Episodes

  • Introducing Feminist Files - Starring Jodie Foster
    Jun 2 2022

    Activist Pauli Murray said that all you needed to start a revolution is a typewriter…

    And a lot of guts.

    This is the story of how Title IX came to pass and how the women behind the scenes in Washington, D.C. created the academic sex revolution. The nerdy revolutionaries: Bunny Sandler, Patsy T. Mink, Edith Green, and Pauli Murray, among others—women who left behind clues about their lives, not just what they achieved, but how they did it, and who they were, little pieces that we pick up and find along the way.

    Host Leigh Fondakowski and an all-star cast led by Jodie Foster and Samira Wiley, dig deep into the archives to uncover and reveal the secret origin of Title IX.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    4 mins
  • EP 1: Great Aunt Bunny
    Jun 15 2022

    We meet Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler through her great niece, Rora Brodwin. Rora interviewed her Great Aunt Bunny twice – once when she was in the 7th grade and once when she was a college senior – both times for school projects about Title IX.  

    However the first time Rora is too young to fully understand her Great Aunt Bunny’s pivotal role in the women’s movement and the second time Bunny is too old to remember the details. 

    What happens when nobody is left who remembers a story? We bridge the generational gap to resurrect that lost history.

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    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    33 mins
  • EP 2: You Come On Too Strong... For a Woman
    Jun 22 2022

    Leigh goes to the Schlesinger Library to search through Great Aunt Bunny’s papers and finds an unpublished oral history, the origin story of Title IX. 

    Jodie Foster, as Bunny, brings us into the story of how she found the footnote that would become the legal basis for Title IX – and how she used it to start taking on the most powerful universities in the nation.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    38 mins
  • EP 3: Bunny Goes to Washington
    Jun 29 2022

    Representative Edith Green of Oregon, known as Mrs. Education in Congress, wants to hold hearings about sex discrimination in Higher Education, but she doesn’t think she has the evidence she needs to do anything about it – until she meets Bunny Sandler. 

    For 5 days in June 1970, Edith Green holds hearings on how widespread sex discrimination is in higher education. Bunny and other key players testify.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    34 mins
  • EP 4: On the Record
    Jul 6 2022

    As the hearings continue, Edith Green dives into territory beyond education; reaching a tense crescendo as Green presses Frankie Freeman, the only Black woman serving on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, as to which is worse: sexism or racism in America? 

    A very salient conversation about intersectionality ensues decades before that term even existed.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    34 mins
  • EP 5: Pauli, Roy & Tim, and The Mysterious Tape Recording That Shouldn’t Exist
    Jul 13 2022

    There were no official audio or video recordings of the Edith Green hearings – only a printed transcript that her office produced and distributed. However, Leigh discovers that the Schlesinger Library also contains the collected papers – and some recordings – of activist and Civil Rights attorney Pauli Murray, who testified alongside Bunny Sandler. 

    As Leigh uncovers these tapes, we discover the real Pauli Murray, perhaps one of the most singularly important feminist and Civil Rights activists of the 20th century … who you may not have ever heard of.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    30 mins
  • EP 6: Under the Radar
    Jul 20 2022

    Returning to the Bunny Sandler Collection at the Schlesinger, Leigh finds a folder of letters between Bunny and Pauli Murray, chronicling their growing camaraderie and friendship. The two share stories from the year’s struggles - the fight for the ERA, which is gaining steam and a new stealth campaign for legislation that could become Title IX.  

    These two landmark legislative goals are still up for grabs in this election year, when Women are proving a force to be reckoned with.  Women like activist Flo Kennedy, who is going to raise the roof, like that hurricane off the coast of Florida.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    44 mins
  • A Pause Between Acts
    Jul 27 2022

    Between the first part of our story and the second - we take a moment to pause and reflect on the role Title IX played in Leigh’s early life, when the budding activist in Leigh was born, and the relationship of the artist to history – how the personal is the political – setting the stage for what’s yet to come.

    ---

    Feminist Files is written and produced by Leigh Fondakowski and Sarah Lambert

    Featuring the Feminist Files Ensemble:

    Jodie Foster as Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler

    Samira Wiley as Pauli Murray

    Amy Hill as Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink

    Mercedes Hererro as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Edith Green, Alice Paul, Phyllis Schlafly, and ensemble parts

    Margo Hall as Commissioner Frankie Freeman and ensemble parts

    Chris Rickett as Vincent Macaluso and ensemble parts

    Victoria Libertore as Ann Scott

    Christina Sajous as Shirley Chisholm

    And Alex Grubbs, Jules Latimer, Ronald Peet, RyanNicole in ensemble parts

    Associate producers: Margo Hall, Victoria Libertore, and Diana Park

    Executive producers: Stacey Book, Dominique Ferrari, Avi Glijansky, and Rora Brodwin

    Original Music and Sound Design by: Gary Grundei

    Theme music created by: Gary Grundei with vocals by Silversmith

    Sound Engineering by: Julian Kwasneski

    Additional Engineering by: Donovan Dorrance

    Special Thanks to: Wendy Mink, Julia Lamber, Jean Robinson, The Scheslinger Library and its staff, Shari Hoffman, Charlotte Sheedy, and the estate of Pauli Murray.

    For more visit frequencymachine.com/feministfiles

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    8 mins