While the country waits with bated breath for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, it is becoming clearer by the day that this impending decision is part of a broader, reactionary push to undo decades of social progress and solidify the US as a hyper-unequal, theocratic, undemocratic fortress state. “All that we have fought for, from voting rights to reproductive rights, has been whittled away since the right began organizing its counterattack 50 years ago. We are entering dangerous and perilous waters, my friends…” So begins this special installment of The Marc Steiner Show, in which Marc speaks with Dani McClain and Susan Simensky Bietila about the right-wing war on women, bodily autonomy, and civil rights, the failure of the Democratic establishment to protect us, and what lessons we can draw from the pre-Roe days of abortion activism that can help us navigate a post-Roe world.
Dani McClain is an award-winning reporter whose writing focuses on race, reproductive health, and political organizing. She is a contributing writer at The Nation, a fellow with Type Media Center, and her writing has been featured in a wide range of outlets, including The New York Times, TIME, The Atlantic, Slate, Colorlines, EBONY.com, and The Rumpus. She is the author of Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood. Susan Simensky-Bietila is a renowned activist, artist, and curator who has been producing radical artwork—including barrier-breaking illustrations for leftist newspapers like RAT and The Guardian—for over half a century. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and makes artwork in collaboration with movements for social justice advancing the causes of healthcare as a human right, public education, immigrant rights, Indigenous-led movements to protect water from mines, pipelines, and oil trains, and more. She has been a registered nurse for 49 years and worked for many years in OB/GYN care.
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Pre-Production/Studio: Adam Coley
Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The transcript of this interview will be made available as soon as possible.
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