This episode of First of All is all about the sacred, frustrating, empowering, and still widely underdiscussed experience that 50% of the world's population experiences (usually) for more than half their lifespan - the female period. Minji invites her friend and acting school classmate Kristine Gerolaga to talk about a topic that has just started to lose it's taboo stigma that can now (hopefully) be discussed openly and in mixed company. Together they walk through their journeys as women learning, experiencing, and embracing their periods, excruciating PMS and all. They go in depth on the shame surrounding this common and universal female experience and the ways compassion and empathy can help women deal with some obnoxious and painful realities each month. They also discuss that problematic nature of how media and widespread first world culture has downplayed or even ridiculed women's bodies and the dangerous toll it can take on EVERYONE. As an actress, writer, and filmmaker, Kristine has approached the experiences and emotions of women all over the world through her film Period Drama, which we hope you'll all take some time to watch! If you are a woman or if you have a mother, sister, cousin, coworker, colleague, or friend that has a uterus, this episode is for you. Time to share and learn, folks! Enjoy!

This week's guest:

• Kristine Gerolaga (@kristeen_gee)

Follow Minji on:

• Twitter (@minjeeeezy)
• Instagram (@minjeezy)

Our theme song is "Yellow Ranger" by Awkwafina

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This podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

Produced by @marvinyueh

Mentioned in this episode:

Don't miss an all AAPI production of HENRY VI: A Trilogy in Two Parts at The Public in NYC

The National Asian American Theatre Company’s acclaimed production of HENRY VI: A TRILOGY IN TWO PARTS brings an all-AANHPI cast to The Public Theater for a decades-spanning saga of Joan of Arc, warring dukes, and the bloody birth of the War of the Roses. Adapted by Stephen Brown-Fried, this is Shakespeare like you've never experienced it. Part 1: Foreign Wars opens with a king dead, an infant on the throne, and a country already coming apart at the seams. Part 2: Civil Strife picks up nearly 30 years later...and the bloodbath is yet to come. Simmering feuds explode into the War of the Roses, and nothing will ever be the same. Performances from June 9 through July 19! Use code H6BC for $59 tickets!

Henry VI at The Public with an all AAPI cast