Wendy Sheridan says that as a Jewish person living in the United States, she is perceived as “provisionally white.” In Episode 24 or The Leftscape, she says she is experiencing a renewed sense of vulnerability and feeling that her “provisional white card has been revoked” after the recent massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. It is a newly deepening awareness of a very old danger at work in the world. Wendy along with Robin Renée and Mary McGinley think out loud about the ingrained white supremacy and patriarchy in American society and how we might work to create change. They challenge themselves and others to find ways to erode anti-Semitism, racism, patriarchy, and homophobia in everyday life in whatever ways possible.
Later, the conversation shifts to a feminist discussion of the 1966 Neil Simon musical and 1969 film Sweet Charity starring Shirley MacLaine with choreography by the legendary Bob Fosse. They take a look at its subject and subtext, influence on style, some of its shortcomings, and its powerful depiction of female rage. At the top of the show, designated days, weeks, and months include COPD and PPSI (Pharmacists Planning Services Inc.) AIDS Awareness Months, Fraud Awareness Week, Nurse Practitioner Week, Kindness Week, Dear Santa Letter Week, Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, and Spicy Guacamole Day, and National Clean out Your Refrigerator Day. On the show date in history, Moby Dick was published in 1851, in 1968 Yale University went co-ed, and in 1969 Apollo 12 launched en route to the moon with crew Commander Charles Conrad Jr, Richard F. Gordon Jr, and Alan L. Bean. Wendy tells her story about meeting Alan Bean at space camp for adults and Robin speaks of her beloved dog she named after Charles “Pete” Conrad. Birthday acknowledgments in this episode go out for Edward White, Claude Monet, Aaron Copeland, McLean Stevenson, Patrick Warburton, Yanni, Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, and Rev. Run of Run DMC.
The Leftscape – the shape of progressive conversation: “Revoked! (Episode 24).”
