This week's episode of Survivor launched the show into the public consciousness for the first time in years. Jeff Varner's decision to out Zeke Smith horrified their castmates and sparked a heated discussion that reached beyond the typical Survivor fanbase into major news outlets across the world.
Missing from much of that discussion was any detailed insight from members of the community that Zeke represents; this special episode is a partial attempt to rectify that. Seth wrote in as a Survivor fan who has had to confront these issues during his own transition. We spoke to him about his thoughts on Wednesday's events, the appropriate response from all parties, and wider misconceptions about transgender people. He sticks around when normal business resumes at 1:28:32 for a brief preview of next week's merge.
As always you can listen below, here, or on iTunes here.
Links:
GLAAD
National Center for Transgender Equality
Zeke's Hollywood Reporter column
I mentioned on twitter that this was a great episode but couldn't go into to much detail. This is honestly one of the best episode recaps i have heard in the 5 years i have been listening to survivor podcasts. Having Seth in to offer his perspective on the episode and incident was an excellent choice and something as far as i know none of the other survivor podcasts have done. I'm assuming this was a topic you guys probably didn't know to much about, just like i don't, so it was really good to see you bringing in somebody else to talk about it with. Congratulations Dom, Colin and Seth on the fantastic episode
ReplyDeleteThanks Morgan, that means a lot!
DeleteI love Zeke & always will I want to still look at him as my little ingenious survivor player & cbs has wrecked two lives over this episode it makes me so sad for him & Varner I just like to watch survivor for game play not for all this moral drama in real life I had hoped cbs wouldn't have aired this maybe Zeke didn’t want to be known as this spokesman for this obviously he didn’t or it would have been known publicly more
ReplyDeleteThank you to Seth for volunteering to share your personal experience and insight. Your perspective was invaluable and you presented your thoughts in a clear and engaging manner. I would love to hear more from you in the future.
ReplyDeleteDom and Colin, great job as usual with the perceptive and thoughtful commentary and kudos for not pulling any punches or shying away from more sensitive topics. One of my favorite things about your podcast is the way you not only acknowledge but meaningfully contribute to the existing conversation, and this week was no exception. I was very impressed with how you were able to unpack some emotionally complex reactions and really drill down into the moral and social issues. Truly well done.
I think this was the best podcast you guys have done this season. Maybe ever lol? I'm really impressed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for having Seth on the show and not being afraid to ask serious questions. And thank you so much Seth for volunteering to come on, share some of your own personal story, and for giving us your perspective on the episode.
It's so important to listen to transgender voices so I'm grateful this podcast exists.
1000 stars. Really compelling and informative.
ReplyDeleteDom and Colin i think you guys are at your best when your dealing with really fraught topics. I really enjoy the deviation from the strategy talk.
Seth a million thanks to you for being so willing to share your experiences and insights. I hope it brings you some satisfaction to know that your words were really impactful on me.
I'm really grateful that the three of you shared this and contributed a very much needed perspective into all the discourse surrounding the events of this episode.