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Pop culture moments bring the challenges of womanhood to the mainstream

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Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe

Women’s roles, women’s rights and women’s identities in our culture are constantly shifting. Pop culture reflects — and sometimes even drives — those changes. On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with experts about pop culture moments through history that shed light on what it's like to be a woman.

We start with this summer's blockbuster Barbie, which relies on our understanding of women's power and gender equality for its humor. But whether it's Margot Robbie contemplating her mortality, Dolly Parton threatening to turn her boss from a rooster to a hen in 9 to 5, Tracy Chapman singing about her life as a working-class woman of color or Michelle Yeoh tackling Everything Everywhere All at Once, all of these pop culture moments hold important lessons about what it's like to be a woman.

This episode is part of Talk of Iowa's Womanhood series, airing from Oct. 23 - Oct. 27.

Guests:

  • Karen Kedrowski, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University
  • Sarah Purcell, chair of digital studies and L.F. Parker Professor of History at Grinnell College
  • Meenakshi Gigi Durham, professor in journalism and mass communication and gender, women’s and sexuality studies at University of Iowa
  • Faber McAlister, associate professor of rhetoric and media studies and director of the Cowles Speaking Center at Drake University
Charity Nebbe is IPR's 'Talk of Iowa' host. She also hosts IPR's podcasts 'Garden Variety' and 'Unsettled'. Since 2010, Nebbe has interviewed, conversed with, and shared ideas from guests of all backgrounds and locations, and has helped listeners better understand, appreciate, and explore their state and the world around them. Nebbe has a bachelors degree from Iowa State University.
Katherine Perkins is IPR's Executive Producer of Talk Shows and Program Director for News/Talk. Since 2014, Perkins has managed the broadcast schedule and sound of the news and information service of Iowa Public Radio, as well as has directed the long-term planning and oversight for IPR's talk shows, Talk of Iowa and River to River. Perkins has a masters degree from Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois – Springfield).