Episode #8×20: LGBTQ+ Representation in Media (feat. Kacen Callender), Uvalde and What Happens Now, Andrew’s Wild Weekend

  • #Millennial is back in time for PRIDE month y’all! Time for some pretend adulting, gay talk.
  • To kick off Pride Month, we speak with Kacen Callender, author of bestselling novel ‘Felix Ever After.’
  • Kacen tells us how they got started as a writer, and we chat about the increase in popularity of LGBTQ romance in mainstream media.
  • Kacen’s new book is titled Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution and will be released this September!
  • Follow Kacen on Twitter and check out their website here!
  • It’s time to talk gun safety reform… again. In the space of two weeks, mass shootings in a Buffalo supermarket and a Texas grade school left dozens dead. We’ve heard the same rhetoric around this gun debate for our entire lives – why does this keep happening? We look at some data to explain how our state legislatures respond.
  • The upshot is this: Republican controlled state legislatures respond by loosening gun laws 120% in the year following a mass shooting. Why? The NRA continues to be better funded, and gun fanatics are simply better at engaging with the political process.
  • Here’s what we all need to do to make a difference: be engaged with what your state’s legislature is doing, join a local gun violence prevention group, donate to a national gun reform organization (Everytown For Gun Safety, Brady, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Sandy Hook Promise), volunteer for pro-gun reform candidates, and VOTE in every election! 
  • Want to help victims and survivors in Buffalo and Uvalde? Check out these verified fundraisers: Verified fundraisers for Buffalo + Verified Fundraisers for Uvalde
  • Shifting gears, Andrew tells us about an eventful birthday weekend, and provides video evidence of a wild police stop he witnessed right in front of him.
  • This week’s recommendations are informative and comfy: ‘Prehistoric Planet’ on Apple TV+ (Andrew), ‘The G Word’ on Netflix (Laura), and shoe inserts for converse (Pam).

And in this week’s installment of After Dark, available on Patreon:

  • We’re kicking off our in-depth host interviews this week with Pam!
  • Pam shares how she got into journalism, and the joys and and difficulties of breaking into the field.
  • Where did we meet Pam? Through Harry Potter? Through Twilight? None of us can remember.
  • What does Pam do outside of #Millennial? And what’s her greatest ambition in life?

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