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The Midterms Changed Who Holds Power. What Comes Next? Congress Must Act Urgently to Address Harms Inflicted on Women and Girls
The votes of women gave Democrats control of Congress. Now, the new leadership must act quickly and decisively to reverse the Trump administration’s devastating rollbacks of women’s rights over the last two years and address the harm caused by cuts to programs essential to women and their families.
With strong majorities in the House and Senate, congressional Democrats now have the power to pass critical legislation and demand accountability from federal agencies that have flouted the law to inflict harm on women and girls. Even with Donald Trump in the White House, Congress can still secure major wins for feminist priorities over the next two years.
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Vivek Ramaswamy Weaponized Childhood Rape as a Political Talking Point. Women Across The Country Are Responding. (with Moira Donegan)
In this episode, we’re looking at the upcoming midterm elections, the role of women playing in national politics, and the attacks on the women who are running for office. In Ohio, we recently saw an example of this—an unreasonably cruel and debasing attack ad from gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, directed at his Democratic opponent Amy Acton, who has said she was sexually abused as a child by her stepfather who was charged with rape and fled the state. The ad includes her estranged mother, claiming that Acton lied about the traumatic events in her childhood.
What do attacks like these say about our current political climate, and how will they influence voters? How is our cultural climate around gender impacting the midterms? Moira Donegan joins Dr. Michele Goodwin to unpack these important questions, just one week out from the election.
This podcast and many more can be found in Ms. Studios or at your favorite podcast aggregator.
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Survivors Describe How Epstein Used Their Modeling Dreams to Abuse Them
Jeffrey Epstein “used the modeling industry as a lever to try to get girls into his orbit,” says survivor Lisa Phillips.
Phillips describes how Epstein operated: He asked about her career, about how often she talked to her father (she told him not often), and he specifically wanted to know about her goals as a model. She told him her “big dream” was to work for Ford Models. He told her that she and the other model had to stay over on the island, then assaulted her later that night.
Months later, she says, he called to say he had arranged a meeting with his “great friend” Katie Ford, the CEO of Ford Models. Phillips met with Ford and became a model for the agency.
“Models were being sent to every charity event, every modeling party,” she says, “everything organized through Katie Ford and agents. … It was always us younger girls and older men. We [felt] our bodies weren’t ours and we would just have to put up with it to keep [our] career.”
Part 1 of The Pipeline to Predators, a four-part Ms. investigation into the modeling industry’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein and survivors’ fight for accountability.
For Latina Mothers and Daughters, Gina Hinojosa’s Victory Is Personal
I woke on Nov. 3, 2026, with Gina Hinojosa on my mind. As a Mexican American woman, history professor and—most importantly—mother, the stakes were high, not only for me but also for my toddler daughter’s future. I had followed Hinojosa’s run for Texas governor since she launched her campaign in 2025. I watched as she drew on the political potential of motherhood and Mexican culture, using them to build a base of support by speaking to issues that directly affected her future constituents.
Through lived experience, I know motherhood is political. How we exist and raise our children is deeply intertwined with the decisions politicians make that shape our everyday lives. Access to quality education, affordable childcare and healthcare, clean air and water, living wages—these are the issues that matter to mothers.
I also know from experience that these issues matter to Latinos; they provide opportunities for upward mobility and open up possibilities for future generations.
These issues matter to Gina Hinojosa too.
