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About The Show
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 us all as human beings and citizens of the global community.
Meet The Host
Jesse King has been with WAMC since 2018, and currently produces its afternoon news programs. She also produces the WAMC podcast, A New York Minute in History. She grew up an avid writer and radio-nerd in upstate New York, and holds a B.A. in Music Industry and Mass Communications from SUNY Oneonta. You can find her reading, watching Marvel movies, and playing the fiddle in her free time.
More Episodes
“Decolonizing science” with Drs. Fowler and Vandebroek
On this week’s 51%, our associate producer Jody Cowan speaks with ethnobotanist Dr. Ina...
Jessica Palden on “Teardrop on Fire”
On this week’s 51%, we hear from the director of a new documentary telling the stories of...
Muriel Fox on “The Women’s Revolution”
On this week’s 51%, we sit down with Muriel Fox, feminist activist and cofounder of the...
Kamala Harris steps forward
Following President Biden's decision to step away from this year's presidential election, Vice...
Dr. Camille Clare on C-section recovery
On this week's 51%, we speak with Dr. Camille Clare, an OB/GYN and professor at SUNY Downstate,...
Looking back on New Paltz’s “Winter of Love”
On this week's 51%, we brush up on the history of marriage equality in the U.S., and look back...
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Alice Rothchild on "Inspired and Outraged"
Nov 21, 2024 • 00:29:26
On this week’s 51%, we speak with physician and author Dr. Alice Rothchild about her new memoir, “Inspired and Outraged: The Making of a Feminist Physician.” Rothchild worked almost 40 years as an OB/GYN, taught at Harvard Medical School, contributed to the first edition of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” and co-founded…
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Erin Loos Cutraro on why "She Should Run"
Nov 14, 2024 • 00:29:29
On this week’s 51%, we speak with Erin Loos Cutraro, founder and CEO of the nonprofit She Should Run, about why Kamala Harris’ loss should not discourage women from running for office. Also, the reelection of former President Donald Trump has piqued some Americans’ interest in the “4B movement,” a…
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Kamala Harris concedes
Nov 7, 2024 • 00:32:34
Donald Trump will once again be president of the United States. The former president defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in this month’s general election, marking the second time Americans have chosen Trump over a woman candidate. On this week’s 51%, we check in with Ange-Marie Hancock, a political science professor…
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Voting Without Fear
Oct 24, 2024 • 00:33:51
Election Day is November 5. Is anyone else nervous? We speak with Shevaun D. Neupert, a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University, about the impacts of election anxiety and how to cope before and after voting. We also hear from the sisters behind the “Vote Without Fear” campaign,…
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Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Oct 17, 2024 • 00:30:12
On this week’s 51%, we recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons speaks with Equinox Inc. counselor Melissa Kovelman about what domestic violence looks like in different types of relationships and how to seek help. We also check in with Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood about the various services it…
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Dr. Arnold Baskies on breast density and cancer screening
Oct 10, 2024 • 00:30:09
On this week’s 51%, we recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month and learn why doctors are being instructed to tell patients about their breast density after mammograms. We also speak with Dr. Elizabeth Lucal of Nuvance Health about the impacts of iron deficiency and anemia on women. And Natasha Senjanovic of…
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"Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency"
Oct 3, 2024 • 00:30:18
On this week’s 51%, we stop by a traveling exhibition using photography to explore the physical and emotional realities of fertility and childbirth. “Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency” — from Columbia College Chicago — is now on view at Vassar College’s Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center through February 2. We also…
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Policy Talk with Kris Brown
Sep 26, 2024 • 00:30:24
On this week’s 51%, we speak with Brady President Kris Brown about her work advocating for gun control measures in Washington, and why it’s harder today. We also hear from New York State Senator Liz Krueger about the state’s proposed Equal Rights Amendment, which voters will decide on in November.…
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Theo Boyd on complicated grief
Sep 19, 2024 • 00:28:25
On this week’s 51%, we sit down with author Theo Boyd to discuss her book My Grief is Not Like Yours, and the various forms that grief can take. Boyd, a former teacher and self-described “farm girl” from Texas, experienced a string of life-altering losses beginning in 2019, including the deaths of both…
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Jessica Hoppe on being the "First in the Family"
Sep 13, 2024 • 00:30:09
On this week’s 51%, we speak with writer and mental health advocate Jessica Hoppe about her new book First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream. The debut memoir chronicles Hoppe’s experience recovering from drug and alcohol abuse as a first-generation Latinx woman. Tracing the…