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Check out our fantastic Jessica on this week's Reality Cast being interviewed by our other fave, Amanda Marcotte.

Check out this series of Seal Press podcasts, featuring interviews with authors such as Julia Serano (swoon), Michelle Goodman and other great women writers. Full disclosure: Seal Press is my publisher.

The ever-fabulous Susie Bright interviews author Erica Jong. And apparently things get a bit saucy. Fun.

Listen to it here.

In this week's Addicted to Race podcast, Carmen Van Kerckhove of Racialicious and Latoya Peterson of Alter Ego Maniacs discuss why women of color sometimes feel ambivalent about feminism.

Click here to download the mp3. If you like what you hear, click here to subscribe to the Addicted to Race weekly podcast.

Now all you anti-woman folks please write that down and repeat. It doesn't matter to whom they are addressed, regardless of a woman's politics or her position in society, rape threats are never OK. Several readers sent in this horrible radio clip today (warning: it is REALLY offensive) and I am truly disgusted.

I may not agree with Condoleeza Rice's or Laura Bush's politics, at all, but under no circumstances would I think it is OK to threaten them with sexual violence. What is up with all the verbal rape threats to women lately? Is this some kind of paranoid misogynist trend because so many (not that many) women are gaining access to power?

Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped
Geffen Records (2006)

Indie rock legends Sonic Youth burst out of the summer music pack with their latest album, Rather Ripped, to be released June 13 on Geffen Records. Though predictably unpredictable in terms of musical experimentation, the group delivers its characteristic guitar renderings and thoughtful lyricism, appealing to devoted fans and new initiates alike.

The former five-piece has been trimmed to four, as producer and multi-instrumentalist Jim O’Rourke left the band to pursue his film studies. Over the final days of 2005 and into early this year, the band recorded and mixed twelve new songs, each with a touch of sonic splendor and liberation that SY is known for.

Rather Ripped begins with driving tracks “Reena� and “Incinerate� and quickly transitions to curious and midbeat “Do You Believe in Rapture?� The trademark guitar sound is present on “Sleeping Around� and “Turquoise Boy.� Quirky, art-punk verse is found throughout. On “Rats,� a song that speaks of closeness and separation with lyrics such as “You could be my open road/You could be the reason why/You could ease my heavy load/But I’m gonna freeze you out.�

For those familiar with Sonic Youth, the new album doesn’t map much new territory, but for newbies, the only thing you can expect about the noise rock troubadours is their inventiveness. The band’s appearance on the season finale of Gilmore Girls further confirms the group’s status in the mainstream. In sleepy album closer “Or,� co-vocalist Thurston Moore asks, “What comes first, the music or the words?� Thankfully for us, both aspects are present, strong and carry through to the end.

SY+YYYs in an empty Williamsburg pool this August = Y can't I be a New York girl? Presale tix start in mere hours, so get on with it here.

Peep the song titles and lyrics and stream the album here.

Everyone’s favorite podcast on gender issues is back in the game. After a brief hiatus, Sex Talk has returned with a kick-ass new show.

Sex Talk creator Rebel Dad talks about the future of the show, the Roberts nomination, and some of the news you may have missed because of Roberts-fever.

Ahem, there is also an interview with me on VAWA and emergency contraception woes in New York and Massachusetts.

Make sure to check it out and show your support.