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 11 - May 25, 2025
Making Sense of Trump’s Global Anti-Gender Agenda — with Neil Datta
Neil Datta, Executive Director of the Brussels-based European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF), discusses EPF’s new report Beyond The Chaos, a New World Is Emerging: Making Sense of the Trump Administration’s Impact on Reproductive Rights and Gender Equality. Neil predicts that Trump 2.0 will pivot from destruction of existing structures and consolidation of new norms, towards the creation of an entirely new set of global and regional organizations and programs dedicated to the religious far-right vision of sexual and reproductive health.
Episode 10 - May 25, 2025
FGM, Feminism and the Law in The Gambia — with Satang Nabaneh
Dr. Satang Nabaneh, an award-winning legal scholar and Director of Programs at the University of Dayton’s Human Rights Center, discusses her recent edited volume, Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: politics of criminalization, that examines the role of criminal law in combatting this harmful traditional practice. Nabaneh reflects on legal strategies to end FGM, the situation in The Gambia and elsewhere in Africa, and how African feminist movements are organizing to end FGM.
Episode 9 - April 29, 2025
Mexico’s Green Wave for Abortion Rights — with María Antonieta Alcalde
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
What Women of Color Can Teach Us About Winning — 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 Hidden Criminalization of Pregnancy in the US: Not Just About Abortion — 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 US Is Walking Away From Global Health — 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 Devastating Impact of USAID Cuts on Women’s Health in Kenya — 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
Expanding Medical Abortion in Restrictive Times — with Angel Foster, MD
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
Defending Sexual and Reproductive Rights Against the Far Right — 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
Dismantling USAID Is Causing Real Harm — 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.
