The legacy Gloria Steinem leaves behind

0:00Support for Here and Now Anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software, to design and develop engineered systems, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at mathworks.com. WBUR Podcasts, Boston. It's the kind of blue-collar working woman who leads these reforms the most, I think, and also poor women and welfare women. But I think it really is going forward on all levels at once. Remembering feminist icon Gloria Steinem. It's Thursday, September 3rd, and this is Here and Now, Anytime from NPR and WBR. I'm Chris Bentley.

0:53Today on the show, President Trump's executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting is causing headaches for some state election officials. We just anticipate law changes last minute. We have to be ready to pivot. Also, basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo says he learned how to shoot fadeaways after first practicing them in video games. Sometimes things that you imagine and you do in the game, You go and you try it on the court, and it works out. But first... The trailblazing journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinem died yesterday at 92 years old. For decades, she challenged gender stereotypes, fought for reproductive freedom, and supported equal pay for women.

1:40In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Steinem began her career as a journalist, writing about working undercover at the Playboy Club, exposing the sexism and poor working conditions for women there. She went on to serve as a founding editor and writer at New York Magazine, later launching her own publication, Ms. Magazine. Her work in activism has inspired generations of women, including Amanda Wynne. Wynne is an astronaut and author of the Sexual Assault Survivor Bill of Rights. She worked with Steinem on a masterclass about the feminist movement in the U.S.

2:14And today, she spoke to Scott Tong. Of course, it's a bittersweet day. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I do feel an immense and profound sense of grief. Of course, you know, this loss that I feel made up of the memories that I have of this extraordinary human is also coupled with the thought of what a gift Gloria has been to our entire world. Of course, to the feminist movement, but to every human being. And I wouldn't be where I am. You know, the survivor rights movement for gender-based violence wouldn't be where it is without her. Yeah. And together, the two of you taught a master class.

2:58Can you talk about that class? Yeah, absolutely. You know, actually, that class was because Gloria wanted to share the stage. You know, I think master class actually approached Gloria and saying, you know, you like to teach? And she said, no, actually, I would do this if I'm able to bring other people along. She wanted to share it with you. And others that were there. And so this is very, to Gloria's principles, she believed in movement building. She believed that we are linked and not ranked, that revolutions like trees grow from the bottom up. So these are quotes by her, by the way. She has so many amazing quotes.

3:39Yes, you know, at her heart, she's a writer, you know, and groundbreaking this magazine. I know she was about to go on a book tour for her memoir that's coming up and about to be published. So, you know, we're obviously looking forward to reading her memoir now in a world that she has no longer in, but has created change. Yeah. And just trying to kind of understand, because I find fascinating that, you know, the masterclass that you taught together, do you remember what she said, what she expressed in the masterclass? The specific principles that she found important was that the most revolutionary act for a woman is to have her own journey.

4:30And she wanted to emphasize that the barrier to entry to creating change is really just when we decide. One of her quotes is, a movement is only people moving. And the way that she created change is, of course, enormous. That's what we honor her for today and always. There was also micro on the individual level, on the empathy level. Another one of her quotes is, empathy is the most radical of human emotions. And she wanted to really teach and express that we all can make change no matter who we are, where we come from. Yeah. Your organization, RISE, advocates for survivors of sexual violence.

5:12How do you connect your work today to the work of Gloria Steinem and her generation? I mean, we wouldn't be where we are without her, you know, because she spoke up and showed us what political organizing looks like. Because she had such an incredible force in movement building and also in showing us the way that our voices matter, that created the foundation for our generation of activists. For me, she specifically helped in mentoring on the United Nations resolution that we ended up passing. I remember once when we were on another book tour of hers, she had expressed advice on coalition building, how to get decision makers to listen to you, but also, more importantly, how to organize our communities so our voices are heard.

6:09We would not have been able to pass these rights without her. Luria Sinem, of course, had her critics, many strident, many criticizing her personally, working against her proposals and ideas. How do you think about the state of the movement now, the challenges now? Yeah, I mean, when one trailblazes, there's a reason and a thing they're blazing against in a patriarchy, in a world that was not and is not necessarily set up for someone like her. She has become a legend. And we, as women, do have more rights because she fought for us. We do have greater platforms because she demanded it for us. And we know now how to organize because she has shown us the way.

7:00We've been talking about Gloria Steinem with activist and astronaut Amanda Wynn. Amanda, thank you very much. Thanks.

7:15You can read more about Steinem's life and hear our interview with her from earlier this year, right now at hereandnow.org. In February, we spoke with Steinem about her children's picture book, Rise, Girl, Rise, written with Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Bowie, who campaigned to end the civil war in Liberia. Indira Lakshmanan asked Steinem whether conditions for women had improved since the start of her career. Our imaginations have improved. And imagination is the first step towards changing reality. Sometimes our realities have changed. There is more idea that women have the right to make our own decisions about our lives, our education, our reproduction.

8:01If we look at who are the chiefs of state, we may feel a bit less hopeful, including in the United States, because we have never managed to represent the female half of this country, which is supposed to be a democracy. So I would say we're improving, but we have a long and heartful and full of love way to go.

8:34The late Gloria Steinem speaking to Here and Now earlier this year. You can listen to that whole conversation right now at hereandnow.org. And while you're there, we also need your help with next Friday's episode of this podcast. That day will mark 25 years since 9-11. We want to know how that day changed your life. Did it affect how you think about America? Did it change the trajectory of your career? Did you serve in the military after the attacks? Tell us your story. Go to hereandnow.org slash remember and record a short voice message for us. Or send us a voice memo or write us an email at letters at hereandnow.org.

9:18That's hereandnow.org slash remember or letters at hereandnow.org. We'll be right back.

9:28This message comes from Jerry. Jerry's changing how you think about car insurance. For people who like to save or shop smarter, Jerry doesn't lock you into a policy that auto-renews. Reshop anytime by comparing up to 20 quotes side-by-side and switch, all in the app. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Drivers who save with Jerry save over$1 ,300 a year on average. You'll probably be the first one you know to use it, making you the smartest friend in the group. Download Jerry today. This message comes from Grainger. This is the story of The One. As a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility, he knows keeping the line up and running is a top priority.

10:06That's why he chooses Grainger. Because when a drive belt gets damaged, Grainger makes it easy to find the exact specs for the replacement product he needs. And next day delivery helps ensure he'll have everything in place and running like clockwork. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. The 2026 election season is underway. North Carolina starts mailing out ballots for the midterm election this week, but there's an ongoing legal fight over President Trump's attempt to restrict voting by mail. And at the state level, Republican election officials are also pushing some big changes at the last minute.

10:47A federal judge heard arguments today about President Trump's plan to have the post office scrutinize voter rolls. That plan is temporarily blocked, But a government whistleblower said it could derail elections and lead to people not having their votes counted. Dawn Hurdle is director of the Board of Elections for Alamance County, North Carolina, next to Greensboro. She told Peter O'Dowd they're ready to start mailing ballots. We plan on mailing out over 500 currently civilian ballots, and we have close to 70 military and overseas ballots. we emailed those ballots out. Well, and just so I understand, you know, the president has tried to restrict mail-in voting.

11:30He wants states to send a list of approved voters to the Postal Service. That's on pause right now. Is that legal fight affecting what you're doing to get these ballots ready? That particular federal law does not affect North Carolina as North Carolina doesn't use that system that is with the post office. Not yet, anyways. Right, not yet. Okay, so you do have some other balls in the air at the state level. North Carolina's Republican-led State Board of Elections has recently made some changes, including reducing early voting on Sundays, and the board may also try to get some new changes through tomorrow that could affect absentee ballots.

12:07How does that affect you if you don't know the rules yet, but you're there trying to send these envelopes out in the mail? We are just preparing as the current law is in effect as of today. And if there's a halt between now and the time there to be mailed out tomorrow, we'll address it then. But as of right now, we are moving forward with mailing out absentee ballots. Sounds like you're saying business as usual, but does it concern you as an elections officials that there is so much uncertainty this close to that deadline? We're used to that. This is basically, we're used to uncertain laws changing, like in 2020.

12:48It was like day-to-day changes. We just anticipate law changes last minute. We have to be ready to pivot and go with the way the law is telling us to go at that moment. I hear you. But pivoting at the last minute might make some people think, well, maybe my vote won't get counted. Are you getting questions from voters about all this? We've got a few questions from voters that are watching the news, and we just tell them, reassure them that if they abide by the instructions on their ballot and their ballot is returned properly sealed, properly with all the correct signatures, and that they should not have an issue with their ballot counting.

13:34I do want to ask you about something that Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen said this week to reporters about the possibility of ICE agents at polling places. Let's listen to that. The only reason why we would be at polling places if there is a threat to that polling place or we're serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down. What do you think about that? Do you and your colleagues have a plan if ICE shows up at the polls? I am currently working with our emergency management and our local state and local authorities, we're currently working on plans for that or any situation.

14:17We have plans for every type of situation on election day or during early voting. Legal experts do say that something like that could violate federal law. Is that something that you would support or do you want to see federal agents away from polling places in general? As long as they're outside the 50-foot buffer zone, we can't do anything. They're just like any other electioneer or they have to stay outside the 50-foot buffer zone. We're working on, with our local law enforcement and emergency management, any violations within the voting enclosure or within the 50-foot buffer zone. That's our jurisdiction.

15:06I see that you've been working in local elections for almost two decades. And I'm curious, as you prepare for this one, considering the climate around the country right now around voting, does anything feel different to you? Every election has felt different lately. I just feel like there's more scrutiny, people watching. And I tell everybody, we are open. Everything we do here is open to the public. for everything we do in North Carolina, there are the checks and balances and internal audits. So I just feel like if voters were more aware of that and came to meetings or came to watch our vote LNA testing, again, everything's open to the public.

15:52So we encourage that here in Alamance County so that voters do feel better about their vote counting. Don Hurdle is director of the Board of Elections for Alamance County near Greensboro. Don, thank you so much. Thank you.

16:20Coming up, an NBA star gets competitive on the court and on the couch when he's playing video games. Yanis Antetokounmpo talks 2K in just a minute.

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17:40The latest edition of the popular basketball video game, NBA 2K, comes out this week. Miami heat power forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of many stars to appear in the game, which he grew up playing. Antetokounmpo now promotes video games when he's not busy on the court. He reps the console maker in ads as a PlayStation Playmaker. And last month, he joined us to talk about the overlap between basketball and gaming. Hey, Giannis, how are you? Hey, Chris, how are you doing? I'm good. I'm good. Thanks for being here. What do you like about gaming like video games what's the appeal have you always been a gamer i think i was um more of a gamer when i was younger we used to play these um this lego game i had all the superheroes we used to play rachel clank but now with my kids i only play like 2k because they like basketball when it comes to 2k i've always wondered what it's like for pro sports players to play sports video games oh i think i just heard one of your kids in the background there who's that that's my son Maverick.

18:43But when we play 2K, there's things that we can do within the game. Obviously, everybody has their own roles and responsibilities. When you're a kid, you imagine yourself being Kobe, you imagine yourself being Jordan, you imagine yourself being Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. When you make it to the NBA, you got to fit it into your role. So you got to fit it into a box. When you play 2K, you're free to do whatever you want. I can take the ball, and I can just shoot it from half court and be stiff. You feel free. And I feel like that's why a lot of professional athletes play the game because they can be kids again.

19:22Do you ever take something that you learned or, I guess, played around with playing 2K and use it on the court? Of course. Many times. Back in the day, I used to get Kobe and I used to shoot fairways. And then I got myself in 2016-17 to shoot fairways. That's how I was playing. And now on that, I made a fadeaway buzz a bit in my screen of gardens. You know, so sometimes things that you imagine and you do in the game, you go and you try them on the court and it works out. And you're not just saying that so you can write off all the time spent playing video games as training, I guess, right? No, no, no.

20:06Actually, speaking of, you know, gaming can be demanding on your time. So when do you play these days? Is it year-round or more of an off-season thing? Off-season more because when I play during the season, my fingers and my wrist get stiff. So it's kind of hard to pass the ball and shoot the ball. So I try to find times in the off-season. And also having poor kids, I think that's very demanding for any parent. Again, it's something that I'm able to connect. Like, I have this rule within our house now that in order for you to have one hour of screen time, you got to be able to read a book, you know, a beginner's book.

20:47And if you read two, three, four, five books, now you have three, four, five hours of screen time that you can distribute throughout the week. So we use that one hour of screen time to play a little bit of video games sometimes. You said you play video games with your kids now. I'm wondering if any of them can beat you at 2k yet. No, no way. Impossible. I am very, very competitive. The only person that can beat me in video games is my little brother. Makes sense. You play to win, right? I know that the characters get rankings. How competitive do players get over that? You got Nikola Jokic or Shea Gilgis-Alexander holding it over you?

21:27That they're ranked higher? What are they ranked? I don't know. I just know that Nikola Jokic and Shea Gilgis-Alexander are higher than you. I think all of the players, I'm not sure. I think all of the players over me, they're 97 also. I'm not sure, but I try not to pay attention to that. Obviously, you get competitive and you see a lot of players coming up like, oh, I should have, my rankings should be higher and you should rate me better. I'm like, as long as I look handsome in the game. and you know when i play the game my wife you know looks at the screen like oh that's a handsome man in the video game that's that's all i care about if i'm 97 or 98 well actually speaking of i'm not gonna ask you just about video games what we got you janice on to the cupo because i really want to talk about basketball just for a minute and of course you're about to start your first season on the heat it's the first time that you were traded after 13 seasons in milwaukee so how are you adjusting to the trade and to Miami?

22:30What are you looking forward to? I'm excited. I'm excited for the fans. I'm excited for the city. I'm excited for the goals that we've set as a team. Obviously, it's going to be new for me. Being 13 years in Milwaukee and knowing everybody within that organization is going to a place that's unknown. I think that's going to be hard. building a new routine within that city that's also I think it's going to be hard for me and my family but I'm excited I'm you know I feel like change sometimes is good you know being a little bit outside my comfort zone you know how do they say this like I crave adrenaline adrenaline yeah yeah I do and pressure because it's hard it's not easy it's hard on you but I'm excited I'm excited let's go let's go win the championship You changed your number when you left the Milwaukee Bucks, leaving 34 behind after 13 seasons and a championship, by the way.

23:32So what's your message to fans in Wisconsin as you start this new chapter in Miami? Milwaukee will always be my home. Milwaukee is a place that made me the man that I am today. Milwaukee is a place that gave me an opportunity to accomplish my dreams, to be the father that I am, the husband that I am. I grew up in Milwaukee. Whenever they ask me, where are you from? I say, I'm from Athens, Greece. And when I say, from the US, I'm from Milwaukee. I spent 13 and a half years there. You know, my number, I changed my number because out of respect for the organization that, you know, gave me this opportunity, I picked 34 because that number symbolized my parents' birthday.

24:18My dad was born in 1964 and my mom was born in 1963, so I took the three and the four. You know, and out of respect for the organization, I decided to change that number to number seven. Three and four equals seven. And if there's ever an opportunity for me to go back to Milwaukee, I probably would get number 34. But now I'm number seven. James Bond, baby. there you go number seven in miami you know miami is also the city that the new grand theft auto game is apparently based on so are you gonna play are you gonna play gta 6 you know for research yeah i will once i get the game i will but i heard that all right well janice out to tecumpo power forward for the miami heat i hope uh your kids can learn something about sportsmanship from playing 2k with you because uh if you're to be believed they'll they'll never learn what it's like to win if they just keep playing you, but maybe they'll learn something.

25:17Thank you. Thank you, Chris.

25:31That's it for the show today. Here and Now Anytime comes from NPR and WBUR Boston. Today's stories were produced by Hafsa Qureshi, Kalyani Saxena, Jill Ryan, and James Mastromarino. our editors were Todd Munt, Mikaela Rodriguez, and Michael Scotto technical direction from Matt Reed and Andre Peralta our theme music is by Mike Moschetto, Max Liebman and me, Chris Bentley our digital producers are Allison Hagan and Grace Griffin and here and now's executive producer that's Alan Price thanks for listening we'll be back with you tomorrow