After more than thirty years of broadcasts, the final "In Other Words" show on Montana Public Radio aired on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.
Featured: part of Janet Scott's interview with the late Judy Smith about the genesis of Montana Women Vote; and part of a program Judy Smith recorded with her friend, lawyer and activist Sarah Weddington, about the campaign to challenge Texas’s anti-abortion statutes, which culminated in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
(Broadcast: "In Other Words," 11/11/14.)
Here's how coordinator and producer Ann Szalda-Petree described the end of this long-running program, following its cancellation by Montana Public Radio: "This last show will be an on-air celebration, bringing in the voices and stories from the women who produced this show over the years – as volunteers – week after week. IOW has been on this station non-stop for over 25 years, and we’re all sad the show will not continue. MTPR is making many programming changes, and this is one of them.
This won’t be our last word though. We’re considering many different ways to share the voices of women and the issues we care about. Come to In Other Words Radio for more news, updates, and, yes, “radio from a women’s perspective!”
Thanks for your listening support — Beth, Ann, Amy, Bryony, Jen and all the IOW radio producers over the years."
More from the "In Other Words" producers, past and recent:
Lin Smith: “In the mid-1980s, I heard Rita De Andrea’s KUFM radio program, which was a continuation of an earlier monthly show, “Feminist Forum.” It was women speaking themselves about what was important to them - their issues - and not being interpreted by others. She’d been here for a year and was about to leave, and it seemed to me that this program must continue. So I sat in and learned how to work on the radio. Christine Kauffman joined me and co-hosted it, then Terry Kendrick got involved. So many women have worked on the program since then."
Terry Kendrick: “I really don’t think we’re living in a post-feminist age ... Programs like "In Other Words" help us to not have to whitewash the scenario. This show has really looked deeply into issues and the impacts they have on the community. The number of people who’ve worked on "In Other Words" for so many years is amazing…the listening area owes you all a real debt of gratitude. ”
Janet Scott: “The chance to talk with fascinating women and men seduced me pretty fast. I ended up interviewing people I really admired but never would have met otherwise. Quite an impressive feat to keep a volunteer radio show going for all these years.”
Bryony Schwan: “I’m really very sad that the radio show is ending. We couldn’t have done the work we did at Women’s Voices for the Earth without “In Other Words.” Issues that we worked on were very difficult to bring into the mainstream media, and many of the women interviewed on "In Other Words" were very marginalized. Having their voices on the air was incredibly important.”
Beth Judy on the W.I.N.G.S (Women’s International News-Gathering Service) segment of “In Other Words:” “It was wonderful to hear from women in Australia, Mexico, Africa, and to realize that everyone is working towards a better world all over… I was always hoping to inspire and support listeners because women who I read and listened to inspired me.”
Ann Szalda-Petree: “In 1979 when I started high school, I was encouraged to go through the secretarial track. That wasn’t that long ago. Thank God my daughter has never heard of such a thing, but we need to keep replaying those details and history because we can never slide back.”
