‘Ms. Book Club’ Miniseries: Four Must-Listen Conversations on Black Women, U.S. History and the Law

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Across four new episodes, Dr. Michele Goodwin speaks with leading Black women scholars about human rights, interracial marriage, maternal health, bodily autonomy, and the legal systems that have shaped American life over the last 250 years.

Our esteemed podcast platform Ms. Studios has launched a newly updated Ms. Book Club miniseries examining the last 250 years of U.S. history through a feminist lens—asking what the nation’s founding ideals have meant in practice for women, Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities.

Across the four-part series, Dr. Michele Goodwin—host of On the Issues and executive producer of Ms. Studios—speaks with four leading scholars and authors whose recent books explore how gender, race, law and power have shaped American life from 1776 to today: Keisha Blain, Dorothy Roberts, Khiara Bridges and Patricia Williams.

The conversations examine subjects ranging from Black women’s leadership in global human rights movements to the regulation of interracial marriage, the persistent Black maternal health crisis, and the legal and ethical questions surrounding identity, technology and bodily autonomy.

Each episode features an in-depth conversation between Goodwin and the author about how their work reframes dominant narratives of U.S. history—and challenges listeners to reconsider what, exactly, America is celebrating at its 250-year mark.

1. Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights with Keisha N. Blain

First, Dr. Keisha Blain discusses her book, Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights, and a history of human rights centering Black women and their work in shaping human rights and building solidarity with other struggles for freedom around the world. To learn more about the distinction between civil and human rights, and how Black women have been at the forefront of making those rights a reality, listen here or below:

2. The Mixed Marriage Project with Dorothy Roberts

In the second episode, Professor Dorothy Roberts joins Dr. Goodwin to explore the history of interracial relationships and marriage in the U.S., the subject of her new book, The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. The Mixed Marriage Project tells a story rooted in love and pays homage to Roberts’ own parents and their interracial marriage. To examine the history of interracial marriage, miscegenation laws, and taboos around marriage from people who have experienced it themselves, listen here or below:

3. Expecting Inequity with Khiara M. Bridges

In the third episode, Dr. Khiara Bridges does a deep dive on her new book, Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans, where she dispels any misconceptions that the Black maternal health crisis is simply due to economic inequalities. To learn about how even the wealthiest Black Americans have disproportionately negative pregnancy outcomes compared to their White counterparts, listen here or below:

4. The Miracle of the Black Leg with Patricia J. Williams

In the final installment of the series, Professor Patricia Williams delves into her book of essays, The Miracle of the Black Leg: Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law, discussing identity, ethics, science, and race with a legal lens and exploring notions of ownership under the law. From sperm and DNA to algorithms and AI, what can the law tell us about the state of human autonomy and ownership? Listen here or below:

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About Mariah A. Lindsay

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Mariah A. Lindsay is an attorney, Ph.D. student in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ms. Studios editorial fellow.