Author and activist Maya Contreras joins me to discuss the aftermath of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory, and what that means for a Democratic Party that might have a restrictive definition of “big tent.”

Maya lives and works in New York City. She’s just finished a new book, The Language of Theft: How The Wealthy Fund Narratives That Rob America of Our Common Sense, in which she offers a blueprint of strategies Democrats can use to counter destructive, donor-funded right-wing narratives.

Guest Info:

Maya Contreras is a political strategist, a narrative interpreter, and an advocate for anti-racist policy. As a lifelong advocate, Contreras’s focus has been on Voting Rights because all paths to policy begin with access to the ballot box. On the road to equity, dominant political narratives that stem from domestic policy inhibit civic participation.

Contreras has given Voting Rights lectures at the Brennan Center for Justice, Clark University, and NYU. She was invited to testify in support of the New York State Voting Rights Act at the New York Senate on March 3, 2020. Maya has held anti-racist narrative and messaging clinics for leading members of the media, and U.S. Democratic Senators’ social media teams.

Maya’s own civic participation is a critical component of her work. Contreras was appointed by City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera to the Neighborhood Advisory Board, Community 3 Manhattan of which she now serves as Chairman.

Contreras co-founded All Women’s Progress Policy Center to create an intersectional policy institute dedicated to improving the lives of womxn and marginalized groups through research and education.

Maya has a MA in Arts & Public Policy from NYU and a BA in Comparative Religion from FSU.

Links:

Maya’s Website: https://www.mayacontreras.com/

Connect with Stephen:
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Email: ser1840@gmail.com

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Joining me on the podcast is my friend Lynne Streeter Childress — playwright, actor, teaching artist, singer, director, and (whew!) the founder and artistic director of Building Better People Productions, an organization based in Annapolis, Maryland, that produces theatre-based shows, workshops, and classes based in themes of empathy, kindness, and respect—Traits that don’t seem particularly prominent in our current era.

Lynne has 31 years experience in professional theater, and she’s spent most of her career serving young audiences. This includes performing at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and Adventure Theatre and teaching for such institutions as the Folger Shakespeare Library, Everyman Theatre, and Baltimore School for the Arts.

Lynne also co-hosts the podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses with her twin sister (and friend of this newsletter), Leslie Gray Streeter. Last year, Lynne and Liz invited me on to discuss all things Law & Order.

You’ll hear:

• How Lynne got started in theatre
• Expressing the Black experience while being told (falsely and offensively) that you or your experiences aren’t “black enough” and how important representation is on stage and screen to expand the view on a “typical” experience
• The importance of showing and teaching empathy on stage and starting these teachings early
• And more!

Links:

Lynne’s Website: https://lynnestreeterchildress.com/

Building Better People Productions: https://bbpproductions.com/

Fine Beats and Cheeses Podcast: https://finebeatsandcheeses.com/

Connect with Stephen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SER1897
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: ser1840@gmail.com

Join the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson

My friend Jane Jones is founder of Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre, and along with co-founding Artistic Director Myra Platt, she built a company that brought world premiere adaptations of great literature to the stage for 30 years.

The pandemic silenced Book-It for a while, just like many other theatre organizations, but Book-It is back in a new form that I was happy to discuss with Jane. You can watch or listen to the podcast interview here or at my YouTube channel. While you’re over there, please subscribe!

(Jane was also in the first episode of Twin Peaks, and she shares with me some advice she received from David Lynch.)

You will hear:

• How March 2020 changed everything at Book-It Repertory Theatre
• How Jane’s discovery of her own dyslexia in adulthood lead to Book-It’s unique style of adapting literature to live theatre
• How being told she wasn’t the best dancer was actually a tremendous gift
• The future of Book-It productions
• And more!

Guest Info:

Jane Jones is the founder and founding co-artistic director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Myra Platt. In her 30 years of staging literature, she has performed, adapted, and directed works by such literary giants as Charles Dickens, Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Pam Houston, Raymond Carver, Frank O’Connor, Jim Lynch, Ernest Hemingway, Colette, Amy Bloom, John Irving, John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier, and Jane Austen. A veteran actress of 35 years, she has played leading roles in many of America’s most prominent regional theatres. She co-directed with Tom Hulce at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Peter Parnell’s adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules, Parts I and II, which enjoyed successful runs in Seattle, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (Ovation Award, best director) and in New York (Drama Desk Nomination, best director)...

Links:

Book-It Website: book-it.org

Connect with Stephen:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SER1897
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePlayTyperGuy
Email: ser1840@gmail.com

Join the Player Typer Guy Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenrobinson