The 2nd Season of "Inside the Box"

The spirit of Inside the Box is that of female empowerment. Initially, I tried to carefully word the description so that, while there was no hiding it was a show about women, it might be appealing to men too. Now, I don’t really care. Unfortunately, as soon as I called it a show about women, by women, with a euphemism for vagina in the title, I may have alienated most male listeners. But women make up most of the population anyway, so I’m not too worried. So, “So long, dudes!” BUT, I will say this, if you (boys) stick around, you must be a very enlightened males with very good taste and thanks. Also, it will probably be a very pleasurable listening experience. Nevertheless, I have always felt a call to the plight of the female. At a very young age, I remember being called a feminist as if it were a dirty word. Then, looking up the definition: “the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men,” and I was like, “Yeah, I am a feminist and why isn’t EVERYONE else?” I am still dumbfounded by the threat that word holds even today, some 20 years later. Later on, as a high school dance teacher, essentially helping mold and shape young women in some of their most delicate years, I learned both, how important it was to help them develop a healthy sense of self-worth and what it was like to work as a female in the educational system and in the high school sports system. The inequality was there, clear as day. I was a burlesque dancer for some time in my 20s and got to explore an art form that was essentially an answer to the oppressiveness women felt in the early 20^th century and how that translated to today’s perceptions of the female body and nudity and the choice to do with our bodies what we wanted. All the while, watching the way women treated one another, competing and undercutting rather than encouraging or creating partnerships. It was these life experiences that lead me to want to create a podcast for women. One that simply addressed us as humans, embraced our similarities and differences, and showed what the face of feminism truly looks like. And hopefully, there will be an episode or a story and a listener will think, ‘Oh great! I’m not the only one who …feels that way! …. went through that thing! …failed at something!”

If this is your first time hearing about Inside the Box and

This is Randi. Randi = trooper.

you’re like, “2^nd season? I didn’t know there was a first!” It’s alright. The “1^st season” of Inside the Box was an experiment and huge learning experience. The podcast started as a discussion style show. I hosted alongside my carefully selected co-host, Randi Straight and each episode featured a special guest with a panelist or two for good measure. We had topic bullet points, but no script. This meant, as does it mean for most discussion podcasts, some of them were long and some of them were confusing. Far too many cooks in the studio, if you know what I mean. I knew a podcast was to be a part of my future, and the name, Inside the Box, was too good to let go by the wayside for its delightful lady pun. So, after much thought (and a move to the desert where no one visits me,) I decided a crafted, edited podcast format was going to be much more my speed. I actually prefer listening to edited podcasts more than discussion podcasts so why shouldn’t my own show be something I’d actually listen to? You can hear the shift to this style in the last episode of season one, where I edited a one on one interview. I decided to wrap up those 10 episodes and affectionately call them, “season 1,” so I could completely revamp the format.

The 2^nd Season of Inside the Box will be a 12 episode series. I’ve completed recorded interviews with 11 women over the last couple of months and I asked them all the same series of questions. Each question will be the theme of each episode. Each episode will include a forward from me and an edited collection of their answers. The questions (and answers) varied from the silly to the serious. The answers were hilarious, heart-felt, riveting, sweet, and emotional. For that, I am so grateful. It was an incredibly fascinating experience to be able to listen to these women open up about life’s ups and downs. I can’t wait to share their answers with you this season. To meet this amazing cast of women, click here or on the “Inside the Box- About” tab.

In an effort to bring some “cool” the worst month of summer, The 2^nd season will premiere on August 10^th. New episodes will be released every Monday. Tune in each week and as always, you can find episodes here or find “Inside the Box Podcast” on ITunes.