The Hope and the Scope: Youth Poets and the Political Moment

The Kitchen Sisters Present

The Kitchen Sisters & Radiotopia

Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2024

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

July 17, 2024, Washington, D.C. Some 200 young people from across the nation aged 14-19 — aspiring poets, storytellers, MC's, activists — are gathered in the nation’s capital for the 29th annual Brave New Voices Festival — four non-stop days of slam poetry competition, coaching, workshops, late-night freestyling and in 2024, voting information.

In summer, as the election loomed larger and larger we decided to turn our microphone to young people across America to hear their thoughts and feelings about the nation, about voting, about the election. Everyone always says young people are the future. But the truth is they are the present. And it is all on their plate.

The Kitchen Sisters and producer Bianca Giaever traveled to the Brave New Voices Festival to take in the poets and their poetry, to listen and take the pulse of the moment. The hope, the scope, the vote.

On July 21, the day after the festival ended, President Biden dropped out of the race. Keep that in mind as you listen.

The Hope & The Scope was produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) and Bianca Giaever and mixed by Jim McKee. In collaboration with Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell.

Funding for The Hope & the Scope comes from The Robert Sillins Family Foundation, Susan Sillins & The Buenas Obras Fund.

Special thanks to all the poets, the teams, the coaches, to the fabulous Future Corps 2024 and to all the staff, volunteers and radiant community of Brave New Voices. And to all we interviewed at the festival.

Very special thanks to Youth Speaks, trailblazers of local and national youth poetry slams, festivals, mentoring, youth education and development — creators of the Brave New Voices Festival. Deep bow to Executive Director Michelle Mush Lee, Communications Director Bijou McDaniel, Stephanie Cajina, Joan Osato, James Kass, to Paige Goedkoop, Jamie DeWolf and Pawn Shop Productions and especially to Bianca Giaever who joined us in Washington, D.C. and came with her mic blazing.

The Kitchen Sisters Present... is part of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent, thought-provoking, deeply-produced, highly-entertaining podcasts that widen your world.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for subscribing.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Radio Tophia, welcome to the Kitchen Sisters Presently.
0:05.0	We're the Kitchen Sisters, Davia Nelson and Nicki Silva.
0:09.0	Hi, this is Nicki. If you're a long time listener to Radiotopia, you may know that we had a
0:15.1	podcast that ran from 2016 to 2020 discussing every episode of the show The West Wing.
0:21.6	I'm excited to tell you that the West Wing weekly is back.
0:25.5	Joshua Molina, who starred on the West Wing as Will Bailey and Rishi K Sheerway, creator and
0:31.2	a host of Song Exploder, have reunited this election season for the West Wing Weekly
0:36.3	Political Film Fest.
0:38.2	Because watching and discussing art about politics can be a way to get perspective on what's happening in the world right now.
0:44.4	And sometimes you just have to turn off the news and turn to fiction,
0:48.4	while still sharpening your mind on the wet stone of political conversation.
0:53.0	Each week, Josh and Rishi talk about a different political film
0:57.0	with the same mix of analysis and humor that made West Wing Weekly a hit.
1:02.0	The slate ranges from classics to modern day masterpieces like Dr. Strange Love, network, and Judas
1:09.1	and the Black Messiah.
1:10.9	They're starting with The American President, the film written by Aaron Sorkin, that would eventually lead to the creation of West Wing.
1:18.0	Join the conversation and the political film fest by subscribing to the West Wing Weekly wherever you get your podcasts.
1:25.5	I know I'm going to.
1:27.3	And don't forget to vote.
1:31.4	July 17, 2024, Washington, D.C.
1:36.0	Some 200 young people from across the nation, ages 14 to 19,
1:41.0	aspiring poets, storytellers, activists, singers, creative types are gathered in the nation's
	...

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