Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2025 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

‘Mrs. America’: FX series on Phyllis Schlafly’s fight against Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment was ratified earlier this year by Virginia — the 38th state to do so.

  • rss
  • Share
By Madeleine Brand • Apr 15, 2020 • 1 min read

The Equal Rights Amendment was ratified earlier this year by Virginia — the 38th state to do so. That ratification met the threshold needed to become an amendment.

The only problem: The deadline has long passed.

The ERA was pushed in the 1970s during the women’s movement. It looked like it would sail to victory. The House and the Senate both passed it.

But then Phyllis Schlafly took on the ERA. She was a relatively unknown conservative woman at the time. She led a successful grassroots effort in the states, and the ERA died.

Her story is now being told in “Mrs. America,” a new series on FX, starring Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, and Tracey Ullman.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Madeleine Brand

    Host, 'Press Play'

  • KCRW placeholder

    Sarah Sweeney

    Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

  • KCRW placeholder

    Michell Eloy

    Line Editor, Press Play

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Amy Ta

    Digital News & Culture Editor

  • KCRW placeholder

    Dahvi Waller

    television writer and creator of “Mrs. America”

    CultureEntertainmentNationalEmmy AwardsArts
Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand