Feminism NOW

When someone keeps saying “I can’t,” the work doesn’t go away. Someone else picks it up. This week, Kim and Rose sit down with therapist Annie Wright to talk about weaponized incompetence, which is what happens when one person does a task badly, or claims they can’t do it at all, until the more capable person takes over. Annie shows that the viral term is actually about emotional labor and what she calls “patriarchy made personal.” Wright talks about why ambitious, feminist women still end up carrying the load and how the same pattern follows them into the office. She also has advice for anyone who’s ready to stop rescuing. Finally, Kim and Rose open the episode with what has made them mad as hell this week: Attacks on women in public life and the fight over reproductive choice. In this episode: Attacks on women in public life and the fight over reproductive autonomy What weaponized incompetence is, and how it differs from real inability Emotional labor as the mental map that keeps a household running How childhood parentification teaches women that being useful means being loved What the person playing incompetent gets out of it Where gaslighting and weaponized incompetence overlap How the pattern shows up at work, in meeting notes, calendars and nonpromotable tasks How to break the pattern: name it, hand over real ownership, stop rescuing, and watch the response Got something to say? Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Guest: Annie Wright, LMFT, is a psychotherapist and author whose work focuses on the emotional and relational patterns that leave driven women carrying too much. She is licensed in fifteen U.S. jurisdictions and writes the Psychology Today column Making the Whole Beautiful and the Substack Strong & Stable. Her first book, The Everything Years, comes out from W.W. Norton in 2027. Today’s featured chapter: West Virginia #weaponizedincompetence #emotionallabor #feminism Follow us on social media: Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose. Find NOW here: Instagram: @nationalnow TikTok: @national_now BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social Facebook: NationalNOW Find Annie Wright: Website: https://anniewright.com/ Weaponized incompetence: https://anniewright.com/weaponized-incompetence/

If the Trump Administration pushes through the SAVE Act, millions of eligible Americans could be turned away at the polls, not because of fraud, but because of paperwork. This week, Kim and Rose sit down with Lauren Kunis, CEO and executive director of VoteRiders, to talk about voter ID laws, proof-of-citizenship bills, and the confusion that keeps people home. Lauren explains why roughly 34.5 million voting-age citizens lack a current photo ID, what the SAVE Act would mean for registration, and why women who changed their names, students, trans voters, and communities of color face the steepest hurdles. Plus: Kim and Rose on pregnant workers' rights and the toll of USAID cuts. In this episode: Pregnant workers' accommodations and USAID cuts The ID gap: 34.5 million citizens without a current photo ID Why a driver's license isn't proof of citizenship What the SAVE Act would require How name changes, homelessness, incarceration, and trans identity complicate voting Why fraud claims don't match the evidence VoteRiders' free voter ID help, in English and Spanish Got something to say? Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Guest: Lauren Kunis has been CEO and executive director of VoteRiders since 2021. VoteRiders is a nonpartisan organization that helps voters get past ID barriers. It has helped millions of voters and aims to reach 10 million more with free help this year. In 2024, TIME named Lauren one of its inaugural Democracy Defenders. She previously directed National Voter Registration Day at Nonprofit VOTE and has worked with the National Democratic Institute and the World Bank in 15 countries. Today's featured chapter: Appleton Area NOW #SAVEACT #voterid #feminism Follow us on social media: Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose. Find NOW here: Instagram: @nationalnow TikTok: @national_now BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social Facebook: NationalNOW Find Lauren Kunis and VoteRiders: VoteRiders: https://voteriders.org/ Free voter ID help: https://voteriders.org/freehelp/, or call or text 866-432-8683 Instagram: @voteriders BlueSky: @voteriders.bsky.social Facebook: VoteRiders

Holding powerful men accountable used to mean going through the courts. Now, it means winning the fight for public opinion online, too. This week, Kim and Rose sit down with Cheyenne Hunt, lawyer, organizer, and founder and executive director of Reckoning Action, to talk about exposing abuse by powerful men, supporting survivors, and the narrative battles now playing out in real time on social media. Cheyenne walks through how she helped bring the Eric Swalwell story to light, why she pulled her support for Graham Platner once new reporting changed the picture, and why she calls misogyny a threat to democracy, not just a private harm. The conversation also covers Reckoning Action's survivor support work and its ongoing "Cover-Up Roundup" project tracking who's still avoiding scrutiny in the Epstein case. You can browse the DOJ's public Epstein Library yourself. Whether you're a lifelong feminist or newly feminism-curious, join us this season as Kim and Rose speak with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website. Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. In this episode: How the Eric Swalwell story broke, 11 days after Cheyenne posted publicly and other survivors came forward Why survivors often stay silent even in the Me Too era Misogyny as a democratic threat, not just a workplace or private issue Why Cheyenne withdrew her support from Graham Platner after new allegations surfaced Reckoning Action's survivor support work: legal help, crisis communications, mental health resources, digital security The Epstein cover-up and the "Cover-Up Roundup" project A grassroots update from NOW organizers in East Texas Guest: Cheyenne Hunt is a lawyer, organizer, and the founder and executive director of Reckoning Action, an organization that supports survivors of abuse by powerful men through legal help, crisis communications, mental health resources, digital security, and creator amplification. She played a central role in bringing the Eric Swalwell story forward and now leads Reckoning Action's work on political accountability and the Epstein cover-up. Today’s featured chapter: Northeast Texas NOW, hosting the East Texas Women’s March and Expo, September 19, 2026. Follow us on social media: Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose. Find NOW here: Instagram: @nationalnow TikTok: @national_now BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social Facebook: NationalNOW Find Cheyenne Hunt and Reckoning Action: Reckoning Action: https://www.reckoningaction.org/ Instagram: @cheyenne.I.hunt Cheyenne’s website: https://www.cheyennespeaks.io/

Fighting Christian nationalism with facts alone doesn't work. This week, Kim and Rose kick off season six with Monte Mader, progressive political and cultural commentator, writer, public speaker, and vocalist, to talk about why stories, not statistics, are what actually help women question and leave high-control belief systems. Raised on a rural Wyoming cattle ranch as a "biblical wife," Monte was taught to marry, submit, and build her life around men and children, until a family crisis made her question her ideology. She and the hosts dig into how trad wife content sells an illusion of safety while hiding the labor behind it, why complementarianism functions as the church's own "separate but equal" doctrine, and why fights over voting rights, Title IX, and trans athletes are really about controlling women. Plus: why Monte chose a one-on-one debate with Allie Beth Stuckey over the usual viral pile-on format, and what she tells anyone trying to reach a friend or family member pulled toward trad wife ideology or the manosphere. In this episode: Kim and Rose open season six, reflecting on the show's growth and recent award recognition Rose breaks down Texas GOP efforts to end no-fault divorce, and how fault-based divorce can trap abused women in harmful marriages Kim discusses postpartum depression as an underrecognized women's health issue, using Hayden Panettiere's recent death as an example of how women's suffering is often ignored Monte on growing up as a "biblical wife" and the moment her worldview broke open How trad wife content hides the labor and exhaustion behind the aesthetic Complementarianism as the church's "separate but equal" doctrine Why Christian nationalist arguments so often target women's voting rights, Title IX, and trans athletes Monte's advice: lead with questions and your own story, not arguments Whether you're a lifelong feminist or newly feminism-curious, join us this season as Kim and Rose speak with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website. Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Guest: Monte Mader is a progressive political and cultural commentator, writer, public speaker, and vocalist. She speaks from lived experience inside white Christian nationalism and now helps others recognize the signs, language, and power structures of these movements. Today’s featured chapter: Central New York NOW, hosting their fourth annual Reproductive Rights Film Fest, September 15-19, 2026. Follow us on social media: Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose. Find NOW here: Instagram: @nationalnow TikTok: @national_now BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social Facebook: NationalNOW X: @nationalnow

Roe v. Wade is dead, but who was the murderer? In this episode, Kim and Rose sit down with journalist Amy Littlefield, author of the new book Killers of Roe: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights to trace the decades-long effort to dismantle federal abortion protections—and what that history means for the future of reproductive rights in the United States. This is the last episode of season 5. We will be taking a short break and then Kim and Rose will be back, speaking with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website. Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. Guest: Amy Littlefield has reported on abortion rights for over a decade. She is the abortion access correspondent for The Nation. She has contributed to The New York Times Opinion and wrote the Times’ Sunday Review cover story “Where the Pro-Choice Movement Went Wrong.” She is a frequent commentator on abortion for TV and radio news outlets and podcasts, including MSNOW and Democracy Now!. Littlefield was a lead reporter and narrator on shows for Reveal, the national investigative journalism show. She lives in Boston with her family. Follow us on social media: Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose. Find today’s guest, Amy Littlefield, on Instagram @littleamyfield on X @amylittlefield Find NOW here: Instagram: @nationalnow TikTok: @national_now BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social Facebook: NationalNOW