Women Living the Questions

Ann Larson: The Sacred Work of Presence

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Ann Larson, a retired Lutheran pastor whose life has evolved by ministry and a lifelong search for deeper spirituality. Ann speaks of becoming one of the early generations of women ordained in the Lutheran church, and navigating the challenges of a career that did not unfold in the ways she once expected. With striking honesty, she opens up about therapy, and learning to redefine success and failure over time. She also shares moving stories from her years in the ministry, including sitting beside people in their final moments, and witnessing death as both sacred and deeply human. Throughout the conversation, Ann looks back on the role of ritual, music, spirituality, and community in helping us live with greater presence and compassion. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Anna Boorstin: The Many Lives of Love

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Anna Boorstin, a former film sound editor, writer, and lifelong reader whose reflections on love, grief, and self-acceptance reveal a life deeply examined and fully lived. Anna shares stories about growing up in Southern California during the rise of second-wave feminism, working in the film industry, and raising a family while learning to better understand herself. With humor and candor, she reflects on body image, aging, anxiety, and the complicated expectations placed on women across generations. She also speaks movingly about her late partner, historian John Archibald Getty III, and the profound experience of caring for him through illness. Their relationship transformed her understanding of love, vulnerability, and what it means to truly know another person. Inspired by the sudden loss of her stepfather, Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Alan J. Pakula, Anna eventually turned to writing her novel, No Place Like, as a way to explore grief, imagining parallel universes where the people we lose might still exist somewhere beyond our reach. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Jan Jorgensen: A Poetic Soul Pays Attention

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Jan Jorgensen, a poet, minister, spiritual director, and lifelong reader and collector of books. Jan reflects on growing older with curiosity and tenderness, and on learning to hold both beauty and sorrow at once. She speaks about motherhood, poetry, spirituality, and the ways our earliest selves continue to live within us. With warmth, wisdom, and poetic insight, Jan shares what it means to listen deeply, and reflects on love, shame, forgiveness, and the healing that can happen when we bring our wounds into the light. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Therese Eke: It's Up to Me. It's Up to Us.

This episode includes conversations about mental health and suicide. Please take care while listening. In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Therese Eke, a nonprofit director turned community organizer whose life is about service, activism, and personal transformation. With brave honesty, Therese reflects on surviving a mental health crisis in her twenties, rebuilding her sense of self through community, and learning to use her voice in service of others. She speaks about the importance of trust and storytelling, and the responsibility she feels to stand up against unfairness. Therese has found renewed purpose through grassroots organizing in Milford, Connecticut, where she advocates for housing equity, collective care, and community connection. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0

Lauren Mayer: When Laughter Becomes Liberation

In this episode, host Ruby Tugade speaks with Lauren Mayer, a comedic singer-songwriter, teaching artist, theater director, and vocal coach whose life has been anchored in the performing arts, education, and songwriting. Her story arc spans decades of people-pleasing, and ultimately arriving at a fuller sense of herself, for herself. With candor and humor, she reflects on unlearning the “good girl” role, confronting her inner critic, and learning to fully own her talent as a gift. Now, she is channeling her creativity into work that challenges ageism and cultural stereotypes, while finding joy in making people laugh and living more fully as herself. Music: “Love” by Alex-Productions, licensed under CC BY 3.0