-->

Saturday, July 22, 2017

New ‘Love Connection’ Groundbreaking LGBTQ Episode (AUDIO)














In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Liz Baxter about being the first lesbian contestant on the iconic game show LOVE CONNECTION which aired on Thursday July 27th on the Fox Network. Her episode marks the first LGBTQ inclusive episode of the show in its history of over 2000 episodes. Openly gay television personality and executive producer Andy Cohen hosts the one-hour reboot of the original dating show that features single men and women from all walks of life searching for romance. In the unscripted series singles are followed on three blind dates to see if a match can be made. The contestants then open up about their experiences in front of a live studio audience. The network was more than responsive to Cohen’s request to include our LGBTQ community in the current version of the show. Gay and lesbian singles had been absent from the original program that originally aired in the 1980s and 1990s. This LGBTQ inclusion will not only promote our community’s visibility but also it’s being broadcasted on mainstream network television as a nonissue. We talked to Liz about what she would like to accomplish with her experience of participating on LOVE CONNECTION and her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBTQ equality Baxter stated, “My personal commitment is simply never to let fear silence me. I think there are so many ways we can be involved right now. I think the most important thing is to make sure that everybody’s voices are heard and everybody stands up and makes sure that they count. The gay community all need to stand up now and together; we are so much stronger than individually. So all I can do is to contribute my own voice and all I can commit to is never silencing that.”

 Liz Baxter is a savvy businesswoman who works as a traveling sales woman in the medical field. As a trailblazing Indianapolis native now based in Los Angeles she wants to change minds when it comes to visibility and understands the need to accurately portray the positive LGBTQ experience in the entertainment industry. We’re seeing more LGBTQ inclusive television programs as part of the new normal in this country with the growing onscreen trend clearly mirroring the nationwide embrace of today's evolving culture, traditions, expectations and new frontiers of our LGBTQ community. Yet although content on TV has gradually improved the way it presents our community we still have a long way to go to defeat negative stereotypes of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning characters that continue to appear. This is why it’s so important to have more positive representation like Baxter with her ongoing commitment amplifying and celebrating queer women’s voices. Besides her appearance on LOVE CONNECTION which airs on July 27th on Fox at 9A EST, Liz has also launched a new blog entitled “Your Friendly Neighborhood Lesbian” which she hopes will make a difference and inspire change promoting women empowerment, diversity and LGBTQ inclusion.
For More Info: yourfriendlyneighborhoodlesbian.com

Friday, July 7, 2017

Comedian Paula Poundstone Speaks OUT (AUDIO)














In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with comedian Paula Poundstone about her new NPR podcast, new book, current tour and more. Poundstone can be heard regularly on NPR’s #1 show the Peabody Award-winning weekly comedy news quiz “Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!” Her new weekly podcast “Live from the Poundstone Institute” is produced by NPR and taped before a live audience. In the podcast Paula takes on the research studies that are so odd they just beg for someone to stand up and say “wait, what?!” Seven years in the writing Poundstone’s new book “The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness”‎ climbed to #1 on the Amazon Best Sellers list for Humor CDs and landed in the Top-10 on the Best Sellers Humor Hardcover list on its first day of release all the while garnering great reviews. Her 2017 Tour continues on the east coast with appearances on July 15th and 16th at Jonathan’s Ogunquit in Ogunquit, Maine, July 21st at Blumenthal Performing Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina and July 22nd at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, Massachusetts. We talked to Paula about what she hopes to accomplish with her new podcast, her inspiration for her newest book, current tour and her spin on our issues.

 When asked her thoughts on the Trump administration throwing one upsetting crisis after another at us in the news, Poundstone stated, “Well you know I have mixed feelings and the part of me that’s not tethered to reality, there are days when he doesn’t Tweet that I feel empty. If it was just a miniseries on HBO it would be so damn funny. Unfortunately it is in fact real life and sometimes as I’m laughing at or making jokes about it I keep flashing on that scene in Cabaret where Joel Grey was on stage and the camera has these big distorted faces of the people laughing while the Nazis march somewhere. Sometimes I’m concerned that laughing is not enough, perhaps and it’s not his Tweets that bother me, I mean yes they appear to be some sort of cry for help but I mean probably if we paid more attention say for example to the effect that he’s having on the world, you know on our relationships with other countries both good and bad relationships with other countries. I think it’s unfortunate and untimely occurrent that Kim Jong Un is who he is and the position he’s in and that Trump is who he is and in the position that he’s in at the same time. There’s really a number of countries who have nutter leaders right now. We’re not the only one and it’s just a really bad cocktail. I’m not exactly sure what to do about it. When I heard about the other night I was watching The News Hour and they said that oh yeah Kim Jong Un thinks he has the missile that can go all these miles. Part of me thinks, great I don’t have to put away the leftovers and part of me thinks, Oh God what are we suppose to do?”

Paula Poundstone's career spans 38 years. She has guested on all the late night talk shows, has had several television specials and still considers her greatest achievement being a Mom of 3 children. She lives in Santa Monica where she also has 2 dogs, 14 cats and one ant left from her ant farm. (Photo credit Michael Schwartz)
For More Info & Tix: paulapoundstone.com