Excerpt from episode:

"I want to look at the media’s playbook. I want to know why the media crafts or goes with a script, I wanted to know how the media influences our elections, their biases, and their “game framing” of political news and media coverage. Luckily I got to speak with Dr. Regina Lawrence, Associate Dean, SOJC-Portland, and Director of Agora Journalism Center at the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon who is a nationally recognized expert in political communication. She has written two outstanding books: “Hillary Clinton’s Race for the White House: Gender Politics and the Media on the Campaign Trail” and “When the Press Fails: Political Power and The News Media From Iraq to Katrina’. 

Take a listen." 

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From Obscene podcast host Maya Contreras:

"In this episode, I want to talk about the impact the media is having when they are missing the frames to see the big picture of women in politics and women in power.  For the interview today, I speak with Dr. Valerie Sperling, Professor of Political Science at Clark University. Dr. Sperling teaches a variety of courses in comparative politics, including Russian politics; revolution and political violence; globalization and democracy; and introduction to women’s studies. Her research interests include globalization and accountability, social movements, and gender politics."

Articled Referenced in this episode:

"Women on the 2020 campaign trail are being treated more negatively by the media"  http://www.storybench.org/women-on-the-2020-campaign-trail-are-being-treated-more-negatively-by-the-media/

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Excerpt from this episode:

"Today I want to highlight one program that has had a positive impact on incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, called Defy Ventures. Defy’s vision 'is to end mass incarceration and cycles of recidivism by using entrepreneurship as a tool to transform legacies and human potential'. Before I speak to Defy Ventures’ Director Jeanette Pineiro. I am going to speak with Susan Brag, who was formerly incarcerated, and who went through the Defy Ventures' program. Susan is a talented entrepreneur, and writer as well, as I’m sure you could tell from the intro she read the beginning of this podcast. I’m not the only one who thinks so, as she has a chapter coming out from a new book called “You Don’t Know Me: The Incarcerated Women of York Prison Voice Their Truths”; edited by and commentary by Wally Lamb, out on Counterpoint Press this October. Here is Susan."

Some statistics:

80% of women in jail were their children’s primary caregivers prior to their incarceration.

65% of women in state prison have a child under 18.

73% of incarcerated women have symptoms of mental illness.

50% of women in prison are the victims of sexual assault and abuse.

25% of women who are behind bars have not yet had a trial.

60% of women in jail have not been convicted of a crime and are awaiting trial.

Organization and advocates that are working diligently on criminal justice reform:

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/   

https://www.sentencingproject.org/ 

https://www.themarshallproject.org/ 

https://www.vera.org/

https://famm.org/

https://eji.org/

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/events/women-prison-devastating-impact-rising-incarceration-americas

http://piperkerman.com/justice-reform/justice-reform-organizations/

https://www.nationalcouncil.us/reimagining-communities/

https://www.courtinnovation.org/publications/navigating-bail-payment-system-new-york-city-findings-and-recommendations

Study on Expunging Criminal Records conductedJ.J. Prescott and Sonja B. Starr. Professors Prescott and Starr teach at the University of Michigan Law School. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3353620

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On March 31st OBSCENE podcast will air the first of a three-part series about inclusion or lack there of in the entertainment and media industries.

It's clear there are many leading actors and producers worried about being 'replaced' by actors of color and more inclusive stories. Take a look at what Pat Sajak said about it:

I remember a time when you could enjoy - or not enjoy - a movie based on its merits. Now we have to worry about the social implications of the film and even the validity of the reviewing process. The joy is being sucked out of pretty much everything.

Pat might feel better if he know that very little has changes in the 40+ years he has been in the entertainment business: 

While Marginalized communities currently make up over 40% of our population and 1 in 4 US adults has a disability: Only 1.4 out of 10 lead actors in film are people of colorOnly 1.3 out of 10 film directors are people of colorLess than 1 out of 10 film directors are female92% of shows are created by white people88.7% of the Dominate Agencies are WhiteAnd according to the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in the 900 films released in theaters between 2007-2016, only 2.7 percent of the characters with speaking parts had a disability and a majority of those roles when to non-disabled actors.  Feel better Pat? In the next few episodes I’ll be speaking with disability inclusion consultants and casting agents in the entertainment industry. I’ll be speaking with several disabled and non-disabled actors, including a black deaf female director and a Palestinian Muslim comedian who just landed her first comedy show on ABC. 

Stay tuned. 

If you like what I am doing, feel free to swing by my Patreon page to support the program. Thank you, Maya https://www.patreon.com/ObscenePodcast

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Interviews with Dustin Jones, board member for the Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY (CIDNY)  and Rebecca Cokley, a  leading disability rights activist in the United States. Rebecca is the Director for Disability Policy at the Center for American Progress policy institute in DC. She previously served as the Executive Director of the National Council on Disability and served as an appointee in the Obama administration. 

In this episode, we remember disability rights activist Carrie Ann Lucas. We also discuss transportation accessibility issues, ADA violations, and what’s next for disability rights. 

This episode is fully transcribed and available here: https://issuu.com/mayacontreras/docs/episode_5_-_a_day_in_the_life_of_ac

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There are people who don’t always think about the policies that are protecting or not protecting them. For many people policy can feel like a dull hum in that background that they’ve mostly tuned out; and of course, many you might be a bit too busy to contempt what role policies have played and continue to play in your life, but in this episode, I want you to think about it. I want you to exam the policies that are protecting you, that are an obstacle for you, or that are hurting you, your family and your community. 

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On the last episode of Obscene my guests and I touched upon a policy that could have assist generations of Americans in poverty. That vetoed policy was the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971, was designed to establish a comprehensive domestic system of child care.

In this episode we discuss why Black women are 3.4 times more likely to die during childbirth, and their children are 2 times more likely to die during child birth then white women and their children retrospectively.

OBSCENE podcast host Maya Contreras interviews Dr. Jessica Young, Dr. Hazel Levy and Christine Platt, JD about why black women and their children are disproportionately dying during childbirth.

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OBSCENE Host Maya Contreras talks about childcare and poverty with the following experts:

DR. JILL QUADAGNO (F.S.U.)

SHIMICA GASKINS (CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND)

SUKI GRAVES M.Ed.

DR. JESSICA YOUNG (AMERICAN UNIVERSITY)

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Myths are very revealing. They reveal who we as a society based on the stories we are telling; well, it depends on who is telling the story, doesn’t it? For better or worse, many mythologies act as instructional guide books of do's and don't. I revisit destructive and helpful myths currently influencing our society and policy. 

On this first season of OBSCENE. I speak to a team of credentialed experts to discuss how past and current domestic policy have allowed racism and misogyny to flourish.

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Here is the last sneak preview before the first Season of OBSCENE premieres January 20, 2019.

Aristotle played by Bobby Crace. 

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