In its inaugural episode, The Dramatist Presents: TALKBACK looks at the line between appreciating a culture and wanting to explore it in art and appropriating a culture for art and profit. At the top, host Christine Toy Johnson (The New Deal, The Wisdom of Trees) sits down with Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse to talk about her Thanksgiving Play, as well as her approach to playwriting as activism.

After a break, a panel of additional playwrights, journalists, and performers join Christine and Larissa to get more perspectives on the tensions between appreciation and appropriation. The group digs deep on the power dynamics of cultural appropriation, the long-term harm caused by misrepresentation, and pushes back on the entertainment industry's long tendency to exclude and/or underpay cultural consultants...when they're used at all.

This episode features Larissa FastHorse, Diep Tran, David Henry Hwang, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, and Anita Hollander. The Dramatist Presents: Talkback is a production of The Dramatists Guild of America and BOOM Integrated. This episode was produced by Sarah Storm, Amy VonMacek, Christine Toy Johnson, directed by Sarah Storm, and edited by Jenn Grossman and Clint Rhodes of John Marshall Media. It was recorded by Eric Dabdoub for JMM, with Los Angeles tape sync support by Phoebe Unterman. Special thanks to Tina Fallon, Ralph Sevush, David Faux, Tari Stratton, Adrien Glover, Robin Lai, and John Marshall Cheary.

TalkBack is distributed by the Broadway Podcast Network. Like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. For episode transcripts and exclusive content visit us on the web at dramatistsguild.com. Keep the conversation going on Twitter https://twitter.com/dramatistsguild using #DGTalkBack

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S1 E1 - It’s Not My Story It’s Yours: Appropriation vs. Appreciation with Larissa FastHorse, Diep Tran, David Henry Hwang, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, and Anita Hollander