Stevie’s Work

Raine, Kat, and Tina join the critically-acclaimed podcast CRAMPED for a conversation about how young people are experiencing period pain — and why schools so often fail to take it seriously. In this episode of CRAMPED, “Are the Young Crampers OK? Period Pain Education in High School,” host Kate Helen Downey spotlights Period Power Stories, TMI Project’s collaboration with the Kingston High School Period Power Club – and the student-led push for better education, support, and change. Learn more about CRAMPED: https://www.katehelendowney.com/cramped TMI Project is available to offer true storytelling workshops and performances for your school or workplace: tmiproject.org. If you believe in the power of true storytelling to change the world, support TMI Project with a donation today!  DONATE TODAY Links https://www.tmiproject.org https://www.instagram.com/tmiproject https://www.facebook.com/tmiproject https://www.tiktok.com/@tmiproject https://www.hudsy.org https://www.periodpowerclub.com

August 24th 2026 On Ukraine’s Independence Day, Yuriy calls the celebration “nice but strange” as the country keeps fighting for freedom from the enemy in the north. He admits that he mostly says “Russians” only on the podcast; in real life and even on Ukrainian media he uses two older Ukrainian slur names – words that don’t mock appearance, but preserve lived history. Send Yuriy your letter of support fightingtherussianbeast@gmail.com  Yuriy’s Podbean Patron sign-up to give once or regularly: https://patron.podbean.com/yuriy   Buy Yuriy a coffee here: https://bmc.link/yuriymat  Subscribe to his substack: https://yuriymatsarsky.substack.com/  —-more—- TRANSCRIPT   Today is August 24, Ukraine's Independence Day. It is a nice but strange holiday. This year it is already 35 years old. And yet we are still fighting for our independence from a terrifying bloodthirsty enemy from the north. By the way, I recently realized that I use the enemy's usual name "Russians" only here on this podcast. In everyday life when talking to our military personnel or even when appearing on Ukrainian media, which happens to me from time to time, I use a completely different name. Or rather, names. I call Russians by one of two slur words that exist in the Ukrainian language for describing them. We share one of these words with Belarusians, while the other comes from the Crimean Tatars, and both of them tell you a great deal about Russians. Russians themselves have a great many slur words for describing different nations, races, and peoples. They are usually based on stereotypical ideas about appearance- offensive words referring to skin color, eye size, typical hairstyles, and all sorts of other things. But the Ukrainians slurs for Russians have absolutely nothing to do with their appearance. One of these two words is the same word that was once used to refer to soldiers. You have to understand that despite Ukraine's long military history, even in the early 18th century, there were no soldiers in Ukraine, people whose entire lives were subordinated to their commanders, who could not simply go home, who were tied to barracks, and who were deprived of many other rights. There were no soldiers in Ukraine. Again, there were Cossacks who choose their own commanders, gathered into military forces only during campaigns or to repel enemy attacks, always received their share of the military spoils, and spent most of their lives at home working in agriculture or practicing a trade. Ukrainians encountered a soldier in the conventional sense of the word after the Russian occupation of Ukraine in the 17th and 18th centuries, and one of the two main slurs used to describe Russians dates back to that period. The word was used to refer to soldiers of the occupying army, powerless men, often beggars, who did not shy away from theft and robbery and were essentially slaves to their commanders. Incidentally, Belarusians, who were also occupied at roughly the same time, have the very same word for Russians. The second word came from the Crimean Tatars. Today, the Crimean Tatars are part of a larger Ukrainian nation. For centuries, they were neighbors of the Cossacks, with whom they had a very complicated relationship. Sometimes they were allies and would go together to burn Moscow. At other times, they'd fall out spectacularly and start fighting each other. The Crimean Tatars had several words for the Russians who had spent years destroying and humiliating them. One of those words made its way into the Ukrainian language as well. Translated from Crimean Tatar, it means butcher or reaper. I'm not a great fan of slurs, but I have to admit that these two have stood the test of time and proven themself to be remarkably accurate.

If you don't know Gretchen Peters, I will bet you definitely know some of her songs. From Independence Day (Martina McBride), Cloud #9 (Bryan Adams), On A Bus To St. Cloud (Trisha Yearwood), Rock Steady (Bonnie Raitt)… the list goes on and on.  So when I interviewed her for the first time (I was lucky enough to do it twice) I was READY. This is probably the interview I am the most proud of, we talked about sexism within the music industry, being an independent artist and finding your own path as a writer. We dig into the origins of one of her songs, "The Boy From Rye" and how it's the heart of her most recent album, Dancing With The Beast. Note: This interview was originally recorded and published in November 2019. —-more—- For two decades, Gretchen Peters (she/her) has been one of Nashville's most beloved and respected artists. "If Peters never delivers another tune as achingly beautiful as 'On A Bus To St. Cloud,'" People Magazine wrote, "she has already earned herself a spot among country's upper echelon of contemporary composers.” Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her "both a songwriter and a poet (who) sings as beautifully as she writes,” and said her song “The Matador”, "moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet”, Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. Her 2015 album, ‘Blackbirds’, debuted at #1 on the UK Country chart and in the top 40 UK pop chart, and was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2015, The Telegraph named her one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Her latest album, Dancing With The Beast, was released on May 18, 2018. https://gretchenpeters.com  

It is the end. And the end. And the end! Will Michael find the progenitor's technology? Will Moll be able to bring L'ak back to life? Will Rayner and DISCO be able to hold off the Breen? Will Saru be able to engage in diplomacy with Primarch Tahal? And most importantly: is there going to be a wedding at the end? Come for the science fiction, the pew-pew, and the fate of all the galaxy — stay for a cute wedding sequence. Hope everyone you love got out alive. It's time to say goodbye, old friends. Live long — and prosper.