Period Power with Nadya Okamoto
#### Welcome to the periodcast! Yep, today\u2019s show is all about menstruation\u2014the good, the bad, and the _get me a frickin\u2019 heating pad already_. So grab your period product of choice, and join us as we get comfortable talking about the politics of periods, what it\u2019s like to talk about your cycle at work, and why we refuse to keep quiet about this super normal bodily function.\n\nOur guest is Nadya Okamoto, executive director of PERIOD, a nonprofit she founded in high school that\u2019s dedicated to turning menstrual care from a taboo topic into a basic right. She\u2019s also the author of the new book _[Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement](http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Period-Power/Nadya-Okamoto/9781534430204)_, which comes out October 16.\n\n> Eighty percent of our congressional positions are held by men. And if people in power continue to be afraid to talk about periods and do not acknowledge it as an actual need, then where it counts, periods will continue to go unaddressed. So that\u2019s why we need people who don\u2019t menstruate and people who identify as men to be involved.\n> \n> \u2014 **Nadya Okamoto** , founder, [PERIOD](https://www.period.org/) & author, [_Period Power_](http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Period-Power/Nadya-Okamoto/9781534430204)\n\n[](http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Period-Power/Nadya-Okamoto/9781534430204)We chat with Nadya about:\n\n- How experiencing housing instability as a teen led her to see what happens when people can\u2019t afford period products\n- Why PERIOD is on a mission to make periods something we celebrate, not hide\n- Why she ran for Cambridge City Council at the age of 19\u2014and what she learned in the process\n- What it\u2019s like to be running (and scaling) an international nonprofit at the age of 20\n\n### Links on bloody links\n\n- [PERIOD](https://www.period.org)\n- [Nadya\u2019s Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/nadyaokamoto/)\n- [On Nadya\u2019s city council run](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/nadya-okamoto-explains-what-she-learned-as-a-candidate-for-cambridge-city-council)\n- [Pre-order for _Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement_](http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Period-Power/Nadya-Okamoto/9781534430204)\n\n### Also on the agenda:\n\n- Bringing up menstruation on stage\n- Monster post-pregnancy periods\n- The unbearable gender-normativity of _way_ too many period-tracking apps\n- The magical properties of heating pads\n- Stop calling us \u201cgirls\u201d already\n\nAnd finally: if you\u2019re eligible to vote in the U.S., time to [check your registration](https://www.voterparticipation.org/2018-election-dates/)\u2014your state\u2019s deadline might be coming up in the next couple weeks, and you don\u2019t want to miss all the awesome women you could be voting for in the midterms this year.\n\n## Sponsors\n\nThis episode of NYG is brought to you by:\n\n[](https://www.shopify.com/careers)