RiYL
RiYL
Brian Heater
Episode 062: Lizz Winstead
1 hour 7 minutes Posted Jul 16, 2014 at 1:14 pm.
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1:07:16
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Show notes

“It’s

not usually this crazy,” Lizz Winstead apologizes, greeting me at the
door of her Brooklyn apartment alongside two overstimulated dogs.
Inside, a small staff helping prepare Lady Parts Justice for its
upcoming launch. The site is the latest in a long line of projects that
straddle the sometimes treacherous line between comedy and politics.  Winstead’s
impressive CV includes co-founding both The Daily Show and the
since-departed left-wing radio station Air America, on which she
co-hosted a program with Chuck D. and then relatively unknown politics
wonk named Rachel Maddow.  In the wake of a series of standup
shows throughout the midwest, the comedian opted to focus her political
efforts on a primary political cause — on that has been at the forefront
of a number of recent news cycles due primarily to unfortunate turns of
events. Built with the help of a recent Indiegogo campaign, Lady
Parts Justice aims to sign light on the struggles of reproductive
rights through a series of well-produced, star-studded comedy videos and
some cold, hard facts. It’s an issue that’s been at the front of
Winstead’s activism since the product of a conservative midwestern
upbringing found herself at an abortion clinic at age 17, an experience
she writes about at length in her 2012 essay collection, Lizz Free for
Die. We grabbed a couple of chairs coated in dog fur to discuss
the cross section of politics and comedy and how some funny YouTube
videos might some day effect change.