NPR and Futuro Media Unveil Podcast Series ''The Network''

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, May 29, 2025 | 2:07pm CT

''The Network''

NPR's Embedded and Futuro Media's Latino USA are teaming up for a new limited-run podcast series titled The Network, set to premiere June 5. The three-part series explores an international grassroots movement that enabled millions of women to access safe abortions outside of clinical settings -- using a repurposed over-the-counter medication.

Hosted by journalists Victoria Estrada and Marta Martinez, The Network begins its story in 1980s Brazil, where abortion was and remains heavily restricted. The series traces how Brazilian women began using the medication to end pregnancies safely at home and how that method spread across Latin America and, more recently, into the United States -- particularly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

"This isn't the abortion story that most people are expecting," said Embedded showrunner Katie Simon. "Marta and Victoria have documented how the rest of the world has been having abortions for the past half century -- information that has, for the most part, been overlooked by the U.S. until now, post-Roe."

The podcast features interviews with Brazilian women who first tested the method on themselves and with activists from Argentina and Mexico who developed support systems around self-managed abortion. These efforts, the series explains, contributed to shifting public perceptions and ultimately helped change laws in some countries.

Peniley Ramirez, Co-CEO and Executive Director of Futuro Media, emphasized the depth of the reporting: "To understand the present and future of abortion access in the U.S., we need to go back in time and learn about how Latin American women and men -- from doctors to activists -- initiated a movement that has transformed the perception of abortion and, in some countries, even the law."

Subscribers to Embedded+ will have early access to binge all three episodes starting May 29. The series will be available on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, with additional details here.