Robin Renée, Mary McGinley, and Wendy Sheridan are very happy to welcome springtime! The main conversation in this week’s episode of The Leftscape centers around the spring equinox and the various ways of celebrating the corresponding Pagan holiday of Ostara. For some, it is a time of clearing out and making room for the new. For some, it is a time for planting literal or figurative seeds. The co-hosts think about Ostara and its connections with other spring holidays like Easter, Passover, and Holi, and consider their histories with and current plans for this time of year. Listen through to the end of the show to hear an Ostara song, “The Ram and the Lamb,” by Wendy’s band, Music for the Goddess.
A new segment, The Blanket Fort, is introduced later in the show. The Blanket Fort will feature things that foster comfort, healing, and relaxation – ways of finding peace in a chaotic world. In keeping with the week’s theme, Wendy, Mary, and Robin talk about their comfort foods of the season. Who loves chocolate? Who loves matzoh? Who loves nutless charoset? Find out everyone’s favorites at this point on the wheel of the year and feel free to comment with your seasonal traditions!
Other reasons for honoring, celebration, and activism: The Week of Solidarity with Peoples Struggling Against Racism and Racial Discrimination, National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 20), National Goof Off Day (March 22), and National Tolkien Reading Day (March 25). Birthdays this week include Fred Rogers, Spike Lee, Ruby Rose, Chaka Khan, Harry Houdini, Nena, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Pelosi, and a trifeca of birthdays for Star Trek fans to enjoy. Even the news took on a somewhat celebratory tone as Grace Slick licensed a song to Chik-fil-A to send the money to Lambda Legal, Arkansas Sen. Stephanie Flowers made an impassioned speech to stop a stand-your-ground law, and metalheads with kazoos got the best of the Westboro Baptist Church.
The Leftscape – the shape of progressive conversation: “Hello, Ostara! (Episode 40).”
