Female Trouble

FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is an activist collaboration based in Baltimore that uses art actions to inspire difficult and honest conversations about sexual and domestic violence. Two of the people leading those conversations are Saida Agostini, FORCE’s Chief Operating Officer, and Shanti Flagg, Studio Director. One way FORCE upsets the culture of rape is with the Monument Quilt, a public art project that collects stories of survivors and their supporters, stitched together on red fabric. FORCE also is known for pulling pranks on Playboy and Victoria’s Secret to promote a culture of consent. Just a warning, in this episode we discuss sexual and domestic violence, and there’s some explicit language.

You might hate McMansions -- but do you know why? Kate Wagner does, and in wanting to educate people about the oversized, cheaply made and poorly designed beacons of suburbia, started a blog last year called McMansion Hell. On the blog, Kate translates architectural language into humorous criticism of McMansions using real estate photos, obscuring identifying details of the homes’ locations and residents. She also includes educational posts on the site, and contributes to outlets like 99% Invisible and Curbed. McMansion Hell quickly gained a large following, but was thrust into the spotlight in June when real estate marketplace Zillow sent Kate a cease and desist letter for using its photos. Kate maintained that the parody photos were fair use, and Zillow didn’t pursue further legal action. Kate talked about using architecture to approximate power, “House Hunters” and how the residential is political.

Wendy Osefo aims to bring a voice to spaces where it would otherwise go unheard. The professor, media personality and political commentator regularly appears on cable news shows like “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Fox ---- Friends,” where she often goes head-to-head with opposing interviewers and pundits. Wendy became increasingly sought after as a commentator after penning a widely read op-ed for City Paper on election night titled, “Donald Trump did not win. Hatred did.” As a visiting assistant professor in the Doctor of Education program at Johns Hopkins University, Wendy examines how race and class influence the educational trajectories of non-dominant students. Wendy also founded The 1954 Equity Project, which helps minority college students navigate academia. Wendy talked about her first-generation identity, holding people accountable and subverting expectations as a nontraditional educator.

Krystal Mack has led several lives -- most recently, that of a pastry chef and business owner. Krystal is the owner of Blk // Sugar bakery, which she has described as a food and lifestyle concept from the black feminine perspective. Blk // Sugar serves up treats like macarons, lavender honey pie and activated charcoal brownies, in addition to teas and other desserts. Before opening Blk // Sugar, Krystal was riding a tricycle around the city, selling pies and ice pops as the owner of PieCycle and KarmaPop. At the time of this recording, Blk // Sugar was located in R. House, a food hall that opened last year in Baltimore’s Remington neighborhood, but Krystal has since left R. House and is laying plans for the business’ next move. She talked about that decision, and about the confidence to step away from the things she loves. Krystal also discussed appropriation, the intersection of identity and business and why she started baking.

Donna Woodruff is the new athletic director at Loyola University Maryland, and the first woman ever to hold that job. Loyola, located in Baltimore, is a NCAA Division I school, and at that level, about one in ten athletic directors is a woman. Before coming to Loyola, Donna spent 13 years at Stony Brook University, and also worked as an athletic administrator at Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania. Donna is no stranger to the field; as a student athlete at Penn, she earned three All-Ivy League selections as a lacrosse player, and two as a field hockey player. Donna talked about fostering an inclusive environment as an AD, the challenges facing college athletics and what it’s like to be a first.

Ramona Diaz has always been an observer. Inspired by her upbringing, the Baltimore-based filmmaker tells character-driven stories that often highlight the diversity of the Filipino experience. Ramona’s documentary credits include “Imelda,” about the former First Lady of the Philippines; “The Learning,” which follows Filipino teachers in Baltimore City; and “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” which tells the story of the band Journey finding their new Filipino lead singer, Arnel Pineda, on YouTube, and Arnel’s first tour with the band. Most recently, Ramona directed “Motherland,” in which the viewer is a fly on the wall in Manila at one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the world. That film won the Special Jury Award for Commanding Vision at Sundance this year; Ramona also was awarded a 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship. Ramona talked about representation in filmmaking, drawing universal experiences out of minutiae and the stories she’s interested in telling.

April Ryan has covered the news for decades, but it wasn’t until recently that she became part of it. April has been White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks for 20 years, covering the Clinton, Bush, Obama and now Trump administrations, and she contributes to CNN as a political analyst. You might know April from one of her notable interactions this year, which include an exchange with President Donald J. Trump in which he asked her whether the Congressional Black Caucus were her "friends" and whether she could set up a meeting with them, and also an exchange with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in which he told April to “stop shaking” her head as he answered a question from her. That exchange with Spicer, along with comments Bill O’Reilly made about Rep. Maxine Waters’ hair, helped fuel a #BlackWomenAtWork hashtag on Twitter and in part thrust April into the spotlight. April has written two books, “The Presidency in Black and White: My Up‑Close View of Three Presidents and R

Ingrained in her since she was a child, justice and equality matter most to Jill P. Carter. Jill is the daughter of prominent civil rights activist Walter P. Carter, and she now serves as director of the Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement. Before joining Mayor Catherine Pugh’s administration and taking over the office in January, Jill served as a state delegate for 14 years. She takes over the civil rights office at a pivotal time; Jill now oversees the Civilian Review Board, which investigates complaints against police, though police don’t have to heed the board’s recommendations. Additionally, the creation of the Civilian Oversight Task Force was one of many police reform measures mandated under the consent decree reached between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice, and part of that task force’s job will be to assess the Civilian Review Board. If that all sounds a little jargon-y, don’t worry; Jill talked about feeling marginalized in the Maryland House of Delegates, taking over an underuti

Writer Colette Shade is probably best known for a nonfiction piece she wrote for Gawker in 2015 about the Maryland Hunt Cup. Centering around the Baltimore County horse race that took place almost a week after Freddie Gray’s death, the piece highlighted the disparities inherent to Baltimore’s history, an area of great interest to Colette. Her writing, which has appeared in The New Republic, Jezebel, The Atlantic, Baltimore City Paper and other places, often examines labor, history, politics and material culture. Colette talked about how those interests developed, as well as about her time in tabloids and the novel she’s working on, titled “The Blessing of the Hounds.”

When Ateira Griffin was working at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, it broke her heart to hear about the challenging relationships between many of the students and their single moms. That, along with her strong relationship with her mother, inspired Ateira to start Building Our Nation’s Daughters in 2015. BOND is a local nonprofit that aims to strengthen the relationships between single mothers and daughters and in turn, strengthen our communities. For her work with BOND, Ateira won the Warnock Foundation’s Baltimore Social Innovation Journal award in 2015. Ateira talked about growing up in Baltimore, experiencing disparities in education and empowering Baltimore’s women.

On Natural Velvet’s new album, “Mirror to Make You,” the band puts forth female fury. Today on the podcast, Natural Velvet bassist and vocalist Corynne Ostermann and guitarist Kim Te come in to talk about their aggressively feminine music. Corynne and Kim make up half of the alternative post-punk band, along with guitarist Spike Arreaga and drummer Greg Hatem. “Mirror to Make You,” the band’s third LP, came out earlier this month, following 2015’s “She is Me.” Corynne and Kim talked about those albums, their relationships to the cities they grew up near, how identity and aesthetics shape the band and their very different musical educations.

Bobbi Rush loves music she can cry to -- and the singer/songwriter strives to make work her listeners will feel deeply. Bobbi was born and raised in Baltimore, and in February she released “Miles,” produced by Micah E. Wood, which marked a departure from her gospel roots. The daughter of writers and musicians, Bobbi talked about growing up in the church, being a hopeless romantic and starting over.

Located at the base of Federal Hill, the American Visionary Art Museum showcases works by self-taught artists that empower the singular voice of the individual. At the museum, which features a mosaic exterior crafted by youth at risk, visitors will find pieces like the outdoor Giant WhirliGig, a family of robots and a huge sculpture of Divine. In 1995, inspired by working with hospital patients with chronic mental illness, Rebecca Alban Hoffberger founded the museum, and she still serves as its director and principal curator. Rebecca talked about some of her teenage adventures, social justice as performance art and why she doesn’t like the term outsider art.

Caryn York, director of policy and strategic partnerships at the Job Opportunities Task Force, calls herself a workforce advocate. Most recently, that has taken the form of bail reform efforts. As reported by the Baltimore Sun’s Michael Dresser, in Maryland’s General Assembly session this year, Caryn led a coalition that opposed legislation, strongly backed by the bail-bond industry, that would have reversed a recent Court of Appeals rule that essentially says defendants can’t be held in jail because they can’t afford bail. The rule doesn’t get rid of money bail, but instructs judges to look for other ways to ensure a defendant appears for trial, and Caryn and the Coalition for a Safe and Just Maryland were ultimately successful -- the rule will go into effect on July 1. Caryn talked about her light bulb moment, her experience in Annapolis and what’s next for bail in Maryland.

Amie Ward will make you a vodka soda -- just be sure to tell her how you’re doing first. Hospitality is key for Amie, a bartender who worked at Baltimore’s Bad Decisions and Wit ---- Wisdom before taking over the Aggio bar program. Now Amie is the co-beverage director at R. Bar, which is inside Remington’s new food hall, R. House. Amie has had stints in athletics and academia, and she discussed the transition over to full-time bartending and what she has had to learn about branding herself. She also talked about field hockey, flamingos and keeping Baltimore weird.

Founded in February 2014, the Baltimore Abortion Fund offers small grants to residents in most of Maryland who can’t afford the full cost of their abortion care. Spencer Hall, the current board president, founded the all-volunteer organization when she was looking to get involved with reproductive rights and found that starting the service in Baltimore would lighten the demand on a similar fund in Washington. Annie Hollis, now BAF’s vice president, came on soon after. Funded entirely by donations, BAF operates as a helpline, and Spencer and Annie talked about some of the barriers, financial and otherwise, to people who are seeking an abortion. They also talked about the challenges of starting a nonprofit, dealing with burnout and fighting their inner Leslie Knope.

Michele Tsucalas didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur. What started out as a baking hobby became a company, Michele’s Granola, which is made from scratch in Timonium and distributed in stores like Whole Foods and Wegmans throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Though the company grew organically, Michele talked a little bit about the challenges of starting a business and knowing when to continue. Michele’s Granola emphasizes simple ingredients, and Michele discussed trendiness and whether consumer interest in healthy and organic foods is just a fad. She also talked about how the local food entrepreneur scene has changed in the past decade, going from asking for money to donating it and how granola became her go-to.

This week on Female Trouble we’re doing something a little bit different. If you haven’t listened before, this is usually a longform conversation podcast with one guest that spans their life and career, and though this conversation generally fits that format, we centered it around a Baltimore Sun series that ran online and in print called Bridging the Divide, which is about the struggle to move past segregated schools. Bridging the Divide is a four-part series by reporters Liz Bowie and Erica Green that ran in March, examining the challenging redistricting process in Baltimore County, the struggles of a new East Baltimore school, the ways de facto segregation persist in integrated Howard County schools, and an experiment in the challenges and rewards of integration in Hartford, Connecticut. I’d highly recommend you go read those four stories, which we will link to in the show notes at baltimoresun.com/femaletrouble, and then return to this conversation, which is with Annie Milli, marketing director of Live Ba

When multimedia artist and writer Jenn\u233\u Afiya started involving herself with Baltimore’s community of young artists, something clicked: the scene was often very white, very male and not always very local. What started out as a Facebook message to a handful of people just to vent turned into Balti Gurls, a collective of black and brown female-identified artists. Since its founding by Jenn\u233\u in 2014, the members of Balti Gurls have come together on social media and in person to produce what they wanted to see: film screenings, music and art showcases, events and parties. Jenn\u233\u was born and raised in Baltimore, and she talked about her parents’ involvement in the local black arts scene and coming from a long line of creative women of color. She also discussed getting woke on Tumblr, collaboration, the meaning and role of “safer spaces” and her inspirations.

In 2014, Molly Tierney gave a popular and provocative TEDxBaltimore Talk titled “Rethinking Foster Care,” which examined an unchecked loyalty to the idea of foster care and the flaws of intervention. As the director of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, Molly manages the city’s child welfare and public assistance programs, and she came to the city with some creative ideas in tow. After seven years leading the agency, Molly left in February 2014 to join a New York-based management consulting firm. However, about 10 months later, she returned to the department of social services, and she discussed what has changed since she came back. Molly was involved in a controversial program that allowed some teens in foster care to get a high school diploma from a Christian school in Philadelphia in a single day, which ended amid questioning from The Baltimore Sun in 2013. She talked about that decision, as well as her upbringing, unconventional thinking and what she wishes she had had time to say in her TE