Right Answers Mostly

For most of human history, childbirth belonged to women. Midwives guided mothers through labor, cared for newborns, and held generations of medical knowledge within their communities. But over time, birth moved from homes to hospitals, and from the hands of women to the authority of male physicians.

In this episode, we explore the hidden history of childbirth, the rise of modern gynecology, and the women whose bodies shaped the field but whose names were nearly erased from it.

At the center of this story are three enslaved women in the 1840s American South: Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy. Suffering from a devastating childbirth injury, they were subjected to years of experimental surgeries by physician J. Marion Sims, procedures performed without anesthesia or the ability to consent. Sims would later be celebrated as the “father of modern gynecology,” but the medical advancements credited to him were built on the pain, endurance, and forced labor of these women.

We also trace the overlooked legacy of Black midwives, who for generations were the backbone of maternal healthcare in the United States. Once trusted community leaders and healers, they were gradually pushed out of medicine as childbirth became increasingly medicalized and controlled by white male physicians.

Trigger Warning: This section of the episode addresses scientific experimentation on enslaved women and violation of their bodies.

Created and produced by Tess Bellomo and Claire Donald

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HAPPY WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH!

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This week we’re diving into the story of Shonda Rhimes, the woman who completely changed television. Before Rhimes, network TV rarely centered complicated women, diverse casts, or stories about power, ambition, sexuality, and work told from a female perspective. From Grey’s Anatomy to Scandal to Bridgerton, Rhimes built an empire by telling the kinds of stories about women that television had long ignored. We talk about her early life, how she broke into Hollywood, the rise of Shondaland, and how she reshaped what television looks like, and who gets to be the main character. This is Shonda Rhimes!

Created and produced by Claire Donald and Tess Bellomo

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Sources: Television Academy , Vice, Wbur, Oprah.com, Theboar.org, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Wikipedia, Call Her Daddy
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Before she was a pop girl, a tabloid headline, or the blueprint for millennial style, Hilary Duff was just a kid from Texas with a big dream and a head voice that would become weirdly controversial.

This week on Right Answers Mostly, we’re diving into the full Hilary Duff story: from early auditions to becoming Disney Channel’s most relatable star on Lizzie McGuire. We talk about the cultural earthquake of Metamorphosis, the chaos of early 2000s tabloid culture, public breakups, and why she was constantly compared to women she was never trying to be.

But more than that, we explore why Hilary always felt different. She wasn’t the strongest singer. She wasn’t the most provocative. She didn’t reinvent pop music. And yet...she endured.

From A Cinderella Story to her pop reinventions, to quietly building a stable career in shows like Younger, Hilary carved out something radical: longevity without spectacle. While other young women were chewed up by fame, she chose steadiness.

We unpack the sexism around her voice, the pressure on teen girls to be “effortlessly exceptional,” and why Hilary Duff’s greatest strength might be that she always let us see her trying. Not perfect, but just trying.

Created and produced by Tess Bellomo & Claire Donald

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Sources include: The Twisted World of Hilary Duff Deep Dive, Wikipedia & People



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We are kicking off Women's History Month with the one and only, Joan Didion.

Before she became one of the most iconic writers of the 20th century, Joan Didion was just a quiet, observant girl from Sacramento who would go on to capture the myth and emotional reality of American life.

From her early days at Vogue to her life in Hollywood and her marriage to fellow writer John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion wasn’t just participating in the culture. She was observing and documenting it.

In this episode, we explore how Joan Didion became a literary icon, how she cultivated the persona of the ultimate cool girl, and why her writing captured the emotional reality behind America’s myths.

Welcome to Women's History Month!

Created and produced by Claire Donald and Tess Bellomo

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SOURCES: Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, The Guardian , Vanity Fair, What She Means, Vogue, Wikipedia
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John and Jackie Kennedy weren’t just a couple, they were a brand. In this episode, we break down their upbringings, the expectations that shaped their marriage, and why Jackie Kennedy became the emotional and public backbone of Camelot. From JFK’s affairs to the carefully curated image America consumed, we explore how Jackie wasn’t living a fairytale, she was performing one.

TW: Birthing trauma and child loss

Produced and created by Tess Bellomo & Claire Donald

For more RAM, go here!

Main feed gets a preview but our premium subscribers get a full 90 minute episode which goes more into the affairs, Marilyn Monroe, and the end of Jackie's life. Please consider supporting our show here and purchasing for $7.99/month or save 13% when purchased annually! You get THREE bonus episodes, one of them being a full history.

Sources include the following: Even the Rich Podcast, Vanity Fair, Wikipedia Town & Country, People Magazine.
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