This week we sit down with actor, singer, model, dancer, and poet Anneka Kumli to discuss finding her personal intersection between political activism and art. Along the way, topics include:

• The horrors of the MTA on the weekend, and the not-so-secret Hate Poetry that all New Yorkers write while stuck in a subway tunnel at 2am.
• The Tragedy of Miriam by Elizabeth Cary, the first extant original play written by a woman in English.
• The Roaring Girl by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker, about the real-life cross-dressing thief who may have even defied the law to appear onstage as herself in the play.
• The ability of good politicians and good art to make people feel heard.
• Whiplash, and the question of whether achieving greatness is worth the personal cost.
• The brilliance of Brad Pitt’s accent, Eric Bana’s hair, and (let’s be real) everything in Wolfgang Peterson’s 2004 film Troy.
• Anneka’s time working for the Governor of Colorado as a Legislative Aide, on his re-election campaign, and then as his events director on his inaugural committee.
• The democratic importance of the plays performed at the Festival of Dionysus in Athens and attending theater as a “civic duty.”
• The importance of the arts in a time where many people seem to have forgotten what it is to listen to one another.
• Anneka’s original poem, “2019.”

Music is by Kara Arena, Master of Music for Rude Grooms. Follow us @thiswoodeno on Twitter and Instagram, visit us on the web at thiswoodeno.com, like us on Facebook, or support us on Patreon (patreon.com/rudegrooms) to join the conversation during livestream broadcasts of every episode.

This week’s shoutouts & further reading include:

• Kristen Johnston (Actor & Teacher) – follow her @thekjohnston
• Margot Jones – http://sweettornado.org/who-was-margo-jones/
• Zelda Fichandler – https://howlround.com/commons/zelda-fichandler
• Nina Vance – https://www.alleytheatre.org/about-us/history/nina-vance

This Wooden O is a production of Rude Grooms. Learn more at rudegrooms.com or follow us @rudegrooms on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Subscribe in your favorite Podcast app and share your thoughts on social media, on our website thiswodeno.com, or at [email protected].

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