#28 - Deaf Students ‘Occupy Carlton’ to Save Their School on ‘Switched at Birth’ in Homage to Historic Gallaudet Protests - Leftist Teen Drama

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey. I'm Maria.
I work at a labor union by day
and write and watch too much TV by
night. I like to say I've been firmly
in The CW's clutches since it was The
WB.
As the great Seth Cohen on The OC
once said about the fictional teen drama The
Valley,
TV teen dramas are mind numbing escapism.
They exist in a fantasy world where 20

(00:22):
something hot actors are usually cosplaying high schoolers
in melodramatic depictions of adolescents.
But that's honestly why I love teen dramas
so much.
I love the tropes and the ships and
the not at all subtle product placement.
I love the early offs theme songs and
the cameo performances by pop punk bands. I
love the newer generation of shows that are

(00:43):
more diverse and representative of the vastness of
teenage girldom.
And I especially love the moments when TV
teen dramas get political.
You guys,
we can organize,
stand together,
speak with one voice.

(01:04):
Karl Marx has come alive for me today.
Now it just seems so obviously wrong that
those who control capital should make their fortunes
off the labor of the working class.
Well, since you've fired us, you've given us
plenty of time to pick in.
Workers of the world, you're not profiting.

(01:27):
Long live the revolution.
Welcome to another episode of Leftist Teen Drama,
and welcome back to Kelly Diaz, who is
a returning guest on the pod. You wanna
briefly introduce yourself?
Sure. Thanks for having me again. So like
Maria said, I'm Kelly Diaz, and I am

(01:48):
a postdoctoral research scholar at Swarthmore College. But
I recently got my PhD from the University
of Pennsylvania
where I studied youth activism on television.
So it's really exciting to be here and
talk about this cool episode and this good
series
and specifically
this storyline that I analyzed as part of
my dissertation. Today, we're talking about Switched at

(02:09):
Birth, which is really a revolutionary
show in and of itself, independent of the
slot line. But then it's also cool that
there's this really amazing plot line within it
that is, like, extra revolutionary.
And I didn't know it existed until I
met Kelly and read her dissertation. It aired
on ABC Family, which is not Freeform, but
the real ones know remember the ABC Family

(02:31):
days.
It was the 1st mainstream television series to
have multiple deaf and hard of hearing series
regulars
and scenes shot entirely in ASL. Because pretty
much any time that there's, like, 2 deaf
characters, they just speak in ASL, and you're
just reading the subtitles. Or if you actually
can speak ASL, you're just getting to watch
that, which is pretty cool. It's really cool
in and of itself. And in researching for

(02:52):
this episode, I saw that apparently the show
always had an American sign language expert who
helped make sure that all of the 4
fluent regulars employed a similar dialect, which I
thought was an interesting fact. Yeah. It's really
cool. So that's like the characters that they're
talking about are Daphne, who's obviously one of
the 2 main characters. So that's Katie Leclerc
and then Sean Berdy who plays Emmett, who's,
like, her longtime best friend.

(03:13):
And Constance Constance Marie is who is Constance
Marie? Oh my god. I was like, oh,
I knew all of these so I didn't
write it down. Marlee Matlin She's Regina. She's
Daphne's
Like, Bobby Oh, right. Okay. And then Marlee
Matlin is Melody, Emmett's mother. And I have
to obviously shout out that Sean Berdy was
in the society, which is a show that

(03:33):
we already covered on this podcast. And I
really loved his character in that. So, like,
as I was watching Switched at Birth, I
definitely have, like, a bias toward him. That's
funny.
Because I just yeah. I really love him
as an actor. I think he's really great.
But so it's really cool that this show
even exists For anyone who has never seen
it, the reason that it's called Switched at
Birth, it very much is what it sounds

(03:55):
like. It is about 2 teenage girls who
find out that they were switched at birth
at the hospital and each live in a
different
situation
geographically and based on their class. Like, one
of them is in a working class neighborhood,
and the other is, like, the
daughter of a former Major League Baseball player.
So

(04:15):
big class disparity. So that's also, I feel,
like a present aspect of the entire show
that makes it pretty, like, you know, generally
progressive. And I feel like they just generally
engage with a lot of interesting issues throughout
the show. Yeah. Definitely. But as always, we
talk about our relationships with Switch Dipper for
you obviously, like, you know, probably know this
plotline better than anyone in the world

(04:36):
because of how much I'm sure you ended
up watching clips from it. What was your
relationship before you started working on your diss
at Switch Dipper? Yeah. So I watched it
when it was live. So I think when
I started, I was in high school and
then I was in college. But a couple
of interesting things about it. So one is
that when I was in high school applying
to colleges, one of the schools that I

(04:56):
was deciding between, I was going to be
a deaf education major. Oh. So that was,
like, a big interest of mine. I ended
up going to Penn State, taking a different
path. But even while I was at Penn
State, I did, like, 6 years of the
sign language work there where we did, like,
lessons and community stuff. I also took a
deaf culture class and sign language class there.
So it was, like, always a big interest

(05:16):
of mine. It was fun to, like, watch
the show and, you know, practice my, like,
sign reading. Another interesting thing is that I
am
Puerto Rican, and, like, I have, like, white
relatives. And then I, like, identify as Puerto
Rican, and I think it's a really interesting
part of both Daphne and Bay's stories because
one of the mothers, Regina, is Puerto Rican

(05:38):
living in this working class neighborhood. It was
also a very, like, Latino neighborhood,
and Daphne really feels like that's a huge
part of her identity is being raised as
a Latina. And I should find that, like,
she's just white. And then, obviously, this girl,
Bey, who was raised in this, like, very
white affluent community, always thought of herself as
white. Lauren says she's actually Latina. And so

(05:59):
I feel like that as a Puerto Rican
myself, but who's also, like, biracial and white,
I thought that was, like, a really cool
part of the story that made me feel
connected to it. Yeah. I love that. My
sister watched it back when it aired. It
started in 2011 or 2012. Right? That sounds
right. That's when I was, like, a senior
and freshman between Right. Right. So my sister

(06:19):
would have been, like, early high school, and
I would have been, like, a year behind
you. So she was watching it, like, in
the background of the end of me living
at home, but I never quite watched it
with her. So I was definitely familiar with,
like, the concept of the show, but I
didn't really get to sit down and watch
it until, like, this binge that I did
for this podcast episode. And I'm so glad
that you gave me a reason to watch
it. Glad you've been into it. Definitely, like,

(06:41):
the fact that I ended up binging it
really quickly because I got sick definitely accelerated
things. But season 1, it's like it reminds
me of season 1 of the OC, and
that it's like, what would now be, like,
several seasons worth of plot of a teen
drama.
I know. It's true. I will say the
show took took a bit of a a
dive off the deep end towards the end.

(07:01):
And even throughout, you know, like, there are
some crazy plot lines. But I really do
think it was, like, yeah, a a worthwhile
watch, not only for lovers of teen dramas,
but also to learn a lot about, like,
deaf culture and a lot about, like you
were saying, class divides and sort of the,
like, sociopolitical
aspects of the show. I think people, like,
wanna be really dismissive of, like, ABC Family

(07:22):
free form shows. But actually, there's some of,
like, the strongest in terms of covering those
issues, like The Fosters or other shows like
that. Yes. I also have The Fosters on
my list because that's what I heard. Yeah.
I think that's that's an important point. Give
them give them some flowers that they deserve.
And then at some point in my life,
I feel like even if it's not because
of it being political, I feel like I

(07:43):
need to rewatch. I used to watch Secret
Life of the American Teenagers. Oh, yeah. Like,
I feel like that was just, like, so
intensely marketed toward us at, like, the time
we were the core demographic they were marketing
toward.
Yeah. I was also incredibly into that and
then stopped watching it because it got so
ridiculous. But yeah. Oh, ridiculous. When it was
new, it was, like, last summer when I

(08:03):
was in high school. And, like, a lot
of shows are off in the summer, so
this was, like, a show to watch. Sort
of, like, how the OC started. But, yeah,
my friends and I used to watch together
every single week, and we would buy donuts.
So cute. And then, also, I only got
as far as, like, one episode past, like,
the conclusion of this plot line. And I'm
definitely gonna finish it even though I have

(08:23):
also seen because, like, I definitely spoiled myself
on a few things. Like, this show's been
over for a long time. Like, whatever. I
wanna know what I'm in for. And so
I'm still gonna watch it all the way,
but I also kind of got the vibe
that it went off the deep end a
little bit at a certain point. Yeah. But
there is yeah. Like, there is that other
plot line that I covered in my dissertation
about the play against the Black Student Union
at UMKC. And so yeah. Anyway.

(08:46):
We should definitely worth watching. Cover that in
the future when I get there. Cool. Yeah.
And I'll try not to spoil anything else.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah.
I don't think I got anything about that
plotline spoiled, but that's good. But one thing
like, I don't know how things are gonna
end up with Angelo. I feel like he's
a very up and down character. But, like,
when we first, like, met him, he he
had found a nurse who could, like, testify
to the fact that, like, like, nurses in

(09:07):
that hospital at the time that Bay and
Daphne were born like, the hospital was breaking
union rules to have them work more hours
on a row than they were supposed to.
And so it was definitely a great first
impression of Angela for me. I was like,
he's just, like, doing a lot of this
union knowledge. So, yeah. I just wanted to
say that because I don't know I didn't
know where else to put it.
That's funny. Yeah. I, like, can't remember that.
But when you read it, I was like,

(09:28):
oh, yeah.
Yeah. And that whole lawsuit was a really
they do a really good job of showing,
like, the different approaches that, like, the characters
have because of their experiences. It's like, of
course, like, the rich characters are like, we're
gonna sue the hospital, which is probably not
a solution that Regina would have ever thought
of, you know? Yeah.
We're gonna talk about pretty much, like, 3
different episodes of the show today. But the

(09:51):
one in the middle, the 9th episode of
the second season, is, like, called Uprising.
And it is, like, the revolutionary episode that
was, like, very, like, I would say, like,
intentionally crafted to be that way. Thieves are
basically planned in the episode before tightrope walker,
and the action takes place primarily across this
episode, Uprising. And the fallout takes place in
introducing the Marigold 10th episode. So one of

(10:12):
the reasons that it's so revolutionary is that
although there's ASL on every episode of this
show, this was gonna be, like, a television
first in that it's gonna be enacted nearly
entirely in ASL with, like, you know, none
of having people
speak at the same time that they're doing
ASL, which is, like, the majority of the
show. So that in and of itself was
really, really cool to see. And then on

(10:35):
top of that, they aired the episode in
2013 to mark 25 years since the 1988
Gallaudet University
Deaf President Now movement, also referred to as
just, like, VPN. And I feel like we
can get more into, like, what that means
and everything because the episode does a really
good job of teaching listeners anyway. So we
can, like, talk about it as we get
there. But I thought that it was really

(10:56):
cool how intentional this episode was to be
such a beautiful tribute to, like, a real
protest. Yeah. And that's one of the things
I remember learning about when I was taking
my deaf culture class at Penn State. Yeah.
And it was cool to, like, see this
episode air, like, almost around the same time
that I was learning about that in college.
Oh, yeah. That makes sense. That's awesome. So,
obviously, for me, like, I was watching this

(11:18):
show from the beginning knowing that I was,
like, working my way toward this episode. So
I was definitely watching, like, with an extra
Carlton School For the Deaf in general. Because
I didn't know the details of the protest
beyond that it had something to do with
preserving the deaf school. And so I was,
like, okay. This is clearly an important, like,
setting in the show. And so I was

(11:39):
definitely, like, tracking, like, everything that had to
do with that part of the show from
the beginning. So I figured we'd start by
rewinding
and kind of talking about how the show
establishes Carleton School For the Deaf as this,
like, sanctuary for deaf and hard of hearing
students. And that's, like, ultimately what the students
are finding to preserve. And I think it'll
definitely also tie in interestingly with the fact

(12:00):
that we're gonna also talk about various people
who watched the clips for your dissertation but
didn't have all the background that we have
as we talk about it. But I think
that since, you know, since we're doing a
whole pod, we can talk about all of
it. Yes. Definitely. In the first episode of
the whole show, which includes a lot of
clashing between the two families over the fact

(12:20):
of Daphne's deafness and what to do about
it, essentially. Because, like, John comes in swinging,
like, that he wants her to get a
cochlear implant, which is like a wild, like,
level of, like, I want you to get
a medical procedure when you met someone, like,
fucking 48 hours ago or something. Yeah.
But in that episode, I've noted that basically,
John and Catherine are like, hey, well, now
that we know that we have another daughter,

(12:40):
like, she needs to go to our, like,
you know, fancy private school that we send
our kids to. And,
Steve's mom. Regina is immediately, like, she's not
transferring to a hearing school where she'll be
an outsider. And so that's established from the
first episode.
And then in the 10th episode of the
first season, we see Emmett and helping to,
like, put together a fundraiser for their school
at John's Car Wash. So the school, like,

(13:02):
having funding issues is established early in the
show, which is obviously, like, very realistic. And
I think for anyone who lives in the
US, it's just like, yeah, that makes sense.
Of course, a school that, like, serves, like,
an underprivileged community would have funding issues. That
sounds about right. And so then Daphne, in
season 1, also has a brief stint as
a partial student at Buckner, the fancy private

(13:23):
school, to do cooking classes and also to
play on their basketball team because it's, like,
a better team. And the entire situation in,
like, that plot line is rife with so
many problems that, like, really underscore the importance
of, like, being in a deaf learning environment
for a deaf teenager.
Because she doesn't, like, she doesn't hear a
bell in, like, the cooking class, which is,
like, so sad because you know that they

(13:43):
have, like, a solution for that because we
see the, like, doorbells they have in their
house. The way that the school bell rings
at Carleton School for the Deaf is all
obviously through visual alerts.
And it just underscores how much the hearing
schools are not equipped to, you know, make
life easier for the deaf students in a
way that's not true with Carleton. And then
also at the same time, I feel like

(14:03):
the whole, like, viewing deafness not as, like,
a loss, but as a gain. Like, that
whole, like, mindset that's talked about throughout the
show. Like, that also comes in really early.
Like, we have, like, a pep talk where
Regina's like, you're part of an amazing community.
You have your own language and history. And
it's like, they're talking about her getting a
cochlear again. And she talks about how if

(14:23):
she does get that, suddenly, she's not deaf.
She's not hearing. She's, like, some weird thing
in the middle. And I don't know if
that's gonna come up again later in the
show at all, but, like, that was a
really interesting, like, discussion in the first season.
Yeah. It does come up a little bit
more amongst, like, other characters. And that is
a big part of, like yeah. The class
that I took at Penn State, they talked
about that a lot. A little bit with

(14:44):
Regina saying, not again to discourage people who
think that cochlear is a right choice for
them like many people do. But, yeah, that
people who got the cochlear felt like they
were sort of ostracized by the deaf community
after. And then also, yeah, couldn't, like, fully
immerse themselves in the hearing community either. Like,
that's just so beyond my perspective. So just
I love how this show creates awareness of

(15:05):
so many issues that, like, hearing people
have no idea exist for others. And so
you eventually find out that Buckner got some
sort of grant for putting Daphne on the
basketball team, and that's, like, the only reason
that they basically recruited her. And they haven't
even been playing her. Whereas, when she's playing
for Carlton, she's, like, the star of the
team and, like, plays, you know, probably, like,

(15:26):
as many minutes as as possible in the
game. Yeah. So she eventually calls out the
coach for, like, what what they did. And
the 18th episode of the first season, Daphne
finds out from Melanie
that Carlton's basketball team is likely going to
get cut. So, again, budget cuts are in
the conversation
much earlier than the plotline that we're gonna

(15:47):
talk about. Basically, Daphne gets, like, chosen as
this Buckner Hall athlete of the month. And
she's supposed to be advocating for, like, I
guess, donors to donate to the Buckner athletic
program. And instead, she, like, finds herself advocating
for Carlton and talking about how changed her
life. And so by the end of that
episode, she ends with coming back to Carlton
to try to save the basketball team there.

(16:08):
And then they end up making it to
the the, like, final tournament.
Right? That's what it seems like it is.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I don't remember, like,
what level of importance they assigned to this
particular tournament and this particular change around that.
So but something like that. It was it's
a big one. And people come from, like,
Indiana. This is set in Kansas City, if
we didn't say that already. And basically, like,

(16:31):
all of these, like, deaf folks came from
all over to see Carlton
play in this tournament and, like, root for
them. And basically, because
Daphne is, like, the star of the team,
she kinda, like, becomes, like, rock star to
all these, like, cute little deaf kids. And
Daphne has this whole speech about how she
doesn't want her deafness to define her. And

(16:52):
she says, if I were hearing, I'd still
be me, just a hearing Daphne. But like
it or not, I represent. We all do.
And so it's an interesting reckoning with, like,
that weight that she's carrying. And I I
feel like she gets a lot more comfortable
with the idea by the end of that
episode. Because, like, obviously, she goes all the
way to being, like, a full on leader
of a direct action that involved an encampment,

(17:13):
like
Yeah. Just even later.
And it's also an interesting point made in
that episode, which I think they talk about
again, but, like, how being deaf is such
a small community that you instantly make friends
with other deaf people wherever you go, which
is, like, one of the things that they've
brought up a couple times of being, like,
one of the, like, awesome things about being
deaf. And in this tournament, the deaf basketball

(17:33):
team wins. You know, Daphne brings them to
victory. Everyone is so excited and, like, you
know, storms
the gym floor. And the principal then has
to accidentally slip up and make it clear
that, like, that's not gonna change anything about,
like, their funding, and they're not gonna be
able to keep the team alive. Yeah. That's
sad. That sets us up for season 2,
where we are actually introduced to the concept

(17:55):
of Melody's deaf studies class, because we have,
like, a bunch of our deaf characters in
her class in season 2. And so you
see them in that class regularly.
And so that's kind of, I feel, like,
really purposeful
way to start what we're really introducing the
fact that we're gonna get all the way
to, like, an homage
to, Gallaudet, you know, in 1988. And at
the same time, we are introduced to the

(18:16):
fact that Bey might not be going to
Buckner for very long because of some disciplinary
stuff. And so she decides she wants to
go to Carleton because there's this new pilot
program for hearing kids who have deaf relatives.
So really for exactly people like they. So
she starts at the pilot program in the
second episode of the second season. And, you
know, it's not a ton of hearing kids

(18:37):
in this program, but, you know, it doesn't
matter. A lot of the deaf students are
really, like, threatened and
displeased
with this invasion of, like, hearing people into
their space. And I feel like the most
radical,
like, cool girl
of them is Natalie, who plays a part
in the protest. And she and Bey immediately
clash. And in their first, like, meeting, Natalie

(19:00):
says, everywhere I go, I have to accommodate
you except for the one place I go,
which is here, my school. And now everything
is going to get rebuilt around you. And
Bey is like, I don't want that. I'm
sorry. And Natalie says they can put us
in the same school, but you will never
belong here. So that really sets up, like,
the conflict for, like, the entire first half
of the second season, which really, really comes

(19:20):
to a head in the 3rd episode when
the episode, like, opens on day finding her
locker graffitied with hairy bitch. And a bunch
of deaf students are, like, openly glaring at
her when she, like, finds it. Classic teen
drama. And one of the other hearing students,
Noah, said that he had a note shoved
in his locker too. I feel like both
Bey and Daphne are actually both very, like,
we need to do something kind of strong

(19:41):
characters. Because she immediately mocks up stickers. We
here and we're here. And, like, Emmett very
accurately says, this is only gonna throw Gasly
on a fire.
So Emmett explains that the last two art
classes left at the school were getting cut
so they can pay for another interpreter for
the hearing kids, which was just announced the
day before. And they are pretty relentless in

(20:03):
being like, that sucks, but we didn't ask
for any cuts. And if Natalie and her
posse keep taking out on the hearing kids,
we're gonna fight back, which I feel like
is enough of a, like, conflict that Emma's
like, I'm a talk to my mom about
this. Yeah.
And she's, like, opposed to the pilot program
altogether.
But she still does something and creates this

(20:24):
mandatory tolerance retreat
over the weekend with, like, only certain students,
which feels like a questionable
thing to do. But okay. That includes Natalie,
Emmett, and Bay, who, like, obviously are, like,
the kind of the main characters of the
situation. And Natalie confronts Bay beforehand and calls
for a crybaby.
And they really go at it on the
actual retreat too. I feel like Melody does

(20:47):
a decent job, and they do come out
of it maybe a little more accepting of
each other. We also find out, importantly, that
Noah, who is originally introduced to us as
hearing, actually has Meniere's disease and will probably
eventually go fully deaf, which is why he's
doing this to try to, like, learn ASL
before he needs it because he will probably
need it eventually. So that's kind of, like,

(21:07):
setting the scene of what the school is
like now that it's almost entirely deaf, but
with this smaller contingent of hearing students and
also part of hearing because Noah's kinda, like,
in an in between space of being fully
hearing and and deaf. So the whole situation
of Budget Cats continues in the 5th episode
of the second season when the principal comes
to the drama club meeting to tell everyone

(21:29):
they're gonna have to completely cut the spring
production because they can't pay for the director's
salary due to cuts that had to be
made for other programs, which again brings the
tension with the hearing kids back to the
surface. Catherine
being, you know I think she's referred to
at some point in this plotline as, like,
the rich white hearing lady or something.
She definitely
does her thing and, like, talks to the

(21:49):
principal
and gets her to allow, like, a volunteer
herself to be the director of the play
so it can still happen. However, in doing
that, we do hear the principal say, I
don't balance my budget, and there is no
more Carlton, which I feel like is the
first time that we have seen the budget
cuts that have been, like, kinda sprinkled in,
like, actually rise to the level of there
couldn't be no more Carlton. Mhmm. And so

(22:11):
that takes us to the 8th episode, which
is where the threat of Carlton's closure that's
foreshadowed throughout the season, comes to the forefront
of the plot. So, basically, there's a vote
coming up on whether to expand the hearing
program. Natalie has told Daphne that there could
be 50 more hearing kids next year, which
should be a significant shift in the population.
Because I think we're, like, meant to believe
it's, like, maybe, like, 10, 15, like, a

(22:32):
dozen. Like, I don't know. It doesn't feel
like it's a lot of people. And I
just kind of have Noah and Bey be,
like, our representatives of the whole program. Basically,
one of the other deaf students, Amy, she
dropped out of being Juliet in the play
because she didn't wanna be part of this,
like, propaganda for the hearing program. Like, Natalie
describes it as, look how the great the
hearies and the deafies get along. Let's bring
in more. And so Natalie tells Daphne this
because Katherine had tapped Daphne to be the

(22:53):
new Juliet in the play.
And, Natalie, it's like you have to pick
a side of whether you, like, wanna be
a part of this, like, you know, pro
hearing program propaganda,
or if you're gonna, like, be with the
rest of us. And so I thought our
first clip that we would watch would be
Catherine showing up for rehearsal and finding Melody

(23:16):
with a bunch of the students making signs
in support of Carlton.
And she explains, basically, that a school board
meeting is happening where this is gonna be,
like, discussed. And a lot of the kids
are coming, so maybe she should cancel rehearsal.
And there's, like, kind of an interesting
discussion and pushback from Catherine about, like, how

(23:36):
the hearing and deaf kids working together has
been and such. Hey.
What's
going on?
We'll be meeting soon. We just needed a
place to work.
Well, what are the signs for?
We have a meeting with the school board
this afternoon.
A lot of the kids are coming with

(23:56):
me.
So maybe you need to
move soon.
Are you saying
cancel
rehearsal?
I think we're building something really great here.
Hearing and deaf kids working together.

(24:16):
I don't understand
why
you don't think we can coexist.
You're about to explain it to the school
board.
This is a deaf school.

(24:36):
Where we can be seen,
but the world
doesn't recognize us.
That's not true of all hearing people.
I recognize you.
That's nice,
but I'm here because I'm a parent.

(24:58):
Actually,
I'm here
because
you can't afford
a drama
teacher.
And the hearing program
can help you
by bringing in
more money. What's so bad about more money
for the school?

(25:24):
Yeah. So she asked Daphne to interpret.
At the hearing school, deaf students will always
be on the outside.
They enter the cafeteria for lunch, they'll look
around,
see
20 different conversations.
None of which they can be a part
of.

(25:46):
But here, they're free.
Not to be their deaf kid,
but to be themselves.
That's what I'm fighting for.
And if you can't see
why that's more important than your play or
anything else,
then I don't know what else to tell
you.

(26:14):
The bus is here.
Yeah. Daphne is caught. Should she go?
And she says she has rehearsal.
I think this is an interesting one. Leaving
aside the drama with Katherine and her hearingness,
but just like thinking about the deaf students,
and this is true of, like, almost all

(26:36):
the protest episodes where you have to, like,
sacrifice something else that's important to be a
part of it. So I think that, like,
here, even if Daphne is totally on the
side of, you know, keeping Carleton open and
maybe even a 100% deaf, like Catherine's saying
that I think is fair aside from her
own role as director and her own ego
tied into it is that this is important

(26:57):
for students. Like, you were saying with the
basketball team, like, it's important for deaf students
to get to be a part of a
show where the star, the Juliet of Romeo
and Juliet, can be a deaf actress and
to also
have to, like, sacrifice
fun and joy and things you're good at
in order to, like, always be an activist
is something that's, like, often put on marginalized

(27:18):
students. Yeah. That's, like, unfair
because they also deserve to, you know, not
have to miss out on being in a
school play so that they can, like, have
the bare minimum of, like, a positive education.
Absolutely. Yeah. That's definitely a theme we've talked
about on this show. Like, I think with
you and also definitely a few times with
Andre, because I also feel like that has

(27:39):
been his personal experience at times too as,
like, a black man. It's like, when do
I do something for me versus do something
for my community? And, like, sometimes being forced
to choose between those things. But I feel
like she kinda feels like she is here
because she really so she really gets in.
She's maybe initially hesitant to be Juliet, but,
like, kinda gets into it by the time
that we're at, like, this part in the

(27:59):
plot. And so she's kinda like, I wanna
be Juliet. I wanna, like, do this thing
with my mom who, like, I'm still getting
to know. But also, I really wanna be
with my community. And it's like, it sucks
that she got put in this place where
she has to choose between them. But let
me just press play. I think she, like,
very quickly decides she's gonna go to the
school board after all. Okay, everybody.

(28:20):
Let's start with
scene 4,
act 2.
I can't.
I have to be there.

(28:40):
I'm sorry.
Catherine is, like, too upset. Like, you need
to, like, get your ego out of it.
Get your ego out of it, girl. Like,
it's getting it's getting a little much.
Yeah. So I guess we can, like, go
right into so basically, all of our main
deaf characters, Melody, obviously, who's leading the students
to the school board, and then also, like,

(29:01):
Daphne, Emmett, and Travis are all present at
this protest. And then also, like, our secondary
characters, like Natalie. I feel that a couple
of the characters in this plotline are, like,
unnamed, but, like, recur as, like, clearly, like,
the, like, friends of Natalie and and Emmett
and and Daphne.
And basically,
you know, we're gonna see, if I'm gonna
describe it before we watch, a bunch of

(29:22):
signs that they made, you know, back at
the school. And all of them waiting to
go in, and we'll see Melody. There is
an interpreter
at the school district. So there's an interpreter
who, like, says what Melody is signing. And
she basically advocates for the students. And then
Daphne, like, kind of has, like, one of
those spontaneous
moves to speak moments and also gives her

(29:45):
testimonial of why Carlson should stay open. Or
I guess at this point, do they even
know if they're, like, at that level? Or
do they are they just thinking about the
hearing program at this point? I'm not sure,
actually. I think, you know, this might not
be
fully about the closure.
Right. So, yeah, here we are at the
Kansas City Unified School District
building.

(30:06):
Yeah. So Daphne confirms that she will rehearse
tomorrow to Emmett, and McAfee's gonna kill her.
Maybe you could send Travis to explain. That's
funny. Yeah. Melody is such a, like, hot
death mom.
Like, honestly, a milk.
He seems to have the magic to have
touch when it comes to moms. Oh, wow.
Yeah. Travis is kind of, like, newer. Mom's

(30:27):
all about getting him into Gallaudet.
Jealous Emmett. Yeah. Travis is probably one of
the most militant of the deaf students, I
would say. Oh, hi, Vinny.
Alright. You say No time. That the deaf
students will just adjust. But what you mean
is they'll just
get used to second class status.
We realize that this is not an ideal

(30:49):
situation.
You are compromising the quality of their education.
Have any of you have actually been to
Carlton?
We've been to every district school.
And I'm sorry, but we're not opening the
floor to anyone who's not on our agenda.
You're making a decision that affects of a
100 deaf students, and you don't have time
to listen to one of them?
Step forward.

(31:11):
Carleton is the one place in the world
where having ears that don't work doesn't matter.
It's not just a school to us.
It's a home.
And by letting more hearing kids in, you're
saying it's okay to invade our home, but
it's not.

(31:37):
Okay.
Honey. I'm not even being that loud because
you're fast. Calm down.
Deaf schools and organic lunches and state of
the art computer labs in all our schools,
but we don't.
We're stretched incredibly thin these days. You found
money to hire the college football coach at
Jefferson
and resurface the track at Taft. I guess

(31:59):
it just comes down to how you prioritize.
I think another really important thing about
the whole school board, like, scene and, like,
really protest because, like, there's a lot of
them who could pack the, you know, pack
the school board meeting with, like, fines and
wave their hands in the way that deaf
folks clap and all of that. I think

(32:21):
it's important to note that, like, you know,
when we get to the higher escalation
actions that these students take that, like, they
really did go through the proper channels to
begin with. Right. Yeah. That's a really good
point. So it's, like, gives you an extra
punch to your protest when you can point
to something and be like, hey, we, like,
came to your school board meeting and, like,
testified
and explained, you know, all the bad things

(32:42):
that were gonna happen if you make this
decision. And you didn't listen to us, so
I guess we had to escalate. Oops. So
I think this is interesting
the way, like, the progression of the
deterioration
of the funding goes because,
like, right now, yeah, they're just talking about
bringing more hearing students in. There was no
mention of closing the school. And then once
there is a mention of closing the school,

(33:03):
then they have to, like, rearrange
their priorities and things like that, which then
becomes, like, a new conversation, which is also
interesting. I don't wanna, like, spoil anything, but
I do think it's important to note here,
which comes up again later, that, like, with
this pilot program, it was, like you said,
designed for people who have, like, family members
who are deaf or who are themselves experiencing

(33:24):
hearing loss. And a lot of people talk
about, like, being, like, capital d deaf, and
so there are a lot of, like,
people who
are deaf or hard of hearing, but don't,
like, identify as part of the deaf community.
And then there are also a lot people
who feel, like, immersed in the deaf community,
but aren't themselves
deaf. A lot of times, like, CODAs, children
of deaf adults will, like, identify really heavily

(33:46):
with the deaf experience and deaf culture because
that like, ASL was their first language and
that's when they're at home and things like
that. Like, you can't combine them because their
experience in a hearing school would be completely
different than a deaf person's experience in a
hearing school. But I think, like, notably
in the pilot program, they were, like, having
all the students take ASL, and they were

(34:07):
themselves, like, connected to the deaf community. And
then later, when they start talking about adding
hearing students to the school, they're not talking
about keeping that level of, like, requiring them
to take ASL
or, like, learn about the community. It's just
sharing the building, basically.
Exactly.
Yeah. That's an extremely important point. Because when

(34:28):
she's talking about, like, hearing kids invading,
it's not just, like, the students themselves, but,
like, the hearing culture they bring with them
and, like, are going to impose hearing culture
they bring with them and, like, are going
to impose on the space. So, yeah, I
thought that was a really impactful speech by
Daphne. Gotta love when a teen drama character
is just, like, spontaneously called
to action and then gives, like, such an
impassioned plea. And I just I love how

(34:50):
it shows, like, a progression in Daphne, like,
being called to action. I guess another thing
that we didn't completely
mention
that happened in this season that's probably relevant
to this, like, rebellious streak in her is
that she and Travis were, like, working on
her food truck earlier in the season and
were attacked and very clearly targeted, you know,

(35:11):
because they saw that there were 2 deaf
kids working on the truck. They waited till
Daphne was alone. They snuck up on her,
and they stole from her money back. Well,
so I think they just stole it altogether.
And so Daphne's having a kind of an
identity crisis, I feel like, prior to this
plotline, in that she's like, you know, she
was raised in I feel like Regina is,
like, one of the people that you were

(35:32):
mentioning who's, like, a hearing person who's immersed
in deaf culture and, like, has allowed herself
to be that way in order to, like,
raise Daphne the way she, like, she deserves
to be raised. I think the thing that
we were gonna talk about maybe a little
bit was just how they
navigate being, like, Regina or something, like, allies
to the hearing community Yeah. But not quite,
like, part of it and same with Bae

(35:53):
and stuff. And then I think that leads
into
what happens later, which is, like, having a
really hard time defining, like, in group membership,
which is something I talk a lot about
with the patient. The main takeaway from the
end of
the episode 8 is that at the end
of the episode, Daphne does come into, like,
I I assume, the next day's rehearsal

(36:13):
of the play
and apologizes to Catherine.
Either that or it's later that night. Either
way, she's explaining that they were waiting to
hear the school board's vote, and
she's like, they're not expanding the hearing program.
I'm, like, absolutely buried some weed. And Catherine
says they're not, and she says, no. They're
closing Carlton.
And Catherine says, what do you mean? And

(36:34):
Daphne's like, the school board voted to sell
Carlton for good. They're gonna separate us and
send us to different schools next year. And
then, obviously, like, you know, Catherine's like, I'm
so sorry, honey. And, like, that kinda leaves
us on that part of the plot line
for that episode. And like you said, that
part is weird because we don't really get
any explanation.
And I guess it makes sense because the
characters probably wouldn't have any idea what happened

(36:56):
behind, you know, whatever closed doors the school
board was speaking in before they made their
vote. But, like, there's no really explanation for
how that jump was made from we're considering
whether or not to expand this program to,
like, we're just gonna close the school. Right.
Yeah. Even the program was, like, expensive, hard
to run, etcetera. But that does seem like
a huge jump. And, also, which, like, the

(37:16):
students discussed later, like, so many of them
had really, like, atrocious experiences
in other public schools when they were younger
and, like, they didn't fit in socially. They
had a really hard time, and they had
a hard time following lessons, etcetera. And so
it does seem like a big jump also
that they wouldn't,
like, at least keep the students together at
one school and, like, prioritize

(37:38):
okay. Like, you sell the building. And I
think a lot of it is that they're
not planning on keeping any of the because
then they'd still have to pay for an
interpreter at every school every class for every
school
instead of having, like, certain classes that are
designed for deaf students. Like, actually, it doesn't
even seem particularly cost effective beyond, like, selling
the building. Right. But I'm trying and not

(37:58):
get ahead. But, yeah, they talk about a
little bit later, they'll talk about, like, the
idea of having, like, a lot of hearing
students at Carleton
and not wanting to feel like they're, you
know, like, a small community
within the hearing community, which I think is
a totally fair complaint. But in this situation,
they're not even going to get to be
a community. They're all going to be split

(38:19):
up, which is, like, the absolute worst case
scenario.
Yeah. Absolutely. It does feel, like, particularly cruel
to me when I think about it for
a little longer than, you know, 5 seconds
because it's like you had Melody come in
and then give, like, an impassioned interpreted speech,
And then you had Daphne, like, spontaneously
do the same. And your your conclusion was

(38:40):
to do, like, absolutely the worst possible outcome.
Like, where that's just, like it feels like
these people are, like, absolutely are terrible people
that they could possibly have come to that
conclusion. Yeah. I agree. It's very strange. Very
Yeah. But I get that they had to
do what they had to do to, like,
get us to where they needed to get
us so they can, like, do this historic
landmark episode. But, like, it's it is a

(39:01):
little funny that they, like, turned from, like,
you know, we don't have a lot of
money to, like, we're gonna split up all
the deaf kids. Like Yeah.
So, yeah, that brings us to, you know,
the main event of this episode, which is
Switched at Birth 209
Uprising,
and the episode created in honor of the
1988
Gallaudet protest. And so the episode starts with

(39:22):
a message from the main actors, which, you
know, whenever a teen drama episode starts like
that, you know some shit is gonna go
down in one way or the other.
And they, you know, let everyone know that
after the first scene, the episode will be
entirely in American sign language. So I also
wanted to mention that one scene in particular
really struck me about this, like, format. There's
a point in the episode when Daphne comes

(39:43):
into the Kenish kitchen hoping to meet Bay
to talk. And it's, like, at night, so,
you know, people are, like, in bed, and
she's trying to be sneaky about it. And
when she finally, like, gets inside the kitchen,
she finds all the Kenish just, like, running
at her panicky.
And since we're seeing it in Daphne's point
of view, we have, like, no sound, and
we can't hear that she set off their
alarm. But we see, like, her point of

(40:05):
view of, like, all of them, like, freaking
out and her having literally no idea why
they're freaking out. And then eventually, you see
Catherine and John, like, reach the alarm and
put in the code, and you're like, oh.
And you have the realization at the same
time as her. And I just thought that
that was, like, a really beautiful depiction of
deafness for hearing people who are never going
to understand. But it's cool when they can,
like, do things like that to, like, maybe
give us a little slice of being in

(40:27):
the shoes of a deaf person. Yeah. Definitely.
Yeah. It was really
interesting and well done. Yeah. So You know,
kudos to all of the, like, crew too
that had to, like, you know, do what
they had to do to make this episode
happen. You know, like the fact that there's,
like, a sign language expert on, you know,
the crew of this show. Like, I just
I feel like there must be a lot
of really interesting little niches that people had
to fill to make this happen. But yeah.

(40:49):
So, obviously,
because of the fact that this entire pivotal
episode is in sign language, we're obviously just
going to describe what happens throughout this particular
episode and not watch any clips because they
wouldn't really have any sound. So it's the
audio medium. The episode begins and we cut
to most of the deaf kids we know,
who I guess are all I'm assuming this

(41:10):
is their deaf studies class because we know
that most of them are in that class.
And Melody is the one at the front
of the classroom. So we're seeing Daphne, Emmett,
Natalie, Travis, and a bunch of the unnamed
characters that play a role in this plotline.
And they're all in a room with Melody,
and they're talking about their terrible previous experiences
of being mainstream. Natalie asks why they think
it's okay to send them off to school
so they'll be treated like freaks. And Travis

(41:32):
says a really important line, I feel like,
in this plotline, which is it's because they
don't get it and they never will. And,
yeah, that goes back to what we were
talking about, which is, like, even the people
like Bay who are, like, trying their hardest
to, like, integrate themselves into the community, and
they're still never going to fully get it.
And so Melody has, like, kind of an
interesting struggle of her own in this plot

(41:54):
line, you know, internally, where she is called
into the principal's office and told the school
board doesn't want any fireworks or bad press
about the school closing, which is, like, y'all
are
the audacity.
I know. It's crazy.
And they would appreciate
Melody's support on this matter. Of course, this
is only after offering her a job at

(42:15):
the school district to help the deaf kids
transition to their new schools. And Melody's immediately,
like, I'm not gonna be some lackey. I
don't know. And and her the principal really
holds her, like,
economic vision over her head. And she's like,
I don't know how many mainstream high schools
are gonna be looking for a deaf guidance
counselor. Like, this would be a good position
for you, so you should take it. Like

(42:37):
and it's just it's so fucked up. And
it really points to the issue of the
fact that there are, like, people who, like,
won't hire deaf people for positions and, like,
just limited job opportunities
and how fucked up that is. Because, like,
she feels like she can't stick to her
principles because of that. Yeah. So then we
move into so the play is still happening
because, like, the school hasn't closed yet. So
we're still we're still doing Romeo and Juliet.

(42:59):
And so Catherine and Melody are talking, and
Melody asks, you wanna bring a bunch of
reporters to the play? And Catherine's like, if
they could just see what deaf kids can
do when educated in their own environment, maybe
the school board would reconsider. And so Melody
is, like, pretty frank. Like, I'm not sure
how many reporters are gonna show up to
a high school production of Romeo and Juliet.
I invited dozens to the school board meeting,

(43:20):
and not one came. Zip 0. And then
Katherine does her classic line of John and
I have a few connections.
And Melody is, like, right. Never underestimate the
power of a rich white hearing person, which
is hilarious because Catherine
yeah. Catherine doesn't catch it.
She's like, what? And she's like, nothing.

(43:41):
But, you know, at least she's a rich
white caring person using their connections for the
correct side of history.
We'll talk about it when we get to
the parent reactions, but I have some Right.
I have some issues with John Kenish in
particular. Yeah. He's the one who's Yeah. He's
definitely my least favorite character on the show.
That sets that into motion. Like, there are
going to be reporters at the very least
invited to the school on the night of

(44:02):
the play. We come to, like, a bunch
of the deaf kids at night, sitting around,
drinking, and reminiscing about Carlton. There's a really
cute moment where they're all, like, doing a
rap. 1 of their classmates had performed at,
like, their talent show their sophomore year. And
they're all kind of just, like, laughing and
doing the rap in unison,
and they embrace each other. And it's, like,
it's a really nice moment. And, honestly, I

(44:23):
wish we got more of those kinds of
moments on this show because I feel like
it was one of the most, like, normal
teenager
moments we've gotten to see with a group
of them altogether and, like, no hearing kids
around.
Agreed. I really like that scene. And so
this is, like, a really important scene because
they reminisce about a bunch of stuff. They
They get to the point where they're, like,
doing their little rap. And then they all

(44:44):
kinda just, like, sit down and, like, you
know, quiet,
and no one finding anything settles over them.
And then Daphne says, like, I can't believe
we're all gonna be split up. Because obviously,
like, they just they just realized how how
valuable all getting to be friends with each
other really is.
And Emmett says, we won't. You and I
will stick together no matter what, which, you

(45:04):
know, really is a nice little reference to
Emmett and Daphne's friendship in particular. But Travis,
who he got introduced toward the end of
season 1. So he wasn't, like, there from
the beginning of the show. And so he
makes it clear that he also, like, wasn't
at Carlton as long as some of the
rest of them because he says, I wish
I'd known you guys when I was little.
All those years of hell in mainstream schools.

(45:25):
I won't go back. I won't. I know.
It's so sad.
Yeah. I know. Oh my god. You know,
this isn't even the first scene where they've
talked about their bad experiences
at mainstream schools and even this episode. Like,
imagine all of that childhood trauma, like, being
on the top of your mind. And, you
know, they're obviously all thinking about that because
they think they're all getting sent to different
schools. And it's also like, how many different

(45:46):
schools are there to even send them to?
Like, what is going on? Like,
they don't get it. But anyway, one of
the other unnamed kids says, like, do we
have a choice in reaction to Travis saying,
I won't go back very definitively.
And Travis says, there's always a choice. And
Daphne says, it does seem like we're just
giving up. And Natalie is like, well, what
are we supposed to do? And Daphne says,

(46:08):
I don't know, but something. And then she
kinda pauses, and then she's like, they fought
back at Gallaudet in 1988. They were fed
up of being told what to do by
hearing people. They asked for a deaf president.
And when it didn't happen, they shut down
the school. And one of the other kids
quickly
fills in the history and says, boycotting classes,
barricading the gates, marching in the street. And

(46:28):
Emmett is like, my mom was there, and
Natalie says mine was too. And Daphne says
they demanded to be heard, and they got
their deaf president. They won. So Natalie is
like, what are you saying? And I feel
like she seems like the kind of person
who is, very excited that she gets to
be a part of a protest. Like, I
I definitely read her as very radical. And,
you know, Daphne says, we move in and

(46:49):
we stay until they change their decision.
And Travis is immediately, like, occupy Carlton.
And I, of course, was like, oh my
god. This is perfect. Of course. It's 2013.
Right. Like, occupy Wall Street was, like, 2
years ago. And it's just so funny because,
like, for me, like, occupy is, like, this
weird place in my, like, political journey. Because
my senior year of high school, I was,

(47:11):
like, the co editor in chief of my
newspaper. And that was the same, you know,
year that occupy Wall Street was happening. So,
like, that fall
of my senior year, I, like, pitched to
doing an occupy Wall Street feature because since
I grew up in the suburbs of New
York City, a lot of people from Maplewood,
where I grew up, were taking the train
in and, like, visiting me, you know, the
occupy Wall Street encampment in lower Manhattan. And

(47:32):
I wanted to write an article about, like,
how people in our community were engaging with
this huge protest movement. And I got the
okay to do it, and I it was,
like, a big feature. And it was probably
one of my most proud of articles I
wrote as a teenager.
And, of course, like, a bunch of conservative
dudes were, like, actively mad that I wrote
the article. The hilarious thing at the same

(47:53):
time is that my friends who cofounded
the, like, worker solidarity group that eventually got
me into the labor movement, they all met
at occupied Boston,
like, while I was a senior. They were
all meeting, and then the beginning of creating
the group that would eventually radicalize me. But
I feel like Occupy has, like, a very
important place in, like, my and, like, a
lot of people our age and, like, a
little older than us, like, in our, like,

(48:14):
political history just because of where it was
placed in, like, our development. And I really
appreciated the, like, at the time, topical reference.
And, of course, they all got so excited.
They all, like, stand up and yell, like,
I'm in, hell yeah, Occupy Carlton.
And Daphne 5th Carlton, now Carlton forever. And
since they're still drinking, they all, like, cheers

(48:35):
to, you know, their plan. So I thought
that it would be important just to quickly
run down some of the, like, more specifics.
I feel they did a really good job
of educating on what happened at Gallaudet in
1988, but I feel like it would be
helpful just to fill in a little bit
more. So, basically, Gallaudet is the world's first
higher educational institution for the deaf and hard
of hearing. And in 1988,

(48:57):
they had just announced their 7th president, which
was another hearing appointee.
And they made it clear that Elizabeth Stinson,
assistant chancellor at University of North Carolina, had
been the only hearing candidate for the job.
Jane Bassett Spillman, who was chairwoman of the
board, she which is made well, the board
itself was also largely made up of hearing
individuals. They announced the appointment and defended the

(49:19):
board's decision by allegedly saying the deaf are
not yet ready to function in the hearing
world, which is, like, deeply offensive.
So furious,
understandably,
the deaf and hard of hearing students barricaded
Gallaudet's gates, refusing to leave and denying anyone
entry until a deaf person was appointed as
university president.
Effigies of both women I mentioned were burned

(49:41):
during the Deaf President Now protest, which received
national coverage in the media, which I think
is a really important detail to note about
the real protest because I feel like it
seems very purposeful that they engage with the
press in the plotline too. And in the
end, Vincer would resign from her position, and
the university's first deaf president, I King Jordan,

(50:02):
would be appointed after a 124
years. And more than 2,500
protesters would converge on Capitol Hill holding banners
that read, we still have a dream. So
it was a pretty fucking impactful and awesome
protest, and I feel they did a really
good job of explaining it on the show
first. Because, like, I did not have you
know, I did not take any deaf studies
classes. I didn't have a huge familiarity with
this protest prior to watching this episode, and

(50:24):
I felt like it was a really good,
like, primer. Yeah. Most people wouldn't. Yeah. It's
really cool that they, yeah, are, like, using
the show to educate people.
Absolutely. And then I thought another important thing
just to, like, briefly discuss is that, basically,
in real life, the actor who plays Melody
was actually at that protest.
So it's, like, kind of meta. This Daily

(50:44):
Beast article from the time says, like, the
echoes of Gallaudet and DPN are not only
intentional, but meta. Switched at Birth also stars
Marlee Matlin, who was interviewed during the DPN
standoff back in 1988.
Her character, guidance counselor Melody Bledsoe, was said
to be one of the valued at students
involved in the university takeover. For Matlin, Switched
at Birth serves several purposes, not least of

(51:06):
which is educating viewers about the deaf identity.
Quote, it creates a perspective that you've never
seen before. Switched Up Birth delves into the
way that deafness is reframed within the culture
of transferring a sense that hearing loss is
deaf gain, something in which to have pride
and derive a sense of cultural identity. But
for those of us in the hearing community,
that may be difficult to understand. As Matlin's

(51:26):
melody says in this episode, until hearing people
walk on a day in our shoes, they
will never understand never. And so I do
think it's interesting that they really try to,
like, give hearing people a day in deaf
people's shoes through this episode, in, like,
the best way they can through, like, you
know, the medium of TV. And I also
just think it's just so cool that she
was actually there. It's cool that it had
her character also actually be there. And then
it also introduces this conflict when Melody is
offered the job at the school board that

(51:46):
had previously been mentioned.
And she, like,
is offered the job over video chat while
Emmett and Travis, who's now staying with Melody
and Emmett, are, like, just behind her, like,
you know, hanging out, eating cereal. And Emmett
gets upset. And Melody says she wants to
yell just as much as he does, but
it's not going to help anything. And Emmett

(52:08):
says, you're selling us out for a job.
And she says, I have responsibilities
to think about. And he immediately is like,
What about Gallaudet when you marched, when you
fought back and won? And she's just like,
I was 19. It introduces a whole interesting
aspect to all of this. You know, being
a generation that fought back and then having
to react to your kids wanting to do
the same. It's its own thing. And then,

(52:30):
like, her employment being, you know, kind of
caught up in this conflict is its own
thing. And then also just, like, being an
older person and maybe not. Obviously, I don't
identify with the whole getting more conservative if
you get older, and I don't know if
anyone in our generation really will just because
of, like, how intensely bad things are.
But, you know, I think that it sometimes,

(52:50):
there really are things you did at 19
that you're, like, maybe you were braver at
19 than you are now. And I feel
like maybe she's in that place.
Right. And I think that, like, a mix
of not necessarily
getting more conservative, but maybe, yeah, getting more
caw conservative in the meaning of cautious, not
necessarily, like, republican.
But also the idea of, like, just being

(53:11):
jaded. Like, just seeing time and time again
that you fight for something and you lose
what you started with, sort of like when
they went into the school board.
And they, you know, they started with a
school that was theirs but had some interlopers,
and then they lost their damn school.
And it's like, every step we take towards,
like, you know, better vision,

(53:31):
we, like, lose 3 steps. I think that's,
like, something I can understand learning as you
get older if you've, like, been screwed time
and time again. Yeah. Absolutely. Carlton is as
much, like, sanctuary for her as an adult
deaf person who gets
to work in a deaf environment as it
is for the kids who get to learn
in it. You know?
So it's, like, interesting how I feel like
they are fighting for her

(53:53):
too in a way, even though she can't
fight in the same way as them because
of her position. And as we'll see when
we get, like, toward the end of the
plotline, like, she explicitly says she's proud of
the kids. So Right. The protest planning continues,
and Daphne
says, as a bunch of them are, like,
talking in a classroom, to get on the
front page, it needs to be big and
loud. And she says, everyone in the city

(54:13):
has to know we're not coming out till
we get what we want. I love that
there is so much strategy and, like, communication
strategy in particular, which is, you know, what
I do for a living,
involved in this protest. Definitely more premeditated than
some of the others that we've covered on
this show. Like, Harpreet High did not feel
this well organized for a good Yeah. It

(54:34):
wasn't in in the printed version of my
dissertation.
There's no colors.
But it when I give people when I
give, like, PowerPoint presentations, like, when I go
to a job talk or I, you know,
tell people about my research, I have, like,
a chart of the things that the different
students across my, like, 8 episodes did. And
I, like, color code them for things like

(54:55):
use of social media, you know, all these
different tactics, not only communication strategy, but also,
like, harnessing allies, doing this, that, the next.
Anyway, and switch at birth is one of
the ones that has, like, almost every color.
Like, they basically, like, capture yeah. Like, you
were saying, like, planning.
Like, all these different things that, like, some
of them didn't do. They just, like, go

(55:15):
in with no plan. Switched at Birth really
covered, like, almost every, like, category I had
of ways to, like,
start and sustain a protest.
Yeah. It makes sense why this plotline would
have been one of the, like, babies of
your of your project, for sure. So many
aspects
are explored. And so they, you know, they
make their plan. Basically, the building that they're

(55:35):
in as they're having this conversation is gonna
be their ground 0 because it's the most
visible from the street. Again, very strategic. And
so they're immediately like, okay, so how do
we get access? Principal Rose. How are we
gonna get our keys? And so they all
think for a second because they know, like,
how are they gonna be able to just
waltz into this building. It's asking me if
I have a light bulb moment, and it's
like the play. And they're all, okay. As
soon as the play ends, everyone's gonna stream

(55:57):
out into the courtyard in front of the
admin building, and we're gonna sneak in. And
as they're planning, they and Noah come in,
and one of the other kids says, maybe
they should stop and talk more later. So
not really trusting the kids in the pilot
program to be in on this. When Noah
asked what they're doing, Travis also calls back
to a very unfortunate Noah moment, which was
clearly
born of his own, like, going through it
when it comes to accepting the disease he

(56:18):
has. But he had previously
said that Travis sounds like a seal when
he talks, which is like,
cool. And so Travis said that that it's
science club and they're studying seals. I'd be
like, shut the fuck up. Like, I'm not
telling you what we're talking about.
And so Emmett also pulls Bey aside and
asked if she'd be willing to make an
art piece about what's happening. And so she

(56:39):
said, what's the piece for? Yeah. Right. You
can't tell me. It's okay. I'll see what
I can do. And so it's nice of
her and, like, a good ally moment for
Bey to actually just, like, do it without
asking too many questions. And so you do
see a montage of Bey working on her
art piece and taking a picture to send
to Emmett and everything. And so then the
day of the protest and the play, which
are going to be intermingled,

(57:00):
arrive. And as we were already saying, this
entire
execution of the protest is just, like, an
excellent opportunity to talk about how teen dramas
can do a good job of depicting how
these kinds of protests can actually, like, come
to be. And so before the play starts,
all the deaf kids were really, like, planning
this huddle off to go over the final
game plan. Daphne is instructing, like, hey, you're
gonna get the key, and you're gonna get

(57:21):
them to Travis. We'll take everything in. And
they say, like, we got it. Everyone's set.
We're good. You have to get in before
the play is over. We lose our chance.
The cast will meet up right after, and
then Catherine interrupts and says that everyone who
isn't in the play needs to clear out.
We cut to the cast of the play
having their, like, last huddle before the play
begins, and Catherine tells them that they have

(57:41):
a full house, which includes
2 reporters and 2 school board members. That's
also important for, obviously, the protest that's gonna
break out. So she wishes them all good
luck and says she's proud of them and
that she reserved 5 tables of this, like,
ice cream parlor for the cast party later.
One of the other kids is like, if
all goes according to plan, that's gonna be
one empty ice cream parlor. So they're also

(58:02):
really introducing the, like, oh, no, Catherine's gonna
feel bad aspect of things, which I'm like,
to be honest, I don't care that much
about this.
Yeah. I agree. I definitely thought a lot
less about, like, oh, poor Katherine. And much
more just like what I said earlier, like,
I have this in my dissertation too, sort
of, like, the sacrifices and stuff. Mhmm. And,
yeah, like, they put all this work into
the play, and they're also missing things like

(58:23):
their cast party and all this stuff. That's
part of sort of, like, the high school
fun experience that they have to, like, sacrifice
doing something that, like, adults should be doing
for them or the school board should just
be doing for them. Exactly. There's no reason
that they should have to interrupt their play
and cast party
by occupying their school. But, unfortunately,
the school board has chosen the cruelest possible

(58:46):
way forward, and that's leads people to do
these kinds of extreme actions. So get what
you asked for. As the play is beginning,
the students very,
way too easily get the keys from principal
Rose by setting up a coat check. And
the principal just gives her coat with the
keys inside, and they're like, great. Those are
the keys. And they hand them off to
Travis. And so Travis and one of the

(59:07):
other kids, like, has their supplies and is
trying to get into the building, but security
stops them and doesn't believe their story of
trying to deliver something. And it's like, I
don't know what you're doing, but I know
you're not supposed to be here. And so
he sends them away, and they have not
gotten into the building. Travis is kinda, like,
panicking.
And he tries to get Daphne's attention while
she's on stage, which is, like, not the

(59:28):
best tactic. But, like, I get that you're
desperate.
But, thankfully, Bey in the audience sees that,
like, Travis is clearly trying to sign something
to Daphne and
comes over. And she's like, I know you
guys are planning something. What if it and
then so he finally just, like, says, like,
fuck it and tells her. And Bey is
like, okay. You're taking over the building. And
she's like, we're not taking over anything if
we don't get rid of that security guard.

(59:49):
You need to distract him. And then Bey
is like, I have an idea, but it
would ruin the play. And he's like, so?
And she's like, my mom works so hard.
I don't know. And it's like, bitch, will
you just stop talking about Katherine's feelings about
this high school play right
now? But Travis is like, this is our
only chance to save this place. Please. And
Bay goes to pull the fire alarm. And
so, obviously, the security guard responds to that,

(01:00:11):
and he leaves the building where Travis then
tries to get in. He ends up really
taking extreme measures and throwing a rock through
one of the windows and climbing in. You
know, I I feel like it was kind
of just like a fuck it moment.
And Emmett then runs in to join Travis,
and they pull down this banner, you know,
do a little bit of a banner drop
that says, take back Carlton with a woman
holding her fist in the air that I'm

(01:00:32):
assuming
it had it feels like it's in the
style of bae's art on the show. Right?
But I don't I'm unsure if it actually
is supposed to be bae's art or not.
It is. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, she nailed
it, I would say. I definitely
took a screen cap of it, and we
will definitely use that art in our karma
for this episode because it's really it's really
cool. And they have, like, tweets start popping

(01:00:54):
up across the screen that use the hashtag
take that Carlton. And I was like, this
is especially interesting because 2013
was, like, the peak of the hashtag. But,
you know, like, that was when, like, what
hashtag you used, like, really, really mattered in
a way it doesn't the same way now.
And Yeah. Yeah. So it made a lot
of sense to me that they would, like,
really be, like, emphasizing, like, people are tweeting
about it. And, you know, people also start

(01:01:17):
flooding the courtyard with these green take back,
Carlton signs while signing the chant take back,
Carlton over and over again as they, you
know, go running toward the building to occupy
it before anyone can stop them.
And the principal tells Catherine to call the
fire department and say it was a false
alarm. Meanwhile,
Gabe's kinda like, what's going on? And kinda
like, you know, heading in the direction everyone

(01:01:38):
else is, but not entirely sure if she's
invited. And, like, Emma ends up saying it's
your school too, isn't it? And have her
come in. And there's a whole fight about
whatever Noah should be allowed in, considering he
has been rude to the deaf community at
the school before. But Daphne is kinda just
like, come in. We need to close the
door. Like, this is like we don't have
time for this. And so everyone cheers and
jumps up and down inside, having successfully taken

(01:02:01):
over the building and locked themselves in. I
must also say, obviously,
a parallel to the last episode we did
on the 1998 movie of Many Names, where
students locked themselves into their school as well.
It's, yeah, tried and true, tried and true
method.
Outside,
Catherine asks if Melody knew about this, and
she says no. And Regina says, it's just

(01:02:23):
like Gallaudet all over again. And Catherine's like,
like Gallaudet? Like, she's obviously never heard of
this. And they say there was this historic
protest 25 years ago where the students took
over the campus. And John is so annoying.
It's the beginning of him being annoying about
this. He's, like, took over. I literally was
like, shut up, you fuck. You Republican fuck.

(01:02:44):
Shut up. Like
Yeah. He's a nightmare throughout, like, this whole
show. Anyway, Regina's like, if this goes anything
like that, they're not leaving until they get
what they want, which I was like, hell,
yeah. That's right. Now we kinda get into
kind of one of our favorite things to
talk about. And I'm assuming that you'll probably
have some things to share for your dissertation
as we talk about this. It's kinda like
the nitty gritty details of keeping a student

(01:03:05):
encampment going, which we get a bit of
in this. And we also talked about quite
a bit in, like, Heartbreak High and Felicity,
both both of those being occupations as well.
So I think we're gonna see a lot
of parallels to, like, those discussions that we
previously had. But also,
you know, what happened right after our last
episode and so we didn't talk about in
the last episode, but we can talk about
now, which is that it's obviously a lot
of parallels to all the student encampments that

(01:03:27):
were erected in the spring of 2024
on various college campuses throughout the country in
solidarity with Palestine. And so I think student
encampments are having a moment, and it's cool
to bring that perspective in as well. So
we we go into the encampments, and Daphne
is, like, on her phone taking video of
everything. So at first, there's, like, a food
station with, like, Bay, Noah, and Travis. And

(01:03:50):
Bay finds 5 star cuisine. And then she
gets people who have the condoms in the
nurse's office, and they're, like, making jokes, like,
how much sex do they think we're having.
People have their sleeping bags. You see people
watching TV on a couch. So some people
are just chilling and, like, keeping the occupation
alive. In other ways, occupying themselves. But then
other people are, like, you know some of

(01:04:10):
them are monitoring the messages they're getting. They're
getting messages from supporters all over. They show
a tablet with a photo of people next
to the Golden Gate Bridge holding fines in
support of Carlton.
They say that there are reinforcements coming in
from Portland and Rochester, which are very far
places. If we're talking about, like, not some
like, I'm assuming we're not talking about, like,
Portland, Missouri or whatever. Yeah. No. They definitely

(01:04:33):
mean, like, either in Oregon. Probably Oregon. Yeah.
I thought that was interesting because yeah. Well,
it's cool, but, also, they, like, dropped those
guys off from the plot. Like, because then
it's just They do. Like, they, like, don't
let them into the school because the doors
are locked. So, like, they don't get there
before the protest is over. Yeah. There's no
way.
But I yeah. I mean, it's cool that

(01:04:54):
people are coming, and maybe they, like, are
gonna, I don't know, help out with something.
But they, like, never bring them up Yeah.
Again. So then they also find out that,
apparently, the alumni chapter at Gallaudet is gonna
wire cash.
So this has become, like, an a national
story, which is a a good parallel to
the actual protest and how it became a
national story about, you know, deaf deaf students.

(01:05:15):
And Emmett says he has set up a
Take That Carleton Twitter account, and I already
have the extremely exact number of 3,293
followers.
Then Daphne asked if there's any press yet,
and one of the students says, The Herald.
And that's another moment where they all cheer
and jump up and down at having, like,
you know, reached another milestone in their campaign.

(01:05:36):
They also plaster the, like, front doors with,
like, outward facing posters with, like, respect to
various, like, figures and, like, the death pride,
death
movement slash, like, history.
And when Daphne's done putting those posters up,
she comes back, and they have what I
think is a very interesting and important conversation

(01:05:57):
when she finds that one of them has
posted to social media with them drinking beer,
saying beer now, beer forever, which references the
Carlton now, Carlton forever, you know, slogan that
had been previously discussed on the show. And
this whole thing kind of reminds me of,
like, the heartbreak high misbehavior that we had
criticized, where it's just like low hanging fruit

(01:06:19):
for your enemies to point out and make
people not take you seriously,
which is essentially what Daphne says. Like, she's
like, you took these pictures and put them
out there. And they're like, what's the big
deal? And she says, this is sending the
wrong message. This is supposed to be something
important to us, not an excuse to get
drunk. And the guy is like, can't we
be serious and get drunk? And it's like,
definitely not when you're a teenager at the

(01:06:39):
very least. I think that Daphne's most, like,
clear
line is like, don't you get it? We
need to win the public over. They have
to pressure the school board to change their
minds. I just, like, love that she's, like,
done that power analysis.
You know? I know. Yeah. That was funny
because they did a good job showing that,
yeah, teens will react to,
I don't know what, like, powerful people.

(01:07:02):
It like leaders in really different ways. And
some people were like, okay. We need, like,
one person who
knows this area well, and we should follow
them. And other people are like, she's a
dictator. I'm leaving. Exactly. And so that's what
ends up happening because Daphne then decides that
the solution to people going rogue and tweeting
random stupid shit is that everyone needs to

(01:07:22):
give in their electronic devices, essentially. She says
they need a unified message. And until they
figure out what that message is gonna be,
nobody is gonna text, email, or tweet. And
somebody says
I think the same person
who had done the drunk tweet, I guess.
They said, like, who put you in charge?
And one thing that I think is worth
discussion is the fact that, like, Daphne's response
to this was my idea. I organized this.

(01:07:44):
Because, like, they respond we all organized this.
But I'm like, yeah. Like, I I do
think it was your idea, but, like, you
you can't and shouldn't take full credit
and and self appoint yourself like the ultimate
leader. It's definitely not, in my opinion, the
most effective way to start a protest movement.
And obviously, that is the behavior that kind
of turns some of the protesters off. And

(01:08:06):
Travis is definitely on Daphne's side, and he
points out that someone tweeted under their hashtag,
I support these kids' right to party.
And Daphne is like, this is not what
we want. We're supposed to be teaching people
that deaf education counts, not that beer is
good. And someone tells her to relax, but
she's like, don't do that. And she says,
no. People are not going to take us
seriously unless we show them we are serious.

(01:08:26):
Please give me your phones, laptop, anything of
the screen. But she's the first one to
put her phone in there. And then Bay,
Noah,
Emmett, Travis,
all follow,
and a few others who we don't know
start until it's pretty much everyone. But the
the original beer tweeting guy says he's not
here for a dictatorship and is out of
here. Some of the other guys actually make
a good faith effort to try to get

(01:08:47):
him to stay. But
he says he won't be Daphne's puppet.
And a character identified as Joanna wants to
leave too. And so Daphne kind of has
a if anyone else wants out, this is
your chance. Go moment. No one else moves,
and those 2 leave. So that's, like, one
of the main conflicts, I'd say, they deal
with during the the time of the student
encampment.
It's not my favorite moment because I definitely

(01:09:09):
am a bigger fan of, like, a more
horizontal structure where, like, there isn't one leader
and people are maybe sharing
the duties based on their particular skill set.
But, you know, that's not the worst critique
to have of a student.
Yeah. And I think, like, one thing we
talked about overall for the episode is that
they actually were among the most, like, organized,

(01:09:32):
prepared that we saw, like, across different series
of student protests. But I do think that
this also shows, like, just more that could
be done if, you know, audience members are
watching and thinking about doing something. So, again,
like, agreeing on a communication strategy going into
it, having not necessarily, like, one leader who
is allowed to dictate the whole strategy, but

(01:09:53):
having, like, a media team or having an
agreement that like, I saw that in a
lot of the, like, 2024
student protests
where, like, reporters would try to get, like,
a quote from people or at the protest,
and they'd be like, oh, you can talk
to our, like, PR liaisons or whatever, having,
like, a media strategy or something like that
set before you go into it or, you

(01:10:14):
know, early in the process. Because that way,
it feels less like, yeah, putting out fires,
being reactive. This is something we don't like.
We're gonna, you know, have to reach this
extreme level of, like, no phones, no iPads,
and much more, like, going into it with,
like, a set strategy.
Again, hopefully crafted by more than one person.
Absolutely. Definitely during the, like, whole spring semester

(01:10:35):
when all of the encannons were happening, and
I was because there were a lot of,
like, right wing journalists who were, like, so
mad they couldn't find, like, one, like, straight
protester to say something, like, stupid shit. And
then, like, you know, in bad faith, like,
make it seem like that person represented the
whole movement. Like, I was just so proud
that these students knew, like, that that would
happen if they didn't humble the communication strategy,

(01:10:55):
figure out who their spokespeople were, and make
sure that everyone was disciplined enough to, like,
send people to the spokespeople.
And that's exactly what we do in union
organizing. So it's, like, part of what I
am doing when I'm working with groups of
workers is being, like, who are our spokespeople
and making sure that they're instilling in the
rest of the worker group that only those
people should speak to the press should the

(01:11:17):
press show up to a picket line or
a protest. So, yeah, it made me really
proud as a union communicator to see that
being employed in the protest movement. And it
definitely would have been a really helpful thing
for them to have done here. We're gonna
also talk about somebody else talking to the
press who wasn't supposed to a little later
in the spotlight line. But I think through
showing an imperfect one, it it does a
really good job of of educating as to

(01:11:38):
why it's so important to have a communication
strategy, like you said. So in the spirit
of trying to have a unified message, the
students next to decide that they're going to
write and come to consensus on demands, which
again, maybe would have been a good thing
to do before. But it's cool. It's cool.
You're all together. You're doing it now. It's
better than ever. And so they're, you know,
putting it down on chart paper definitely reminds

(01:12:00):
me of organizing meetings I've been in before,
circled up. And Jay asked a question that
brings up an interesting, you know, I guess,
kind of central question of these kinds of
movements, which is, are we asking for too
much? I mean, sports and art programs? And
I think Travis says we don't deserve sports
and art. And she says, of course, we
do. I'm just saying that, I don't know,

(01:12:21):
maybe we're being too greedy. And I am
just like like, what Daphne says, like, it's
standard negotiating. You ask for more, then you'll
settle for because otherwise, you have nothing left
to bargain with. That's like one thing. But
also, like, we're we're you guys are occupying
a school right now. Like, fucking reach for
the stars. Like, imagine the school you want
because you're doing the most insane thing right

(01:12:42):
now to try to get it. So you
might as well go for it. Right? And
I also just think that it's an important
lesson in movements in general to just be,
like, really, like, creative and imaginative about, like,
the world we wanna see even if we
don't get everything. Like, I just think it's
an important part of, like, the process. Right.
Or at least this first round, because I
think this, like, a second conversation they have
later is, like, to what extent do you

(01:13:06):
negotiate? And that's something I think that, like,
they struggle with throughout this. It's, like, negotiating
amongst yourself versus, like, asking for everything in
the first round and then to what extent
you're willing to negotiate.
And, yeah, I'm definitely, like, sympathetic. That's, like,
a very hard thing
to get right. Absolutely. And so the the
demands they do have on the chart paper

(01:13:27):
is, 1, Carleton will remain open and deaf,
all caps, deaf.
2, all sports and arts programs will be
restored, which was what they were referring to
in that little argument. And then 3, there
will be no repercussions against anyone involved in
the occupation. I appreciated that third one, especially
because I feel like that was another parallel
to the Palestine protest. I've been seeing that
as one of the demands when different groups

(01:13:49):
of students are, like you know, their encampment
has gotten them a meeting with, you know,
school administration or something. I feel like one
of the demands are they're always, like, not
gonna, yay, like, yield to is that no
one, you know, have any repercussions or disciplinary
action taken against them for taking part in
the protest movement. So that was a fun
parallel too. So then that brings us to

(01:14:11):
the more problematic discussion
or not problematic, but the discussion that becomes
more problematic quickly, which is the discussion of,
like, they want their school to be deaf,
but, like, Natalie says, should we specify how
deaf we want the school to be? And
it's like, oop. Here we go. And it
kinda brings back all the conflict that we
talked about from the beginning of the season
with the hearing and the deaf kids having

(01:14:32):
some clashes and tensions. Travis sees it as
a very simple
question. He says, that's easy, a 100%.
And Emmett, who, you know, obviously
has a vested interest in Bay continuing to
go to the same school as him, says,
except for the pilot program, kids.
And Travis says, no, a 100%. Period. That's
why we're here, to keep Carlton open and

(01:14:53):
deaf. And Emmett says, they're here fighting with
us. A lot of deaf kids aren't even
here, which I do think was a fair
point. And Travis says none of these problems
happened before they came here. And then Noah
brings up another complication, which is that he's
hard of hearing. And what exactly is the
right percentage of hearing loss that they're willing
to allow in? And Travis says not you,

(01:15:15):
obviously, because they have interpersonal beef. But, like
I know. I thought that was one of
the most interesting things because,
I mean, even amongst the students who, like,
always went to Carleton before the, like, pilot
program, not all of them are profoundly deaf.
A lot of them are, like, hard of
hearing. Many of them use hearing aids, not
cochlear implants. Many of them, you know, identify

(01:15:35):
as, like I was saying, big d deaf
even if they're somewhere on, like, the hard
of hearing background. And so that was yeah.
That's, like, definitely a difficult one. And, of
course, like, Noah's in a different position, but
also when you think about these students who
talk about having a really hard time in
these, like, mainstream public schools, like, not having
a deaf centered education
and how often traumatic that was. If you

(01:15:56):
think about having, like, a gradual or even
sudden hearing loss, whatever is gonna happen to
him, to end up in that position while
you're already immersed in school, all of a
sudden you struggle
to keep up with classes, to keep up
with friend groups. I mean, it really probably
is healthier
for him to, like, foster, like, an educational
community now. I think that's, like, a really

(01:16:17):
tough one. And I think that, like, a
lot of what all the deaf students have
been advocating for is, like,
a safe space for deaf students, and this
is, like, the place, I think, for someone
like Noah to be. I think there's a
lot of parallels to just other movements where
people struggle. We'll see in later seasons with
the Black Student Union episode

(01:16:38):
of Switched at Birth where there's also
a lot of fighting even amongst black students
about
who
should, like, represent them and that sort of
thing across,
like, different situations in terms of, I don't
know, say, like, adoption or being biracial or
being from a really wealthy, not predominantly black

(01:16:59):
community, even if you are black. And, like,
there are just a lot of parallels here
to, like,
other social justice movements where you try to
define and in group. Yeah. Absolutely.
And then there obviously,
also the, like, aspect of there are these
kids in the pilot program, like, occupying the
school with us. And does that mean that
we owe them being able to be in
the school that we're fighting for? And well,

(01:17:21):
Natalie suggests, because at this point, she's softened
to Bay, she's like, maybe we can make
an exception for the program kids from this
year. And Travis is very hard. I'm like,
no. And Bay says, so I'm here fighting
to save a school that's just gonna kick
me out. And Bay also then says she's
the reason they're all here because she pulled
the fire alarm, which is, like, maybe not
the right thing to say in this moment.

(01:17:43):
Yeah. I think it's, yeah, I think it's,
like, bratty of Bay to be like like,
I'm fighting for a school that's just gonna
kick me out. Because I think, like, really,
she should be fighting for, like, oh, my
sister and my friends Right. Like, really benefit
from this educational experience. And she can still
advocate for herself. She can still say, you
know, I think the best thing for me
and my family is for me to,

(01:18:03):
like, become a stronger ASL.
I don't know what be stronger, yeah, and
commute and, like, the language that my sister
uses and, like, understand her history better. I
think, like, there are a lot of good
reasons why she should think that this school
is a better fit for her than another
school. But, yeah, it doesn't necessarily make sense
to be like, oh, I, you know, I

(01:18:23):
wouldn't be fight here fighting for the school
if I couldn't stay. And then the other
thing I think somewhat remarkable is, like, Travis,
also, like, misunderstanding,
I think, a lot of the, like, context.
So saying, like, we never had these problems
before the hearing students came. Like, that's a
little bit silly because,
like, they didn't close the school because the

(01:18:45):
hearing students came. They admit the hearing students
as part of a pilot program probably because
they were struggling with a lot of funding
issues. And, of course, there were additional costs
to the hearing students, like you mentioned, the
interpreters, things like that. Right. But I think
a lot of times people, yeah, like, get
caught up in a perceived
slight
from, like, a certain group, and they're like,

(01:19:07):
yeah, misunderstanding
the actual context of how things came to
be, which I, you know, I understand you're
a teenager. And you, like, saw these people
infiltrate your school, and now you're losing your
school, and it feels really obvious. But, actually,
yeah, like, these students didn't cause
the school to close. No. Absolutely not. Do
you think this is a good time to
talk about some of the stuff from your
disc? Yeah.

(01:19:29):
So one of the key takeaways from these
episodes, which we already talked about a little
bit, but is that protest strategies on both,
like, a macro and micro level are rarely
unanimously
endorsed by supporters of the movement. So what
I, you know, call intergroup
disagreement around the best approach,
like, arose in many of the TV shows
I looked at, including and especially this episode.

(01:19:49):
So when you think about, like, what writers
are trying to convey to audiences, I think,
like, these
shows send the message to audiences that carry
out activism, especially youth led initiatives. It can
be complicated and strife with conflict. So intergroup
conflict also arose on the issues, as you
discussed, of who would be entitled to reap
the benefit of the protest if it were
to be successful. So we saw tension around

(01:20:12):
how much to demand and what the demand
should focus on. So, again, like, asking if
it's too greedy, how many things can they
ask for, and then where the demands
should be focused. And then the other obstacle
is, like, gatekeeping and navigating in group membership,
which often leads to tension, disagreement, and stalled
progress for youth activists in their movements.
And we saw it in this episode, and

(01:20:34):
we'll talk about this a little bit later
too with, like, the newspaper interview. But disagreements
also often revolve around, like, who should be
representing or leading a community that's advocating for
change and who should be, yeah, like, talking
in the press about it or be sort
of the, like, figurehead of the movement. These
scenes show
interesting and, I think, nuanced depictions of the
place that allies have in activism and the

(01:20:55):
way that people, especially teenagers, might struggle to
draw boundaries around immigrant membership. They, again, like,
she is right to be like, it was
a huge sacrifice for me to pull this
fire alarm because, a, you can be arrested.
B, my parents are gonna be super pissed
at me. Like,
c, I could get kicked out of the
school that I really love, you know, even
before it closes. Like, they're they really did

(01:21:16):
take on, like, a significant role, but it
wasn't necessarily
appropriate
to use that as leverage
to, like, manipulate them and to keeping her
around if it wasn't in service to the
deaf community. And so I feel like she's
trying to do the right thing and also
kinda puts her foot in her mouth, and
I think that's, like, really hard for even
adults. I mean, I feel that way. Like,

(01:21:37):
even when we're doing these episodes, I feel
like sometimes it's like I'm nervous to say
the wrong thing and have, you know, like,
different
groups representing the TV shows, feel like we're
misrepresenting them and stuff. Oh, totally.
That's part as an adult. And so to
think about a teenager is just, like, you
know, really hard to get right. And then
I had in my dissertation sort of like

(01:21:58):
a figure, a chart of some of the
key areas of tension. But you already mentioned
the big one I picked up on, which
was, like, talking about the school being a
100% deaf, but not that all students have
to be themselves a 100% deaf. And that's
Right. Really complicated because many students, even who
identify as deaf, are experiencing some degree of
hearing ability. And then, like,

(01:22:19):
the conversation around,
like, the Twitter and phone
use, etcetera, like, that was a big fight.
They and Daphne start fighting a little bit
later. We were talking about how much to
ask for in, like, the first round of
negotiations, and there's also fighting amongst the students
after they first talk to the school board.
But I'll wait to debrief those a little
bit later. So I had, again, written this

(01:22:40):
as sort of like a scholarly paper. And
so I had connected some of this to,
like, existing research on youth social justice movements.
So I just wanna share a little piece
of that. So these various debates between allies
and in group members, even amongst in group
members,
demonstrate that it can be hard to organize
a coalition of activists and form a united

(01:23:01):
front. And then I'll send you a link
to this article, but Gordon
said this between
2009 article, so this actually predates the episode.
She says, we cannot ignore the many obstacles
that youth encounter as they try to mobilize
their peers into powerful social justice campaigns. These
obstacles provide essential clues to scholars trying to
figure out why so many youth are not
politically active. And I think that's really powerful

(01:23:23):
here because a lot of what I study
is, like, how are these episodes going to
impact audiences and potentially mobilize them towards social
action or discourage them? And this one is
really hard because in so many ways, you're
like, oh, this seems cool. I'm gonna do
something like that if there's an injustice in
my community. But in other ways, you're like,
oh my god. They're all mad at each
other.
No one's the guy's right. Like, everyone says

(01:23:44):
something that pisses off one of their friends.
Like That's true. Their parents are mad at
them, all the stuff. And so I feel
like that's what you sort of have to
balance when you think about this. And then
I also just wanna say that, like, this
episode demonstrated that youth activists
struggle to figure out what, like, a win
is. And I think that's what we start
to see in this episode is, like, Bay

(01:24:05):
wants what's I think she really I mean,
she's a little bit selfish, but I think
she really does want, you know, Emmett, her
sort of
friend, boy,
friend throughout this interest. To have, yeah, to
have, like, the school. She wants her, like,
somewhat sister, her twin ish.
Yeah. To have this school that's really meaningful
to her. And so I think that, like,

(01:24:25):
she really wants Carleton to stay open. And
so, generally, the win for her would be
the win for the rest of them. But
if their win is Kippie at a 100%
deaf, that's a bummer for her because she's
hearing and she wants to attend the school.
And it's the same thing for other people.
Like, a win might just be we keep
the school open. Because if fine if funding

(01:24:46):
is finite, which it is, and they have
x amount of money
to keep the school open, one person in
the in group might say, I wanna allocate
all the money we can towards, like, sports
and arts and clubs and stuff like that.
And if that means accepting 50 hearing students
to subsidize the cost, I'll take the 50

(01:25:06):
hearing students to keep arts and sports. And
other people's win would be,
nothing's more important to me than keeping the
school a 100% deaf, and I'll sacrifice
arts and sports for that. And so that's
something that's really interesting here is that, like,
when there's, like,
a zero sum game in terms of finances,
people are going to have different things that

(01:25:26):
they consider, like, the best case scenario.
Or that's not fair to say. I guess
they all
sometimes there's a clear best case scenario. But
if you have to go to a second
case scenario, a lot of people aren't going
to agree on that. Yep. Exactly.
We even deal with that, like, when we're,
you know, negotiating contracts in union spaces. But
when we do our contract surveys, we have

(01:25:46):
to be very specific about, like, what is
your top priority?
Because, like, eventually, we might have to let,
you know, let go on one of them.
And so we need to know exactly what
majority care about the most. Another aspect of
this that I know played a big role
in your dissertation and in comparison to some
of the other series you studied is the

(01:26:06):
the reaction of parents
when youth engage in activism
And how there can be a big range
of reactions, which we do see in the
Yeah. The slip of birth episode. We already
saw before, you know, zeroing in on this
that Regina immediately was like, oh, this is
like, you know, Gallaudet. And Catherine was like,
what's that? So, like, there's already that range
that's been introduced. We have a scene of

(01:26:28):
the adults all outside of the the occupation.
John says that they shouldn't be here twiddling
their thumbs. And Melody very sarcastically asks if
they should bulldoze down the door. And he
literally says maybe. And I'm like, god, you
are the worst, dude. And the principal says
she's been in touch with the school board
and the police, and nobody thinks there's any
reason to panic. Important note, John asked if

(01:26:49):
they can cut off power to the building.
And Catherine's
right? And Catherine says they can't do that.
And he literally makes sure that we all
know exactly that what he was thinking, which
is that if they get cold enough, they'll
drag their asses out of there. And Melody
reminds him, an important reminder for parents everywhere,
we're not at war with them.
Yeah. Really. And so then, we get another

(01:27:10):
parent scene when the 2 students who decide
to leave the protest because, you know, they
think that Daphne is a dictator.
The one of the guys says to the
parents, it's getting militant in there, which I
feel like John has an actual reaction to.
Yeah. He says they're taking everyone's phones, and
it's getting crazy. And so later, Catherine says
that they're tweeting that dozens of kids are

(01:27:31):
coming to join them. You know, all the
kids we had heard about coming from Rochester
and Portland, apparently. And John says, do you
see? We have to shut this thing down
right now. And I'm just like, you
I'm like, I hate you. You're like, exactly
how I hope my parent wouldn't respond if
I was doing something like that. Yeah. He's
like a bit of a caricature. They've become
so exaggerated.

(01:27:51):
Exactly. And it's definitely interesting,
especially with him, like, running for office as,
like, a Republican in this season,
that this is, like, pre Trump
era
Republican party. But that doesn't mean that it's
not, like, shitty and racist and that it
is a different era for sure than, like,
what we're living in now. And so then,
we eventually get around to the point that

(01:28:12):
Melody says that if Daphne is the leader,
maybe Regina should go in and try to
talk some sense into her. But Regina,
this is another plot that we're not gonna
get super into. But Regina just got a
text from Daphne that alludes to the fact
that Daphne knows Regina is off the wagon
and has been drinking again after Regina is
an alcoholic. So Regina has to be like,

(01:28:32):
I don't think I'm the right person to
do this without telling everyone why. And so
the principle is like, okay. I need someone
to go in there, or there's gonna be
a public safety issue. Not really sure what
has changed to make this suddenly a public
safety issue, but okay. And they all look
to Melody to go in, and they do
say, I think you're the only one they'd
even consider letting in, which I think is
an accurate read of the situation. So Melody

(01:28:53):
does go in, and she she, like, you
know, just went into the room with her
all with the chart paper with the demands
written on it. And she kinda, like, asks
about these red pins that they're using to
mark everywhere they've gotten support on a map.
And Daphne is like, okay. So are you
supposed to convince us to give up and
come out? Melody says, well, the school board
does say that it will meet Monday morning

(01:29:13):
to reassess the situation. And they say, okay.
Well, that doesn't mean anything. And she says,
if you come out now, there won't be
any consequences for all this. And they'll reconsider
your request. The school stay open. And Travis
says, if we come out now, we've got
no leverage, which is very fair. Are they
going to expel us from school? Natalie asks.
And Melody says, I don't know.
And one of I I think maybe, Daphne.

(01:29:35):
Somebody says, I don't care if they do.
And then Travis says, me neither. And Melody,
being probably the best parent of the bunch
in this scenario, it says, I'm not here
to tell you what to do. This is
your fight. And so they all kinda unanimously
are like, okay. So we're staying. And everyone
cheers and pumps their fists in the air.
And Melody says, I'm proud of you, all
of you. Then she walks back out to

(01:29:57):
rejoin the other parents. So that's a big
range of parental reactions for sure that we
saw. Yeah. I'm curious. I know so, like,
for those who haven't potentially listened to any
of our episodes where we talked to Kelly
about her dissertation before, Kelly did a few
different methods of the research collecting, one of
which being, like, actual reactions from, like, young
people watching these episodes. So I'm curious if

(01:30:17):
there were any reactions about specifically the, like,
parental aspect of things. Yeah. A little bit.
I think that one one person I remember,
she was talking about
how, like, people's relationships with parents would differ
a lot. So she was like, this is
actually about Felicity too. Oh, okay. Yeah. She
was like yeah. Just the idea that, like,
the dad would make these threats or something,

(01:30:38):
like and that would sway them is, like,
totally detached from, like, her own relationship. And
other people were much more like, oh, yeah.
That would really,
like, scare me
if, like, my parents got involved. So one
of the things, like, Maria said, I did
was a content analysis. So we already talked
about all the examples
of John being like a pill while they

(01:30:59):
were waiting outside. And I don't wanna get
ahead of where we are in the story
line, so I won't share the ones that
we haven't gotten to yet. But I will
connect
some of the
parental stuff to, again, this reading by Gordon
that I cite a lot. I pulled together
all the episodes that we talked about. So
so I jumped to the perfect guy and
Felicity, now all of which we've talked about,

(01:31:22):
had an example of taking control of school
buildings without permission or support of their teachers
and administrators.
So its writers were grounded in this real
world struggle of young people to situate their
activism
in and around all their educational institutions. So
Gordon says, quote, rather than encouraging youth to
engage in civil society as active problem solvers,
The battles of high school movements to organize

(01:31:44):
on school grounds reveal the ways in which
students are actually diverted from political engagement by
adult society. A a lot of this is
more about, like, teachers and administrators
than parents, but it all sort of ties
together. So she also says that youth activists
in her study sometimes referred to parents as
roadblocks to their actual civic participation,

(01:32:05):
while others said they were major supporters. So
another quote, she says, the story of youth
movements is much more than the story of
youth political power. It is ultimately the story
of how all of us, teachers, students, activists,
parents, allies, policymakers, and media makers facilitate or
disrupt youth political powerlessness.
It's about our role in helping youth and
their struggles to transform from citizens in the

(01:32:27):
making into political powerhouses,
valuing them for the strengths they possess and
the social justice visions they provide and not
just for the adults they'll become. So I
think this argument underscores the importance of analyzing
not only the youth activists on screen, which
we mostly focus on, but also the actions
and words of the other characters who are
major players in their sociopolitical world. So we
talk a lot about Melody who works at

(01:32:47):
the school, is also a parent, is also
deaf. She's very significant, but also the way,
like, Regina, who's more supportive, plays a role
here versus, like, Catherine and John who are,
like, a little bit less supportive. Even the
principal plays a really interesting role rhetorically
because, yeah, like, she is very supportive of
them. She voices her support a lot for
the school, for their mission vision, but also

(01:33:10):
is quite stern when it comes to, like,
you need to get out right now. You
have no leverage, etcetera. Right. And then the
last thing I wanted to bring up from
Gordon is that she says the themes of
gender parental power and mobility
must become central to considerations of how teenagers
become community activists. This is about, you know,
the real world, but bring it back to
the show. In my content analysis, I pay

(01:33:31):
close attention to the role of parents in
each story line. And so Gordon's research found
that among girl youth activists, they have a
more market discontinuity
between their political ideals and their political action
because of their conflicts with parental power. Moreover,
boys in the study reported having more confidence
in dealing with parental power and saw this
authority as less absolute and more manageable than

(01:33:52):
their girls counterparts did. She argues that this
gender bias was born from the broader gender
differences and how parents set expectations for their
children. She explains that, quote, parents often expect
a measure of independence,
even defiance from their sons that they do
not expect from their daughters. So when we
think about this episode, Faye and Daphne definitely
get a lot of the, like, negativity from
their parents, Regina being an exception, but Faye's

(01:34:16):
adopted parents and Daphne's birth parents. Also, like
Melody, we don't know. We can't know what
didn't exist in the show. Maybe she would
have been equally supportive of a daughter, but
it's important to note that it was her
son that was in there. And, again, maybe
when she was like, I'm proud, like, she
would have felt different if it was daughter.
Yeah. But there are exceptions to this. Like,
even within my sample, like, in Heartbreak High,

(01:34:37):
when, like, Amery and what's that boy? And
aunt, when both their moms were yelling at
them, aunt was much more scared of his
mom Yes. Than the area was. So it's
definitely not like a hard and fast rule,
but I think it is interesting to think
about, like, how young girls are expected to
be obedient in a different way than boys
maybe. Totally.
I think the last thing in terms of,

(01:34:59):
like, adults in their network I want to
point out is that, like, the writers of
this episode seem to be sort of communicating
that adults in administrative roles won't act of
their own volition to make positive social change.
Mhmm. So, like, the, you know, board of
6 people we saw at the school
board meeting, like, none of them, you know,
obviously, were particularly moved by, like, down these,

(01:35:22):
please. And then even, like, the principal of
Carlton, you'd think would be, like, their biggest
ally. Even she felt like she couldn't, you
know, be the one to shake things up.
And so I started explaining my dissertation
this often because they
aren't motivated to fight for change
even if they support. So there's kind of,

(01:35:42):
like, the 2 tiers. In some, they just,
like, don't support what the students want. In
other ones, they support what students want, but
sort of like you were saying about, like,
do adults get more conservative over time? They're
just like, okay. That's, like, the fact of
life. Life's unfair.
Like, we're shuttering our doors. Oh, well. Now
we have to, like, obey
what, you know, the mayor and school board
want or whatever. Right. Totally. So, yeah, that's

(01:36:04):
kind of what I had about, like, the
adults, both, like, the parents and, like, the
administrators. I thought it was really interesting to
tie that into, like, what Gordon studied about
real world youth activism.
Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. I definitely see why that
that particular study was so heavily quoted Yeah.
In your dissertation.
So
at the very end of 9th episode, Bay

(01:36:25):
confronts Daphne saying that she was quiet while
everyone was arguing about whether the hearing kids
should stay at Carlton.
And Daphne kinda says, like, I don't know.
Like and Bay says, I asked you before
I enrolled here, and you said you didn't
care. And Daphne is honest about the fact
that she didn't then. And clearly, the, like,
experience of having hearing kids in her space
has maybe shifted her opinion. And they kinda,

(01:36:47):
like, go for the jugular. Just like, I'm
sorry. You got attacked on that truck, but
taking the ad on hearing people is not
the right answer. And I'm like, girl, no.
Oh, I'll find She says, that's not what
I'm doing. And then they really go for
it. It's like, I feel like, at least
from what I've watched so far, probably one
of their biggest fights I've had, like, up
to date. Or she's like, I invited you
into my home. I convinced my parents to

(01:37:09):
let you move in. And Daphne's like, that
has nothing to do with this. And they
argue that it does. And she says, you
should have stood up for me. That is
what you do for family. And Daphne says,
you're making this personal. This is so much
bigger than the 2 of us, and I
can't believe you don't know that by now.
And then there's this, like, really, like, beautiful
moment where the hearing comes back for the
viewer, and you're, like, suddenly back in, like,

(01:37:30):
the hearing
usual point of view that we always watch
at the show in. And Bay hears sirens.
And, obviously, Daphne can't hear them. So she's
like, what is it? And Bay says, the
cops are here. And the episode ends of
Daphne peeling back one of the posters that
they'd had, like, on the inside of the
door to look outside, and she definitely looks
afraid. And that's the cliffhanger that the 9th
episode ends on. So I did think it

(01:37:51):
was interesting that they had Bae and Daphne
have that conversation.
I really love the transition back into being
able to hear that was, like, really masterfully
done and, like, a very, like, hashtag dramatic
ending. I appreciate it. Yeah. I think there's
a lot of good stuff there. Again, like,
thinking about
not only, like, how powerful this episode is
for the deaf community, but also thinking about,

(01:38:12):
like, the parallels to other justice movements. And
I think that's something you have a lot
where
people, yeah, try to make it personal, like,
whether
it's, like, the
white relatives
of, like,
a, and a black adoptee
or something like that where people are, like,
you know, how can you make these, like,
blanket statements about, like, not wanting white people

(01:38:34):
in the space when, you know, I'm a
white person, and I've been so good to
you. And it's like Mhmm. You're missing the
point and sort of, yeah, this, like, almost
guilt trip around the quote, unquote favors that
she and her wealthy
hearing family did for Daphne. It's all very
frustrating.
And I can understand, you know, especially,
again, these are children from Faye's point of

(01:38:55):
view being like, I let you into my
home, and now, like, Carlton's your home, and,
like, you're not applying the same thing here
and, like, not understanding that. But, of course,
like, there is a difference, and there are
nuances. And Daphne, like, tries to get her
to understand that, but then, yeah, they're sort
of, like, cut short. Absolutely. Yeah. They're cut
short short by the literal fucking cops. And
so that's also a thing that we've discussed

(01:39:15):
before is the, like, threat of police retaliation,
you know, the threat of the administration
picking the police on students
too, which, you know, another parallel to the
student encampment Palestine movement.
My alma mater, Emerson College, I believe, unless
it changed since then, at a certain point,
held the record for the most student protesters

(01:39:37):
arrested in one, you know, go, and it
was really brutal arrests. Real fucked up shit.
So this is definitely very relevant to what's
happening right now in student movements
is, yeah, using
police for what they're really good for, which
is protecting private property and institutions of power.
And so we've gotten to that stage in

(01:39:59):
that there have been times in other plot
lines where it's threatened, but it doesn't quite
happen. Right? And they come to a solution
before the cops have to come in. But
in this plot line, they go all the
way all the way with it. So once
the 10th episode begins, we return to outside
the building being occupied. There are cop lights
flashing, and yellow caution tape is set up
around the area. We again see Daphne peering

(01:40:20):
out from behind one of the posters at
the scene outside. And there are also now
news cameras, which you must know. So we're
gonna quickly watch the clip of Daphne stepping
outside and actually addressing the crowd and, for
the first time, actually sharing the students' demands
of the public.
This is gonna go home. I don't know,
but I don't like all this passion. I'm
just kidding. Yeah. You serve, honey. Shut up,

(01:40:41):
John.
Yeah. Melody's saying we have to be patient.
Yeah, girl.
Agreed. I will wait on that. I don't
really wanna
know.
Oh, yeah.
So many cameras.
Flash, flash.
We will end our occupation of Carleton

(01:41:04):
with the following demands are met.
The Carleton campus
will remain open,
and the student body will be comprised
of deaf students only. And there will be
no recriminations
for any of the students involved
in the occupation.

(01:41:25):
You are in no position to be making
demands.
I don't feel she is, but okay. The
only question right now
is will you be removed by force,
or will you come out voluntarily? I'm just
like, girl, you wish that they weren't in
a position to make demands Like, you wish.
Like, there's no other reason that you would
be, like, resorting to force Right. From the

(01:41:47):
fact that they have yeah. They have they're
they're doing a good job at protesting. So
so I I and also just like I
just like love that moment. Daphne looks so
fucking nervous when she, like, goes out there
to give that statement. Like, she is kind
of, like, the representation on the show of
probably the, like, the deaf person with, like,
the most clear speaking voice, I guess, you
could say. And so but still, I think

(01:42:08):
that for any deaf person, having to address
a large hearing crowd with your, like, voice
is probably not
exactly a fun time, and it's probably very
nerve wracking. So I feel like she, like,
really, like, you know, killed it in, like,
actually, like, going out there and representing everyone.
I think it's important to note because it's
gonna come up later when we talk about
the the Thurber, Bay, and Daphne conflict over
the newspaper article, is that, like, Daphne came

(01:42:30):
out to, like, only deliver
demands that had been debated and crafted and,
like, had consensus
from the group. Like, just those demands. Like,
she didn't say anything that hadn't been kinda,
like, decided by the whole group when she
went out there. I'm teeing up her argument
against bae later. But yeah.
So yeah. So let's quickly watch. You know,
now, obviously, all the kids have a choice

(01:42:52):
to make. If we stay, they will forcibly
remove us,
will be expelled from school, and possibly arrested.
And so to Travis, like, did they say
anything about keeping the school open? And she's
like, nope. Then we stay and fight, Travis
says. And Natalie agrees. That's right. Emmett wants
to know what Daphne thinks. And Daphne has
the best response, which is that we let

(01:43:13):
the police in, then we sit down, we
don't resist, and we force them to drag
us out
in front of all the reporters. It's like,
yep. That's what I call strategy.
Bugs, but it's where you are. They're banging
on the door now, which They're banging on
the door. Have to tell everyone, obviously.
And so, yeah, they all sit down on
the ground, and they're just gonna, you know,

(01:43:34):
stand strong. I do love this image that,
like, Bae and Daphne are next to each
other as they're, like, sitting down
even despite
their conflict.
You know, they're still standing together.
Yeah. We now cut to them literally being
dragged out when a reporter comes up. Was
anybody hurting there?

(01:43:56):
You know he's dead. Right? Hey. Hey. You're
not. If you can hear what I'm saying,
what were you doing in there? Same thing
as everyone else in there, protesting the closing
of the best school that I've ever been
to. Can I quote you on that? Sure.
Faye Kenish. Ow. My underarm.
That one moment
does so much.
Yeah. One of the things I talk about
with
students who did, like, my focus groups, we

(01:44:17):
watched a bunch of episodes, is also how,
like, identity plays a role in different, like,
threats and risks and stuff. And so I
think, like, one thing they don't talk about
here at all is, like, race and safety
and how, like, someone like they also might
feel, like, cockier Yes. Around the cops versus,
like, being a deaf person or being a

(01:44:38):
black student, getting, like, dragged out by the
police and the degree to which you can,
like, be sassy or something to the cops,
which they don't, like, totally address here. But
I do know I'm not sure if you're
there yet, but there's an episode in the
series where Emmett gets, like, pulled over by
the police or something. And it's, like, a
very dangerous situation because they're, like, hands up,
hands up, and he doesn't hear them. And

(01:44:58):
that's, like, very scary. And so I feel
like one thing that, like, of course, they
can't do everything, but that they could have
done a little bit more here is also
talking about, yeah, like, a, how scary it
would be to be with police who, you
know, are probably screaming orders at you that
you can't hear or you can't if they
have you dragging on the floor, you can't
read their lips. Like, how scary that is,

(01:45:20):
especially for deaf students. And then also if
there are students of color or students who
maybe can't pay bail, like, all sorts of
things Right. That could make this, like, much
scarier for certain students than others. Yeah. And
it kinda sucks that they don't get enough
notice to be like, okay, if you can't
get arrested, like, leave. It's just like we're
all getting arrested or we all aren't. Like,
it's kind of an all or nothing situation,

(01:45:41):
which doesn't always happen in these kinds of
situations, but does here. Right. Or if you're
undocumented, also Right. Exactly. And the cops just
like, they come so quickly after talking to
Daphne. Like, they don't have time to really
do much besides, I guess, we're getting dragged
out in front of those reporters
and making them look awful for just, you
know, literally dragging a bunch of deaf kids

(01:46:03):
out of their own school. And then obviously,
we'll we'll continue to discuss the implications
of Day having talked to a reporter and
given her name and everything to be quoted.
So even if, you know, what she said
wasn't necessarily wrong, it's just about who's saying
it, which we'll talk about more. So we
are not gonna move into the fallout and
conclusion of the spotlight line. We obviously I
know one of the things that you've talked

(01:46:24):
about in your dissertation, we've talked about on
this show is that on episodes like this,
there's always a spectrum of, like, how much
the kids actually win what they were asking
for. And we'll talk about how, like, this
is a pretty incomplete victory on that spectrum.
So after the kids get arrested, we cut
to the whole family returning home. I I
assume the kids have been released. And Catherine's
first question is, like, why did you have

(01:46:46):
to ruin the play? And I'm like, girl,
what is wrong with you? Now I got
your first question.
But John then says something that makes me
even more angry, which is, did you really
think you could change the school board's mind
with that prolonged temper tantrum?
Referring to a very strategic and organized direct
action as a prolonged temper tantrum fills me
with so much rage. Me too. That one

(01:47:09):
was like yeah. One of
the, like, I'd say, yeah, most powerful quotes
in terms of, like, the belittling
of, like, youth activism. And again, like, equating
yeah. Not only, like, a super well organized
protest to, like, a temper tantrum, but really
just any expression of, like, this is an
injustice.
Like, what people love to turn it into,

(01:47:30):
like, oh, they're hysterical.
Yeah. In a really, like,
condescending way that trivializes,
like, what they're trying to achieve.
Absolutely. Thankfully, we do have Regina who comes
through with the have you people
ever heard of simple disobedience,
and she, like, references Martin Luther King. This
is how change happens. Daphne tries to be
like, I got this. But Katherine kinda like

(01:47:51):
if, like, we should all get some rest
and discuss this in the morning, and the
the conversation is kind of, like, cut short.
So the next day, Daphne has texted a
photo of the front page of The Herald,
which is, like, the newspaper they were all
excited to have been to be mentioned in
earlier. And photo is on the cover of
Bay getting arrested probably because, you know, she
was quoted. And Yeah. That's awful.
So Daphne pulls Bay aside and says, hey.

(01:48:13):
Did did you talk to the press? And
she says, yeah. Why? Am I quoted? Like,
obviously. And Daphne, very point blank, says we
didn't take over the school so a hearing
person could speak for us. And Bey, who's
clearly still mad about being excluded from the
school potentially, says, no. You took it over
so you could make sure people like me
never go there again. So that's like, you
know, the conflict kind of continues to fester

(01:48:35):
as the episode continues. Daphne, however, does come
into the kitchen and tell Regina that she's
not expelled. There's been a communication from the
school that there's a big assembly tomorrow, and
they're all expected to be there. And because
Daphne is very much in high energy campaign
mode and refuses to engage with, you know,
Regina trying to talk about her drinking. And
it's just, like, I need to contact Emmett
and everyone and see what this means. Like,

(01:48:55):
I did laugh, and I had to include
it in here. The one line
that John got me with was when Toby
gets engaged to Nikki in this episode, and
he's like, why didn't he occupy his high
school like everybody else in the family? That's
so funny. I don't even remember that because
I
I just, like, didn't include stuff that didn't,
like, directly involve the story line. Totally. But

(01:49:17):
I was just like, that is a hilarious,
like, throwaway line in the middle of all
this chaos. But it also is just funny
that in the middle of all this chaos,
Toby is just, like, getting engaged. Right. But
so then Daphne shows up at school, and
Travis says, all hail the conquering hero.
And she says, you know something I don't.
And he says, they wouldn't call an assembly
just to tell us the school is closing.
What if we they do? Then we walk

(01:49:37):
out. Anything less than our demands, we keep
on fighting. So Travis is definitely, like, the
most militant. He's like, we're not accepting anything
less than exactly what we asked for, which
is not realistic, but also at I get
it at the same time. Meanwhile, Bae complained
and this is, I think, one of the
things that you wanted to talk about that
we saved for later, which is that Bae
then complains to Noah that Daphne has gone

(01:49:57):
from student body leader to Kim Jong Daphne.
So I I do think that, like like
I said earlier, I do have critiques of
Daphne positioning herself as, like, this, like, ultimate
leader of the movement. But I do still
think that she's right, that they shouldn't have
spoken to the press because the group didn't
have consensus for her to do so. And
prior to now, the only statements that have
been put out of reporters were the list

(01:50:18):
of demands that everyone had crafted, heavily debated,
and then voted on together. It definitely
strategically makes sense why anyone would be mad
at her. And Noah also points out that
deaf people always have hearing people speaking for
them. And even though they insist that she
wasn't trying to speak for anybody and that
she was just answering a question,
Noah says, all I'm saying is that I
see why Daphne was upset, and this is

(01:50:39):
why people in movements need media training.
Right. I was thinking that to yeah. I
mean, I'm a 100% with Daphne being, like,
we didn't want, like, a hearing person speaking
for us or whatever. And but I and
I agree. But it's also frustrating, like, the
media, of course, like, they if this is,
like, what you were saying about the pro
like, the media trying to, like, get one

(01:51:01):
buzz quote that could, like, sensationalize everything. Like,
the media also shouldn't have been, like, here's
a protest led by 99% of deaf people.
We'll hear from the one hearing person at
the deaf school. Right. And so, like, things
like that, like, I think also it's frustrating
that, like, the media also plays a role
in
things like spiraling out of control in terms

(01:51:21):
of the narrative, which is, like, really frustrating
instead of, like, being in service to,
like, the reality. Again, because this wasn't a
movement, like, about bae or about it being,
like, the best school she'd ever been to
as a hearing person. But that's also yeah.
Like, they shouldn't have put they shouldn't have
had the protest to keep the school for
the deaf open,

(01:51:41):
have, like, the cover photo be a hearing
person, and, like, that's also on them. Absolutely.
Yeah. And I think that's why it's just,
like, important to, like, not ever see the
media as, like, going to be your friend
and, like, that it's, like, that you that
you you don't have control at the end
of the day of what they write. So
you could only thing you can control is
what is given to them from your group.

(01:52:03):
And that's why it's so important to be
disciplined with that in a way that they
wasn't. And I I do think that her
own feelings about all of this were, like,
clouding her ability to, like, realize
that she shouldn't, like, speak on behalf of
the movement. Then we get to the actual
conclusion of what the final decision of the
school board is. So for better or for
worse, Daphne is identified by the administration as

(01:52:25):
the leader, and so she has called into
the principal's office along with Melody to reveal
what the outcome is gonna be. So it's
gonna be our last clip. We're aware that
you were the leader. That's why you're here.
But
as reckless as your actions were, your protest
has forced the school board to
reconsider

(01:52:45):
closing Carlton.
You definitely mean we're staying open?
Oh, god.
But
there will be some changes.
The student body will expand to include more
hearing students,
and we agreed to 50%.

(01:53:09):
The school is not financially sustainable otherwise.
So it'll be like a bigger pilot program
that hearing kids will all find? They'll have
to take basic AFL?
No. If only.
No. We're going to be a ghetto in
our own school, she says.
With hearing kids talking everywhere,
how is that a win? Melody says every

(01:53:29):
negotiation reaches a point where everyone has given
as much as they're going to give. If
the students don't accept this, we could lose
everything.
And they're also going to be looking up
to you for your opinion. Exactly. Do you
want me to tell everybody how great it
is? Can we count on you for your
support?
Poor Daphne. She's so conflicted.
Yeah. So that I mean, it is a

(01:53:50):
really, like, realistic,
like, their protest moved them, but not all
the way.
Right. And I think that yeah. Like, you
talked about in my dissertation, I had, like,
sort of a spectrum. And so the Felicity
episode that we talked about and also mostly,
like, the heartbreak high one, it was like,
they got what they wanted, and also they
have, like, almost no consequences

(01:54:11):
even when a lot were threatened. And this
one is sort of in the middle because
then there are some where it's like they
get in trouble and nothing changes for the
better. This one's sort of in the middle
where, like, where they have some serious consequences
again dragged out by the police. They then
are, like, told they won't be expelled. That's
positive. And then they, yeah, sort of have
to, like, accept this compromise. And it's also

(01:54:31):
I mean, this is probably just partly because
of the, like, lack of time they had
to fit everything into, like, a couple episodes,
but they also don't totally talk about what
this experience will mean. So if it's like,
okay, the building is going to have a
hearing school in it, and your class sizes
are going to double
at the, like, death half so that we

(01:54:51):
can, like, make this financially soluble. That's, like,
really different than, like, every class is going
to be taught by it, like, spoken English
with an interpreter
or, like, yeah, like the scene where Melody
talks about, like, you go into the cafeteria
and everyone's having
50 conversations and you can't follow them. Whether
it will be like that or whether it

(01:55:11):
will still be like there are a lot
of spaces where deaf people,
like, won't lose what they had before. So
I feel like that's something kind of frustrating
here is the school board doesn't take the
time to explain
actually how this will, like, be operationalized
Yes. When they're, like, offering them this because
they could have presented this in a really
different way. And then, like, Carleton will stay

(01:55:33):
as it is, but your class sizes will
double, and 50% of the, like, real state
of the school will go
to hearing classes.
Right. Or, yeah, like, you'll have sports teams,
but they'll be hearing and deaf students together
on sports teams or things like that. Like,
they really could have explained a lot more
what this would entail or if it's just

(01:55:54):
like, really, the building will stay open and
you can all stay together, which is still
an improvement from all getting split up into
different schools. But now you'll be in
a mainstream school, but you'll just all stay
together, and it will be the same physical
building. Like, there are just a lot of
different ways this could be operationalized, and I
feel like Daphne and the other students aren't
really given a chance to understand what it

(01:56:16):
will look like. Yeah. No. I completely agree.
I do think the end of the plotline,
it kind of ends in a very odd
and abrupt way, in my opinion. Because so,
like, basically, what we have is, like, after
she
has this conversation where she's basically been told
to get the rest of the students on
board with this compromise, she does talk to
the other leaders. And Natalie says, what does
that mean for us?
One of the students makes a joke that
they should change the name to Carlson School
for whoever. And Emmett asks

(01:56:42):
what Daphne thinks, and she really follows what
the principal and Melody want her to do.
And she says, I think it's a pretty
good deal. Carlson's staying open. That's what we
wanted. And Travis is like, well, we wanted
more than that. And Daphne insists there's going
to be more hearing kids at Carlton, but
we still have a place that's ours. And
Travis really sees the future. He's like, if
we accept 50% hearing, it'll be 70% the

(01:57:03):
next year and even more the year after
that. And Natalie says, I say we keep
fighting until we get everything we want. And
everyone agrees except Daphne, who says, I think
we have to this is as good as
we're going to get. And so then Travis
says that he didn't get dragged out by
the cops so more hearings could go to
his school. And he says, if it isn't
my school anymore, I'm out of here, and,
like, actually walks away. But, like, after that

(01:57:24):
conversation, we don't really
get another conversation of the whole group. We
do get Daphne
coming to Travis Car Wash, where he's working
at noon on a Wednesday. So clearly, he
literally, like, followed through and stopped going to
school. And she says, you're giving up just
like that. No, Carlton.
No, Gallaudet. You're just gonna give up. And
he said, what is there left to do?

(01:57:44):
We fought and we lost. And she says,
you cannot give up on me. After everything
we've been through, we have to keep fighting
every day. It never stops. And I need
you. And I do agree with the, like,
it's a marathon, not a sprint of it
all. Yeah. Because, like, they are unfortunately, like,
what we said, like, as marginalized people, you're
kind of called again and again to, like,
fight for yourself and for other people like
you. And, like, this is probably not the

(01:58:06):
last time they're gonna have to do this.
Cool if they won some and not all
of what they wanted, and they have to
keep fighting. And that kinda concludes with Travis
later at the end of the episode coming
into the deaf studies class and, like, quietly
rejoining school and, like, listening to Daphne. And
there is this beautiful moment where Melody says,
when I teach this class next year, which
thanks to you, I will actually be teaching,

(01:58:27):
I won't have to go back 25 years
to Gallaudet to point to an example of
deaf students fighting back and winning. I can
talk about you.
And that was very cute. Thought it was
really nice. It showed how impactful their protest
was. And there's, like, this little photo of
all of them during the occupation that, like,
goes across the screen and everything. But it
still feels like we don't actually, like, get
a, like I don't know. It feels like

(01:58:48):
something is missing of them accepting, like, this
is what it's gonna be like going forward.
Like, it's just they all are, like, we
should keep fighting, and then they, like, don't.
I don't know.
Yeah. I agree. I guess the idea was,
like, as, like, when he was, like, okay,
we accept 50% now. Next thing we know,
it's 75. Sort of, like, after they graduate,
if they try to keep taking stuff from
them, like, Carleton students Right. Fighting. Yeah. Yeah.

(01:59:11):
Kind of the conclusion of the plotline. Did
you have any, like, things about the conclusion
of the plotline that you wanted to, like,
expand on or anything else from the disc
that we didn't get to? I mean, I
think, like, one of the things that I
thought was really realistic about this one was
just that, yeah, they don't get everything they
wanted. Again, like, the intragroup conflict was a
big part of the dissertation. So not only
did they disagree in, like, the first round

(01:59:34):
or 2 of, like, coming up with demands
and a strategy, but also even in this
last round. And I think it's also hard
in terms of, like, the messages
across episodes. So, again, like, with Felicity, her
dad had almost the same exact conversation with
her as Melody has with Daphne at the
end where he was like, I talked to

(01:59:55):
Dean Allison. This is the best it's going
to get, like, blah blah. So when he
said that and Felicity,
he was wrong. Like, they kept fighting,
and they got what they wanted. And so
if you watch Felicity,
you would, like, take from that, you know,
when a trusted adult says to me, this
is the best you're going to get. You
can actually disregard that,

(02:00:17):
and,
like, you'll keep getting stuff. But in this
show, if you just watch this, it's supposed
to be, like, a trusted adult also cares
about your cause, but they know more about
reality than you do, and, you know, you
should take their advice. And so I think
that's what's hard. Like, what I try to
do with my analyses is, like, think about
how they're teaching young people about what's, like,

(02:00:39):
possible or likely when it comes to youth
activism.
And I think this one, alongside Felicity,
makes it really hard for students to, like,
get a lesson
out of them because they there just isn't
a consistent message
across all the different depictions of, like, whether
or not you should take someone at their
word when they say this is the best

(02:01:00):
it's going to get. And that's true for
all negotiations. I mean, you're obviously the expert,
but I'm sure you've been in negotiations where
they're like, this is the absolute best we
can do, and then, like, you keep fighting.
They actually do better. Yep. Yep. Yeah.
It's the the infamous laugh, dust, and final
offer. Yes. Exactly. So, yeah, it's like you
never know when to take people at their
word because it could turn I mean, it
could turn out, like, what happened with the
school board that, yeah, like,

(02:01:23):
they don't accept this, and they're like, alright.
We're tired of you. Like, no Carlton at
all. Right. Yeah. I think that's, like, really
hard, and even professional, yeah, like, labor
organizers like you know that it's really hard
to
know when to trust someone when they say
this is, like, the best offer you'll be
given. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So I was just gonna maybe add at
the end, you know, the things that college

(02:01:45):
students who I interviewed about the episode said.
So they're across, like, all the things we
discussed.
So they'll sort of span the, like, 2
episodes. But everyone has a pseudonym, so these
aren't their real names. But I signed them
just so you can see sort of, like,
when the same person has 2 different reactions.
Okay. So one participant in the focus group,
who I call Alice, she described the group

(02:02:06):
of Carleton students and switched to his birth
as brave and said she really admired them.
So it's nice. You know? She watched it,
and she was like, I, you know, feel
really good. And then another young woman, Gabriel,
said she felt touched by the storyline and
that, like, in general, she always feels touched
when she sees people standing up for what
they believe in. Agreed. Agreed. Yes. So those
were sort of the, like, sentimental parts. And

(02:02:27):
then 2 people I talked to who I
called Caitlin and Ellie, they both said, as
you did, those smart of the Carlson student
protesters to remain peaceful and make the police
drag them out in front of the media,
arguing that this, like, shifts the narrative to
make the police look like the bad guys
instead of them. But on the other hand,
Caitlin, one of the people who had that
sentiment, she said it was, quote, dumb to

(02:02:47):
break the school window and switch them over.
Mhmm. And that's something I also I think
she was also kind of critical of, like,
in the heartbreak high up. So we talked
about how they were yeah. It was just,
like, taking what she thought to be, like,
sort of immature steps. And in this case,
I think it was, like, a little bit
more necessary than maybe, like, in heartbreak high
of some of the things she criticized were,
like, pulling down their pants and, like, being

(02:03:08):
goofy and stuff. But, yeah, this was also,
like, a part of what I talked with
people was the ones where they did something
sort of, like, illegal or, yeah, something like
throwing the brick through the window or stealing
the principal's keys, things like that, and how
people reacted to that versus, like, in Felicity,
like, they're sitting there sort of illegally, but
they didn't, like, steal keys or break windows
to get in. Exactly. That was one thing

(02:03:29):
somebody brought up. And then another person, I
call Sam, she thought both in terms of
Felicity and in this episode, it was realistic
that they weren't inclined to accept the promise
of a, like, decision review. She just jokes,
I know what happens when people have reviews,
they do nothing. Yeah. So in that that
scene, we talked about where Melody first comes
in, and she was like, they agreed to
reassess

(02:03:50):
on Monday. Like, reassessing
means nothing. They can be like, yeah. We
reassessed, and we still like what we came
up with. Yeah.
So that was something that, like, students definitely
picked up on the college students I interviewed.
So, again, not high school, which is where
this was set, but only a few years
older. They definitely were like, oh, whenever people
say stuff like that, it doesn't mean anything.
And then one thing I thought was interesting,

(02:04:11):
just, you know, comparing the real the real
life reactions to, like, the story land is
that, like,
even as people in the show couldn't agree
on, like, the path, people I talked to
also couldn't. So I had people where, like,
someone was like, oh, I don't think the
switch step birth kids should have taken that
settlement, while other people are like, oh, I

(02:04:32):
thought that was the right choice for them
to, like, settle for the time being and,
quote, test the waters to see if they
can keep pushing for more down the road.
Mhmm. So I thought that was interesting. Like,
we watched on screen people not agreeing on
how far to push it. And then even
in the room, people are like, oh, they
should push for more. Or, like, no. They're
the right people with that deal. So that's
really interesting.
Also, I had brought this up earlier, but

(02:04:53):
several of my interviewees mentioned, like, the potential
risks and, like, threshold for gardening public support
being higher for protesters from marginalized groups. And
you talked about that with, like, the drunk
tweet or whatever. But, like, one of my
people, Alice, she brought up how the Carleton
students likely had a heavier lift to get
support from the public than the characters in
some of the other clips did. She said,

(02:05:14):
quote, the deaf students might face more difficulties
when they do activism because the public has
less knowledge and recognition for their cause. Interestingly,
I talked to this student, Lucy, and a
couple
days later, she, like, emailed me. Like, I've
been thinking about this more. Wow. Really nice.
Yeah. And her email said, I was thinking
it was probably even more risky for them
specifically because they're deaf students. Deaf people are

(02:05:36):
at a greater risk for misunderstanding
police and or being misunderstood by them, which
could lead to more serious consequences than just
arrest. Sadly, if a police officer thinks the
student is ignoring them when really they can't
hear, it's possible he could resort to police
brutality or other violent tactics. While Lucy focused
on, like, the logistical aspects of being a
deaf person carrying out an act of civil
disobedience,
another person, Alice, she focused on the simple

(02:05:59):
fact that fewer people are aware of and
impacted by the deaf school's closure. They just
wouldn't necessarily, like, think through, like, all the
ways that would harm their well-being if the
school closed. They are also saying a couple
of different people that, like, try and get
people volunteer, donate money, and otherwise contribute to
the cause must be much harder for something
considered to be quote niche than an issue,

(02:06:19):
gardening support to address, for example, like inequitable
distribution of resources for men and women. So
that was one of my other ones, like,
for sex lives of college girls when Right.
She tried to, like, garner, I don't know,
like, support for, like, the girls'
sports teams getting, like, better funding because the
men's sports teams were getting much more money
than they were from the school. That's something

(02:06:41):
that much more people are like, ah, yes.
This is clear to me, sexism,
than, like, viewers who have, like, a really
clear and strong, like, sense of deaf education
and its importance. Yeah. Absolutely. And I guess,
yeah, not just viewers, but in the story
world, I guess. Yeah. They weren't talking necessarily
about viewers, but talking about, like, the,

(02:07:01):
like, media and funders and stuff in the
story world. So then just a couple of
last points. So Alice connected that back to
Daphne's argument, which we already debriefed that they
should be careful what they tweet because they
need to prove to the public that deaf
education is essential and that these students deserve
to be taken seriously and respected. And then
the last thing I want to bring up

(02:07:22):
was about, like, allyship. So one of my
interviewees, Sam, she complained a lot about bae,
about how
she,
like, made it sort of about her. So
Sam's quote was, when causes aren't necessarily about
you, it can be really selfish not to
engage for the greater good. And she said,
it's popular to say you're an ally, but
what are you willing to give up? What

(02:07:42):
are you willing to do for someone else?
And I thought that was really important because
Bey definitely, like, wanted to be there, and
she loves Carlson. She had a great experience
there much better than her, like, bougie private
school. Yeah. But the question is, like, would
she be there if it were just for
Daphne and Emmett and, like, the moral good
of supporting deaf education even if she couldn't
stay? And that was something she was really,

(02:08:03):
like, struggling with. Like, she kept being like,
I sat there and I pulled the fire
alarm and I did all this stuff, and
you're just gonna kick me out. And, like,
she sort of had to be faced with,
like, would she have done in any way
for them and not for herself? Right. And
then lastly, Sam, the person who brought that
up, said she found these characters' behaviors to
be troubling, but she's talking about Bay and
also some characters from Felicity and other shows.

(02:08:25):
But she thought it was good that Switched
at Birth, like, the writer showed audiences, how
people can sometimes be selfish when it comes
to compromising. And she said as a viewer,
she quote enjoyed the messiness of all the
intergroup
conflict and then just thought Fair enough. Of
interesting yeah. Interesting and also realistic. Those were
some of the, like, key responses I had
because, again, the people who did my focus

(02:08:45):
groups, they talked about a set of episodes.
Right. But those were the ones about Space
Shepherds specifically
that I thought were most interesting to bring
up here. Absolutely. One of my favorite things
about your dissertation is all the different perspectives
that are in it, like, all the way
from TV writers to, yeah, like, college students
watching these episodes. I'm so glad that you
introduced me to the spotlight on the show.
I think that this was such a cool

(02:09:07):
thing to actually pull off a real life
protest anniversary
episode that parallels so much about the real
life protest while honoring past activists
and, like, you know, showing that the fight
isn't over and and deaf students are gonna
keep fighting back. So glad that we got
to expand what we the issues that we're
covering too, to include more disability justice. I

(02:09:27):
think we're gonna try to do the episode
of Sex Education in season 4 where they
do a sit in sometime in the future,
not this season, but in the future. And
I yeah. It's an important, you know, system
of oppression to fight back again, so we
haven't really had a chance to cover yet.
So, yeah, thanks so much for coming back
on and sharing so much with us from
your disc. Yeah. This was great.

(02:09:54):
Thanks for listening to leftist teen drama. Follow
us on social media for updates. Links to
our Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok are in
the show notes along with links to suggested
additional reading on the topics discussed. And don't
forget to read us on Apple Podcasts and
Spotify.
Solidarity forever, free Palestine, and abolish the PIC.

(02:10:14):
Signing off, Maria.

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#28 - Deaf Students ‘Occupy Carlton’ to Save Their School on ‘Switched at Birth’ in Homage to Historic Gallaudet Protests

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#28 - Deaf Students ‘Occupy Carlton’ to Save Their School on ‘Switched at Birth’ in Homage to Historic Gallaudet Protests