Episode Summary:
Patti and Aleks are sitting down with our favorite advocate for choice, Ricki Lake. You may know Lake from her years as a television host, but her truest passion and calling for the last decade has been as a curious advocate for women’s reproductive health. Lake is unafraid to question, investigate, and most importantly, tell the truth. In this episode, you’ll hear what inspires her, what she hopes her legacy will be, and what she wants every woman to know. This one is not to be missed!
Links Mentioned:
Actress, advocate, TV host, and producer Ricki Lake
Lake and creative partner, Abby Epstein, made films The Business of Being Born, More Business of Being Born, and Weed the People .
Lake and Epstein’s current project in post production is based on Holly Grigg-Spall's book, Sweetening the Pill.
Grigg- Spall was a guest on our first season! Find her episodes here and here.
Lake attended a birthing conference at Open Center in NYC, sparking her interest in birthing options.
Midwife Ina May Gaskin and book Spiritual Midwifery, and anthropologist & childbirth expert Robbie Davis Floyd’s Birth as an American Rite of Passage were major influences on Lake in creating The Business of Being Born.
Lake tells that Abby Epstein’s first directing experience of a documentary was for Eve Ensler’s Until the Violence Stops in 2003.
The New York Times article speaking to “T-shirt Test” study that Lake references about oral contraceptives and the sense of smell, in the interview.
Vanity Fair article Lake mentions when sharing a story of a mother and daughter, Karen and Erica Langhart. They feature prominently in the Sweetening the Pill documentary.
John Waters, filmmaker Ricki Lake credits for the longevity and success of her career.
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