Episode 127 – COVID Part 8: Political Implications (Christopher Sebastian & Laura Schleifer)

Episode 127(Air Date: December 1st, 2020) Another delay. I know. I am so sorry it has taken me so long. I explained the delay in the last episode, but even then another 2 months went by before I could bring myself to finish this episode. These days the ADHD has gotten really bad. A day in …

Episode 127 – COVID Part 8: Political Implications (Christopher Sebastian & Laura Schleifer) Read More »

Episode 127
(Air Date: December 1st, 2020)

Another delay. I know. I am so sorry it has taken me so long. I explained the delay in the last episode, but even then another 2 months went by before I could bring myself to finish this episode.

These days the ADHD has gotten really bad. A day in the life looks something like this: I’ll wake up early-ish (for me, comparatively). I’ll start my day right and take care of the daily things that need to get done. Then I’ll start to take care of just one thing that needs to get done, and I’ll get pulled in 30 different directions, and before I know it, it’s nearing midnight and I’m asking myself, “Should I stay up late and bang it out? Or do I just go to bed and try again tomorrow?”

And while “Just go to bed and get up early tomorrow to finish it” ALWAYS sounds sensible, it’s been the reason I repeat the same day over and over like Groundhog Day. Once again, I find that the only way I can make myself get anything done is by staying up late and working against a sleep deficit. Why this works for me? Who knows. But it’s what has reliably worked my whole life. So here we are.

UPDATE! OUR PHONE LINES ARE BACK UP!
Disregard what I say in this episode – as I worked on the show notes, I discovered that since leaving Google Fi (did I mention they are trash?) it finally freed up our Google Voice phone number, so the phone lines are open and the number is the same as always!
(315) VEGAN-01
That’s (315)-834-2601‬! Leave a voice mail and sound off on this episode!

ARTICLES:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Regan_Russell
PETA: https://www.peta.org/blog/toronto-pig-save-activist-regan-russell-killed/
The Save Movement: https://thesavemovement.org/in-memory-of-regan-russell/

ABOUT TODAY’S TOPIC:
Clearly, COVID-19 had revealed a lot of the underlying issues that needed to be addressed long before a pandemic reached the United States. Things like a universal basic income, free healthcare for everyone, food and housing, etc… These things all had to be clumsily figured out despite being wildly politicized.

So in today’s episode, I speak with Christopher Sebastian and Laura Schleifer about what a world might look like if we created our world to work for everyone.

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Christopher Sebastian is the director of social media for Peace Advocacy Network, he sits on the Advisory Council for Encompass, he is a senior fellow at Sentient Media, he is co-founder of VGN, and he lectures at Columbia University in the Department of Social Work for the graduate course POP: Power, Oppression, and Privilege. Using a multidisciplinary approach that includes media theory, political science, and social psychology, he focuses on how human relationships with other animals shapes our attitudes about race, sexuality, and class discrimination throughout the western society.
Website: ChristopherSebastian.info
Instagram: @the_christopher_sebastian
Twitter: @ThotsandPrayers
Follow him on Facebook
Support him on Patreon

Laura Schleifer created the word “artivist” to describe her vocation as an artist-activist. A pro-intersectional veganarchist/eco-socialist writer, theater artist and educator, her work has spanned the globe, from the Middle East, where she performed for Palestinian and Iraqi children on a theater/circus tour, to China, where she taught literature, psychology, history, and creative writing to US-college bound Chinese students, to Nicaragua, where she taught English in a rural community, to performing her songs and monologues off-Broadway and arts mentoring NYC homeless and at-risk youth. Her original feature screenplay, The Feral Child, was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab finalist. She has also taught courses on Israel and Palestine and on Utopianism at Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center. She is currently working on her first book, which deals with animal rights psychology and philosophy, for Vegan Publishers and is co-founding a new vegan food justice organization with a Palestinian activist in Gaza called Plant the Land. She also speaks on a variety of subjects relating to the interconnections between human, animal, and earth liberation.

DONATE HERE TO PLANT THE LAND!

Follow her on Facebook
Twitter: @TheDialecticalVegan
Blog: DialecticalVeganism.blogspot.com

Link and such:

There are a bunch of things we mentioned in this episode, so here are some links, references, etc.

VIDEOS:
• The Racist History of Square Dancing
• KoKo’s last message to humanity
• What Is The Myth of Barter?
• Arrested Development: Lucille Bluth Banana Quote
• Adam Ruins Everything:
The Electoral College
The American Dream
Racial Stereotypes
The Gun Debate
The NRA
Mount Rushmore
The Suburbs
Private Prisons
Gerrymandering
Christopher Columbus

BOOKS:
• Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone by Astra Taylor
• Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution by Pyotr Kropotkin
• On the Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin

TOPICS:
• Murray Bookchin – Social Ecology
• Richard Wolf – Democracy in the Workplace
• Decolonizing
• John Locke’s Political Philosophy
• Syria – Rojava
• Amatonormativity
• Amatonormativity Expectations

FACT-CHECKING SITES:
• FactCheck.org
• FactCheck.org’s Viral Spiral
• Politifact
• Snopes
• Washington Post’s Fact Checker
• TinEye Reverse Image Search

SHAMELESS PLUGS:
Vegan Drag Queen t-shirts are once again available! GET YOURS HERE!

Remember, you can always see all my gigs at:
www.VeganDragQueen.com/shows

And get on Honey LaBronx’s mailing list to be notified of upcoming events and projects!

Please be in touch and let us know what you thought of this episode!

– CALL THE SHOW: YOU CAN NOW CALL THE SHOW AGAIN!
Call the same old number – (315) VEGAN-01
That’s (315) 834-2601‬! Leave a voice mail and sound off on this episode!
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– TWEET THE SHOW: @BigFatVegans
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@HoneyLaBronx

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

There are ALL NEW PERKS with various levels of membership! Whether you’d like to make a one-time or recurring donation, you now have many ways to be rewarded for your membership! You can read more about it on the Support The Podcast page, but because these are new perks, I’ll go ahead and mention them here:

• Become a Chickpea for $5/month (or $50/year)
You’re one of my precious Chickpeas! You will gain access to exclusive content including access to monthly interactive video chats and my secret podcast feed!

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My Sweet Peas get the above perks, and will be thanked in the end of each episode.

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Is this a date? Yup! It’s a Date! My Dates get the above perks, and will additionally be thanked in the intro of each episode!

• Become an Elderberry for $100/month (or $1,000/year)
Elderberries are special because they boost the immune system! You alleviate my pain and fatigue, and you just keep me going! My Elderberries will get the above perks, and will be specially thanked and acknowledges as an Official Sponsor at the beginning and end of each episode.

There is no time commitment required for monthly memberships. You may cancel at any time!

Buy some famous Medieval Oil!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS!

HONEY LABRONX IS NOW ON CAMEO!!!
…okay, so maybe not Cameo. I’m not yet famous enough for them to accept my application, so I went and created my OWN video shout-out. For $25, you can get a SHABLAMEO!
Go to https://tinyurl.com/SHABLameo to order your personalized video greeting from Honey LaBronx so she can tell the world how much she adores you, or wish a friend a happy birthday, or break the news to your good friend that that one outfit of hers that she’s so fond of? Yeah, gurl… it’s doing you exactly zero favors!

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Are you interested in helping me out with a few things?  Maybe you’re good at data entry.  Maybe you’re good at audio or video editing.  Maybe you’re just good at doing miscellaneous tasks.  Either way, if the idea of helping me do more by helping out with a few small tasks interests you, let me know by filling out the survey at:
www.VeganDragQueen.com/volunteer

And as always, you can help me bring my tour to your city! Just go to: www.VeganDragQueen.com/Tour and fill out any and all surveys that relate to you!

Check out the new website for Big Fat Vegan Radio!
www.BigFatVeganRadio.com

ALSO…

If you’d like to support the Vegan Drag Queen cooking show, as well as Honey LaBronx’s other efforts — please check out her Patreon and consider becoming a monthly supporter at:
www.Patreon.com/HoneyLaBronx

SPECIAL THANKS to Michael Harren for our theme song!