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LaTosha Brown’s Case for America’s First Department of Democracy
Weekend Reading on Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, on boards, in sports and entertainment, in judicial offices and in the private sector in the U.S. and around the world—with a little gardening and goodwill mixed in for refreshment!
This week:
—The Kettering Foundation honors Black Voters Matter cofounder LaTosha Brown, and her brilliant idea: “a Department of Democracy: a durable, people-powered, enforcement-capable institution designed to protect voting and civic rights, monitor the conduct of all three branches of government, hold states accountable, and serve as a permanent firewall against the erosion of democratic participation. It would be built to hold regardless of who’s in power.”
—A record number of women have earned nominations for state legislative elections this year.
—Data suggests a close Texas governor’s race this year.
—U.S. House incumbent Sarah McBride has been an influential voice in Congress in her first term in office.
… and more.
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Next No Kings: Oct. 17 Day of Action Focused on Early Voting
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Menopause Is a Public Policy Story. Congress Must Treat It Like One.
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Marry Young, Skip the Career Ladder: Conservatives’ Pitch to Gen Z Women
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The Perfect Victim Is a Dead Woman
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Activists Have Fought for Disability Justice. So-Called ‘Sickfluencers’ Still Face Medical Sexism.
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Justices Sotomayor and Jackson Sound the Alarm on SCOTUS’ Dangerous Deference to Trump on Mail-In Voting
In this episode, Dr. Goodwin breaks down what the latest Supreme Court ruling on voting rights actually says and what it doesn’t. (Of course, it means everyone’s hair is on fire.) Given that this Supreme Court has tried in every way possible to make it more difficult for people to vote, dismantling the Voting Rights Act—an act that had been supported over the years by both Republicans and also Democrats—what hot mess is next?
The 1965 Voting Rights Act was one that had been embraced over the years strongly by Republicans and Democrats. As Dr. Goodwin discusses, this Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has unraveled it, knowingly pulling the thread in order to disintegrate of one of the most essential pieces of legislation in American history, which protected all Americans. She reminds us that the very first suffragists in the United States were white men who had been dispossessed from the right to vote because they were not wealthy. Sit back and take a listen.
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- Record ICE Arrests Reveal the Expanding Reach of Immigration Enforcement
- No Girls and women in Classrooms. No Women in Health Clinics. Afghanistan’s Healthcare Crisis Deepens by the Day.
- The Absence of Affordable Child Care is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce
- The Trump-Epstein Reading Room Hits The Road
- Labor Day and the Fight for Women’s Freedom
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Fall 2026 Cover Reveal: Gloria Steinem Changed the Story, and Taught Us to Keep Telling It
In our Fall 2026 issue, we remember Gloria not only for the words she wrote, the organizations she helped build or the barriers she broke, but for the connections she made.
Perhaps her greatest gift was her ability to listen, to make people feel capable of changing the world, and to build relationships across generations and movements. She knew that the work would outlast any one of us. The responsibility was to keep telling the story—and to make room for those who would tell it next.
Join today to get our newest issue delivered straight to your mailbox—and help sustain the independent feminist journalism Gloria worked to make possible.
Photo by Jenny Warburg
Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh Remembers Gloria Steinem: ‘Our Fate and Fortune Is Tied Together’
Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian human rights lawyer and activist who, along with her husband Reza Khandan, has been repeatedly arrested for her women’s rights activism and spent six years in prison. In the wake of Gloria Steinem’s passing on Sept. 2, Soutoudeh shared these words with Ms.
“Gloria Steinem’s extraordinary life and activism has touched, elevated and inspired women all over the world.
“I can attest to her deep influence on me and countless other women’s rights activists here in Iran, including my husband, Reza Khandan.
“As women, we know that whether we are in America or India, Europe or Africa, Iran or Afghanistan, our fate and fortune is tied together. The rights that we achieve or lose in one corner of the world have a direct bearing on another. In a very real sense, when it comes to persecution or emancipation, our minds, bodies and spirits are one.”
