Press Release
On Thursday 5 March 2020, fat positive radio show Friend of Marilyn will air its 300th episode. The show, which is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Access Media NZ, has been on the air since August of 2011.
Friend of Marilyn provides counter programming to the normal conversations and media surrounding fatness. It is a fat positive show that refuses to apologise for having reached the BIG 3-0-0. “Weighing 300lbs/135kg is a state of being that is used by trolls to scare people; it’s like the worst thing that some people can think of,” laughs the show’s founder and host, Dr. Cat Pausé. Dr. Pausé is a Fat Studies scholar who studies the impact of fat stigma on the health and well-being of fat people; she is also a fat activist who fights for fat people to have equal protection under the law.
Across its 300 episodes, Friend of Marilyn has cultivated a repository of global fat voices. “It is a project of significant cultural value to anyone interested in fat”, asserts Dr. Charlotte Cooper, a London based fat activist and author of the book Fat activism: A radical social movement. The show has been on a virtual tour since 2016, engaging with guests across Oceania, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Shows in 2020 are “located” in Canada; Pausé believes it will take a year to cross the country, and then another five years or so to survey the United States and the remaining Americas.
Manawatu People’s Radio Station Manager Fraser Greig shared, “This milestone is truly a cause for celebration. Not only is it a great achievement for Cat, the Adipositivity community and Human Rights, but it also demonstrates the necessity and importance of Access Radio. It is vital to a democratic society that the disenfranchised, the minorities and the under – or mis-represented have access to a platform that empowers them. Cat’s show is a classic example of the success of MPR. We’re excited to see what the next 300 shows will bring!”
Friend of Marilyn airs at 8pm on Thursdays on Manawatu People’s Radio and additionally on Fresh FM (Nelson/Tasman region), Arrow FM (Wairarapa), and Radio Southland (Southland).
For more information:
Cat (Host): 021 829 088 friendofmarilyn@massey.ac.nz @FOMNZ (Twitter)
Fraser Greig (Station Manager): 06 357 9340 Fraser@MPR.nz
For additional background:
Fat fallacies head for the airwaves (Aug 2011)
Fat activism in New Zealand (Feb 2012)
Fat positive activist taking message across the world (March 2016)
Cat Pause: Fat activist (Nov 2016)
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via Friend of Marilyn https://ift.tt/2VHJSrw
