Season 2 | Episode 3: Blast from the Caste with Lagralane Spirits Production Team
The co-Star of this episode:
The Comeuppance
We’d love to hear from you!
Featured Guests: The Lagralane Spirits Production Team
Can we move away from caste to create a more equitable society? How do we understand racism by looking at caste and class?
Pull up a seat and join us for a special roundtable episode with the Lagralane Team.
Using the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson as a source of exploration, we help define what caste is, and discuss how race has become the basis of our caste system in the United States. We also talk about how caste affects each of us personally – and what we can do to bring about meaningful change.
Through the lens of our multi-ethnic and multi-generational Lagralane Team, we seek to answer the question: can we move away from caste to create a more equitable society?
How can we be the guardians of truth?
Our team has a myriad of perspectives rooted in being adopted, Black, Asian, White, mixed-race, male, female, fluid and beyond … we are representative of America and we have also lived the experiences presented in Caste. We know first-hand that we’re all living in a time of discontent created by generations before us. While sipping The Comeuppance cocktail, knowing the task before us is huge, we also ask how can we make change? How can we live today so that healing can begin for so many? How do we share the task of being guardians of truth?
For more spirited discussions, make sure to subscribe to the podcast.
And if you’ve enjoyed thinking and cocktailing along with us, we’d love for you to leave us a review.
Cheers … and Please Drink Responsibly!
Links
Guests:
The Lagralane Team
(in alphabetical order)
Peppur Chambers-Soraci -
https://www.instagram.com/peppurthehotone/
AJ Dinsmore -
https://writers.coverfly.com/profile/Amanda-Joy-Dinsmore https://www.instagram.com/aj.dinsmore
Courtney Oliphant -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-oliphant-6546818a/
https://www.instagram.com/cori_anne92/?hl=en,
Matthew Soraci -
https://www.facebook.com/matthew.soraci
Mentions:
Caste:The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653196/caste-oprahs-book-club-by-isabel-wilkerson/
The Gilded Age
https://www.hbo.com/the-gilded-age
The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism by Rosalind S. Chou, Joe R. Feagin
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-myth-of-the-model-minority-rosalind-s-chou/1124310184
Model Minority Myth
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/what-is-the-model-minority-myth
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
by Clint Smith
https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/clint-smith/how-the-word-is-passed/9780316492935/
Belonging - Ben McBride
The Ideal Bartender by Tom Bullock
https://punchdrink.com/articles/tom-bollock-and-the-forgotten-legacy-of-african-american-bartenders/
https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1917-The-Ideal-Bartender-by-Tom-Bullock/IV/
Additional Links + Special thanks to:
Podcast Haven - https://thepodcasthaven.com/
Liam E. Allen (original music) - @Liamea97
“…and now I feel like I can actually make changes. It’s not racism that I’m fighting, it’s not racism that is telling me what I’m supposed to be, it’s caste.”
-Yvonne (minute 31:55)
Cocktail: The Comeuppance
Jason renamed the Bizzy Izzy to “The Comeuppance” to fit the conversation around Caste in this episode. Although many believe it is “un-American” to challenge hateful and hurtful tropes or to demand reparations from the past 250+ years, that is exactly what we should be doing right now.
The Bizzy Izzy is a classic drink by an African American bartender in St. Louis from 100 years ago named Tom Bullock, who included this cocktail in his book, “The Ideal Bartender.”
Recipe
1oz fresh pineapple juice (Dole or fresh)
1oz sherry (Lustau)
1 oz templeton rye whiskey (Templeton)
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ simple syrup
A couple dashes (or more) of angostura bitters
1 oz chilled club soda
Lemon wheel garnish
Shake and pour into a highball glass.
About our special guest
Peppur Chambers-Soraci
Co-writer & Co-producer of Lagralane Spirits
Peppur Chambers is an international writer/producer/educator. An alum of Moving Arts MADLab, Circle X Emerging Playwrights Group, and Antaeus Playwrights Lab, she uses her voice to amplify women’s issues, social justice and love. Her plays For the Love of You, House Rules, The Build UP, Dick & Jayne Get a Life, Harlem’s Night Cabaret and one-woman show, Harlem’s Awakening: Storytelling Live have been produced in LA, NY and Prague. Her radio plays The Fire In-Between, End of the Line, and Chester Higgensworth & The Boll Weevil can be found on podcast platforms. She is a writer on Senator Nina Turner’s political podcast, Hello Somebody, and a co-writer and co-producer on Lagralane Spirits a podcast about cocktails, culture, and identity. Peppur is also a published author. Her novella Harlem’s Awakening can be found on Amazon. Visit penandpeppur.com where she tells stories of heroes, including her own.
About our special guest
Courtney Oliphant
Co-writer & Co-producer of Lagralane Spirits
Courtney Oliphant is a writer/producer with the Lagralane Group. She has worked in theatre management for over 8 years and is an experienced event producer in both fundraising and large-scale events. Courtney is the Managing Director of Lower Depth Theatre and served as the Production Coordinator of Directors Lab West for over five years, managing an annual week-long conference for theatre directors in Los Angeles. She is also an Executive Producer/Co-writer of the Lagralane Spirits Podcast and the Founder of MPower House. She has certificates in Nonprofit Management, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace. Courtney has been with the Lagralane Group since 2017 and graduated cum-laude from Pepperdine University.
About our special guest
Matthew Soraci
COO of The Lagralane Group & Producer of Lagralane Spirits
Matthew Soraci is the COO of The Lagralane Group. Matthew directs the day-to-day operations involving business development, finance, marketing, and human resources. Along with acting as COO, Matthew has garnered individual credits on Lagralane titles, acting as executive producer on The Blood Is At The Doorstep; The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open; Givers Of Death (G.O.D.); Lifeline (short) and as associate producer on Harry Dean Stanton’s last film Lucky. Under the Lagralane company credit, Matthew co-executive produced the 2018 Academy Award winning documentary ICARUS. He is also a producer of the podcast Lagralane Spirits – exploring identity & culture with cocktails. Alongside his professional credits, his penchant for creative storytelling has led to a lifelong involvement in the arts. Matthew serves on the board of Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theatre.
About our special guest
AJ Dinsmore
Podcast Coordinator of Lagralane Spirits
AJ Dinsmore is a writer, director, producer, & coordinator. Born in China and raised in Nowhere, Wyoming, AJ is dedicated to telling stories from underrepresented perspectives and promoting diverse voices in the dominant narrative. AJ is the Executive Assistant for The Lagralane Group and the Podcast Coordinator for Lagralane Spirits. She is also the Project Coordinator for Lagralane's sister theatre company, Lower Depth Theatre, and serves as Lead Producer on their Writers Revealed podcast. AJ wrote, directed, and produced, her short film directorial debut, "Me With You, Without You," which will wrap post in 2023. AJ’s scripts have won or placed in the WeScreenplay Shorts Competition, ScreenCraft Short Film Competition, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, and Fresh Voices Competition.
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