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Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: Who Knew? Gloria Steinem Says Gandhi Got Some Tactics from Women

Tom Marks Photography

We know Gloria Steinem as a co-founder of the history-making Ms. Magazine but at heart she's what she calls "a traveling organizer."  She says she likes to take her message for social change directly to the people, from one city, one state, one country to the next. Now the famed women's rights champion has released a new memoir of those journeys, "My Life on the Road," and hopes others are themselves inspired to be organizers. Steinem will be in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Nov. 6 at Western Michigan University's Miller Auditorium. Listen here for a sneak peek.

    

In advance of her appearance, Steinem, now 81, gave a wide-ranging interview to WMUK's Earlene McMichael for today's WestSouthwest (10/15), which touched on her involvement with the Women's Movement and Ms. Magazine; her current activism; and her thoughts on the presidential election with harsh words for Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump. We hear her assessment of the pressing issues facing modern-day women and about the influence the Women's Movement in India had on Mahatma Gandhi as well. (A longer version of the interview is below.)

long-mono-WSW-steinem-101515.mp3
Longer interview

Steinem helped launch Ms. Magazine in the early '70s, a publication created by, for and run by women, a radical idea at the time of its creation. Still on the forefront of fresh ideas, Steinem will soon be an anchor for a daily news program being launched by VICE Media, an edgy, young-spirited news outlet, it was just announced. The feminist is also highly involved at the international level. Steinem recently joined forces with NaviPillay, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and lifelong women’s rights advocate in South Africa. Together, they'll be leading the Steering Committee of Donor Direct Action, a group that is using the Internet to link individuals across the globe with women’s rights organizations in need of funding.

Steinem speaks at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 6 at Miller Auditorium at Western Michigan University as part of the university’s “Raise Your Voice” series designed to create awareness about violence against women.  

Admission is free. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

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