The 26th Episode spans Paula Deen’s diabetes, an interview with the amazing comic Jessica Halem and I briefly discuss the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA)
A snippet of what I discuss about Ms. Deen
My problem with the coverage of Paula Deen is that our culture’s obsessions with celebrity means the whole ‘Paula Deen’s had diabetes for 3 years’ critique stops at her celebrity status. She is known for some ridiculous recipes, her Farrah Fawcet silver locks and her southern drawl. Sure Paula Deen’s been shilling non-recipes, but the network gained $ on her outlandish nature. Food network has several cooking shows, not just hers, that include ‘cake mix’ as an ingredient and make no reference to eat locally grown food. Growing up poor I have a sense of how a budget constrains food options. We ate rice and beans a lot growing up not because my mom was some vegan maverick of simple foods, but because it was cheap, and could be bought in bulk. The networks though seem to encourage this idea of a class divide in food (down home vs. foodie surbanite) and only reference food that is healthy in terms of a diet. Networks of course didn’t invent these divides, but they encourage them.
Shakesville’s coverage of Paula Deen
Jessica Halem’s Website
Jessica on Twitter
SOPA info
Wikipedia
ACLU’s Info
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