Mauree Turner! Spoilers for tomorrow! Silent Spring is gay?!

Hey everyone,

Hey, it's the last week of 2020! We made it! Sure, 2021 might also be a nightmare, but I'm proud of us for making it this far regardless.

This week on the show, I was/am hyped to share my conversation with Mauree Turner. Mauree is technically the highest-ranking openly nonbinary elected official in the United States, which is a fancy way of saying that they're the first nonbinary state legislator in the country. They're also Muslim (Oklahoma's first Muslim legislator, in fact) and queer and Black and not quite 28 years old, making them a role model for rad folks with all sorts of different identities across the country and beyond. (They're also a Capricorn... obviously.)

In this episode, Mauree and I talk about:

• reimagining the "criminal justice" system in a place with some of the highest incarceration rates in the entire world(!) 
• de-gendering the Oklahoma state house, from HR forms to dress codes 
• becoming your own role model, and dealing with the pressures of ~representation~
• creating change through relational organizing 
• and, just for fun... what Steven Universe characters would Mauree and Tuck be?  

The reception to this episode has been really incredible. If you enjoyed it, as always, please share it around with the folks in your life. :) 

It's 10pm on Sunday, and I just finished tomorrow's Gender Reveal episode, featuring another great chat about incarceration and abolition — this time with Casper Cendre of A.B.O. Comix. I also spiral out a bit about Happiest Season, so, uh, get those novelty t-shirts while you can! (But seriously, the merch store resets Jan 1, so grab anything you want now.) 

Not sure what else to tell y'all, tbh. I spent today making a podcast and eating cookies and having depression and trying to talk myself out of buying this guitar, and I spent most of the week (eating cookies and) hanging out on twitter fighting Michael Barbaro and his creepy / racist producer. (cw: sexual harassment and katie herzog tweets.) 

I guess I could tell you about another podcast that made me very happy this week! Way back in the before times, one of my best friends made this radio piece about how Silent Spring exists because Rachel Carson was very gay. The episode is called "Rachel Caron and the Veery" on the podcast BirdNotes and it was very soothing to me to revisit when I was upset and overwhelmed a few days ago. 

That's it, though, I think! Sorry it's short this week, but maybe that's nice. Here's an extra good weekly Rhubarb to make up for it.

Have a good rest of your year. I hope 2021 is better and gayer than ever. I love you.

xoxo,
Yr resident gender detective