The FMUS (“famous”) podcast is here to reset the conversation about feminism, at a time when far-right movements increasingly rely on attacking gender and sexuality as core strategies to assert power. With our fabulous guests, we unpack thorny debates and shine a light on the positive impact of feminist movements worldwide and on their brilliance, boldness and bravery. We aim to lift spirits, create connections and inspire action for transformational change. Justice, Happiness and Freedom begin here!
Episode 9 - April 29, 2025
The FMUS interview with Maria Antonieta Alcalde Castro
María Antonieta is a Mexican feminist, an advocate for women’s and youth rights with over 20 years’ experience as a leader in the struggle for sexual and reproductive health and rights. Early in her career, she founded Balance, a feminist organization that supports women and adolescents in Mexico to make free choices about their sexuality. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of Ipas Latin America and Caribbean, where she help spearhead advances in abortion rights across the region. In this episode, she and Françoise discuss the ongoing decriminalization of abortion in Mexico, the strategies used by the feminist movement to achieve this stunning success, the inspiration the movement draws from abortion activism across the region and notably in Argentina (the “Marea Verde”), and the challenges that remain.
Episode 8 - April 28, 2025
The FMUS Interview with Vanessa Priya Daniel
Vanessa Daniel is the author of the just published Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone about Winning. The founder and CEO for 17 years of the Groundswell Fund, a leading funder of WOC-led grassroots and electoral organizing, Vanessa worked as a labor and community organizer for over 25 years. She and Françoise discuss the obstacles to WOC leadership in social movements in the US and the often perplexing dynamics in those movements, what “superpowers” WOC bring to the struggle for justice and equity and what we all can do to support WOC leaders, so we can all win.
Episode 7 - April 11, 2025
The FMUS interview with Denise Tomasini-Joshi
Pregnant persons in the US face increased criminalization for their pregnancy decisions and outcomes, even in so-called “blue” states that guarantee the right to abortion.
Denise Tomasini-Joshi, the co-CEO of If/When/Now: Lawyers for Reproductive Justice, discusses this worrying trend with Françoise, and outlines the actions her organization is taking to protect reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Episode 6 - April 3, 2025
The FMUS Interview with Nina Schwalbe
The Trump Administration is pulling out of the World Health Organization, reneging on the Sustainable Development Goals, and no longer participating in the ongoing negotiations for a global pandemic treaty. Nina Schwalbe, CEO of public health think tank Spark Street Advisors, discusses with Françoise the implications for global health of these destructive actions.
Episode 5 - March 27, 2025
The FMUS interview with Monica Oguttu
Françoise speaks to Monica Oguttu of Kenya about the catastrophic cuts to USAID by Elon Musk’s so-called ‘DOGE,’ and their dire impact on the lives and health of women and girls on the ground. Monica is a nurse-midwife, a health advocate, and the Executive Director of KMET, the Kisumu Medical and Education Trust in Western Kenya. Monica tells Françoise what she and her team are doing to fill the gaps in care in Kenya’s health system caused by the U.S.’s irresponsible exit: “When you get bitten by a snake, you just don’t stand there, you move!”
Episode 4 - February 20, 2025
The FMUS interview with Dr. Angel Foster
Dr. Angel Foster is a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa and held the 2011-2016 Endowed Chair in Women’s Health Research. Francoise speaks to her about making medical abortion care available to women who need it an era of increasing restriction.
Episode 3 - February 6, 2025
The FMUS interview with Jodi Jacobson
In this episode, Françoise interviews Jodi Jacobson, the Founder and Executive Director of Healthcare Across Borders, as well as Founder and Editor of Rewire News. Françoise and Jodi describe the challenges of maintaining access to sexual and reproductive health in the face of rising attacks from the authoritarian right.
Episode 2 - February 14, 2025
The FMUS interview with Beth Schlachter
In this episode, Françoise interviews Beth Schlachter, Senior Director of US External Relations at MSI Reproductive Choices They discuss the ongoing dismantling of USAID by the Trump administration and its harmful impact on millions worldwide.
Episode 1 - October 25, 2024
Meet Françoise Girard,
Founder of FMUS
In this pilot episode, Tony Babinski interviews Françoise Girard, founder of Feminism Makes Us Smarter (FMUS.) She speaks about her journey, and the importance of feminism in the lives of women, girls, and those who support them. Among the topics she covers are the improved social outcomes in justice, freedom and happiness in places where feminism thrives, and the threat to women and girls from the rise of authoritarian movements that seek to control bodily autonomy.
