Author: Eleanor J. Bader

Eleanor J. Bader is a freelance journalist from Brooklyn, N.Y., who writes for Truthout, Lilith, the LA Review of Books, RainTaxi, The Indypendent, New Pages, and The Progressive. She tweets at @eleanorjbader1 .

‘Gray Love’: Yes, Older People Have Desires

Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60 showcases men and women’s own voices, showing the nitty-gritty headiness of first dates, the joy of getting to know someone’s history, politics and quirks, and the inevitability of decline.

Nan Bauer-Maglin, co-editor, says it’s rare for books about love to intertwine with aging. “I hope that younger readers will learn that older people have desires and still want to date and have romantic relationships. I hope that they will see that older people do not want to spend the rest of their lives longing for a person who is no longer there.”

Jennifer Baumgardner’s New Journal ‘LIBER’ Marries Women’s History and Contemporary Feminism

Jennifer Baumgardner, founder and editor of LIBER: A Feminist Review, believes that a literary journal can be a place where women’s history intersects with today’s most pressing feminist debates. Baumgardner and Charis Caputo, LIBER’s senior editor, aim to include “a lot of diferent perspecives and be a big feminist tent for as many people as possible.”

‘The Future Is Disabled’: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha on Creating a More Humane Social Order

Writer, disability-justice activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha knows that it’s possible for society to become more equitable. Piepzna-Samarasinha’s latest book, The Future Is Disabled: Prophesies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs, lays out a bare-bones agenda for what is needed to make the U.S. more socially just.

Piepzna-Samarasinha and Ms. contributor Eleanor J. Bader communicated about the book, the disability justice movement and the ways that activists can support each other in the fight for a more ecologically sustainable and humane social order.      

Affordable Housing as a Human Right: Activist Diane Yentel on the U.S. Housing Crisis, Racial Justice and Democracy

Right now, low-income renters are facing rising inflation, skyrocketing rents, limited tenant protections and a shortage of affordable units. Predictably, this is leading to an increasing number of evictions and a spike in homelessness.

Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, sees housing and racial justice as inextricably linked. “We must ensure that low-income people can participate in democracy by removing the barriers to voting that make it difficult to cast a ballot.”

Martha Kempner on Sexuality in the U.S.: ‘This Is a Really Scary Moment for Sexuality and Sexual Agency’

Martha Kempner spoke to Ms. about her weekly newsletter ‘Sex on Wednesday’ and the current political climate in the U.S. Sex, sexuality and sexual health are her subjects—and lately, she has no shortage of material to draw from.

“We are in a really critical period right now. This is a really scary moment for sexuality and sexual agency.”

We Deserve Diverse Books: ‘The Right Is Wrong’

During the 45 years that award-winning author Nikki Grimes has been publishing children’s and young adult novels, she’s seen massive changes in the industry. Protagonists today are far more diverse, featuring more protagonists of color and characters who are disabled, non-binary, questioning or LGBTQIA+.

Right-wing organizations think many children’s books are offensive and have launched a campaign to squelch this progressive turn.

“The right is wrong. A more inclusive, accepting and humane world is possible.”

Reproductive Rights Pioneer Sheds Light on His Battle Against Anti-Abortion Extremists

He’s been called “the father of the abortion movement” by the Los Angeles Times and a “promoter of filth” by Catholic and evangelical conservatives, but as reproductive justice pioneer Bill Baird readies himself for his 90th birthday on June 20th, he is not thinking about his reputation. Instead, he’s as impassioned about attacks on abortion and birth control as he has ever been and remains a fierce critic of those who want to restrict access.

Baird recently spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader about his career as well as the ongoing struggle for reproductive freedom.

Photographer Natalie Keyssar Illuminates the Plight of Women in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Award-winning, Brooklyn-based photojournalist Natalie Keyssar says the six weeks she spent in Ukraine and at the Poland-Ukraine border gave her an opportunity to see the best of humanity. But she also admits that she saw absolute horror. Her photos depict grit and determination, as well as sorrow, and offer vivid testimony to the resistance on display in much of Ukraine.

The Poor People’s Campaign and a Shift in the Poverty Narrative: “Demanding Reconstruction From the Bottom Up”

“We’re looking for a complete transformation of U.S. society,” Poor People’s Campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis told Ms. “We’re calling it a Third Reconstruction. We do not have scarcity in this country. People throw away food and there are more abandoned houses than there are unhoused people. We’re pushing back at the idea that we have to make choices about what we can provide to people. We’re also asking why it is usually poor women, children and people of color who are asked to compromise or make do with less.”