Recorded live inside UCLA's Royce Hall, the audio drama at the center of this episode takes place in southern California the immediate aftermath of the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde TX. Tiffany struggles to balance the need to protect her young children with the urgency of finishing her doctoral dissertation, which is itself related to school shootings.

After the performance, actors Natalie Camunas and Sola Bamis are joined by guests Marine Corps veteran Tess Banko and Army veteran Robert Ham to discuss the implications, for parents and veterans in particular, of school shootings becoming commonplace. "Tiffany" is based on the oral history of retired Air Force Captain Jessica Huerta. Jessica, who is also a PhD student in Sociology, joins the discussion as well.

The conversation unearths provocative questions about cultures of hyper-masculinity, and the need to balance our freedoms and responsibilities regarding guns.

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:56 - Audio drama: "Tiffany"
• 10:43 - Discussion with Tess, Robert, and Jessica
• 23:16 - Conclusion
• 25:23 - Thank you's and credits

High School and College-level Teachers: A study guide for this an other episodes can be found here.

Guest Bios:

• Jessica Huerta enlisted in the Air Force shortly after 9/11. Often she was the only woman in airfield-communications teams, among leaders in security forces, as the wing equal opportunity adviser, and as a public affairs officer. As a citizen-airman, a sociology doctoral candidate at UCLA, and a parent, she became aware of the discrimination fathers face when they seek deep emotional connections with their families and greater involvement in childcare. Jessica believes research to demonstrate the strategies fathers use to defy rigid gender rules could greatly improve the lives of men, their partners and their children across our military, veteran and civilian communities.

• Tess Barragan Banko, MSW/MPA, a Marine Corps veteran, serves as the U.S.VETS West Los Angeles project director and The Veterans Collective community development director. A survivor of post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma, Banko deeply identifies with fellow veterans and families on their paths to recovery, wellness and empowerment, and is honored to serve the community on behalf of her military and veteran sisters, brothers and their families.

• Robert Ham is a 4x Emmy winning director/writer, a decorated Army Combat Veteran and an alumni of the USC School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. During his time in the military he served a combat tour to Afghanistan in '09-10 and then would deploy to over a dozen areas in the Pacific. Robert received the Department of Defense Military Videographer of the Year award three times (the highest decoration for military story-telling), the most in Army history.

Resources:

Dan Froot & Company

Collaborators:

• Producer, Artistic Director, Lead Writer: Dan Froot
• Actors: Justin Alston, Sola Bamis, Natalie Camunas, Krysta Gonzales, Donna Simone Johnson, Anthony Rey, Christopher Rivas
• Dramaturg: Bobby Gordon
• Composer: Julio Montero
• Musicians: Julian Gomez, Tom Moose, Isaac Rodriguez
• Sound Designer: Duncan Woodbury
• Oral Historians: Tula B. Strong, Rufio Vasquez
• Administrative Magician: Annie Kahane
• Social Media Manager: Lily Stockton
• Publicist: Lynn Tejada of Green Galactic
• Recorded, mixed, and mastered at ReadyMix Studio in Van Nuys CA.

Please like, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts!

DM us on Instagram: @danfrootandcompany

This podcast is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, on the web at arts.gov, and is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, the UCLA Office for Research & Creative Activities and the Chancellor's Council on the Arts. Arms Around America is a National Performance Network Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Miami Light Project in partnership with The Myrna Loy (Helena MT), the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit http://www.npnweb.org. Arms Around America was created with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.