Ani DiFranco

One of the funniest (read: most irritating and laughably asinine) consequences of reproductive-rights discussions is that the word "choice" has many, many, many more meanings than what a woman does with her own body, but the same word is used to apply to all of them. For those of you that don't remember Samantha Bee's perfect illustration on the Daily Show of how incredibly loaded the word choice has become, watch here. To sum up Sam's point, we all make choices. And we should! That's how life gets lived! So let's reclaim...decisions. No, wait, that's not quite right. It's like an alternative... What's the word I'm looking for?

Here is a BitchTapes dedicated to all sorts of choices, from your pro-choice friends at Bitch Media. Track list after the jump!

Pro-Choice from BitchTapes on 8tracks.

Ani DiFranco has taken a lot of sides in her decades-long career. She has also famously refused to take sides, and, undeniably, looked at many things from both sides. Her new studio album ¿Which Side Are You On?, released today, is both a personal State of the Union address from the iconic folksinger, and an appeal to her listeners and the larger world to decide and declare where each of us stands in a world that's begging for champions.

With twenty studio albums under her belt, and another coming out in the new year, she is still as bad-ass as ever. While her new songs may not hold the same personal angst as earlier ones, they are still infused with a strong point of view, activist spirit, and feminist ideology. I recently had the chance to talk with Ani about her music, her (ever-changing) feminism, motherhood and everything else in between.

While being a musical vagabond is in Ani DiFranco’s blood, the changing face of the music industry in a sinking economy has made touring for this feminist icon a financial necessity.