The planned withdrawal of US troops from Syria is widely seen as a green light for Turkey to invade Northern Syria. What will that mean for the socialist feminist Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, colloquially known as Rojava? Reflecting on this prospect, we listen to excerpts from my interviews with Sinam Mohamed, representative of the Syrian Democratic Council to the U.S., conducted as Turkish forces were occupying her home in Afrin, and with Janet Biehl, translator of Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy and Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan.
On a lighter note, the second half hour features a talk by Rachel Maines, author of The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction. This 2011 talk, brought to us by WINGS: the International News Gathering Service, traces the history of the vibrator.