The American President (1995) with Shelby Knox

Lights, Camera, Activism

This week we’re talking about Aaron Sorkin’s test run for The West Wing, The American President, with our first guest: the amazing feminist organizer Shelby Knox. But first, we take some time to talk about last week’s leak of the SCOTUS decision striking down Roe v Wade, and what we (and you) can do about it. Then (11:26) we get into the American President, a rom com about a suspiciously popular president falling in love with a “professional political operative.” We touch on political movies’ tendency to prize rhetoric over action, the importance of coalitions, and the outsized impact of the spotted owl (yes, that spotted owl). There’s also a LOT of West Wing talk.

Abortion resources mentioned in the episode:

Go to https://www.ineedana.com if you need to find abortion care.

@RBraceySherman on Twitter is a great source of information on medical (pill) abortion and stories about real people who have had abortions.

Give money and/or time to abortion funds! Go to https://abortionfunds.org/funds/ to find an abortion fund to give to and/or volunteer with.

If you want to get involved in organizing to protect abortion in your state, find a local group. NARAL is definitely NOT the only group that does this but they have chapters in most states: https://www.prochoiceamerica.org

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This episode was produced by Raz Pollex and edited by Ross West.