Leftist Teen Drama Podcast
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leftistteendrama.bsky.social
Leftist Teen Drama Podcast
@leftistteendrama.bsky.social
110 followers 120 following 180 posts
A podcast celebrating political moments on TV teen dramas, hosted by Maria DiPasquale. Seasons 1-4 now streaming; Season 5 coming Fall 2025
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Leftist Teen Drama: a podcast for the girlies who know that “OC” is both shorthand for an organizing committee and an iconic early 2000s teen drama 💅
Hosted by @mariadip.bsky.social, produced by @ducksanddabs.bsky.social, with art by Charles O’Leary, Episode 38 of #LeftistTeenDrama is now streaming everywhere you get your podcasts.
...for being visibly queer to Delilah subverting the activist character trope. We talk about Greta’s asexuality, Nathan’s experience coming out as bisexual while having conservative parents, and the cruelty of HBO Max's decision to cancel and pull a show that so many queer teens saw themselves in.
✨EP 38 OUT NOW✨ In fulfillment of a listener request from @/vanesawye on Tumblr, Maria & recurring guest Dondré Taylor-Stewart break down the HBO Max teen drama Genera+ion. This short but impactful show is packed with political moments, from Chester’s recurring experience of getting dress coded...
💖TRAILER DROP💖 'Genera+ion' Takes On The Messiness and Complexity of Gen Z Teen Politics | @mariadip.bsky.social feat Dondré Taylor-Stewart

Episode #38 of #LeftistTeenDrama premieres Sun, Nov 2, everywhere you get your podcasts!
Tag yourself @ the Cavendish College sit-in: I’m Ms. Masters

Episode 37 of #LeftistTeenDrama is all about #SexEducation’s Season 4 disability justice plotlines, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts!
💗EP 37 CLIP💗 On the latest episode of #LeftistTeenDrama, Kelly Diaz and Sasha Blair-Goldensohn explain the “Curb Cut Effect!”

Stream Ep 37 now to hear us discuss wheelchair user Isaac Goodwin’s fight to make Cavendish College wheelchair accessible on #SexEducation Season 4! ♿
Hosted by @mariadip.bsky.social, produced by @ducksanddabs.bsky.social, with art by Charles O’Leary, Episode 37 of #LeftistTeenDrama is now streaming everywhere you get your podcasts.
Kelly and Maria also generally break down disability representation on the show, as shown through the characters of Isaac Goodwin and Aisha Green, a deaf character introduced in Season 4 who also plays a pivotal role in the sit-in. ♿
We talk about this inspiring direct action and how it parallels the real-life fight to make the New York City subway system fully wheelchair-accessible, a fight of which Sasha is part!
In Sex Education Season 4, wheelchair user Isaac Goodwin disrupts mock exams to protest the chronically broken elevator at Cavendish College, inspiring the entire student body to hold an impromptu sit-in until the lift is fixed.
✨EP 37 OUT NOW✨ Maria is joined by recurring guest Kelly Diaz and disability rights activist Sasha Blair-Goldensohn to talk about disability justice on both #SexEducation and in real life.
💖TRAILER DROP💖 ‘We’re Not Moving Until It Gets Fixed’: Isaac Goodwin, Aisha Green, and Disability Justice on ‘Sex Education’ | @mariadip.bsky.social feat Kelly Diaz and Sasha Blair-Goldensohn

Episode #37 of #LeftistTeenDrama premieres Sun, Oct 26, everywhere you get your podcasts!
Hosted by @mariadip.bsky.social, produced by @ducksanddabs.bsky.social, with art by Charles O’Leary, Episode 36 of #LeftistTeenDrama is now streaming everywhere you get your podcasts.
We break it all down while also arguing that Paige’s experience pressing charges against her rapist is essentially an essay on why the carceral system fails to bring any sort of meaningful justice for sexual assault survivors.
From spontaneously singing “Poor Thing” and driving Dean out of a public space to outing him as a rapist at his frat house and facing his lawyer down in court, Paige goes on quite the character journey as she processes her trauma.
✨EP 36 OUT NOW✨ @mariadip.bsky.social is joined by Rosalie Murray and Kelly Gilbert to discuss Paige Michalchuk’s sexual assault plotline as depicted over several seasons of #Degrassi. Similar to Tim Riggins’ arc that we discussed in Episode #7, this plotline begs for an abolitionist reading.
💖TRAILER DROP💖 Paige Michalchuk Is Not Your Poor Thing: An Abolitionist Take On The First ‘Degrassi’ Sexual Assault Plotline | @mariadip.bsky.social feat Rosalie Murray & Kelly Gilbert

Episode #36 of #LeftistTeenDrama premieres Sun, Oct 19, everywhere you get your podcasts!
#LeftistTeenDrama is a podcast celebrating political moments on TV teen dramas, hosted by @mariadip.bsky.social (hi, I made this collage in my new junk journal!) Season 5 of the pod is currently airing with new eps streaming on Sundays thru Dec 14, 2025! Listen wherever you get podcasts✨ #collage
Hosted by @mariadip.bsky.social, produced by @ducksanddabs.bsky.social, with art by Charles O'Leary, Episode 35 of #LeftistTeenDrama is now streaming everywhere you get your podcasts.
We break down the character journeys of our activist characters and the myriad tactics used throughout the movement, from canvassing for petition signatures and interviews with campus blogs to civil disobedience and even a hunger strike.
Much like the Switched At Birth Season 2 plotline Maria and Kelly discussed on Episode #28, this plotline is inspired by real-life events: namely the 2015 racial justice protests at the University of Missouri.
In Season 5 of #SwitchedAtBirth, a second protest movement emerges over multiple episodes, this time in the university setting of UMKC, purposefully told from the point of view of three Black secondary characters while they fight for racial justice on campus.
✨EP 35 OUT NOW✨ In the #LeftistTeenDrama Season 5 premiere, @mariadip.bsky.social is joined by Kelly Diaz to discuss one of the most comprehensive student protest movements that Kelly analyzed in her dissertation on depictions of youth activism on television.
💖TRAILER DROP💖#Starving4Change At UMKC: The Black Student Union Protest Movement in ‘Switched At Birth’ Season 5

@mariadip.bsky.social feat Kelly Diaz

Episode #35 of #LeftistTeenDrama premieres Sun, Oct 12, everywhere you get your podcasts!
We’ve got all our usual suspects: sit-ins and encampments and queer awakenings and class conflict galore.

So check out a little taste of Season 5, premiering on Sundays starting October 12 through December 14, 2025. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts 🎙️