Women Rule

Live from SXSW in Austin, Congresswomen Terri Sewell and Veronica Escobar tell us about the unsolicited advice they've received as women running for office, what it's really like to wage a campaign for Congress, the very real barriers that women face in politics, and the best advice they've ever received about raising money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The longtime president & CEO of PBS describes how she psyches herself up to fundraise, what businesses can do to foster talented women and how PBS has responded to the #MeToo movement. For 13 years, Paula Kerger has led PBS, making her one of the media industry's most powerful players — which is probably not something you expect to hear about someone who considers herself an introvert. In that time, she's led the organization through a lot — from the rise of online streaming services, to battles with the Trump administration over funding, to the “Me Too” movement, when sexual harassment allegations brought down one of PBS’s biggest stars: Charlie Rose. Through it all, PBS has remained a place known in the industry for the number of women in meaningful leadership roles — both on-camera and off. That’s by design. And Kerger sees that diversity as a fundamental component of PBS fulfilling its mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administers the health care plans of 130 million Americans and oversees around 26 percent of the federal budget. It's a big job. And for Seema Verma, it's one that requires a complicated balancing act with her family back in Indiana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The star and showrunner of Netflix’s "One Day At a Time" — one of Hollywood's few series starring and led by women of color — talk Hollywood, sexism and the stereotypes they’re tired of hearing about Latinas. It’s a TV show about a Cuban-American single mother who works as a nurse. She’s an Army veteran and her ex-husband is still a contractor overseas. She has post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Her teenage daughter is an out and proud lesbian in a world that isn’t always welcoming. Her son has been bullied by racists who tell him to “go back to Mexico,” even though he’s a third-generation American. Her mother, a devout Catholic and Cuban immigrant, and lives with them in a small apartment in a working-class Los Angeles neighborhood. If you’re among those who read that and think the show isn’t for you, Machado is having none of it. “We get this question a lot, like, ‘What does it have to do with me? Why should I watch it?’” Machado said in an interview for POLITICO’s Women Rule podcast. “And I’m saying personally, I grew up watching white people and I identified with them. And I didn’t have anything in common with ‘Growing Pains.’ I had nothing in common with Kirk Cameron. … They were telling universal stories about family, about love, about all of these things.” “When I wake up in the morning, I don’t think, like, ‘Another day in the life of a Latina!’” chuckled Gloria Calderón Kellett, the series’ co-runner, who joined Machado on the podcast. “You just wake up, and you’re a human and you’re trying to go about your day.” Over its three seasons, “One Day At a Time” has earned a devoted fan following, both for its sharp writing and for its perspective on the world. It’s one of relatively few TV shows in Hollywood both led by and starring women of color (Machado’s mother is portrayed by Rita Moreno, the legendary EGOT winner whose career has spanned from “Singin’ In the Rain” and “West Side Story” to the Netflix series). Having strong women behind the camera makes a difference, too. “Day One of our show, we sit down with our staff and we say, ‘Hey, listen. If you have something — your kid has something at their school, you get to go to that,’” said Calderón Kellett. “‘And for those of you who have chosen not to have children, but your dog or your mom or your best friend is the most important person in the world to you, they have something? You get to go to that. All of you get to live your lives. And we’re going to try very hard to get out of here so that you can have dinner and have a full life outside of this.’ The moment you say that to anybody, they will kill for you.” Having worked a steady career in TV on series like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Rules of Engagement,” Calderón Kellett said she was moved to take the approach because she’s toiled away in so many toxic and unaccommodating male-dominated writers’ rooms. “Here I am in Hollywood, and I’m suffering [because of] a guy who doesn’t want to go home because he doesn’t like his wife and kids, and he wants to hold me hostage here while he’s telling dick jokes,” she said. “The more I would be in rooms where there would be half women, or more and more women, the more that type of misogynistic behavior ended. It would just start to end.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City first lady Chirlane McCray joins us to talk about the work she's been doing to expand access to mental health care, her experiences growing up as the only black student in her class from sixth grade through high school, the strangeness of being an introvert in a prominent public position in one of the most media-saturated cities in the world, and whether her husband (NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio) will run for president in 2020 — and why she's thinking about running for office herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Years before Heather Wilson was secretary of the Air Force or a member of Congress, she was a student in just the third class in Air Force Academy history that admitted women. She talks with us about how the national security world has changed for women over her career, the many different hats she's worn, and what it's like to be mentioned as potentially the first woman to become secretary of Defense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nan Whaley has always known she was a democrat. Her father was a union worker and her mother was a local official in their small Indiana town. She got into politics after going to Dayton for college, and she became the youngest woman elected to the Dayton City Commission, at age 29. She offers her perspective on how to get comfortable with asking for political donations -- "You’re asking people to invest in you and invest in the vision that you’re trying to move forward" -- and what she learned from her failed campaign to be Ohio's governor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier in her career, Jean Case was on the executive track at General Electric when she made a big leap -- into tech. She rose to be a senior executive at AOL in the 1990s. Later, she and her husband Steve founded the Case Foundation, which she now runs. She speaks with Anna about taking risks, learning from failure, and how the culture at tech startups was different some 25 years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stacey Abrams says the surge of new voters in Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial election -- though it wasn't enough to propel her to victory -- means the state is a must-visit for Democrats running for president in 2020. Abrams tells Anna Palmer about the discrimination she faced in the Georgia State House, what she learned in her run for governor, and how her first campaign job morphed from being a secretary to being the candidate's speechwriter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) is the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations committee since it was created in 1865. And she’s ready for the government to open back up. Plus, a conversation with Patrina Clark, president and founder of the government consulting firm Pivotal Practices and a longtime federal worker, on the real-life impacts the shutdown is having on her and her business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie Porter is a consumer advocate, law professor, parent, and — as of this week — a member of Congress. She’s among the more than 100 women elected in the 2018 midterms, a Democrat representing once deeply conservative Orange County, California, in the House. Porter is one of several new members of Congress with young children. Hers are ages 12, 10 and seven. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Piper Perabo tells the story of her journey from actor to activist. This podcast was recorded live at the 6th Annual Women Rule Summit in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Ana Marie Cox from the podcast “With Friends Like These”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from the Women Rule 2018 Summit: President Donald Trump has made numerous derisive comments about female reporters, but White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders won’t say whether he crossed the line. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2018 was the "Year of the Woman" — except when it comes to Republican lawmakers. “We’re falling way short. And the Democrats are outshining us, no doubt on that," Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said. Hear what she's planning to do about it, plus how she balanced her career with parenting and what she thinks of the future of the Republican party in West Virginia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deborah Rutter, the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, spoke with Women Rule about how she deals with the political overtones that come with art, her mission to make sure all children in America have art as part of their school curriculum, and why she doesn’t find the fundraising that’s part of her job so difficult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gazelle Hashemian -- a successful IT executive whose latest venture is the wellness company Blue Flower -- said her deep sense of appreciation for opportunity in the United States comes from living through the Iranian Revolution in 1979. In 2001, she became president of Paragon Technology Group, a company that her husband founded in 1997, which grew into a successful multi-million dollar business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NHL executive vice president Kim Davis is diversifying the NHL. Women Rule talks with Davis about her work to grow the league’s fan base, how she’s drawn inspiration from her family, and about political controversies in sports in the Trump era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a historic night for women in midterm races around the country. Women Rule's Anna Palmer talks with POLITICO editor Carrie Budoff Brown and campaign reporter Elena Schneider about the state of play for women legislators, governors, and voters after the midterm elections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a potential new wave of women legislators coming to Capitol Hill after this election, Women Rule asked the question: What about their staffers? They’re the backbone of Congressional offices – the legislative assistants, the communications directors, the chiefs of staff. And women’s representation in these offices matters too. Just before the midterms, we’re bringing you this bonus episode on the minority women staffing Capitol Hill offices. In this live Women Rule podcast taping, which we recorded at The Wing’s D.C. offices, we talked to two minority women who serve as chiefs of staff: Natalie Armijo, chief of staff for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Caren Street, chief of staff for Rep. Karen Bass, who’s also part of the Congressional Black Caucus. We asked them about their paths to Capitol Hill, what it took to get them there, and the challenges they’ve faced since. To tee up that interview, we had Rhonda Foxx, chief of staff to Rep. Alma Adams, set the stage, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand gave opening remarks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fox News host Martha MacCallum will lead the network's coverage on election night. Women Rule talks with MacCallum about how she's prepping for the midterms, how she feels about the label of "fake news," and what it's like covering every twist and turn of the Trump White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Freeman, real estate magnate and partner at Monumental Sports and Entertainment (which owns the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and the WNBA Mystics), talks about women in sports team ownership, the equalizing power of sports, and Colin Kaepernick. Plus: A deeper look into how tragedy has shaped Freeman's personal and professional lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best-selling author Jodi Picoult is out with a new book - and it has a lot of political implications about women's reproductive rights. Women Rule talks with Picoult about her literary successes (and failures), being labeled "chick lit," and what powerful men can learn from her books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cecile Richards, the former head of Planned Parenthood, opens up about the Supreme Court, her one "bizarre" meeting with Ivanka Trump, a childhood steeped in politics, and whether she'll ever run for elected office. This Women Rule episode was taped live at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary filmmaker and women's rights advocate, could be the next first lady of California. Women Rule talks with Siebel Newsom about the film career she never anticipated, her work on gender equality, and why she'd rather be called the First "Partner," if her husband, Gavin Newsom, wins in November. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women Rule talks with actress Jane Fonda about political activism, "radical kinship" with Donald Trump and his supporters, and the latest documentary examining her extraordinary life in the public eye, HBO's "Jane Fonda in Five Acts." We also chat with Fonda and filmmaker Susan Lacy about the arc of their careers and the relationships we build with women. The HBO documentary film "Jane Fonda in Five Acts" is available on HBO Now, HBO Go and on demand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Perino, the Fox News host of the afternoon “Daily Briefing” program and a co-panelist on “The Five,” had a life before cable news. Perino came from a lengthy career in politics, including serving as the White House press secretary under President George W. Bush - only the second woman to serve in that role. Women Rule talked with Perino about her winding professional path – how she started off as a journalist, then left news to work for several prominent Republicans, first on Capitol Hill, and then in Bush’s administration. With Perino’s window into both worlds, we discussed the state of presidential politics today, how this current Republican White House differs from her time in the Bush White House, and whether she’d ever find herself back in the West Wing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labor union leaders Liz Shuler and Mary Kay Henry discuss how they rose up through the union ranks and what they’re trying to do to increase the number of women in the labor movement. Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, also weigh in on recent Supreme Court decisions, Brett Kavanaugh's nomination, and what that all means for the future of the labor movement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blogger, podcaster, and Conservative Review TV host Allie Beth Stuckey opens up about how being a conservative has marked her – wrongly – as someone who believes “sexism doesn’t exist.” Women Rule talks to Stuckey about her rise in right-leaning circles, who she looks up to in the Republican party, and what it means to be a conservative millennial in this day and age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ayanna Pressley could be the new face of an old-school Democratic district in Massachusetts. In our final installment of our "Tracking the candidates" series, Women Rule follows Pressley – the first black woman elected to Boston's City Council – as she runs in the state's 7th Congressional District to unseat 10-term incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano. It's an historic Democratic primary election that the entire party is watching, especially in the wake of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's upset victory against a powerful congressman in New York. In this episode, you’ll hear about the intimate details of campaign life, its ups and downs – but you’ll also hear about what Pressley’s race means for the Democratic party, what its future looks like, and just how different that could be from the party’s past. We're keeping tabs on the women running for office this year with our Women Rule Candidate Tracker. Make sure to check it out on POLITICO. Also: Ahead of our Washington summit, we're taking nominations for "Women of Impact" - women who have led in a divided era. Send us your thoughts on who we should feature by filling out this form. Music in this episode by: Podington Bear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Donald Trump as president, it’s not easy to run for Congress as a Republican woman this year. For Lea Márquez Peterson, who’s a GOP primary contender in Arizona’s second congressional district, that means she’s had to develop a strategy that both hugs the president’s policies – and distances herself from him. On the second episode of our "Tracking the candidates" mini-series, we talk to Márquez Peterson about her pivot to politics from business, her powerhouse fundraising efforts, being the only Hispanic woman in the room, and her Republican primary campaign in the era of President Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of our three-part "Women Rule: Tracking the candidates" mini-series: Lori Lightfoot. Lightfoot is a Democrat running to unseat Chicago's current Democratic mayor, Rahm Emanuel. If she wins, she could be the city's first black female mayor (and its first openly gay mayor). What is it really like for women hitting the campaign trail in 2018? In a year that’s being billed as revolutionary for female political candidates, Women Rule’s three-part series, "Tracking the candidates," will focus on the gritty realities of running for office. Three women in three very different races across the country tell us why they’ve decided to run, what the challenges are on the ground (and in their personal lives), and what lessons other women can take from their campaigns. We’re also following the numbers: our interactive Women Rule Candidate Tracker keeps tabs on the women running in state, federal, and gubernatorial races around the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't count Washington out when it comes to the nation's art centers. Women Rule talks with two leading ladies of D.C.'s art scene: Melissa Chiu, the director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Julie Kent, the artistic director for the Washington Ballet. Chiu discusses the rise of museums in the age of social media, her curation of Kusama's popular "Infinity Rooms" exhibit, and how she turned the Hirshhorn into an Instagram sensation. Kent reflects on her transition away from dancing and weighs what it means for women to lead in the art world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At our live Women Rule taping, Priya Basu, the head of the World Bank's Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, looks back on one year of running the gender-equality “start-up." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As celebrities like Kourtney Kardashian lobby Capitol Hill for regulations around cosmetics products, the fight is getting another advocate for reform: beauty mogul Gregg Renfrew, the CEO of Beautycounter. Women Rule talks to Renfrew about her fight for natural beauty products, how she recovered after a public firing, and what's next for Beautycounter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tamara Mellon, now the founder and chief creative officer of her own eponymous shoe line, struggled with addiction, founded a luxury shoe empire, and sought to disrupt the fashion industry. Women Rule talked with Mellon about how she started Jimmy Choo - and what that company has to do with her advocacy in closing the gender pay gap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bellamy Young – known for her role on the hit TV series 'Scandal' as Mellie Grant, the former first lady-turned-president of the United States – reflects back on the Shonda Rhimes creation, weighs the show's politics, and imagines just how different 'Scandal' was because President Trump was in the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Soccer star Hope Solo wants to “right the ship” for her sport, especially when it comes to wage equality for female athletes and access for young players. On Women Rule, the former goalkeeper for the U.S. Women's National Team talks about why she thinks "soccer in America has become the rich white kid’s sport" – and what she plans to do about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Black Women’s Congressional Alliance looks to promote diverse voices to work in the staff offices of Congress – even against the odds. From wage gaps to micro-aggressions, Women Rule talks with three staffers - Jennifer DeCasper, Rhonda Foxx, and Meaghan Lynch - about their experiences as black women on Capitol Hill. Jennifer DeCasper is the chief of staff to Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican representing South Carolina. Rhonda Foxx is the chief of staff to Congresswoman Alma Adams, a Democrat from North Carolina. And Meaghan Lynch is the communications director for Congressman GK Butterfield, a Democrat from North Carolina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is calling President Donald Trump’s policy of separating migrant families at the border “cruel” and a “misallocation” of resources by the administration. Napolitano implied that the White House’s “zero-tolerance” policy along the southern border could even be against the law. In this latest episode, Napolitano, who is now the president of the University of California school system, opens up about her old Homeland Security gig, her time in elected office in Arizona, and her battles with cancer. Read about it here: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/janet-napolitano-family-separations-653306. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Fox News anchor Alisyn Camerota recounts her time under Roger Ailes’ rule and offers thoughts about the current #MeToo moment. Camerota – now a co-anchor on CNN's New Day program and the author of a new novel "Amanda Wakes Up" – also opens up about her journalism career, her dealings with Trump, and the book that was partly inspired by her time at Fox News. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're bringing you a bonus special episode from our Women Rule summit in Los Angeles, where POLITICO editor Carrie Budoff Brown sat down with former BET chair and CEO Debra Lee earlier this week. Lee opens up about her political involvement, the art of saying "no," and BET Networks' transformation from a music video channel to what it is today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Margaret Brennan, the moderator of CBS' "Face the Nation," is only the second female anchor in the show's lengthy history, and she's taken over after a massive shakeup at CBS. Here's her take on the #MeToo movement, how reporters have fallen short in their coverage of political news, and how she now handles her job asking questions of the most important political figures of our times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pastry chef and Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi brings an intensity to her work that's hard to match - and even as her dessert empire grows, she has no intention of slowing down. On Women Rule, Tosi talks about her first forays into the food industry, her hustle to raise cash for Milk Bar, and the unflinching enthusiasm that got her to where she is today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sally Kohn, an author and former Fox News political commentator, opens up to Women Rule about her last interaction with Roger Ailes, how she stumbled into the TV punditry business, and the findings of her new book, 'The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing our Humanity.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Polina Veksler and Alex Waldman, the founders of the plus-size clothing brand Universal Standard, discuss how women face more than just a gender wage gap - they also face a size pay gap. Women Rule peaks into how the two built their business from scratch, how they attracted big-name investors like Gwyneth Paltrow, and how they're now trying to revolutionize the fashion industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Kauss, founder of the water bottle company, discusses how S'well got its name, how she grew her company to be a worldwide brand, and how she learned to ask for help along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TheSkimm founders’ key to success meant ditching the ways of traditional media and embracing an audience-driven strategy. Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin discuss how they started their company from a couch, weigh the future of the brand, and dole out advice on how to raise capital for a new venture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Susie Tompkins Buell, a prominent Democratic donor, isn’t happy with how Democrats have handled sexual misconduct allegations within their own party. Buell, the founder of the Esprit clothing company, is widely known in left-leaning circles for cutting big political checks and through her close friendship with Hillary Clinton. Women Rule talks with her about the #MeToo movement and the Democratic party, Buell's longtime friendship with Hillary Clinton and how she built a clothing empire from scratch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women Rule talks to one of the most powerful women in financial services: Bank of America’s vice chairwoman, Anne Finucane. She’s most responsible for the bank’s investment into all its social causes, including billions of dollars pumped into environmental initiatives. But before her broad portfolio at the bank, she was most known for one thing: turning the company around after the 2008 financial crisis. Women Rule spoke with Finucane about what she learned from it all, how Bank of America bounced back – and what women had to do with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg heads to Congress, one dogged tech reporter has some advice for Capitol Hill and the reporters who cover it: Take off the kid gloves when dealing with the Silicon Valley executive. “He’s one of the richest people on earth. He’s an adult. He’s 30-some years old,” Kara Swisher, co-founder of Recode, said on the latest episode of the Women Rule podcast. “He can answer questions if he’s the CEO. He founded this company. Stop juvenilizing men here in Silicon Valley.” When Rule spoke with Swisher in San Francisco, we learned a lot about how she views the tech industry, how she famously asks pointed, tough questions that make Silicon Valley executives sweat. And we also discussed what she’s learned from the startup culture that she’s applied to her own career – one that might take a political turn in the near future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices