Barbara Wagner: Stop Asking Me How Fast I Can Type

Barbara Wagner: Stop Asking Me How Fast I Can Type

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Barbara Wagner, who looks back on a life of expanding what was possible: from entering Yale as one of the first women at the college, to forging a career in corporate law when women were still being asked how fast they could type. She also shares what it was like to navigate Yale's first years of coeducation and the sexism she encountered along the way. With candid honesty and thoughtful perspective, Barbara reflects on the unconventional partnership she and her husband built, and how together they challenged traditional ideas about work, family, and what a woman's life could become. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Patty Locuratolo Hymanson: The Curious Neurologist

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Patty Louratolo Hymanson, a neurologist, former Maine state representative and chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, and longtime community leader whose life has been shaped by curiosity, courage, and connection. Patty reflects on her Italian immigrant heritage, her upbringing in Yonkers and summers by the sea in Massachusetts, and her family story across generations, from grandparents who arrived from Italy as teenagers to a home shaped by compassion and care. She shares stories from her early medical training during the AIDS crisis in New York City, her years in private neurology practice on the Maine coast, and her later work in public service and health policy, including sponsoring medical aid in dying legislation in Maine. She also opens up about a life guided by exploration through travel, teaching, music, painting, and community, and the lesson that continues to return: know and be true to yourself. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Annette Cyr: A Woman’s Constellations

In the latest episode of “Women Living the Questions”, host Ruby Tugade is in conversation with Annette Cyr, a painter, filmmaker, writer, and professor whose work has been recognized by global cultural institutions and film festivals including Cannes, the Pushcart Prize, and the Guggenheim Foundation. She looks back on a life of shifting between art forms, and learning that when one becomes impossible, another can carry the work forward. Her work, including her long-running “Women in Predicaments” series, explores what she calls the “quiet heroism of women”, or the unacknowledged ways women move through challenge and care. In one of the most moving moments of our conversation, she shares an experience with her mother that feels like one of her paintings…where nothing is said, and everything is understood. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Paula Marantz Cohen: A Portrait of Paying Attention

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Paula Marantz Cohen, a writer and professor who has moved between scholarship, fiction, and teaching, and who looks back on how family history remains a cornerstone, and how creative identity changes over time. Paula shares how her mother, a strong feminist in her time, once had her husband take her name, and how that act of naming continues in her family across generations. She also talks about her long career as a writer, and her recent shift into painting, where she steps away from language and into the act of looking closely at another person, trying to capture not just appearance, but something of how they are seen, and how they might see themselves. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Marie Fortune: A Ministry of Healing & Justice

Content note: This episode includes discussion of sexual violence and clergy abuse within faith communities. Please take care while listening. In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Marie Fortune, clergywoman, writer, educator, and advocate whose work has helped faith communities respond more thoughtfully to sexual and domestic violence. Marie reflects on her childhood in Asheville, North Carolina, where time spent in her father’s hardware store nurtured a lifelong love of curiosity, problem-solving, and conversation. She shares how an early interest in science eventually gave way to a calling in ministry, informed by questions of ethics, justice, and community. She also discusses coming of age during the rise of feminism, recognizing her identity as a lesbian, and finding her place within religious institutions. A pivotal turning point came when a survivor of clergy abuse reached out for help, opening Marie’s eyes to a problem that would reshape her work for decades to come. This is a powerful conversation about justice, resilience, and living a life of purpose. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0