Episodes

Planned Parenthood health centers provide high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care services to more than 2 million patients annually. For many, they are a lifeline. Since the Trump administration and Congress moved to unlawfully “defund” Planned Parenthood last summer, nearly 30 health centers have been forced to close, further eroding access to life-saving care in the communities they served. In this bonus podcast episode, Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, sits down to talk with us about what she is keeping an eye on in the years ahead.

Moved by the power of theater as a healing tool, Christina D. Eskridge saw the unique potential for public health and the performing arts to intersect. Born from this intersection: Elevate Theatre Company, an organization that builds space for artists and audiences to explore health and wellbeing through the art of storytelling. Elevate couples live performances with panel discussions featuring public health experts, including virtual productions such as HOME IS WHERE THE FUND IS: A Story of Southern Synergy— a collaboration with Access Reproductive Care - Southeast exploring Southern politics, abortion rights, and women’s health. Christina D. Eskridge, Founder and Executive Director of Elevate Theatre Company, sits down to talk with us about how theater can be a public health apparatus.

The ripple effects of Roe v. Wade extend in vast, concentric circles throughout the American health care system. Not only has it eroded access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care—we are also seeing it have consequences for medical research, chronic illness management, hospital staffing, and more. This week, Alice Miranda Ollstein, Senior Health Care Reporter for Politico, talks with us about her new book Side Effects: How Abortion Bans Impact Everyone's Health. 

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) is a federal public health initiative that invests in organizations empowering young people with the education and resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies and lives. It’s evidence-based approach has proven to be extremely successful: since Congress’s bipartisan authorization of the program in 2009, teen pregnancy rates have reached historic lows. Ruth Richardson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, talks to us about the administration’s overhaul of TPPP, the legal fights to challenge it, and the wide-ranging benefits of comprehensive sexuality education. 

Reproductive rights aren’t only attacked on the federal level; in fact, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade was an abortion ban out of Mississippi. Individual states set the precedent for their own abortion laws, sex education, shield laws, and more. Jillian Riley, North Carolina Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic sits down to talk with us about how reproductive health, rights, and justice can show up on the election ballot in a variety of ways.

September 30th, 2026, marked the 50th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment—a provision enacted in 1976 in response to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized nationwide abortion. It restricts federally funded abortions through federal healthcare programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Lupe Rodriguez, Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (NLIRJ) sits down to talk with us about Hyde’s tragic, dangerous legacy, and how it is past time for repeal. 

Viriginia plays a critical role for abortion access in the South. In fact, Virginia is the only southern state that did not enact a post-Dobbs abortion ban, leaving it the only southern state without a full abortion ban or extremely restrictive ban on the books. April Greene, Executive Director at the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, talks to us about Virginia’s important role in continuing to providecare for the southern region and help ensure reproductive freedom nationwide.  

Independent abortion clinics collectively provide 58% of abortions in the United States. After 26 weeks of gestation, abortion clinics provide 100% of abortion care in the country. Yet, independent clinics have faced unrelenting attacks to their funding, resources, and physical wellbeing, especially over the past decade. Nikki Madsen and Erin Grant, Co-Executive Directors at the Abortion Care Network (ACN), sit down to talk with us about the critical, community-based work of independent clinics and the importance of International Safe Abortion Day around the world.

**Trigger Warning: Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss

“One of the most prevalent myths about human pregnancy is that of all possible outcomes, a baby is the most likely. Pregnancy Interrupted challenges the misleadingly linear narrative that begins with two lines on a pregnancy test and ends with a newborn. Kate Clancy shares her own deeply personal stories of pregnancy loss and moving interviews with others, and reveals how the frequency of loss and miscarriage is far more common than most realize.”

Planned Parenthood has been under attack in Texas for years. This has resulted in a lack of access to affordable healthcare, lack of access to birth control, and worsening maternal health outcomes. Shellie Hayes-McMahon, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Texas, which is the 501(c)(3) arm of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, sits down to talk with us about the perfect storm of attacks to reproductive health and rights in Texas, which provides a perfect blueprint for other states who wish to follow suit.

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are unregulated storefronts that exist as a way of pushing out anti-abortion misinformation and blocking people’s access to care through deception, shame, delay, and intimidation. Tara Romano, Executive Director of Pro-Choice North Carolina, talks to us about North Carolina’s CPC landscape.

PEPFAR, or the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, started in 2003 and is the largest country-to-country bilateral investment in addressing any single disease. PEPFAR is not only funding, but expertise, and has saved millions of lives since the Bush administration. Dr. Jennifer Sherwood, Director of Research in the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) public policy office, talks to us about attacks to PEPFAR, the populations that are impacted, and some recent protections to PEPFAR’s crucial work.