Where Abby Wambach Finds Hope

April 9, 2026

Plus: a not-so-secret war on birth control ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 10, 2026

Greetings, Meteor readers,

Yesterday, a historic event took place in the heart of New York City—Nona and I met for the first time in person, even though we have worked together over several years, not just here at The Meteor, but at a previous job as well. The good news is there was no frame-mogging, as the kids say, but the awful news is that our combined beauty overheated the room we were in. We will be kept separated until winter.

In today’s newsletter, we celebrate the return of UNDISTRACTED with guests Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle. Plus, the worst-kept secret in America is revealed, and a new professional sports league crowns its champions.

IRLmaxxing,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

Eyes on the ball: Do you ever wonder why women’s sports feels like such a balm when everything else is…less balm-like? It isn’t just that visibility of women athletes themselves is on the rise. There’s something more to it, and soccer icon Abby Wambach—who, along with her wife, activist Glennon Doyle, was a guest this week on UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham—perfectly laid out what that something is.

“It’s more than just watching women play,” she says. “It feels like something activism-adjacent.”

Back in 2019, the USWNT began demanding pay equity, and Wambach was one of their most vocal advocates. Now, basketball players who were once using public restrooms to change before professional games have successfully negotiated a CBA that increased salary caps by 300 percent. And that didn’t just happen, Wambach points out—women worked together to do it, a strategy female athletes have had to employ for years. In the 1970s, “you’ve got Billie Jean King unifying a group of women to sign $1 contracts to create the Women’s Tennis Association,” Wambach explains. Then “you have Title IX happening in the United States…and then you look forward, you see this boom of popularity. But what is never talked about and I think is so important is the reason why that happened was collective unity.”

Wambach puts it this way: “It’s a very feminine idea that in order to have the most amount of people get the things they want out of their life, we have to figure out how to unify.”

Oh, and you know what Wambach’s not feeling? The price gouging of the World Cup. “The sport competitor side [of me] is like, it’s going to be such an exciting time,” she says. “But families…and fans can’t go unless they pay like $10,000 for a ticket. It’s commodifying and corporatizing these things that have a beautiful essence. And I think that’s why women’s sports are having such a moment—because it’s not totally commodified and taken over by the corporate landscape. Those people sitting in those seats…actually care.”

To hear the full conversation (including Glennon on raising a boy in the manosphere) and get extremely hyped for what’s to come with women’s sports, check out the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.

AND:

Remember the secret war on birth control? Well, it just got a little less secret. A few days ago, the Trump administration escalated its long-stated goal of reshaping Title X—a federal grant program, first enacted as a bipartisan bill in 1970, that funds family planning services like birth control, as well as preventive health services like cervical cancer screenings. First, on Friday, the White House dropped a 2027 budget proposal that straight-up eliminates the program. Then, hours later, the Department of Health and Human Services released new guidance for clinics that provide contraception and sexual health services for low-income Americans. The guidance didn’t just discourage birth control; it actively talked smack about it: The only mentions of contraception were its negative side effects and its alleged role in our “overreliance on pharmaceutical and surgical treatments.” Instead, the guidance promoted infertility testing and “natural family planning methods” like period tracker apps, part of a strategy to “strengthen family formation and assist clients in achieving healthy pregnancies.” Curious how the 78 percent of Republican primary voters who support “easy access” to birth control will feel about all this. (If you know one, ask her!)
After threatening to destroy an entire civilization, the Trump administration announced a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday in the war with Iran. But just yesterday, Iran accused the U.S. of violating the terms of the agreement after a drone flew into Iranian airspace. Now is the time for Trump to finally add meaning to the fake peace prize he was given last year.
A lawsuit aiming to overturn Arkansas’ cruel abortion ban is growing, with two other plaintiffs joining a case that claim the law violates the state constitution’s right to life, liberty, equality and the pursuit of happiness. One of the new plaintiffs, Leitaea Lowrimore, was turned away from an emergency room doctor even though a doctor had confirmed she had an ectopic pregnancy—which is life-threatening if not treated. She ultimately had to travel three hours to seek care at another hospital; during the drive, her legs went numb and she asked her husband, “Am I going to die? Am I going to make it home?”
The world’s most eerily accurate sci-fi novel, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, is coming to the big screen—and will be directed by Melina Matsoukas, of Queen & Slim and “Formation” fame.
Frieda McFadden, author of The Housemaid, revealed her true identity yesterday, saying, “I’m tired of people debating if I’m a real person or if I’m three men.” Her real name is Sara Cohen, and she’s a doctor. Talk about a Sasha Fierce moment.
Happy Coachella week to those who celebrate, but especially to artist Karol G, who will be the first Latina ever to headline the festival.
Athlete bros can no longer say cheerleading isn’t a sport.

ONE MORE THING…

New York friends/theater buffs/feminists lookin’ for weekend plans: These are your last few days to see “Antigone (This Play I Read in High School)” at the Public Theater. Our colleague Cindi Leive and podcast host Regina Mahone (of The A-Files) sat down with the cast and creators after a performance of the play, which reimagines Antigone as a fierce young woman who happens to be pregnant and is defying her uncle Creon’s Thebes-wide abortion ban to do what she wants. In one of the play’s best moments, Antigone (the riveting Susannah Perkins) says to her uncle, Creon (Tony Shalhoub): “These ears, these eyes, this hair, these knees, if there’s anything we have in this world, that’s it. Your own body is it. The conversation with yourself that never ends.” “For me, that speech really is the heart of the play,” playwright Anna Ziegler told us onstage. “It’s the moment when Antigone is claiming the dignity that her body deserves.” She does, and it’s worth seeing.