chocolate & caffeine

If you’re a fan of socially minded, funny, female-helmed podcasting, your late 2015 is about to pop off in a major way.

Tuesday morning, Lena Dunham announced on Instagram that she’ll be launching a podcast “about gender, sexuality and feminism” for BuzzFeed. It’ll be calledWomen of the Hour, and there’s a five-minute preview of the first season on iTunes now.

“Please subscribe if you like bad-asses, deep questions, giggling, sexual healing, Gaia life force, style, summer-camp, cute kids, the Internet and feminine power,” Dunham said.

As if that weren’t enough good news, Women of the Hour is the latest in a string of awesome female-helmed podcasts that have been announced this fall. There’s a lot more amazing stuff on its way to your headphones soon.

Here’s a peek at the other fire podcasts to have on your radar:

Conversation With Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette just released a brand new podcast called Conversation With Alanis Morissette, where she’s planning on having “conversations with different individuals from different schools and walks of life, discussing everything from psychology to art to spirituality to design to health and wellbeing to relationships—whether they be romantic or colleagueship or parent-with-children relationships—and we’ll be diving into science, neurobiology, music, travel, social commentary, maybe a tiny pit of political [sic], and feminism.” Damn, Alanis. The premiere episode is out now.

Sara Schaefer on WNYC Studios

Comedian and writer Sara Schaefer will be launching a new podcast on WNYC as part of their new podcast project, WNYC Studios. No theme for the show has been announced yet, but according to the New York Times, it will be scripted fiction, which will be a departure from her interview-based podcast/live show, Lies.

Why American Schools Are Starting To Recruit More Teachers From Foreign Countries

Growing demand for bilingual teachers, fed by increasing numbers of Spanish-speaking public school students, is forcing local school districts to get creative in their recruiting. A major target for their efforts is Puerto Rico: the teachers, already U.S. citizens, don’t require a visa if they decide to leave the island and its struggling economy to go work on the mainland.

Mary Iverson at G. Gibson Gallery

Check out more of Mary Iverson’s mixed media artworks on WE AND THE COLOR.

Ken Kawamoto wants to put a piece of the sky in your living room.

Kawamoto’s invention, the Tempescope, is equal parts weather forecast tool and relaxation appliance. The device, which is currently fundraising on Indiegogo, is nearly ready for launch after three years of work. It’s designed to bring blue skies, puffy clouds, and thunderstorms into your living room.

The Tempescope is a large rectangular box that produces weather. It can create a downpour, wisps of light fog, thick clouds, and even flashes of lightning. Hidden within the opaque sections of the case are various components—including a mist maker, a water pump, and a small fan—that simulate nature.

The magic here is how those basic parts work together to create eye-catching weather effects.

The Tempescope syncs with a smartphone app and pulls weather reports from the Internet, allowing you to program it in various ways. You can set it to simulate current local weather conditions, tomorrow’s local forecast, or the weather of any location on the planet.