

• You can stream Shirley on Netflix
• Barbara Lee’s floor speech can be found here
• You can stream Mrs. America on Hulu

The experience of all sexual violence survivors is not created equal—why are Black women’s experiences not taken seriously? From #MuteRKelly to Tory Lanez, we’ve seen Black women used as scapegoats and blamed for the harm caused to them. We talk with Tarana Burke and Jamilah LeMieux about Drake vs. Kendrick, protecting Black women, and what it means to keep us safe.

For more information and ways to support survivors, visit the metoo. Movement website

Resources:

1. You can stream Surviving R. Kelly on Netflix
2. The book Lark mentioned is Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly
3. The book Jessica mentioned is Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
4. Here is the metoo. Movement and Black Voters Matter Survivor Justice Voter Guide
5. More on Tarana Burke
6. More on Jamilah LeMieux

We think it’s obvious that trans women are women, but our Twitter mentions say otherwise. In an election year full of dog-whistling, we have grown disgusted by the dehumanization of trans people from all sides of the political spectrum. Trans people deserve to live their lives, play sports, and be themselves. On this episode, we talked with Anya Marino and Gillian Branstetter about why TERFs are not feminists, how transphobes have become emboldened to spread their hatred in our politics and schools, and why it is more important than ever to protect trans adults and trans children.

Resources:

• NWLC Blog - Once and For All: This Is Why We Support Trans Women and Girls in Sports
• Read about SCOTUS granting cert to one of the ACLU’s challenges against an anti-trans health care ban in Tennessee with arguments coming this fall. U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge from United States, Families, and Doctors Against Transgender Health Care Ban | American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org)
• ACLU Protect Trans Care action Protect Trans Care Now | American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org)

On the season two premiere of Hearsay, we’re joined by two incredible advocates: Billie Jean King and Fatima Gross Graves. We discuss the groundbreaking Battle of the Sexes, equal pay, Title IX, and how tennis and women’s sports are at the center of how society views—and values—women athletes. And don’t worry, Lark, Hilary, and Jessica all saw Challengers to prepare for this episode.

Learn more about the Women’s Sports Foundation: https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/

Learn more about Title IX: https://nwlc.org/issue/education-title-ix/