In episode 26 of The Leftscape, Wendy Sheridan, Mary McGinley, and Robin Renée decide that it’s high time for some serious mythbusting. No, they don’t go out and reenact strange folk tale situations or test ballistics from film scenarios as you might see in the popular television show. The don’t go into the desert to blow anything up, but they do explode some outmoded ideas whose time has long passed. Their personal accounts come from the life experience that makes them qualified to answer burning questions such as: Can black people swim? Don’t all women really want children? Are bisexuals just gay people who are procrastinating? … and a question asked by only the most well-informed individuals… Do Jews have horns? Some may be shocked and amazed to hear tales of true polyamorous love, an Irish grandmother in the temperance movement, and that sometimes size matters (but not in the way most often assumed). The conversation takes on a host of misguided or outright appalling beliefs with a bit of laughter. After all, it isn’t easy to discuss The Masculine Toilet with zero snark. However, the overall discussion is approached with the serious intent to put to rest ideas that wound.
The personal is political in News of the Week as Robin talks about a recent object lesson in everyday racism at a New Jersey diner. Wendy reports about anti-vax enclaves that have led to outbreaks of chicken pox and measles. Later, everyone discusses the effect or non-effect of Mercury Retrograde. At the top of the show, some serious and not-so-serious things to be aware of or celebrated include Historic Bridge Awareness, Aviation History, Family Appreciation, Life Writing, Movember, and National French Toast Day. Also recognized are the launch of Mariner 4 in 1964 and the first pulsar observed in 1967. Mary offers birthday acknowledgments for William Blake, Anna Nicole Smith, Randy Newman, Ed Harris, Karen Gillan, Jon Stewart, Berry Gordy, and others.
The Leftscape – the shape of progressive conversation: “Mythbusting Day (Episode 26).”
