Women's Voices For Change

Marilyn Nelson:
“Three Sonnets from A Wreath for Emmett Till”

By Rebecca Foust

"After revisiting what I knew about lynching, reading more about it, and growing increasingly depressed, I knew that I would write this poem as a heroic crown of sonnets..." —Marilyn Nelson

Emotional Health

Summer’s Healing Power: Earth, Water, and Light

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

In our culture, we are prone to avoid, block, or soothe painful feelings, but this approach is based on the idea that accepting, rather than fighting feelings, is a better way. In trying to fight or avoid pain, we often make it worse.

Film & Television

Black Lives Matter:
Films That Can Start Conversations

By Alexandra MacAaron

You can find documentaries, miniseries, and narrative films that help illuminate what the Black Lives Matter movement is about and why it's so important. Here are several available to rent or stream.

Poetry

Maria Popova’s “Brain Pickings” Column on
Pablo Neruda’s “Keeping Quiet”

By Rebecca Foust

In some ways, Pablo Neruda’s poem almost seems to anticipate the situation the world finds itself in now.

Books

Toni Morrison:
The Power of Fiction in the Arc of Progress

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

Her legacy remains in her great books, and her life will be remembered for her vision and courageous honesty.

Film & Television

‘The Rest of Us’ Focuses On An Unlikely
Family of Women

By Alexandra MacAaron

"[These are] characters that I could relate to — flawed, funny, real women who are going through the confusion of life, but each from their own experience and perspective." — Chin-Yee, Director

Poetry

Yamini Pathak:
“Manifesto for the Indian Widow Who Wishes to Live”

By Amanda Moore

Through the use of fantastical elements and irony, the poem transforms into a strong negative commentary on what Yamini Pathak calls in her Poet’s Note “the traditional treatment of widows in Indian society.”

Emotional Health · Family & Friends

Daughters, Mothers, and Grandmothers

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

The paradox of parenthood is that while this overarching connection and investment in your children is essential, being a good mother also requires that you let them become themselves.

Film & Television

“Military Wives’ Sings A Familiar Feel-Good Tune

By Alexandra MacAaron

The main message, one of solidarity in a time of uncertainty, resonates in 'Military Wives.' There's a quite wonderful sense of sorority.

Poetry

“Yes,” by Denise Duhamel

By Rebecca Foust

Reading “Yes,” we get a real sense of commitment to making a marriage work and, maybe more importantly, of the sense that this is not just a tedious chore. Real affection, and humor, lighten the touch here.

Food & Drink · Nutrition

Food Wars: The Struggle for Healthy Eating

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

The past ten years have seen an explosion of interest in and controversy about just what comprises healthy eating. As a result, new diets and regimes abound.

Lifestyle

Yes, You Can Go Back…To School

By Alexandra MacAaron

"What one course did you not take in college, but wish you did?" Take a look at some of the — free — courses available online.

Poetry

“Tennessee June,” by Jorie Graham

By Rebecca Foust

The poem makes its political point lightly, touching on it and then moving immediately into a lyricism that steers the poem back into more personal—and universal—concerns.

Marriage & Life Partners

The Covid Marriage

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

The enforced togetherness required by social distancing has led couples to spend more time together than usual, a lot of it. And even for those that have strong, solid relationships, it’s been, well, a bit more than they’d like.

Film & Television

New Documentary Shines Loving Light
On ‘A Secret Love’

By Alexandra MacAaron

There is nothing but respect and genuine affection in 'A Secret Love.' If anything, the film evokes a sense of admiration and wonder for any couple that can maintain the love and sense of sheer joy for and about each other.

Health

The Lummi Nation: How a Native American Community Prepared for the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

I have been following the success of the Lummi Nation, a Native American community, two hours from Seattle, Washington. They are a model of how a community dealt with and contained the virus quickly.

Poetry

“The Laughter of Women,” by Lisel Mueller

By Susan Cohen

"Poetry, for me, is the answer to how does one stay sane when private lives are being ransacked by public events," Lisel Mueller explained to an interviewer after 'Alive Together: New and Selected Poems' won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize.

Film & Television

‘The Assistant,’ A Riveting #MeToo Horror Movie

By Alexandra MacAaron

'The Assistant' follows a junior assistant as she tries to expose her boss and his reign of sexual terror. What happens is more disturbing. Because, what happens is . . . nothing.

Health

Managing More than Your Mood in the Time of COVID

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

I spoke to dozens of people who were willing to share how they are changing their lives in positive ways, consciously choosing to improve their mood, physical health, and their intellectual, cultural and spiritual lives.

Poetry

Review: Ledger by Jane Hirshfield

By Rebecca Foust

Ledger’s poems take stock of the losses—both personal to this speaker and in the larger sense of our world’s ever-diminishing resources and species—and do so with a mounting sense of crisis.

Books · Emotional Health

Man’s Search for Meaning

By Cecilia M. Ford, Ph.D.

The most helpful insight of Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Film & Television

Streaming Options: Celebrating Our (Feminist) Roots

By Alexandra MacAaron

We have access to an unprecedented volume of home entertainment—with options that celebrate the rich history of women.

Health

The COVID Revolution

By Patricia Yarberry Allen, M.D.

In spite of the horror of disease, death, and economic havoc that has come from the COVID-19 pandemic, I have hope that a COVID Revolution can produce lasting change that will benefit many.

Poetry

Three poems from Indigo by Ellen Bass

By Amanda Moore

With a keen sense of humor that acknowledges how even our saddest moments can offer levity, Ellen Bass offers comfort and assurance in these poems, always leading us back from the brink of intense emotion with wisdom and care.