Fighting Christian nationalism with facts alone doesn't work. This week, Kim and Rose kick off season six with Monte Mader, progressive political and cultural commentator, writer, public speaker, and vocalist, to talk about why stories, not statistics, are what actually help women question and leave high-control belief systems.

Raised on a rural Wyoming cattle ranch as a "biblical wife," Monte was taught to marry, submit, and build her life around men and children, until a family crisis made her question her ideology. She and the hosts dig into how trad wife content sells an illusion of safety while hiding the labor behind it, why complementarianism functions as the church's own "separate but equal" doctrine, and why fights over voting rights, Title IX, and trans athletes are really about controlling women. Plus: why Monte chose a one-on-one debate with Allie Beth Stuckey over the usual viral pile-on format, and what she tells anyone trying to reach a friend or family member pulled toward trad wife ideology or the manosphere.

In this episode:

• Kim and Rose open season six, reflecting on the show's growth and recent award recognition
• Rose breaks down Texas GOP efforts to end no-fault divorce, and how fault-based divorce can trap abused women in harmful marriages
• Kim discusses postpartum depression as an underrecognized women's health issue, using Hayden Panettiere's recent death as an example of how women's suffering is often ignored
• Monte on growing up as a "biblical wife" and the moment her worldview broke open
• How trad wife content hides the labor and exhaustion behind the aesthetic
• Complementarianism as the church's "separate but equal" doctrine
• Why Christian nationalist arguments so often target women's voting rights, Title IX, and trans athletes
• Monte's advice: lead with questions and your own story, not arguments

Whether you're a lifelong feminist or newly feminism-curious, join us this season as Kim and Rose speak with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to feminismnow@now.org.

Guest: Monte Mader is a progressive political and cultural commentator, writer, public speaker, and vocalist. She speaks from lived experience inside white Christian nationalism and now helps others recognize the signs, language, and power structures of these movements.

Today’s featured chapter: Central New York NOW, hosting their fourth annual Reproductive Rights Film Fest, September 15-19, 2026.

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Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose.

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Roe v. Wade is dead, but who was the murderer? In this episode, Kim and Rose sit down with journalist Amy Littlefield, author of the new book Killers of Roe: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights to trace the decades-long effort to dismantle federal abortion protections—and what that history means for the future of reproductive rights in the United States.

This is the last episode of season 5. We will be taking a short break and then Kim and Rose will be back, speaking with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to feminismnow@now.org.

Guest: Amy Littlefield has reported on abortion rights for over a decade. She is the abortion access correspondent for The Nation. She has contributed to The New York Times Opinion and wrote the Times’ Sunday Review cover story “Where the Pro-Choice Movement Went Wrong.” She is a frequent commentator on abortion for TV and radio news outlets and podcasts, including MSNOW and Democracy Now!. Littlefield was a lead reporter and narrator on shows for Reveal, the national investigative journalism show. She lives in Boston with her family.

Follow us on social media:

Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose.

Find today’s guest, Amy Littlefield, on Instagram @littleamyfield on X @amylittlefield

Find NOW here:

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TikTok: @national_now

BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social

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“Why didn’t she just leave?” Despite decades of progress toward gender equality, domestic violence–and the judgement of women in violent situations–remains pervasive. In this episode, Kim and Rose sit down with journalist and author Rachel Louise Snyder to discuss the systemic failures that allow intimate partner violence to persist and what real solutions could look like.

Whether you’re a lifelong feminist or newly feminism-curious, join us this season as Kim and Rose speak with the movers and shakers defining the feminist movement. Listen to new episodes of Feminism NOW released every other Wednesday. To find out more about the National Organization for Women, visit our website.

Leave us a voicemail for us to include in a future episode! Call 202-628-8669 or send a voice memo to feminismnow@now.org.

Guest: Rachel Louise Snyder is a professor of literature and journalism at American University, and a New York Times contributing opinion writer. She is the author of numerous books including “Women We Buried, Women We Burned: A Memoir” and “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us.”

Follow us on social media:

Find Kim on Instagram @KimVillanueva_NOW, and find Rose on X @BrunacheRose.

Find today’s guest, Rachel Louise Snyder on Instagram @rlswrites.

Today’s featured chapter is Central NY NOW, https://cny-now.com/ and on Instagram @cnynow and Bluesky @cnynow and on Facebook @CentralNYNOW

Find NOW here:

Instagram: @nationalnow

TikTok: @national_now

BlueSky: @nationalnow.bsky.social

Facebook: NationalNOW