Best Sylvia Beckerman Podcasts (2025)

1
Letty Cottin Pogrebin – Still Feminist, Still Fearless 1:03:12

Play Pause

3d ago1:03:12

1:03:12

Join Sylvia Beckerman and Molly Wadzeck for a powerful conversation with Letty Cottin Pogrebin—writer, activist, and founding editor of Ms. Magazine. From the early days of second-wave feminism to the challenges women face today, Letty reflects on what’s changed, what hasn’t, and why she remains—still feminist, still fearless.…

1
2025 Bring It On 16:24

10M ago16:24

16:24

This year has been a whirlwind, hasn't it? For Sylvia & Me, October marked a huge milestone – our 5th anniversary! Five years of conversations, stories, and connections. Five years of incredible women sharing their wisdom, their laughter, and sometimes, their tears. Over these past five years, I've had the privilege of interviewing just under 200 w…

1
Life Après Retirement with Mary Barneby 30:58

10M ago30:58

30:58

When I decided to retire, I said now I'm going to do the little things that have been tucked away. Just in time to celebrate the holidays…Mary Barneby is back! Forget rocking chairs and bingo! Mary Barneby is rewriting the rules of retirement. She's 'rewiring'! This former CEO is trading boardrooms for book launches and wedding vows. Join me as I c…

1
Reimagining Spinsterhood with Lucy Maggeson 35:29

11M ago35:29

35:29

Join me with fellow podcast host Lucy Meggeson, the host of Spinsterhood Reimagined. Lucy debunks myths about relationship bliss and celebrates the freedom and fulfillment of being single and childfree. In this insightful podcast, Lucy Meggeson delves into the myths surrounding relationships and challenges societal expectations placed on women. Lis…

1
Evolving Elders with Phyllis Ayman 33:22

11M ago33:22

33:22

Join me for an inspiring conversation with Phyllis Ayman, author of Dignity & Respect: Are Our Aging Parents Getting What They Deserve?, who coined the empowering term "Evolving Elders." Phyllis challenges the negative connotations associated with aging and champions a person-centered approach to care and caregiving.…

1
Wings of Knowledge with Lindsay Wyman 33:11

11M ago33:11

33:11

The nonprofit Mercy Learning Center empowers low-income women, including immigrants and those who haven't completed high school, through education. They provide free childcare, ensuring mothers can focus on achieving their goals. "When you give a woman the tools to believe in herself, the possibilities are limitless," says CEO Lindsay Wyman.…

1
Improv and Life with Erin Diehl 34:48

11M ago34:48

34:48

'Every day of your life is an improv scene.' Erin “Big” Diehl is a business improv edutainer, 'failfluencer', and keynote speaker. Founder and CEO of improve it! Erin created a unique professional development company. Erin uses improvisational comedy and experiential learning to thrive in ever-changing environments. And she does it with a whole lot…

1
Gilded Life to Golden Handcuffs with Varuni Sinha 43:31

11M ago43:31

43:31

In her memoir Golden Handcuffs: An Immigrant's Pursuit of Happiness, Varuni tells her story. From gilded life to 'golden handcuffs' Varuni shares a story that is not readily known. An immigrant's story and the hoops that were necessary to navigate. Her home was India, she met her husband in India, an American living in America. Varuni's journey thr…

1
Accidental Influencer with Chutzpah with Annie Korzen 35:42

12M ago35:42

35:42

Who knew ... really, she had no idea but her 'why not' attitude made Annie Korzen an 'accidental influencer'. Who would want to watch an eighty-something on Tik-Tok? Turns out over 435,000 would. Annie calls herself 'a comedic storyteller', a term she coined as we spoke. She'd appeared in the hit series Seinfield because she said 'why not'. That at…

1
Celebrating Live with Women of a Certain Age 43:15

12M ago43:15

43:15

Live from Noble Salon we celebrate the 5-year anniversary of "Sylvia & Me' with Women of a Certain Age. Our first live, in-person podcast and a conversation with a group of Women of a Certain Age. Sharing stories, insights and experiences, these ladies are not going to be 'aged out'! Friendship, trust, overcoming fear and having each other's backs!…

1
The Ultimate Oasis with Gay Walley 34:14

1y ago34:14

34:14

“Gay dares to write for me, for women – things we can never say.” Jacqueline 'Gay' Walley's latest novel, "The Waw," takes readers on a mesmerizing journey from New York to the serene English seaside. Through her insightful storytelling, Gay uncovers the innermost thoughts of women. She leads us on a captivating quest to explore 'The Waw,' the ulti…

1
Women In Politics with Judith Hope 29:30

1y ago29:30

29:30

Women in Politics – Don’t Tell Her She Can’t! It was 1973, East Hampton needed a Town Supervisor. She was told 'no one will elect a woman.' Those words would keep with her forever and blazed a future she hadn't thought of. Judith Hope ran, won and became East Hampton's first female Town Supervisor serving three terms. Turns out, Judith was the firs…

1
Sexual Abuse Survivor & Children’s Advocate with Kathy Picard 24:48

1y ago24:48

24:48

Award-winning author Kathy Picard returns to the podcast. A survivor of sexual abuse as a child, Kathy has been a children's advocate for over twenty years. When we first met Kathy her book Life with My Idiot Family: A True Story of Survival, Courage & Justice over Childhood Sexual Abuse had just been published. It started when Kathy was only seven…

1
Childhood Trauma , Adulthood and Resilience with Sally Baker 26:08

1y ago26:08

26:08

Sally Baker, Award-winning London-based therapist with over 25 years of experience, shares her journey of resilience after childhood trauma. At the age of seven, she was sexually assaulted, taking her 30 years to process this experience. Sally, who initially worked with women facing sexual abuse and domestic violence, emphasizes the importance of o…

1
She Wolves of Wall Street with Paulina Bren 44:39

1y ago44:39

44:39

Her novel The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free could have been the precursor to her newly released 'She Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street.' As author and historian Paulina Bren told me, she 'followed the women out of the Barbizon Hotel in New York to Wall Street' from the late 1950s and 1960s to 9/11, Women looking for inter…

1
Witch of Wall Street Breaking Glass with Patricia Walsh Chadwick 40:19

1y ago40:19

40:19

he 'Witch of Wall Street' breaking through the 'glass ceiling'. That would be Patricia Walsh Chadwick. When we last talked with Patricia in 2020 her first book "Little Sister, A Memoir" had just been released and we were left with the idea that there was more to come. A woman of resilience and determination, Patricia's story continues. At the age o…

1
Toscanini Musical Love Story with Lucy Antek Johnson 35:59

1y ago35:59

35:59

September is Classical Music month so let’s start with one of the greatest musicians, Maestro ArturoToscanini. For seventeen years Samuel Antek was first violinist for Toscanini. This Was Toscanini was written by Samuel Antek. His sudden death in 1958 never gave him the chance to finish. His daughter Lucy Antek Johnson expanded on her father’s stor…

1
Reality or TV Show? with Dr. Stephanie S. Covington 32:07

1y ago32:07

32:07

Orange is the New Black – reality or just a TV show? Dr. Stephanie S. Covington, an internationally recognized clinician, author, organizational consultant, and lecturer. Stephanie sheds light on the realities faced by incarcerated women in her new book “HIDDEN HEALERS: The Unexpected Ways Women in Prison Help each Other Survive.” The book highligh…

1
Family, Marriage, Divorce, Motherhood with Joyce Maynard 31:43

1y ago31:43

31:43

New York Times Bestselling author Joyce Maynard’s latest novel How the Light Gets In is a story of family dynamics. Marriage, divorce, motherhood, raising children and letting go and the realization that ‘We don’t tell our children who they should be. They tell us who they are and what they believe. And it may not always be what we want to hear.’…

1
Third Girl from the Left with Christine Barker 40:33

1y ago40:33

40:33

The Other Side of Broadway and the AIDS Epidemic Christine’s dream had come true, she was a dancer, the ‘Third Girl from the Left’ in the cast of the Tony Award-winning show A Chorus Line, first in London and then Broadway. Unfortunately it was the early 1980s and the onset of the AIDS epidemic. A conversation with Christine Barker, author of Third…

1
Beauty Industry’s Most Feared Woman with Jessica DeFino 34:17

1y ago34:17

34:17

This week an eye-opening conversation with beauty journalist Jessica DeFino. Beauty standards have an impact on our lives, often without us even realizing it. ‘The beauty industry reels us in by calling it ‘beauty’ and assigning it metaphysical powers. I really think we would be better off if we called the beauty industry the appearance industry.’…

1
Flame Bearers Women Olympians & Paralympians with Jamie Mittelman 32:11

1+ y ago32:11

32:11

Joining the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and the Flame Bearers, celebrating women athletes changing the Sports Industry. This year is the first Olympics with gender parity. And it’s only fitting to have a conversation with Jamie Mittelman, Founder of Flame Bearers. Jamie doesn’t want to tell the stories of these trailblazing female athletes. No, she …

1
Glorious Broad Aging Imaginatively with Maryjane Fahey 31:55

1+ y ago31:55

31:55

Maryjane Fahey is aging Imaginatively & Unapologetically. Founder of GLORIOUS BROADS, Maryjane defines a Glorious Broad as independent, unconventional and fearless. She's a woman who is funny, has had a few 'restarts' over the years and likes her wrinkles. A woman who is proud of her age and who's not done yet. Our conversation covers everything fr…

1
Mt. Everest Taking Risk with Dr. Mimi Zieman 39:58

1+ y ago39:58

39:58

Taking risk as a path to grow is exactly what Dr. Mimi Zieman believes and did. In her memoir Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure, Mimi takes us through her journey. As a 3rd year medical student Mimi joined an expedition attempting a new route on the East Face of Mt. Everest as the doctor. Mimi would be the only woman. A co…

1
Canopy Meg Einstein of the Treetops 26:53

1+ y ago26:53

26:53

This week, I had the privilege of engaging in a fascinating conversation with Dr. Meg Lowman. Known as "Canopy Meg," she is a globally-renowned forest canopy scientist. The Wall Street Journal dubbed her the "Einstein of the treetops". Meg has dedicated her life to the conservation of trees and forests worldwide. A pioneer in forest canopy ecology,…

1
Single…Nonmarried…Breaking Assumptions with Jaclyn Geller & Joan DelFattore 58:17

1+ y ago58:17

58:17

Health or happiness - why do we assume married people are healthier and happier? Pro-marriage and haves and have nots - let's get into this. Where is the raw data? What was the control group? The promise that marriage is a happy place - is that reality? Are marrieds healthier? I needed to bring back and bring together two women, Jaclyn (Jackie) Gel…

1
Holocaust’s Hidden Children with Jennifer Rosner 34:07

1+ y ago34:07

34:07

The hidden children of the Holocaust was a story that author Jennifer Rosner had not heard about. In her latest novel ONCE WE WERE HOME, she tells their story. Throughout her journey, she became captivated by the intricacies of finding a sense of belonging and identity. Jennifer encountered a woman who worked on a post-WW2 mission to recover Jewish…

1
Guide for Slaying Dragons with Susan Combs 36:47

1+ y ago36:47

36:47

A Missouri girl in a New York world is slaying dragons. Susan L. Combs, author and founder of “Pancakes for Roger” is on a mission. This week a conversation with Susan and ‘Pancakes for Roger: A Mentorship Guide for Slaying Dragons’. With a drive to ‘Do more, better’ we discuss the three facets of life that her late father taught her: 1. The person…

1
Are You Calling Me a Racist? With Sarita Srivastava 26:43

1+ y ago26:43

26:43

Racism and conventional diversity workshops, are they the solution? Educator, activist and sociologist Sarita Srivastava, Ph.D challenges conventional ways of dealing with racism. Sarita's debut book "Are You Calling Me A Racist?": Why We Need to Stop Talking About Race and Start Making Antiracist Change reveals why these efforts have failed to eff…

1
Outdoor Adventures at Any Age 35:28

1+ y ago35:28

35:28

This week, with Award-winning and New York Times-Bestselling author Caroline Paul. Caroline had been an outdoor adventurer her whole life. In her newest book, "TOUGH BROAD," Caroline explores how outdoor adventure can improve our lives as we age, defying societal norms and expectations. Caroline delves into the positive impact of outdoor adventure …

1
‘Dialed In’ with Dr. Dana Sinclair 30:07

1+ y ago30:07

30:07

This week a conversation with Dr. Dana Sinclair, Performance Psychologist and author of Dialed In: Do Your Best When It Matters Most. From Olympic champions to a teenager performing in a school play, we all perform, it's part of who we are. Does confidence in ourselves mean that we're going to perform well? As Dana explains, confidence is overrated…

1
Children Survival and Hope 28:16

1+ y ago28:16

28:16

What happens after we survive and experience something life-changing and traumatic? Award-winning young adult author Veera Hiranandani’s new historical fiction Amil and The After addresses this question. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Veera also asked herself how can we heal as individuals and as a society? Written in part through the drawin…

1
Grit Cheerleading Style 32:11

1+ y ago32:11

32:11

Mix grit, resilience, cheerleading, persistence, passion, compassion and style and you get Risa Kostis. From a very young age a stage and cheerleading was in her future. That is until a car accident at 17 had her navigating a different course. One that would take all of her ingredients and push her to a place she could never have imagined. The acci…

1
A Manifesto Against Ageism 35:11

1+ y ago35:11

35:11

Ashton Applewhite is a pro-aging advocate and author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. She began blogging about ageism in 2007, speaking about it in 2012 and hasn't stopped. Aging is not a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured. We live in a world that encourages us not to think about aging. It's time for a radical aging moveme…

1
Craving Spring and A Mother’s Quest 31:02

1+ y ago31:02

31:02

Ann Batchelder is the author of Craving Spring: A Mother’s Quest, a Daughter’s Depression, and the Greek Myth That Brought Them Together. Ann shares her story of her daughter’s journey with mental health and addiction. As mothers we are always looking for ways to be a ‘good’ mother. What if who we need to be is a ‘skilled’ mother? And learn how to …

1
American Ex-Wife Reframing Divorce 42:45

1+ y ago42:45

42:45

New York Times Bestselling author Lyz Lenz is 'reframing' divorce and getting rid of the stigma. Her latest book, This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage - and - Started My Life is a memoir/manifesto. Lyz debunks the myth of the 'happily ever' marriage scenario and gives us the straight talk about divorce. 'The stigma exists because everybod…

1
Just A Girl From the Bronx 37:55

1+ y ago37:55

37:55

Just a girl from the Bronx. That’s Francine Farkas Sears, the first American businesswoman invited to China after President Nixon re-established trade relations. The groundbreaking trip included twenty-five men and Francine. Francine's first leap into entrepreneurship began in her teens with a babysitting business. Her second was revolutionizing a …

1
Historical Fiction Madam Secretary 36:51

1+ y ago36:51

36:51

Frances Perkins is a woman I’ve come to know, admire and am in awe of through Stephanie Dray’s newest novel Becoming Madam Secretary. The first female cabinet member in U.S. history, she was Labor Secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In a political time dominated by men, Frances Perkins was America’s leading advocate for workers’ rights an…

1
Retail Pioneer, Global Trendsetter 38:11

1+ y ago38:11

38:11

Retail pioneer and global trendsetter, Liz Lange, transformed maternity wear in 1997 and gave women the empowerment to shine. Her brand, Liz Lange Maternity, became a game-changer for celebrities and regular women alike. In the early 2000s, Liz Lange became a household name as a retail pioneer and global trendsetter. Her licensing deals with Nike, …

1
Small Legacies and a Trophy 27:10

1+ y ago27:10

27:10

It started with a piggy bank, well sort of. Among Amanda's late husband's passions was financial wellness. Not finding anything but plastic children's piggy banks, Amanda made her own, a solid wood piggy bank. A piggy bank with three compartments: giving, saving and spending. Her son's financial education was not going to start in a plastic piggy b…

1
The Women and Vietnam 31:31

1+ y ago31:31

31:31

March is Women's History Month. Let's take a moment to acknowledge the forgotten heroes of the Vietnam War- the women veterans. Approximately 10,000 women served in Vietnam as nurses, medical personnel, and military intelligence in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Award-winning author Kristin Hannah's newest historical fiction, The Women, sheds light…

1
Politics of Adoption 37:34

1+ y ago37:34

37:34

Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. The title is quite powerful as is its author, Gretchen Sisson, PhD. Gretchen has been making waves with her groundbreaking studies on abortion and adoption in the US. Her work sheds light on the experiences of women who have relinquished their child for adoption since …

1
Recipe for a Good Life 34:10

1+ y ago34:10

34:10

What ingredients do you need? It really doesn't take a lot for this particular recipe, the Recipe for a Good Life. Bestselling Canadian author Lesley Crewe is making her American debut and we could all use this recipe. This may be her 15th novel for her Canadian readers, but I can definately say, her new American readers will catch up. For Lesley h…

1
Female Scientists Breaking Barriers 42:36

1+ y ago42:36

42:36

Dr. Brooke Grindlinger, Chief Scientific Officer of the NY Academy of Sciences didn't take the conventional female scientist’s route. Instead of the traditional, academic path, Brooke pursued her passion of science communications. Brooke is breaking barriers faced by women in STEM and works with young female scientists pursuing their own 'unconvent…

1
When Freedom Speaks 34:48

1+ y ago34:48

34:48

The First Amendment and freedom of speech are being battled daily. But the First Amendment is not just the written or spoken word, it's also the freedom of expression. Lynn Greenky started her professional career as a lawyer. Ten years ago Lynn began teaching an undergraduate course about the First Amendment. She was disturbed about the lack of civ…

1
Mah Jongg and Grey Gardens 31:34

1+ y ago31:34

31:34

This week a fun, interesting, warm conversation with author and fellow podcaster Fern Bernstein. 2019 saw her debut memoir Mah Jongg Mondays: a memoir about friendship, love and faith. And this past October her second book Staunch: The Edies of Grey Gardens. Fern hosts the podcasts Mah Jongg Mondays and Grey Gardens: Don’t Just Be A Lady…Be A Legen…

1
Sick while single 36:25

2y ago36:25

36:25

Medical bias and discrimination come along with living single in a couple’s oriented society. Dr. Joan DelFattore is single by choice. She had never been moved to do anything, until they tried to kill her. That got her attention. ‘Diagnosed with stage 4 gallbladder cancer, I went to a well-known highly regarded medical oncologist and he really got …

1
A Mother’s Pursuit 38:46

2y ago38:46

38:46

Megan Nix is the author of Remedies for Sorrow: an Extraordinary Child, A Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mother’s Pursuit Of The Truth. Her daughter Anna was born very small and deaf. Anna has CMV (congenital cytomegalovirus). CMV is the leading cause of birth defects in the U.S., a virus contracted through a toddler’s saliva. The medical s…

1
Making Love vs Porn 42:28

2y ago42:28

42:28

Making love, porn and sex education. Add access to porn with society's reluctance to talk about sex. The result, porn becomes sex education by default. In comes Cindy Gallop founder of MakeLoveNotPorn. ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference.’ A candid conversation on knowing the difference. At the 2009 TED conference, Cindy launched the Mak…

1
Intensity, Humor, LA & Kelly Sather 29:16

2y ago29:16

29:16

Debut short story author Kelly Sather's 'Small in Real Life' explores the complexities of the human experience. The collection of nine short stories set in LA, Southern California, blends intensity and humor, invoking the myth and melancholy of L.A. glamour. Each story follows characters searching for power, fame, love, and redemption, no matter th…