Every once in a while, the universe gives you a tug. Not a gentle tap on the shoulder—a full-on gravitational yank that pulls you out of whatever orbit you thought you were in. That’s what happened with the newest episode of Bubble & Squeak . I started out thinking I was doing a simple story about menstrual cups. You know, the kind of lighthearted “Peterson learns about a very normal thing embarrassingly late in life” tale. But once you follow a thread like that, it drags you into bigger questions: Who gets access to the products they need? How many girls are missing school because they can’t afford pads? Why is period poverty still a global crisis in 2025? So I followed the thread. It pulled me through Connecticut food pantries, a refugee camp in Kakuma, and across conversations with women who are out there doing the real work: Christine Garde Denning , Mary Maker , Fran Stoffer , and my cousin Mona—each in her own way shaping the world for women and girls in need. A...
What happens when we live in a state of fear? How do the media and political leaders exploit our reactions to fear to manipulate us, influence our decisions, and affect the way we act towards others? According to research out of UCLA , fear and anxiety quickly alter our bodies, stirring up a host of reactions, including jittery and shaking feelings. Fear floods the body with adrenaline and sugar for energy, speeding the heart and narrowing the mind. The fearful person plunges into the emergency state of fight, flight, or freeze. This animal instinct gives us the burst of energy we need. In that state, we can’t think clearly—just react to protect ourselves and our loved ones. That same chemistry plays out in our politics today. I live in the USA, a land where fear dominates our lives. I hear both my conservative and liberal friends speaking the language of fear with all the suspicious, dehumanizing power fear brings with it. I listen to friends talk of their terror of I...