Peterson Toscano's A Musing

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...