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When Emilee met Yolande
7/7/202641 min
Who is Emilee Saldaya, the woman behind the Free Birth Society movement? And how did she meet her business partner Yolande Norris-Clark? Do either woman have the credentials they are claiming? This is episode two of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsYolanda Norris-Clark· Soundbite0:00
This is The Guardian.
Shirin Kale· Host0:01
[gentle music] Hi, I'm Shirin Khalek.
Lucy Osborne· Host0:09
And I'm Lucy Osborne.
Shirin Kale· Host0:11
You're listening to The Birth Keepers, a new six-part series from The Guardian Investigates.
Lucy Osborne· Host0:17
Just before we start, this series contains references to baby loss and maternal harm. Before Emily Saldaña was the leader of a self-proclaimed movement, she was Emily Benner, AKA Hoop Nasty.
Shirin Kale· Host0:39
Push it higher.
Lucy Osborne· Host0:41
There's a video on an old YouTube account posted by Emily in 2010. It's got 500 views, a show reel from her time as a hula hooper. Emily is dancing on stage in an LA nightclub, gyrating in a hoop under red and blue strobe lights. It feels very noughties. She's wearing a trilby. She's got the fingerless gloves. She's actually pretty good.
Shirin Kale· Host1:07
Push it higher.
Lucy Osborne· Host1:10
It's hard to imagine this is the same woman who, 15 years later, would be hosting this festival on her land in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Shirin Kale· Host1:20
We will give birth. June 2025, Emily is sitting in a sage-cleansed yurt,