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Abortion saves lives. Abortion is healthcare. Abortion should never have been politicized.But it was. And in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, when we're mostly full of anger and sorrow, we really need glimmers of hope. One such spark can be found in a place one might expect fervent opposition to abortion: Ireland. In this rerelease of one of our very first episodes, Ailbhe joins Sabrina & Kassia to share how she organized a national movement to legalize abortion in Ireland. They talk about:• Her experience growing up gay in a conservative Catholic community• How she navigated oppressive cultural gender expectations• Why the Irish campaign for reproductive rights was ultimately successfulLike what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Many double standards exist for women and men, but perhaps none as ubiquitously as how they use their voice. A loud little girl is called bossy, a bold assertive woman is called a bitch. The same leadership qualities that we celebrate in men we often silence in women and Phumzile van Damme has experienced this at every turn of her career. Elected to serve as a Member of Parliament for South Africa at the age of 31, van Damme went on to hold positions of National Assembly Whip, Shadow Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Committee, and National Spokesperson of her party. She is one of the most accomplished young, Black, female politicians in South Africa and yet the relentless pressure to silence her eventually led to her resignation in 2021. She joins Kassia to talk about:• Her political rise and her reputation for defying tradition and speaking out on behalf of gender equity• Her struggle with self-confidence and imposter syndrome• The attempts of organized gendered disinformation campaigns to undermine her political influenceLike what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Ever been called an angry feminist? Us too. Soraya Chemaly is a writer, speaker, and activist who studies the many reasons women have to be angry, and why they're called bitches, hot-headed, crazy feminists when they are. She is an award-winning activist, the best-selling author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, and director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project. She joins Sabrina to discuss:• The reasons women have to be angry, from microaggressions to macro-level sexism• Why anger is actually one of the most hopeful, forward-thinking, and powerful emotions• Why men and women are conditioned to experience and display emotion differentlyLike what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world.

We’re releasing a bonus episode from 1972! Just kidding. We’re releasing a bonus episode from 2022 about what to do now that the United States is about to revoke the rights of millions of people with uteruses. Sabrina reaches back out to human rights attorney and previous guest, Julie Kay to talk about:•        What this legal ruling might mean for other rights•        Which interventions are and are not likely to work once Roe v. Wade is overturned•        How we keep going, keep fighting, and strategically channel our rage  Like what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

It's not often that a poet's first paid piece of writing jumps to the top of the New York Times bestseller lists. Kate Baer's did. Her first book, What Kind of Woman was published in 2020 and followed shortly by a book of erasure poetry, I Hope This Finds You Well (2021). Both tackle the underlying treatment of women and mothers in modern society.Even if you haven't picked up one of her books (yet), you've probably seen her work, which regularly goes viral online. She joins Kassia to talk about:• The slow burn of being lost, overwhelmed, and undervalued as a woman and mother• The unreasonable expectations that society places on women and the support it fails to provide • The unglamorous realities of writing (hint: lots of misogyny, failures, emotional labor, and some very expensive childcare)Like what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

In a country that criminalizes homosexuality, Kaz is an openly queer individual. Bisexual, lesbians, and transgender persons are not recognized by the Kenyan constitution and yet she lives openly and authentically while encouraging others to do the same.Kaz started her career as a singer and performer. In 2006, she won the Kora Award for The Most Promising Female Artist in Africa and was dubbed the Kenyan Queen of Soul. Today she is the host of The Spread, a sex-positive podcast that creates a safe space for people to understand their sexuality and learn to live confidently in awareness of their sexual identity. She joins Sabrina to talk about:• Her experience being sexually abused as a child• How she recovered from revenge porn as a young adult• What we can all learn from the bondage, discipline, dominance and submission and sadomasochism (BDSM) about consentLike what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Five kids between the two of them, Sabrina and Kassia know a thing or two about pregnancy. From infertility to miscarriage, morning sickness to stretch marks these ladies could write a real epic. That's why they're pulling back the curtains - not as experts on any one of these issues, but as mothers and friends who want to dispel some of the ways society tends to sugar coat pregnancy. We're talking about: The first trimester and the burden of being expected to endure it in secret Miscarriage and why it does us a great disservice to not talk about it more candidly Infertility, vulnerability, and the honest desire to hold the cards close to our chest We're getting real personal in this episode, showing up for one another to celebrate big news and recount hard losses and to invite you all to start talking. Like what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Comprehensive sex education is not standardized in schools across Arab countries and more than 40% of pregnancies are unintended.Since moving from Chicago to Dubai in 2014, Dr. Salem has defied tradition and delivered sex education to women through her OB-GYN clinic as well as through her Instagram account. With more than 20k followers, she answers questions, busts myths, and provides advice to women who don't otherwise have access to sex ed. She joins Kassia to talk about:  Providing OB-GYN care in conservative Arab cultures where many women are taught to be ashamed of their bodies Turning to social media to build a platform for sex education that is not otherwise available in schools How women, men, and authorities are responding  Like what you hear and want more? Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Reproductive freedom is in grave danger across the United States. Experts predict that it is not a question of if Roe will be overturned this year, but rather when.Kathryn Kolbert is one of the most influential reproductive rights attorneys in the country. Julie Kay is a passionate human rights attorney who came up under the mentorship of Kitty at the Center for Reproductive Rights. Collectively, these women are two of the most aggressive and accomplished defenders of reproductive rights around the world. They join Sabrina Merage Naim to talk about: Kitty’s 1992 appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court Julie’s successful argument before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights What we need to do to protect reproductive rights across the country when Roe is overturned We also discuss their newest book, Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom. Sign up for our newsletter full of episode updates and resources on issues impacting women around the world. 

Season two is coming soon and this is our little love letter to those loyal listeners who are waiting oh so patiently. It's been a few months since our 43rd episode dropped to wrap up Season 1. And since then, we've been chasing babies, growing businesses, and planning how to knock your socks off in our second season. A few of the to dos on our list? • Mix up the show format• More intimate one-on-one conversations with world-changing guests• Launching a powerful and practical email newsletter that brings you all the best resources around episode topics. In today's bonus episode, Sabrina and Kassia drop in to say hello and whet your appetite for the launch of our next season. Head over to breakingglasspodcast.com to review season one episodes before we dive into season two.

Rules were bent. Glass was broken. Minds were expanded. Join Sabrina and Kassia in reflecting on the audacious, gutsy guests whose stories, advice, and badassery comprised season one. The co-hosts discuss the conversations that left a mark and opened their eyes to the vast array of experiences women are facing around the world. Sabrina reveals the episode that most challenged her, and Kassia shares how she has personally grown in unexpected ways.

Dr. Faith Mwangi-Powell grew up in rural Kenya with two parents who were deeply committed to her education. The daughter of a village chief, it wasn’t until she completed her PhD and was deep into her career in public health and population studies that she realized child marriage had been happening all around her. Today, Dr. Faith is the CEO of Girls Not Brides where she leads a network of global organizations working to end child marriage. She joins us to reflect on her own childhood, how she was sheltered from many of the cultural traditions happening right around her, and the work she's doing to support the 650 million women currently living with the consequences of child marriage.  

Erin Jorgensen is an artist, musician, and a somewhat accidental abortion activist. Having grown up in a Mormon family in rural Washington, Erin eventually turned her back on the church and moved to the coast to pursue a career in music. A struggling artist, she resorted to sex work to make ends meet. After four abortions, Erin's roommate and dear friend urged her to open up about her experience and to her disbelief, Erin found that her story wasn't unique at all. In fact, nearly one in four women in the United States will have an abortion in her lifetime. Today, Erin is the Communications Director for Shout Your Abortion and she joins us to share her story publicly for the first time. We're talking about the emotional, mental, and physical toll of abortions, the judgement and stigma endured by any woman making this decision, and the many reasons why legislation has no place in women's reproductive health.

Matthew Nouriel is a British Iranian who from a young age, was attracted to all the things little boys in traditional homes should never be attracted to - Barbies, dresses, make up. Growing up between the UK and Los Angeles, Matthew diverged from the path that their family laid out for them and found a home among the LGBTQ+ community of West Hollywood. Soon, Matthew was able to merge their passion for stand up comedy and femininity to become The Empress Mizrahi. In this episode, Matthew relays the challenges of being a queer little boy in a traditional home and culture, the joys of drag, and why it took so long to find pronouns that felt right. 

At the young age of 16, Orna Donath knew with certainty that she would never be a mother. To Orna, this self-realization was not as extraordinary as society would want her to believe. To her, it was mundane. Just as common as choosing to become a mother. In the decades that followed she became a sociologist and author, producing thought-provoking research on women who regret motherhood along with those who chose to never have children at all. She joins us to share her own personal experience of the stigma societies place on women who choose to not mother as well as how we can begin the complex journey to untangle womanhood from motherhood.

Esther Amini is a writer, artist, and psychotherapist whose family emigrated from Mashad, Iran to New York City before she was born. Despite their newfound freedom, the life of secrecy and duplicity that they had known in Iran resulted in generations of trauma. Esther has spent a lifetime navigating these two conflicting realities - that of a conservative Jewish Iranian daughter whose only aspirations should be to marry and to mother, and that of a curious child who grew into an accomplished woman with professional accolades and a strong will. Esther reflects on her experience straddling these conflicting cultures, how the secrets have shaped her, and how she has managed to define womanhood on her own terms.

Jackson Katz is founder & president of MVP Strategies and an outspoken expert on why gender violence is a man's issue. Jackson grew up in a dysfunctional family and in college found himself studying the intersectionality of race, gender, and discrimination. Watching strong female classmates survive rape and campaign for campus safety, Jackson grew increasingly infuriated by the lack of engagement he saw from his male peers. In the decades since, Jackson has been a trusted male voice at the forefront of ending gender violence. We're talking masculinity, strength, and how he's training a new generation of leaders and bystanders to take an active role to end violence against women.

Nasreen Sheikh was born into a rural village in Nepal to a family struggling to survive. The desperation of her upbringing drove her to work in a sweatshop as a young child where she lived and worked in a 10x10 foot room alongside 5 other people. After escaping child labor, she founded Women’s Local Handicraft to disrupt the manufacturing supply chain and create meaningful work and living wages for Nepali women. Despite beating the odds, Nasreen still wasn't free. As a young adult she found herself being forced into an arranged marriage which she managed to escape only by hiding on the day of the ceremony and petitioning village elders to dissolve the marriage. Nasreen joins us to reflect on the obstacles that she’s faced as a young girl born into extreme poverty, and why she feels compelled to shed a light on the lives of more than 250 million individuals still trapped in modern slavery. 

Do you ever find yourself wondering who the personalities are behind these voices on Breaking Glass? This one's for you. Today we're pulling back the curtain and co-hosts Sabrina and Kassia are getting personal. We're rambling about the complexity of podcasting, the mess of motherhood, and how in the world we ended up in partnership with one another on this show. Kassia opens up about trying to raise empathetic children and her crush on old men, while Sabrina reflects on the profound impact of her gap year and her global goals for this show. Together, we vow to do a better job weaving our own stories into this global conversation about womanhood.

Sandra Pepera is a Ghanaian woman raised in Britain by parents who were deeply committed to girls' education. No stranger to the experience of being a minority in the room, Sandra is a campaigner at heart and has dedicated her life to equity and justice work. Today, she is a renowned an expert in international development, democracy, and gender equity. The Director for Gender, Women, and Democracy at the National Democratic Institute in Washington D.C., she works tirelessly to help women overcome barriers to their equal and active political participation all over the world. We're talking tokenism, quotas, politics, as well as how to engage our sons in issues of gender equity. Typically constrained by professionalism and diplomacy, we're excited to share Sandra's story completely unleashed.