Stuff Mom Never Told You

Hillary Clinton has been one of the most successful women in American politics, but ever since she became the First Lady of Arkansas, people have both loved and loathed her. Cristen and Caroline travel back in time to look at what shaped Hillary, how the press has treated her and what it means to be a powerful woman in the public eye. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women are a rare sight in the upper echelons of political campaign management and strategy. Cristen and Caroline put on their detective hats to figure out why women more often end up leading fundraising and grassroots efforts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forcible sterilizations of black women in the South were so frequent in the 1960s, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer nicknamed them Mississippi appendectomies. Cristen and Caroline chart the disturbing American practice of nonconsensually sterilizing women of color and the eugenics movement that started it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

J. Marion Sims is hailed as the father of gynecology, but his legacy is tainted by his experimental surgeries on enslaved women. Cristen and Caroline contextualize Sims' controversy, diagnose medicine's racist past and honor the unsung mothers of gynecology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The future of sexual health may be in at-home STD testing. Cristen and Caroline talk to My Lab Box startup founders Lora Ivanova and Ursula Hessenflow about how technology can destigmatize STD testing and what it's like for female founders raising venture capital for a culturally taboo product. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since the 1980s epidemic, HIV and AIDS have been misunderstood as exclusively affecting men who have sex with men. Cristen and Caroline discuss the lesbians on the front lines of the AIDS crisis, women and AIDS today and the HIV myths that reinforce its stigma. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wartime prostitution is American as Uncle Sam and apple pie. Cristen and Caroline shares the hidden history of military STDs, government-sanctioned brothels, and the surveillance of civilian women to provide a "buffer of whores" to keep soldiers sexually satisfied. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During World War II, Japanese military life included sexual slavery. Cristen and Caroline trace the traumatic history of "comfort women" survivors and why they'll never stop protesting. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is the gender wage gap narrower for lesbians? Cristen and Caroline investigate why those bigger paychecks happen but probably don't buy an easier time in the workplace. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salary talk with coworkers is becoming the new "do" in digital workplaces. recruitHER founders Gina Helfrich and Ashley Doyle share their insights on savvy negotiation, the power of salary transparency and how women and tech companies can jointly hack the wage gap. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why does lighter skin improve women's chances of getting through school, getting a job and getting married? Cristen and Caroline explore the historical roots, repercussions and cross-cultural shades of colorism around the world. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suntanned skin became a seasonal beauty standard for wealthy white women in the 1920s. Cristen and Caroline explore the class and colorism behind our tanning tradition and spotlight why there's far more than Coco Chanel's revolutionary sunburn. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ann Friedman is one of the most important feminist and millennial voices you should know, listen to and read. Tune in to hear Cristen and Caroline chat with this New York magazine columnist, Call Your Girlfriend podcast host, newsletter publisher extraordinaire and mistress of ladyswagger. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When trailblazing reporter Ethel Payne died, The Washington Post eulogized that had Payne "not been black, she certainly would have been one of the most recognized journalists in American society." Cristen and Caroline uncover the history and significance of black newspapers in the U.S. and the incredible legacy of one its brightest stars. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1991, Anita Hill testified before the U.S. Senate that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her when they worked together. Cristen and Caroline talk about the significance, gender and racial dynamics, and lasting impact of Hill's public hearing that captivated the nation. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shifting from corporate America to the New York Fire Department proved to be a major culture shock for Regina Wilson. Upon joining the force in 1999, she became the 12th African-American woman in the FDNY's history and now is the first female president of the Vulcan Society, the African-American fraternal organization founded in 1940 to combat racial discrimination among firefighters. In the final ChangeMAKERS installment, Cristen and Caroline learn about Wilson's battle against sexism and hostility -- one she wages in order to do the job she loves and bring other women and people of color along behind her. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The term "sexual harassment" didn't exist before the 1970s. Cristen and Caroline investigate the legal history of this occupational hazard and why it took the courts so long to criminalize it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2015 was the year we started caring about sexism in science, WIRED magazine recently declared. In this live Stuff Mom Never Told You conversation at SxSW Interactive, Cristen and Caroline speak with astronomer and science communicator Nicole Cabrera about how harassment and discrimination affect scientific discovery, STEM online activism and why all of us have a vested interest in resolving these issues. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People with disabilities are frequently erased from conversations about sexuality because of deeply ingrained stereotypes and marginalizing assumptions. Cristen and Caroline look at where these desexualizing tropes came from and their very real consequences. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dyllan McGee is one of the world's most important storytellers. Founder of the MAKERS online docuseries, McGee and creative director Sammi Leibovitz capture the often untold biographies of female trailblazers from all walks of life. In the third ChangeMAKERS installment, Cristen and Caroline hear from Dyllan and Sammi about following your passion, why no change it too small and how sharing MAKERS' stories shapes girls' futures. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emoji are revolutionizing the way we communicate while also communicating gender stereotypes about women. Cristen and Caroline decode the gendered patterns of emoji use and why some think they don't speak loudly enough for girls and women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Coloring book sales have soared as adults rediscover the calming effects of this childhood pastime. Cristen and Caroline sketch out how the grownup coloring book trend began, psychological debates about its benefits and gender in between the lines. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Confidence is not a problem for U.S. women's soccer star Abby Wambach; the gender wage gap is. Recently retired, the gold medalist and top international scorer is shifting her focus from heading goals to tackling gender equality, and she's not going to let anything get in her way. In this third ChangeMAKERS installment, Cristen and Caroline talk with Wambach about learning from others, leading a team and the forces that motivate her to change the world. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Oct. 24, 1975, women in Iceland went on strike to protest gender inequality. Cristen and Caroline go to work on how the strike happened, its impact and whether Iceland is the feminist paradise it's touted to be. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance and one of TIME's Most Influential People, Ai Jen Poo has dedicated her life to advocating tirelessly for the rights, dignity and empowerment of women whose voices are too often silenced. In this first ChangeMAKERS installment, Cristen and Caroline talk with Poo about the role of caregivers in our society and the power women wield when they come together to make change happen. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professional ambition, wellbeing and relationships can feel impossible to personally negotiate. Bossed Up founder and CEO Emilie Aries talks to Cristen and Caroline about how women in the workplace can abandon martyrdom mindset, avoid burnout and get unsuck from unfulfilling careers. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By the time The Babysitters Club hit bookshelves, amateur childcare already had a buckwild history. Cristen and Caroline chart the invention, gender panic and economic boom of the babysitting industry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The trucking industry is recruiting women like never before. Cristen and Caroline get behind the wheel of what life is really life out there on the road and the long haul it will take to make the job safer for women. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Auto mechanics is a decidedly male-dominated field, with women comprising less than 2 percent of the profession. Cristen and Caroline get under the hood of the history of women and automobile upkeep and look at why a growing number of ladies are opening garages on their own. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are more people breaking up without saying goodbye? Cristen and Caroline discuss the not-so-new phenomenon of ghosting -- or abruptly ending a relationship and avoiding further contact -- why it happens, and whether it helps or haunts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cuddling permeates many of our closest relationships, whether platonic or romantic - but why? Cristen and Caroline investigate the nature and nurture of cuddling, why some people are now paying for a good snuggle and who wins the spooning battle of the sexes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When NASA was formed in 1958, its prized pool of all-female "computers" desegregated. Until then, mathematicians of color -- including Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Katherine Johnson -- worked, ate and used the restroom in a separate facilities. Cristen and Caroline shed overdue light on Johnson and her brilliant West Computer teammates who helped launch America into space. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pauli Murray is greatest intersectional trailblazer - and saint - you've never heard of. Cristen and Caroline marvel at the life, love and genius of this queer, African-American civil rights lawyer decades ahead of her time who legally shaped the civil rights and feminist movements and earned an historic Episcopal priesthood. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Infertility affects million of women and men around the world, but cultural stigma has kept it in the shadows. Cristen and Caroline talk about the causes of male and female infertility, its psychological impact and why it's often a biological battle waged in silence. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After experiencing a miscarriage at 16 weeks, clinical psychologist Jessica Zucker started the hashtag #IHadaMiscarriage, which went viral. Cristen and Caroline talk to Dr. Zucker about why miscarriage remains a taboo issue, how to comfort those grieving a loss and the cards she created to help us start these much-needed conversations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do more than half of all lady legs develop varicose and spider veins? Cristen and Caroline provide a rarely offered anatomy lesson on why they happen, how to treat them and what they have to do with menstrual belt. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From bathing in donkey's milk to injecting our faces with fat and neurotoxins, our wrinkle-fighting regimens have been evolving for millennia. But are those lines really worth the battle? Cristen and Caroline iron out the history of our anti-wrinkle efforts, what bad habits accelerate aging and how wrinkles affect our self-perception. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Knitting was originally a job for the menfolk. Cristen and Caroline stitch together the mysterious history of the craft, how it transitioned to women's domestic work and how third-wave feminists reclaimed it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The history of graffitti and street art have been tagged with men's names, but not anymore. Women around the world are turning public spaces into their canvases, challenging gender norms and the art world at large. Just don't call them "female Banksys." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feminist marriages can take as much planning as feminist weddings. Meg Keene, A Practical Wedding founder and author of the new "A Practical Wedding Planner" offers indispensable advice for newlywed transitions, egalitarian relationships and redefining what it means to be a wife. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When did weddings become so impractical, costing more than $26,000 on average? Meg Keene, A Practical Wedding Founder and author of the new "A Practical Wedding Planner" shares her insights and advice what an affordable, feminist wedding looks like and how to pull it off gracefully. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The history of tarot cards is as tantalizing as the mystical insights they promise to reveal. Cristen and Caroline deal out how tarot evolved from a game into a divination tool and why two women living worlds apart are to thank for tarot's popularity today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are most psychic readers women? Cristen and Caroline examine how crystal balls, fortunetelling, palm reading and other mystical pastimes became women's work and whether females are the psychic sex. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A pair of special HowStuffWorks guests join Cristen and Caroline to look back at the highlights and lowlights for women and representation in 2015. From the Supreme Court to Star Wars, it was a major year for equality. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cristen and Caroline look back at their favorite 2015 Stuff Mom Never Told You episodes and this year's important events and heroines we didn't cover on the podcast. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a long, tough day, sometimes all you want to do is blow off steam by complaining. But is venting worth the emotional toll that getting trapped in a negativity spiral can take? Cristen and Caroline discuss the pros and cons of complaining and dissect why women are stereotyped as nags. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acne isn't just a teenage rite of passage. Grown-up women with jobs and bank accounts struggle with chronic pimples as well. Cristen and Caroline examine why adult acne happens, how birth control affects it and other treatment options. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you ask a young girl who her beauty idol is, chances are, she'll name one of the mega-famous YouTube stars who make a living putting on makeup in front of the camera. Cristen and Caroline take a look at the women -- and men -- who just might be changing the digital beauty game with the stroke of a blush brush. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think it's a lot of work to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, just imagine the average day of your favorite glam fashion blogger. Outlining the industry's evolution from grassroots passion projects to massive money-making Instagram empires, Cristen and Caroline discuss how successful fashion bloggers monetize the artifice of effortless femininity. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you're alone or partnered up, using personal lubricants is nothing to be ashamed of. Cristen and Caroline outline the history, use, and benefits of women using lube and dispel sex-shaming expectations about how female bodies ought to ready themselves for sex. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.