S4E3 — Personal Connections: Period Products, Climate Poetry, and a Ritual for the Next North Star In this episode, the threads of community, justice, climate imagination, and art weave through three distinct yet deeply connected stories. Today’s show comes in three parts: Part One: The Secret World of Diapers and Period Products Part Two: Anthropocene Pastoral — climate-change poetry by Catherine Pierce Part Three: Jump!Star — a leap 1,000 years into the future, live from Abner Clay Park in Richmond, VA PART ONE — Menstrual Cups & Community Action What begins with a surprise email from my sister’s childhood classmate becomes a chain reaction of connection—stretching from a tiny town along the Delaware River to Zambia, Kenya, Hartford CT, and back to my cousin Mona over breakfast. I speak with four remarkable women whose lives, work, and generosity intersect through period poverty, community organizing, youth empowerment, and a simple but world-changing tool: the menstrual cup. Featured Guests ⭐ Christine Garde Denning Founder of Could You? — a global nonprofit providing menstrual cups, malaria prevention tools, and practical pathways out of extreme poverty. Website → https://couldyou.org LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-garde-denning-2780179/ ⭐ Mary Maker (Mary Nyeriak) Actor, speaker, educator, youth advocate, refugee leader, and the force behind Could You?’s community work across Africa. Profile → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-maker/ ⭐ Fran Stoffer (she/her) Chair of the Northwest CT Community Foundation Women & Girls Fund. Fran shares how her regional distribution project for free period products grew into a warehouse of boxes stacked to the ceiling. Women & Girls Fund → www.yournccf.org/womenandgirls Instagram → @nccfwomenandgirlsfund X/Twitter → @northwestctcommunityfoundationwomenandgirls ⭐ Mona Norfleet Community advocate, YMCA leader, equity organizer, and member of local anti-racist initiatives. Mona jumps in with stories of her own efforts to support women in her region. She also enjoys mixed martial arts, good bourbon, and the occasional cigar — sometimes all at the same time. PART TWO — Anthropocene Pastoral by Catherine Pierce Climate dread meets unsettling beauty in Catherine Pierce’s celebrated poem Anthropocene Pastoral. The poem first appeared in Poetry Magazine and later in her collection Danger Days. For this episode, I remastered Catherine’s reading with a new sound design. About Catherine Pierce Former Poet Laureate of Mississippi (2021–2025), author of Danger Days, with two new books coming in 2026: Foxes for Everybody (memoir, Northwestern University Press) Dear Beast (poetry, Saturnalia Books) Find her work: Website → https://catherinepiercepoet.com Studio & Craft (her poetry community) → https://studioandcraft.com PART THREE — Jump!Star in Richmond, VA I travel to Abner Clay Park in Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward neighborhood for the “Axial Precession Procession,” part of Jump!Star, the ritual welcoming of Earth’s next North Star: Gamma Cephei (“Ceph”), due to rise in about 1,000 years. The park is transformed with illuminated sculptures, movement choruses, and hundreds of volunteers known as “Dark Matter.” This segment features a SoundSlice recorded live as time folds—past, present, and future converging for one luminous ritual. About George Ferrandi & Jump!Star Artist, director, collaborator, and visionary behind Jump!Star. Website → https://www.georgeferrandi.com Photos from the event are also on my Instagram → @petersontoscano Mirah (NYC) Beloved indie-pop musician Mirah contributed three original songs to Jump!Star, including the anthem that drives our Axial Precession Procession of the Future North Star Sculptures. Her music guides us through the project’s unfolding story: Hello Star, Axial Precession and Goodbye Song. LINKS & RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE Could You? — Menstrual Cups & Global Health CouldYou? → https://couldyou.org Period Poverty Program Info → https://couldyou.org/menstrual-cups/ Could You? Africa (with Mary Maker) → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-maker/ Women & Girls Fund (Northwest CT Community Foundation) Website → www.yournccf.org/womenandgirls Instagram → @nccfwomenandgirlsfund X → @northwestctcommunityfoundationwomenandgirls Poet Catherine Pierce Poems, books, events → https://catherinepiercepoet.com Studio & Craft community → https://studioandcraft.com Danger Days → Available wherever books are sold Jump!Star & George Ferrandi Jump!Star info → https://www.georgeferrandi.com Photos from the event → Instagram @petersontoscano ABOUT THE SHOW Bubble & Squeak is written and produced by me, Peterson Toscano. I mostly make this show for myself — and for people like Ted Heck and Levi Goren who keep making their dreams a reality. Find more episodes, images, and strange audio bits at: 🌐 https://www.petersontoscano.com 📸 Instagram → @petersontoscano
