V (formerly Eve Ensler), Award-winning Playwright, Author & Founder V-Day & One Billion Rising

Description: “Reckoning” is the new best-selling book from V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of “The Vagina Monologues” and founder of V-Day/One Billion Rising, the global movement to end violence against all women, gender-expansive people, girls, and the earth. Reckoning, writes V, is “the antidote to fascism”. In this Women’s History Month special, which includes performances by V and Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress and Tony nominee, Noma Dumezweni, Laura speaks with V about why she changed her name, her long history working for peace, the current pushback against teaching African American history, and the abortion she had at the age of 23 when she was living in a halfway home. What is the reckoning we need, and where can it lead us? What happens if we do NOT reckon?

“. . . There was no way I could bring up a child, and that child would've been destroyed. I realized that I could make a decision not to have that child. That was literally the first time in my life that I went and I made a choice about my own body.”  - V (formerly Eve Ensler)

“We are living in a patriarchal paradigm . . . but it wasn't always here . . . It requires imagination for all of us to say, is this racist, patriarchal paradigm, the paradigm we choose to live in for eternity? Or do we want to live in a different paradigm and are we going to struggle to dismantle it?  - V (formerly Eve Ensler)

Guest:   V (formerly Eve Ensler), Award-winning Playwright, Author & Founder V-Day & One Billion Rising; Best-selling Author, Reckoning, The Apology

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Full conversation & show notes are available at Patreon.com/theLFShow

Chapters:

(0:00:01) - Reckoning

(0:10:06) - Bodily Autonomy and Reclaiming

(0:22:11) - Rising Up

Chapter Summaries:

(0:00:01) - Reckoning (10 Minutes)

This chapter begins with a discussion about the importance of reckoning in today's world. Vee, the author, activist and playwright, formerly known as Eve Ensler, explains how changing her name was a key step in her own reckoning process. She then goes on to discuss how lack of reckoning leads to the repeating of terrible things that have already occurred in the past, particularly in terms of war and violence against women, trans people, and non-binary people. Vee then talks about the role of solidarity and how it is a place of belonging.

(0:10:06) - Bodily Autonomy and Reclaiming (12 Minutes)

This chapter of the podcast discusses the importance of bodily autonomy for women and the importance of imagining alternatives to the patriarchal paradigm that has been in place for the past 17,000 years. Tony nominee, Noma Dumezweni performance is featured and discussed, as is V's own experience with abortion. V talks about how her abortion was the first autonomous decision she made about her own body, and how it changed her life. The conversation then moves to how to reckon with the continued stealing of bodily autonomy from women and how to respond.

(0:22:11) - Rising Up (8 Minutes)

This conversation discusses the importance of creating a positive, revolutionary world in which people can turn their pain into power. Through the example of City of Joy, a revolutionary center in the Congo, the conversation delves into the power of creating a space where people can discover their divine power. It then turns to the biblical story of Eve, retelling it to show her as a brave character. The conversation then asks what is the state of the rising of people around the world, particularly those in Afghanistan, Iran, Congo, and Palestine.

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner. 

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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel