Stefanie O’Connell joins The Pain Gap for a fiery, deeply validating conversation at the intersection of women’s health, financial health, and power. A leading voice on money, ambition, and gender equity, Stefanie breaks down what she calls “the ambition penalty”: the reality that ambition is praised and rewarded in men, but often penalized in women, at work, at home, and in public life.

Together, Anushay and Stefanie connect the dots between the pay gap and the pain gap, how patriarchy relies on undervaluing women’s labor, time, and bodies, and how gaslighting (culturally and politically) keeps women questioning what they know they’re experiencing. They unpack why financial advice for women so often tells us to “shrink” (save, sacrifice, coupon) while men are encouraged to “build” (earn, invest, accumulate), and why women aren’t “risk averse”; they’re risk-aware.

They also dive into the real-life consequences of inequity: how women face backlash for negotiating, why burnout isn’t caused by women “wanting too much,” and how community and collective care, not individual self-optimization, are the path forward. Stefanie shares the mission behind her work, the importance of data in cutting through gaslighting, and why women are entitled not just to income, but to wealth and long-term power.

Plus: Stefanie’s new book, The Ambition Penalty: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up and Then Pushes Them Down, is available for preorder now and ships May 19.

Episode Resources:

The Ambition Penalty: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up and Then Pushes Them Down: amazon, barnes & noble, bookshop, books-a-million

@stefanieoconnell on Instagram

Stefanie's Substack

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Becca Rea-Tucker (aka The Sweet Feminist) joins The Pain Gap for a disarming, deeply human conversation about abortion, stigma, and the radical power of emotional support—served, of course, with cake.

Becca shares how it took years after her own abortion to say the word out loud, and why reclaiming language (“abortion isn’t a bad word” and “pro-abortion”) became central to her activism. Together, we unpack how shame gets baked into the “scripts” society hands us—and what changes when we stop debating our right to care and start focusing on the people who actually need it: the ones having abortions.

We also talk about her new book, The Abortion Companion, created to fill a gap she felt firsthand: stigma-free emotional companionship, practical abortion information, affirmations, prompts, and even comfort movies for the moments when you just need to breathe. Becca explains why adults deserve emotional education just as much as kids do and why “support” should never require remorse as the entry fee.

The episode closes with an honest look at doing this work in Texas as abortion bans intensify (including “bounty” laws meant to isolate communities), the resources Becca trusts most, and the message she’d write on a cake for this moment: We’ll never stop. We’ll always support you.

Episode Resources:

The Abortion Companion

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Renee Bracey Sherman is an abortion storyteller, researcher, and movement builder, for a clear-eyed conversation about what gets erased in mainstream abortion narratives, and why reclaiming truth is part of the fight for bodily autonomy. Renee explains why “people of color have always had abortions,” how history has been intentionally distorted to serve white supremacy and population control, and what we lose when we let criminalization, not care, shape the conversation.

Together, they unpack the long arc of stigma: how abortion moved from community-based healthcare to something framed as shameful and secret, and how policing and surveillance have always been the through line, then and now. Renee also shares why storytelling is more than personal, it’s political: a way to refuse shame, share “abortion wisdom,” and expose the patterns that gaslighting depends on.

The episode closes with a powerful reflection on what Renee would tell her younger self, and why her abortion wasn’t the end of her story; it was the beginning of the life she chose.

Episode Resources:

Liberating Abortion Website

Renee Bracey Sherman

Instagram/Facebook/Bluesky/Threads/LinkedIn: @ReneeBraceySherman

Twitter: @RBraceySherman

The Pain Gap

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This episode marks the launch of One on One with Anushay, a new series born out of this moment, when staying quiet is no longer an option. While women’s health remains at the center of this show, the crises unfolding around us demand that we zoom out, get informed, and begin organizing together across movements.

Joined by Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action and author of Fired Up, for a raw and urgent conversation about why being labeled “too political” is not a liability, but a responsibility. Shannon unpacks the pressure women face to stay silent, the myth that neutrality is safety, and why silence, especially from those with privilege, only reinforces systems that harm the most vulnerable.

We talk about Minnesota as a wake-up call, the dangerous illusion that someone else will save us, and what history teaches us about power, privilege, and consequences. Shannon shares hard truths about organizing, accountability, and why real change has never come from politeness but from collective action that risks comfort and demands more.

This conversation is a reminder that politics is already shaping our lives, whether we engage or not. And that the only way forward is together, using our voices, our skills, and our willingness to show up.

Episode Resources:

Shannon Watts

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To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com

What if the most damaging phrase in modern healthcare isn’t “it’s all in your head,” but “your labs are normal”?

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Efrat Lamandre (Dr. E), a nurse practitioner, integrative medicine expert, and self-described “medical disruptor”, to talk about the space most of us live in but the system doesn’t know how to treat: not sick enough to code, but too unwell to ignore.

Dr. E breaks down why medicine becomes so binary, either conventional or “alternative”, and why she’s built her work around the medical middle ground: evidence-based care that doesn’t stop at protocols, and holistic approaches that don’t require abandoning science. Together, they unpack how the healthcare system incentivizes diagnosis over prevention, why nurse practitioners are essential to closing America’s primary care gap, and how policies that limit nursing education don’t just hurt providers, they deepen health deserts for everyone.

Episode Resources:

Dr. Efrat Lamandre

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This week on The Pain Gap, we sit down with Samantha Hadadi, women’s health and hormone coach and author of Hormone Goddess: How to Live in Harmony with Your Cycle, for a grounded, honest conversation about what hormone health actually looks like in real life. Samantha shares how years of heavy periods, cystic acne, insomnia, anxiety, miscarriage, and PTSD led her to connect the dots between chronic stress, trauma, and hormonal symptoms, and why “doing everything right” still isn’t enough when the nervous system is overwhelmed.

In this episode, we break down the infradian rhythm and why most wellness advice, built around male biology and circadian rhythms, misses the mark for women. We explore cycle syncing as a practical tool (not a perfection project), how hormonal needs shift across the four phases of the cycle, and why pushing through fatigue, pain, and burnout is often the very thing keeping women stuck. Samantha also speaks candidly about rest as a trauma issue, the power of micro-moments of care, why you can’t out-supplement sleep or safety, and how learning to say no can be one of the most radical health decisions a woman makes.

Episode Resources:

The Pain Gap

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Purchase Hormone Goddess: How to Live in Harmony with Your Cycle

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This week on The Pain Gap, we sit down with trauma therapist Allison Kirvan, whose work centers on trauma, EMDR, complex PTSD, and the often invisible emotional patterns that shape our adult lives. Allison helps clients untangle childhood dynamics, understand their nervous systems, and rebuild a sense of safety and self-worth, especially for those who grew up navigating chaos, gaslighting, or emotionally immature parents.

In this conversation, we dig into some of the most misunderstood aspects of healing: why therapy isn’t for “broken people,” how two individuals can experience the same event but walk away with entirely different trauma responses, and what really distinguishes trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD. Allison also breaks down EMDR in a way everyone can understand, sheds light on nervous system regulation, and shares how everyday “little-t” traumas, microaggressions, chronic criticism, and emotional dismissal accumulate over time. We also talk about identity, culture, and the ways our backgrounds influence how safe we feel in therapy. And Allison offers powerful guidance for anyone who’s tried therapy before and felt like it “didn’t work” and what it really takes to find the right fit.

Episode Resources:

The Pain Gap

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Dr. Sheryl A. Ross, aka “Dr. Sherry”—Ob/Gyn, author, and health expert—has been a fierce advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights for over 30 years. Her book, She-ology: The Definitive Guide to Women’s Intimate Health. Period and she-ology, the she-quel, Let’s Continue the Conversation, were all award-winning bestsellers in women’s health. She co-hosts the highly anticipated podcast Pair-a-Docs: Two Experts. Zero Filters with renowned sex therapist Dr. Tammy Nelson, launching Winter 2026. Dr Sherry is the Chief Medical Officer for Menopause Hormone Therapy for QuickMD, a telehealth platform that launched in October 2025. She is launching Oneself by Dr Sherry, an intimate skincare line, in 2026.

At the core of what Dr Sherry is most passionate about is educating, destigmatizing, and changing the narrative about how people take care of their bodies.

Episode Resources:

The Pain Gap

Facebook at www.facebook.com/DrSherryR

Instagram @drsherryr @she_ology @control.menopause @oneselfbydrsherry

Twitter @DrSherylRoss

www.DrSherry.com

To learn more about Anushay Hossain's work, check out Anushay's website or sign up for her substack. To continue the conversation, feel free to DM @anushayhossain or email me at thepaingap@gmail.com