Meet Ingeborg Andreas Blundell: Bay Ridge's midwife, nurse, and abortionist for over a half-century. Practicing from the 1910's through to the 1960's, Ingeborg was a Jordmor: a Norwegian midwife. Operating out of her apartment on 92nd street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, she oversaw a private clinic for women's reproductive health: delivering babies, caring for mothers, and, illegally providing abortions. Her story has been lost to history, until today.

Join Rachel as she interviews co-host Dan about his never-before-revealed research into the hidden history of reproductive rights in Bay Ridge, spanning over a hundred years. Along the way we'll reveal how an entire apartment of working-class Bay Ridgeites defended an immigrant healthcare provider in court. We will discuss how the Norwegian feminist movement and radical Communist healthcare providers educated a trailblazing midwife. And we'll discuss tragedy, tribulation, and hope in the face of an increasingly chauvinist legal and medical establishment.

It's a story about how, in defiance of the law, women's reproductive rights has always been a key component of Bay Ridge's identity.

Content Warning: This episode features in-depth discussions of abortion, as well as references to maternal mortality, pregnancy complications, and infant mortality.

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The Bay Ridge Environmental Group is one of the largest and most active groups to emerge out of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bay Ridge. Consisting of an ever-changing array of volunteers, it has gone on to not only beautify our local parks and playgrounds, but also advocate for cleaner and more equitable transit, better funding for green spaces, and much, much more.

But every seed needs to be watered and cared for. Today, we sit down in our studio with Danny Loud, one of the founders of the Bay Ridge Environmental Group, as we dig deep into what has made the group so successful. We'll learn about the early years, the first cleanups, and the key partnerships that have made the group what it is today: and what the future holds as Bay Ridge steps up to tackle climate change.

Along the way, we'll discover that not everyone is happy about having cleaner parks. There's been inexplicable opposition, but BREG. has emerged all the stronger for it, supported by constant action, responsive decision-making, and a friendly come-and-go-as-you-please style of membership.

Join us as we kick off our second season of Radio Free Bay Ridge, explore the origins of the Bay Ridge Environmental Group, and welcome our newest official contributor to the podcast, Danny Loud!

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Check out the show notes for background info and bonus material Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more news and analysis!

There's another hyper-local gallery in Bay Ridge. Underland Gallery, a brainchild of Hannah Salyer, Ester Kwon and Maxim Elrod, opened softly in October 2021, just before the COVID Omicron wave. Shaded by trees and with a mysterious cat-headed-sea-serpent adorning the gas lamp outside, Underland is a strange chimera of performance space, art gallery, and community center.

Join us as we explore this unique community space occupying an entire floor of gallery and performance space in Bay Ridge's brownstone belt between 5th and 4th Avenue. How do such unique galleries come to be? What does it take to get one running? And what's next for Underland?

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Check out Underland at UnderlandGallery.com

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Check out the show notes for background info and bonus material Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more news and analysis!