Reclaiming the Flag with Ellie the Elephant (and Cartman)

This week, Kristen and Harrison celebrate the power of queer joy and resistance, Provincetown-style. From dunk tank fundraisers at Girl Splash and Summer of Sass to the electric culture of women’s basketball and the unstoppable energy of the WNBA’s Ellie the Elephant, this episode is full of community wins.

But they also take a deeper look at how symbols like the American flag have been weaponized against marginalized groups—and how queer people and allies are reclaiming them. From Alexis Bittar’s new documentary Reclaiming the Flag to the sharp political satire of South Park, Harrison and Kristen explore how culture, comedy, and collective action can inspire pride, even in tough times.

Creators and Guests

Host

Harrison Fish

Harrison Fish is a dynamic personality and co-host of Wake Up! Provincetown, a lively morning talk show airing every Friday from the Provincetown Brewing Co. With a passion for community engagement, Harrison has become a staple in Provincetown, where he is also a working professional in the service industry. Since moving to Provincetown in 2016, he's dedicated to supporting local businesses and bringing people together through meaningful conversations. His work combines his love for broadcasting, entertainment, and activism, creating a platform for diverse voices in the heart of the town. When he's not on-air, Harrison can be found supporting local theater and the arts.

Host

Kristen Becker

What is Queer Times?

Produced by the Provincetown Recoding Studio, Queer Times is the unapologetic, high-energy queer news podcast you didn’t know you needed. Hosted by comedy legend Kristen Becker and razor-sharp commentator Harrison Fish, this Provincetown-based show delivers a weekly breakdown of the latest in LGBTQ+ politics, pop culture, women’s sports, and whatever else we want—served with a side of chaos.

From breaking news that impacts queer lives to deep dives into the absurdity of today’s culture wars, Queer Times isn’t here to play nice—we’re here to wake up, sheeple! Whether you’re looking for biting analysis, unfiltered rants, or just a reason to scream into the void, we’ve got you covered.

Buckle up, because this isn’t your grandma’s news hour—these are Queer Times!

Harrison: 00:08

Harrison. Welcome to Queer Times.

Kristen: 00:10

Hi, Kristen. How's it going?

Harrison: 00:11

I'm doing well.

Kristen: 00:12

That's good. That's good to hear. You've been so busy lately.

Harrison: 00:15

We had a lot of things going on

Kristen: 00:16

this week. Yeah. We had

Harrison: 00:17

It's girl splash. Girls were splashed. Yeah. We had Fruit Basket, which we talked about last week. Ali Clayton was here.

Harrison: 00:23

Slade had a great time. Mhmm. Summer of Sass. We did a little a little combo event where, you know, I used to and sometimes still run parties called Dyke Docs, so that way we can create a space that has more different people in it. Not just a lot of times you go to parties in P town, and there are just a lot of men.

Harrison: 00:44

And so we're trying to find spaces for theys and gays and the ladies Yeah. And lesbians and everybody. And so we had a dyke, dyke, dunk in which you showed up Mhmm. And were dunked. Yeah.

Harrison: 00:55

For charity, for Summer of Sass. Yeah.

Kristen: 00:57

It was fun.

Harrison: 00:58

It was a great time. I love that event. Afterwards, I was a little reflective because I I really think it's important that we are fundraising and doing things for queer organizations in a fun manner. Yeah. And not just in a, oh my god, everything is so terrible.

Harrison: 01:14

And it is. But also finding the joy and mining for the joy. And it turns out putting a bunch of people into a dunk tank Yeah. And watching them comically fall into water is a great time. Mhmm.

Harrison: 01:26

And I highly recommend it.

Kristen: 01:27

Yeah. Well, this is the second time you've done the event this year, and I did do it as well the first time for a freezing. It was so cold. It was a gray rainy day. They filled up the tank with hose, with a hose.

Harrison: 01:41

Well, how much do you fill up a tank?

Kristen: 01:42

I don't know.

Harrison: 01:43

With a hose. But I just want you to know, we did fill that tank up at 9AM, hoping that there would have been some sun that would have made it, and there was none. No.

Kristen: 01:51

There was stuff.

Harrison: 01:52

It was literally so cold that day.

Kristen: 01:54

Yeah. But it's an awesome it's it's truly an awesome event. How much money you raised?

Harrison: 01:57

We raised a thousand dollars.

Kristen: 01:59

Work.

Harrison: 01:59

Yeah. Yeah. We raised 500 in May. We raised a thousand. I ended up I don't get into the tank often for a lot of reasons, but for the right price, I will.

Harrison: 02:10

Hell yeah. And someone offered a $100, and I said, no. But then he said 200, and I said, you got a deal. And got into the tank.

Kristen: 02:17

And then

Harrison: 02:17

took a minute to figure out how to get the fuck out of the tank. Yeah. And then learned that the ladder was in the wrong spot, which I'm so sorry to everybody who dumped It's supposed to be on the side. The ladder's supposed to be by the thing, by the seat. Yeah.

Harrison: 02:31

It was. No. It was over here. It was on the sidewall and not on the back where you could climb up it and then sit

Kristen: 02:38

must have moved it because it was on the back when I did it.

Harrison: 02:40

No. No. No. When getting into the tank, yes. But there's another ladder component that's that hangs on the inside of the tank.

Harrison: 02:48

Oh. So if you're a baddy boom baddy like myself and you're trying to get yourself up, not only am I a chunker, which I am, but I'm a big booty chunker, which means Aye. Lower center of gravity. Right? And I'm also a T Rex.

Harrison: 03:03

So I have my arms are barely like, if if I'm just standing here and my arms are extended

Kristen: 03:09

Yeah.

Harrison: 03:09

They do not go below my ass.

Kristen: 03:11

Right. Yeah.

Harrison: 03:12

So, like, there's almost no way for me to physically because my booty

Kristen: 03:17

Oh, I see.

Harrison: 03:17

You know what mean? Like, look at my arm right now. Yeah. My there's more butt than arm. Right.

Harrison: 03:23

And so I can almost it's like one of those things where, I can't really do a hop up back even if I'm strong. Yeah. I don't have the

Kristen: 03:30

Well, for me, the entire time I'm in there, I'm, like, trying to not look crazy, you know?

Harrison: 03:36

In a dunk tank?

Kristen: 03:37

Yeah.

Harrison: 03:37

You're in a fuck you're gonna look crazy.

Kristen: 03:39

Yeah. But I, like, showed up in my, like, tiny orange Speedo. I can't show up in a tiny orange Speedo and then be a mess, you know?

Harrison: 03:46

Wait. Wait. Wait. So what were you saying? You're like, oh, I don't were you trying to not let your head get underwater?

Harrison: 03:51

No. No. Being

Kristen: 03:53

wet is I do the, like, you come out of the water, shake off. Yeah. Yeah. But then it's like you're trying to get back up on the seat, and I'm like, I can't

Harrison: 04:02

Oh, yeah.

Kristen: 04:02

I can't look like I can't do this.

Harrison: 04:04

No. Yeah. You definitely cannot look. Not in a Speedo.

Kristen: 04:07

Not in a Speedo.

Harrison: 04:07

I I would have shocked everyone if I did look like I could hop. Right? Could you imagine people would be like, wow. Yeah. But I was it I will admit that it did mess with me a little bit.

Harrison: 04:18

Mhmm. And I had to, like, really go through it in my brain because I'm like, man, do go to the gym. Like, I'm not, like, not a person who does that. Right. And I have been working on arms, and I was I was like, you can't lift your like, what is going on?

Harrison: 04:30

And then I did the geometry of

Kristen: 04:32

it all.

Harrison: 04:33

Yeah. Right. And that's also something that when I'm at the gym doing bench presses, I cannot I think I've told you this. My feet cannot be on the floor because there's my booty sticks out so much. There's like, my lumbar doesn't hit love

Kristen: 04:48

I can't wait to see you do bench press while your feet are like,

Harrison: 04:52

No. I have to put my feet on the bench.

Kristen: 04:55

Oh, okay.

Harrison: 04:55

So I put my feet on the bench Yeah. And that, like, lifts my booty up, and so my back can be flat. Right. Because of my Kardashian esque behind. Hey.

Harrison: 05:07

Not trying to brag, but I get it honest.

Kristen: 05:08

Yeah. But congratulations. Thank you. It's really exciting.

Harrison: 05:11

Thank you. It was great. It was a thousand bucks, and I highly recommend that everybody if you haven't done a Dung Tank fundraiser for whatever organization you run, do it. Mhmm. Everybody has a great time.

Harrison: 05:21

It's accessible. It costs $5 to play. It's just one of those things that feels really accessible to the whole community and creates a lot of joy, and everyone has a great time.

Kristen: 05:30

Yeah. I mean, I will say that it being Memorial Day weekend, Girl Splash, I don't know if Girl Splash is a woman's week. Memorial Day weekend is typically I mean, it used to be called baby dyke weekend.

Harrison: 05:41

Kind of a women's weekend.

Kristen: 05:42

Yeah. Women's weekend. Yeah. I'm questioning the stereotype of lesbians being softball players.

Harrison: 05:48

In what way?

Kristen: 05:49

I in watching them throw these balls at this dunk tank.

Harrison: 05:55

Wow. You're coming for the ladies. I believe I hit everybody.

Kristen: 05:59

Okay.

Harrison: 05:59

I believe

Kristen: 06:00

that There was the undercut. The woman with the undercut.

Harrison: 06:02

Yeah. Was like Yeah. But there were also women that I didn't see a rocket arm coming, and they just like there was one woman, she had nails, and then she came out and was like, bitch, she was pitcher.

Kristen: 06:11

Work.

Harrison: 06:12

Like, you could tell.

Kristen: 06:13

I know. I wish I my sister was in town, not a lesbian, but did play softball and she was a pitcher.

Harrison: 06:17

Wait. Your sister was in town?

Kristen: 06:19

Was not. I said, I wish she was.

Harrison: 06:21

Oh, because I was gonna say that's insane.

Kristen: 06:23

She would've she would've hit, like, one out of every other and would've been fully full form softball fast pitch.

Harrison: 06:30

We had senator Julian Seer in the tank at Memorial Day when it was much colder, I'm so sorry. And his lesbian sister-in-law Mhmm. Could not dunk him, and tried repeatedly. And that's really the best case scenario for me. If I could get someone who is generally athletic with someone that they have a bone to pick with or a family member in the tank, that is a moneymaker.

Kristen: 06:53

Yeah. Because they keep giving that

Harrison: 06:54

fucking keep dollars. Doing it. You have to then dunk somebody. You have to just keep going. We had one kid yesterday, Emmett, and she was cleaning up, and she was tiny and throwing the ball.

Harrison: 07:04

And all the lesbians were just kept giving money for Emmett to keep throwing the ball, which is also a win win for the organization. So you had an interesting week. You are basically Ellie the elephant's best friend

Kristen: 07:17

now, I heard. Truly. Truly.

Harrison: 07:18

So

Kristen: 07:19

I have been staying in watching a lot of women's basketball lately. It's just we talked about last week the all star break, and this is when things really start to heat up because now the pressure is on if you wanna make playoffs. So I've been watching a lot of

Harrison: 07:32

the games. This is when I will really engage. Playoffs, I'm in. Matter what. Totally.

Harrison: 07:36

Like, so now we get to have fun times.

Kristen: 07:38

I just I don't think any of my teams are gonna make it to the playoffs, which is unfortunate. I'm like I'm like a Sparks, Wings, and Sky fan, and they're like they're, besides Connecticut, the three worst teams in the league, unfortunately.

Harrison: 07:50

What about the Dream? I like them. Yeah. I like them too.

Kristen: 07:54

I kinda like every team except for the fever. But whatever. I was watching the I actually do wanna say, if you don't have League Pass, I know we talked about it before. Some of the games are on television or they're on Amazon or HBO. But pretty much if they're not being televised, you can watch them on League Pass.

Kristen: 08:11

And we it's under 39.

Harrison: 08:13

$34.99.

Kristen: 08:14

Yeah. For the year. Yeah. $35 to watch for the entire year. So you can feel good about supporting women's sports in a very easy way.

Harrison: 08:20

And turns out you can have the pass and not even watch all the games. So, like, it's no pressure. Yeah. You just happen to have $35 laying around rich lesbians.

Kristen: 08:28

Right. Just deport. But I will say, it seems like the filming of the games is up to the organizations themselves. And I kind of came to that conclusion this past week because usually during commercial breaks, timeouts, like things that would normally be commercial breaks if you're watching on television, like when there's a timeout, halftime, in between quarters. Basically, they play, like highlight reels, like and it's always the same ones.

Kristen: 08:58

They'll do like, oh, all the rookies first points. Yeah. I was watching the Liberty game. The thing was is they had a lot more production in their breaks. It seems like the other teams, they were they film it, they give it they it streams to League Pass and whenever they go dark, the League Pass just like puts in these clips.

Kristen: 09:18

Where the Liberty game, they had sponsors, first of all.

Harrison: 09:22

They have So they're selling their ads. Which

Kristen: 09:24

is yeah. Which is great. The Liberty was purchased in 2019 for $10,000,000 and now was evaluated at just short of half a billion dollars five years later, which is insane. And that is a testament to the owners putting a ton of money believing in spending the money to move them. Like they were playing in I think Westchester for like absolutely nobody.

Kristen: 09:45

They got moved to Brooklyn because it's I think it's the size, t s a I, a couple. She owns the Liberty, he owns the Brooklyn Nets, they both got moved to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Harrison: 09:57

Mhmm.

Kristen: 09:58

Invested a ton of money. And I think what they're doing really right is like they know their fan base and they're giving the fan base what they want. And in such an important way and impactful way has been their new mascot. When they moved to Brooklyn, I guess I learned today that it used to be a golden retriever. No.

Kristen: 10:18

Like, what is going on?

Harrison: 10:19

That's crazy.

Kristen: 10:20

Yeah. Clara Tsai is her name. Yeah. It used to be Maddie the golden retriever, which like, what?

Harrison: 10:29

Nothing about that says New York to me. No. Like, not and I never

Kristen: 10:33

Who lives in New York and has a golden retriever? Like,

Harrison: 10:36

that would have never occurred to me.

Kristen: 10:37

Yeah. So basically, Ellie was created to symbolize kind of their move to Brooklyn. And I know a lot of people might think like, why an elephant? But it's actually because in the eighteen eighties when they built the Brooklyn Bridge, basically, this guy was supposed to build the Brooklyn Bridge. He started working on it and he was going into the underwater compression decompression chambers.

Kristen: 11:01

He got really sick from compression sickness. And his wife took over a lot of the project and contributed a lot of the design, a lot of architectural stuff to it. And basically, when it kind of came out that that was the thing in the eighteen eighties, everyone was like, I'm not going on that bridge. I did hear about that. A woman made it.

Kristen: 11:23

I have heard of this. Women can't make bridges. And then she was actually the first person to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. She was carrying a rooster as a sign of victory, I learned.

Harrison: 11:33

Nothing wrong with carrying a nice cock.

Kristen: 11:36

Yeah. Hey. Exactly. Ain't that the truth? As it was first opening, there was a stampede.

Kristen: 11:42

Because apparently, everyone on the bridge started hearing that it was collapsing, which it wasn't. Someone started yelling it's collapsing. And there was a stampede that actually killed 12 people.

Harrison: 11:52

And On the Of people getting running off the bridge.

Kristen: 11:54

Yeah. Running over the bridge, like, it was just a stampede and it was chaos and crazy because there was, like, this rumor that the bridge was collapsing.

Harrison: 12:01

The original troll? Yeah. Like, he go back to, like, it's just a bridge in the

Kristen: 12:04

'80 Some guy would look It's collapsing.

Harrison: 12:06

Look out. The government's coll they're gonna blow up this bridge, and everybody just keeps off running.

Kristen: 12:11

So basically, as a way to sway public support and reinforce the fact that this was actually a safe bridge to be on with the public feeling like it wasn't safe because it was built by a woman. And after this, these 12 deaths that had happened, PT Barnum walked 12 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge. As like, if 12 elephants can go on the bridge, you, New

Harrison: 12:36

Yorker So can you.

Kristen: 12:37

So can you. So that's why

Harrison: 12:39

Ellie the elephant.

Kristen: 12:40

Ellie the elephant as as a symbol of this New York Liberty team that is in Brooklyn. And I

Harrison: 12:45

think that's really really great. If you don't know Ellie, even if you're not into the WNB, actually, especially if you're not into sport.

Kristen: 12:52

Yeah. This is a good

Harrison: 12:53

Ellie is for you. Ellie is fashion. Ellie is the culture. Ellie is everything.

Kristen: 12:59

Yeah. Her name is also a nod to Ellis Island celebrating like the rich history of immigration to New York.

Harrison: 13:06

As how our country welcomed immigrants and did not put them in camps.

Kristen: 13:09

Yeah. And this was also one of the first times in the WNBA and imagine sports as a whole, where they were like, we're gonna have a mascot and it will be a woman. The mascot is a woman. You know what

Harrison: 13:19

I mean?

Kristen: 13:19

Yeah. Like, even all the other like, the sky mascot just got replaced. Thank God. But it was like the sky guy. Why?

Kristen: 13:28

And it was like what's the like

Harrison: 13:30

Is it is it in the way that men's sports teams use women as cheerleaders? Were they beat meaty men? No. Were were the were the sky guys like Chippendales and

Kristen: 13:43

like mean that?

Harrison: 13:44

Okay. And like doing dances? No.

Kristen: 13:46

It was this giant foam muppity.

Harrison: 13:48

What's the word? Like, not a a rocketeer? A sky guy? Yeah. I I who'd like get a jetpack?

Kristen: 13:54

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He was the sky guy, which they just replaced him with a lion. I don't know the full story, but maybe sometime some other time on the podcast, I'll go into it.

Kristen: 14:03

But they were like

Harrison: 14:04

Just break down all the mascots?

Kristen: 14:05

Yeah. Oh, a mascot reveal.

Harrison: 14:07

I would love a mascot review.

Kristen: 14:09

Yeah. Totally. But they auditioned a bunch of people. The idea is that it is a singular woman who is always inside Ellie, who is the performer that is Ellie.

Harrison: 14:21

I think that's true for a lot of mascots. Yeah. It's it's not something that, like, they just throw anybody into the suit. Yeah. That is a personality.

Harrison: 14:29

As someone who has been in quite a few mascot costumes

Kristen: 14:32

Really?

Harrison: 14:33

Not on a professional level, but I have been yeah.

Kristen: 14:36

I did it once. What were Dramatic.

Harrison: 14:39

What what were you wearing?

Kristen: 14:40

I think I was the butt end of a horse. My two friends, Allison and Steven, got in the suits. And I remember this one kid was like, give me a hug to my friend Steven. I can't remember what he was dressed as, but like, then and so he's like he's like latching onto this person. This little kid is latching onto him.

Kristen: 14:57

And I'm like, oh, okay. Blah blah blah. And then I see my friend Alison who's in a Dora the Explorer costume, and this girl grabs her hand and goes, let's run. And she can't see anything. This kid is dragging her.

Kristen: 15:09

And I just look over. I'm like, oh, this is why they've had it's one handler per one costume. Because I'm like, oh my god. He's being he's being, like, crushed by this little kid. She's running

Harrison: 15:19

across It's a very vulnerable thing to be in. Yeah. Like, most of the time, you can't really see. Your depth perception is out of, like, crazy. I'm not trying to brag, but I have been two very important mascots.

Harrison: 15:34

Number one, I was Magellan the Dragon

Kristen: 15:36

That worked.

Harrison: 15:37

From Eureka's Castle at a Okay. At a at a relay. And then more

Kristen: 15:40

importantly You need Eureka's Castle.

Harrison: 15:42

Something like I never watched the show. Oh. I was just a senior in high school volunteering for the Red River Revel running of the ducks.

Kristen: 15:51

Hey. Oh, but of course.

Harrison: 15:53

Do you know the running of the ducks? Have you ever seen this? No. The running of the ducks is an incredible charity event where back in the day, the main prize was a Mazda Miata. That was the number one prize, which is a pretty big prize.

Harrison: 16:04

Mhmm. And the running of the ducks, you would pay $5 and you would get a number. And that number would be stamped on a rubber duck.

Kristen: 16:12

Oh, rubber duck. Okay.

Harrison: 16:13

And then they would dump thousands of rubber ducks into the Red River.

Kristen: 16:17

I do know that.

Harrison: 16:18

And those ducks would race. Work. It's really cute. And I was on stage to deliver the winning Mazda Miata Oh. To number whatever whatever whatever whatever it is.

Harrison: 16:31

But Ellie Ellie.

Kristen: 16:33

Ellie. Ellie back there. Notably, I feel like it's also very clear that there the woman inside is she brings so much personality to Ellie, which is why Ellie has blown up so much. She wears hoop earrings. She has a long braided hair.

Kristen: 16:47

She has flashy nose rings. She carries designer bags. Just like such a sleigh. She does the the tunnel fits with the team.

Harrison: 16:56

Yeah. Yeah. No. She sleighs.

Kristen: 16:58

But this past week, she really did something that I thought was amazing. And I was shocked because, like I said, you don't typically get any content during the break. So usually during halftime, it's just like all the it's like when I get stuff done or switch to another game. Right. But The Liberty produced a full halftime show with Ellie the elephant.

Kristen: 17:18

It's like a six minute long Lady Gaga mega mix. Amazing. With costumes, full choreography. It's wild. Alright.

Kristen: 17:28

Was like, Ellie arrived. Her tunnel fit was with all her dancers carrying her in an egg like she like lady go insane. It's so cool. But she did her and I posted some stories about it online because I was like, this is so cool. And Ellie the elephant liked my story.

Harrison: 17:48

Wait. The Ellie the elephant

Kristen: 17:50

The Ellie the elephant.

Harrison: 17:50

Like something you posted. Yeah. So basically, she knows your name.

Kristen: 17:53

We're the same we are friends. We're best friends now.

Harrison: 17:55

That's incredible.

Kristen: 17:57

Yeah. And the funny thing is is and I realized this after a while, like, I just imagined, like, Ellie on a laptop, like, going through her Instagram mentions. You know what I mean?

Harrison: 18:07

I definitely think she's on a phone, but yeah. I mean, I got Yeah.

Kristen: 18:10

It's I just imagine her, like, at a desk or something be like, oh.

Harrison: 18:13

But Yes.

Kristen: 18:13

I guess maybe not.

Harrison: 18:15

Honestly, this might be their next video, actually. What the people want is Ellie going through her own socials and seeing what a

Kristen: 18:23

Totally.

Harrison: 18:24

Celeb that she is.

Kristen: 18:25

She truly is a celeb. She is the first mascot to ever have a dedicated float on the Macy's Day Parade. She was she the glamour woman of the year party. She was on the red carpet there. She was recognized as New York Times 63 most stylish people.

Kristen: 18:40

Well The only non human to be included. She's it's basically like Miss Piggy and Ellie the elephant.

Harrison: 18:47

Yes. I will you know what? Here's the thing about that. I I agree that I love Ellie. Mhmm.

Harrison: 18:53

And that Ellie is the the next big thing. Yeah. But I think that her career is new.

Kristen: 18:59

Oh, yeah. She's nowhere near her.

Harrison: 19:00

How will she recover from the stumbles? I'm just saying, miss Piggy is a legend, and how dare you? How dare you?

Kristen: 19:08

Yo. You're right. You're right.

Harrison: 19:09

It's like comparing I probably would agree to this. And this is what men do. Men always compare You have to decide, oh, who can we compare and despair with?

Kristen: 19:18

I I wasn't comparing. I just think they're both at the top of their game. She's also partnered with brands. She's partnered with Fenty Beauty, Off White, and became the first celebrity spokesperson for Essie, which is a nail brand, a nail polish brand. Yes.

Kristen: 19:33

Like, it's just it's wild.

Harrison: 19:34

The picture of this.

Kristen: 19:35

Yeah. Oh, totally. This is this is what I mean with the new owners of the New York Liberty truly being like, what does our audience want?

Harrison: 19:43

You know

Kristen: 19:44

what I mean? What does our audience want? What is gonna speak to our audience? And I feel like I feel like the WNB used to be like, how do we get straight men to watch women's sports? And it's like, don't do that.

Kristen: 19:54

Right. We don't like, how do we get the people who who could be interested in women's sports to give it a chance?

Harrison: 20:01

I would be interested to see who is in charge of the marketing department for that team. And where you know, we talked a little bit about this last week about to you saying that, no, actually, all these teams won't be owned by women. But like, are the people in the in the rooms that are making the decisions reflective of the people on the court?

Kristen: 20:17

I don't know.

Harrison: 20:18

And I would be really interested to see if the marketing team is. Mhmm. If they are dialed into who the audience is and what they would want, and not what basketball should be. You know?

Kristen: 20:30

Yeah. I mean, there's some I mean, I follow a lot of TikTok about women's sports, and there's so many things that, like there's people pushing for next all star game to be gays versus straights, which I think would be so and of, like, one team of the queer women and one team of the

Harrison: 20:46

straight No. I know what it means. I was just like, why would any I mean, okay. But my money is gonna be on those lesbians.

Kristen: 20:52

Duh. My money is always on the lesbians.

Harrison: 20:54

What if what if they lost? Oh my god.

Kristen: 20:56

It's like Paige Becker's, Brianna Stewart, John Quill Jones, like, I guess Asia Wilson, Sabrina Niasco.

Harrison: 21:02

Well, I'm excited that you and Ellie, I'm happy to be here at the beginning of your friendship. Yeah. And I'm excited to see it blossom. Me too. And I won't get jealous.

Kristen: 21:13

I'll introduce you once we're once we're close.

Harrison: 21:15

No. Mean, no. This is you. I want you to have this. I love you as a friend, and I want you to explore this Mhmm.

Harrison: 21:20

As deeply as you need to. And I will support you. Work. I just don't want you to move to New York to work for Ellie and leave me behind. But that's okay.

Harrison: 21:28

We'll worry about that when that happens. We talked about Colbert less last And I I you know I believe in the power of comedy

Kristen: 21:35

Mhmm.

Harrison: 21:36

As an incredible tool for tearing down fascism Mhmm. For taking the piss out of people. I think it's really important. I told you last week that I I know Colbert to be a God fearing man who is a straight white Christian man who they had no problem axing. This week and and I was sad.

Harrison: 21:59

I was sad last week, and then South Park came out. And if you haven't watched the latest episode of South Park, you have to go do it. And if you're not a fan of South Park, you might not get it. And I feel based on your face that you don't get it, Harrison.

Kristen: 22:17

I love South Park.

Harrison: 22:18

You do love South Park?

Kristen: 22:19

Yeah. They very they are progressive, but kind of in a way that isn't delicate.

Harrison: 22:25

No. They're a very shit joke. It's it's a lot of dude jokes. Yeah. I think.

Kristen: 22:30

But also like Great dude jokes. We're gonna have a like, they we're gonna have a trans character and they're gonna we're gonna poke fun at them just as much as we poke fun at all the other characters. Okay. And that's what I mean by, not super delicate.

Harrison: 22:42

Yeah. No. Nothing is sacred. Yeah. Nothing is sacred, but in a way that nothing really is sacred.

Kristen: 22:48

And

Harrison: 22:50

I think that having what happened at Paramount and CBS happened to Colbert, having you know, South Park didn't sign Paramount Plus just secured, like, a billion dollar deal Mhmm. With South Park. The creators

Kristen: 23:06

1.6?

Harrison: 23:07

1,600,000,000.0. Trey Parker and Matt Stone waited until the very last moment to sign that contract. And then, like, a day later, this incredible episode came out that is it small dick humor? It is. Is it about Trump having a little dick?

Harrison: 23:27

It absolutely is. But it's the first time that I felt like, in the last two years at least, someone gave zero fucks and was unafraid to stand up to a bully. Mhmm. And that to me was the part that rejuvenated my belief in comedy as a tool, as a form of resistance, as a even if it's not your type of comedy, there has been a general tiptoeing around whatever fucking stupid pedestal people have put this idiot on. Right.

Harrison: 24:00

And this was somebody who came in with in exactly this. They treated him exactly the way they treated Saddam Hussein, and they should. From being drawn with no neck and the and the mouth flapping to being in bed with Satan.

Kristen: 24:14

The same voice either the same voice actor or the same affectation of their voice.

Harrison: 24:19

Everything. Yeah. And so they're saying so much in this bad AI video of a little dick. Right? And and it was, in my opinion, really effective use of comedy.

Kristen: 24:32

I mean, much as it's small dick humor, they were trying to make Trump mad. Yes. And also make Paramount worry. Yes. Because now Trump is mad at them after they just donated $16,000,000 to him to get this merger to go

Harrison: 24:47

But the merger did go through. Yeah. Which is another interesting

Kristen: 24:51

Yeah. Apparently, South Park was mad about them because their premiere got delayed because of the merger. Interesting. Yeah. At first I thought, is this how did they get it up so fast?

Kristen: 25:03

Because I I imagine the episode was in response to the Colbert firing, but I guess it was more so in the response to the settlement of that lawsuit.

Harrison: 25:12

The actual quote from the White House. Just like the creators of South Park, the left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows.

Kristen: 25:24

They said South Park was irrelevant for over twenty years. It's like, it's also been running for twenty years. Like there is that. You can't shit on a show that's been running for twenty years. And has been fairly relevant.

Kristen: 25:37

One thing I didn't understand because, like, I've watched South Park, but I'm not a South Park watcher. Mhmm. Do you remember the scene where they, like, rush into mister Garrison's house? Yes. Apparently, in the past few seasons, they used mister Garrison as like a stand in Trumpian character.

Harrison: 25:52

Yes. Exactly. He was representing a conservative movement within South Park.

Kristen: 25:59

Okay.

Harrison: 25:59

And was playing the Trump like character.

Kristen: 26:02

Right. So that's why they went in and they're like, oh, he's like it was it was a very funny scene.

Harrison: 26:06

Yes.

Kristen: 26:06

They're like, what are you what are you doing? And he's like, nothing. Hanging out

Harrison: 26:10

with Steve?

Kristen: 26:10

Yeah. Okay. Honestly, I think that it was actually they were nicer than they had to be because in the episode basically ended be like, oh, this is the first of of advertise or support commercials for Donald Trump that Paramount is making us air. And it was basically him in a desert like stripping his clothes off and eventually passing out. And it was AI deep fake of Donald Trump naked.

Kristen: 26:35

And I feel like there is absolutely no chance that Donald Trump looks that good naked. Do you know what I mean? Like, didn't look that he looks like like a chubby older man,

Harrison: 26:46

but like,

Kristen: 26:47

he had good skin, like

Harrison: 26:48

I know. There's more tags. There are more skin tags.

Kristen: 26:51

Skin tags that there's bruises. There's yeah.

Harrison: 26:54

I do I did also love you noticed that the hetrumpedus.com is in the same font as the Jesus commercials?

Kristen: 27:01

Oh, right.

Harrison: 27:02

The Yeah. So there's, like, layers of parody happening right now that are quite brilliant, I think. And I can't wait to see not only what comes next, but also if you're a person who believes in free speech, as every single one of these people that supports Trump says. Mhmm. Then you have to now deal with the repercussions of what happens when the actual creative people Yeah.

Harrison: 27:31

Start taking the gloves off. Mhmm. And I'm excited to see what comes next.

Kristen: 27:34

Yeah. Me too.

Harrison: 27:35

Did I ever tell you that I had a flirtation unbeknownst to me with one mister Alexis Batar? No. Okay. I'm working at Joe Coffee. He's on vacation with his kids, and we just hit it off.

Harrison: 27:47

I'm making his coffee and his breakfast sandwiches every day, and we just came pals.

Kristen: 27:50

You had Joe Coffee?

Harrison: 27:51

Yeah. Yeah. I I worked the sandwich line the last year that Scott owned it. I worked with Jess with the Dreads and

Kristen: 27:59

I guess I didn't know who he was. He's very handsome.

Harrison: 28:02

He's very handsome. He's also very charming. And I didn't really know him. And then I find out later, like, oh, this is Alexis Bitar who has made incredible jewelry and has I don't know if you've noticed, but their social media advertisement has been very doc like, mockumentary documentary, like, really great sketch comedy content almost.

Kristen: 28:25

Mhmm.

Harrison: 28:25

And now he has released this documentary called Reclaiming the Flag. And it's something that I think you and I have talked about. I know Chad, our producer, has talked

Kristen: 28:32

about it.

Harrison: 28:32

Yeah. Idea that being an American is limited to being a racist. Right. This idea that only straight white men get to put a fucking flag on the back of their truck and drive around with their truck nuts. I'll take the nuts off, but there's no reason why we can't claim our flag.

Harrison: 28:48

Right? And so this reclaiming the flag, and it was so incredible.

Kristen: 28:52

Varla Jean Merman also did an extended bit, and I don't I don't think it was last year, but maybe two years ago. She did a bit about she's like, this is our flag.

Harrison: 29:02

Yes. Yeah. What I loved the most about this documentary is it was very revealing and and honest about how triggering the flag can be for people because it is the thing that the people who wanna beat you up with identify with the most. Right. Right?

Harrison: 29:17

And so it and and but also a lot of us, especially of a certain age, I don't know if you were of a pledge of allegiance age. Oh, of course. Yeah. Right. So we are all ingrained with this nationalism.

Harrison: 29:27

We're all ingrained with ingrained with this American pride. And then the symbol of that becomes something dangerous to us. Right? He sat down and talked with, so many people from Hollywood, from Washington, just about their relationship with the flag. And you can see when he hands the he you know, they have small flags, would hand the flag to people.

Harrison: 29:48

And just that moment of people, like, kind of holding it and waving it and just, like, really reflecting on, number one, what it means to be an American. And number two, when we're gonna stand up and say that that flag is still our flag. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend. It gives you it will give if you are a member of the LGBTQ community, it will give you feelings. And I do think it's perfectly timed because I would say that between South Park and and the Reclaiming the Flag documentary and a fucking dyke dyke dyke, I am rejuvenated again, and I'm not ready to move to Portugal yet.

Kristen: 30:26

Work. Yeah. You asked me like last week or two weeks ago

Harrison: 30:29

Yeah. Were you gonna move?

Kristen: 30:30

When I would leave. And I was like, I don't think I would. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my father served in the military.

Kristen: 30:35

He's very patriotic. My grandfather as well. Was Same. Yeah. I was raised like we'd every Christmas, we'd go to the VFW for like a Christmas thing.

Kristen: 30:45

My dad what? Does your dad drink? Yeah. Natural ice is his beer of choice.

Harrison: 30:52

I wanna go to the VFW and drink Natty ice with your dad.

Kristen: 30:54

But he doesn't go to the VFW. Yeah. But I mean, you can go somewhere and drink.

Harrison: 30:58

Okay. Can I go to the rotten gun club with him?

Kristen: 31:00

Yeah. Right. Exactly. I understand there are times, especially now, where it's like you might feel a lack of pride to be an American because of who is at the head of it right now or actions that are being taken. But like your right to fight back against that, like, that's what the flag represents.

Kristen: 31:20

Yes. Your right to fight back against all these things, like, our right to marry is the American flag is a symbol of that. Yes. Our all of the rights and the things that obviously, me and Christian are two people that wanna see those rights expanded upon and have a better life for all Americans, but our ability to speak freely to push for those things and to have the things we do have is the American flag is the symbol of that. But I do kinda wanna echo.

Kristen: 31:48

I know sometimes we talk about a lot of distressing things in here.

Harrison: 31:52

I thought we did it with joy.

Kristen: 31:54

Oh, totally. But these are actual we're talking about these things with joy and they're joyful. Seeing people push back in the biggest way they can with the South Park creators, seeing these queer people say this is what the flag means to me and reclaiming it. And also like having Elle the elephant be her bad bitch self. Yes.

Kristen: 32:12

Like these are great things.

Harrison: 32:13

These are things that should make you be proud to be an American.

Kristen: 32:16

Hell, yeah. Thanks for listening to Queer Teen.

Harrison: 32:18

Anyway, yeah. You know what we didn't do again?

Kristen: 32:21

What?

Harrison: 32:22

We forgot to tell people how important it is that they tell people about this podcast.

Kristen: 32:26

That's true. We did say last week we're gonna do it upfront, but let's do it at the end again.

Harrison: 32:30

Let's do it again again. And let me also say that it has happened to me again. It happened at the Moors. Mhmm. It happened when I was at Outer Cape Health.

Harrison: 32:37

People are regularly stopping me and saying they enjoy this podcast. Yeah.

Kristen: 32:44

If you truly enjoy it, share on your Instagram story, tell a friend about how much you enjoy it, post a link.

Harrison: 32:50

We're we're creating a gift for you to give to your friends.

Kristen: 32:55

The gift of us.

Harrison: 32:56

The gift of us every week. Yeah. And then we feel better because people are listening. Yeah. And I know they are because they're coming and they're telling me all the time.

Kristen: 33:08

Yeah. I also want to give a shout out. We record here at the Provincetown Recording Studio, and they added a fourth podcast Oh, that's right. To the slate this past week. It's called The Art Colony.

Kristen: 33:18

It's one of our good friends Gaston Lacombe, who is basically talking about art here on the Outer Cape, Provincetown, the history of art here. He owns a gallery right here in the Whaler's Wharf in Provincetown. He does really cool, beautiful graphic Designs. Yeah. And I'm excited to listen.

Kristen: 33:36

He's he's so smart, so well spoken. I'm really excited to listen to his podcast.

Harrison: 33:40

The history of art in Provincetown is so rich and so long standing. It's been going on for quite some time. And so I'm excited to hear the stories. Well,

Kristen: 33:50

thanks for listening, guys. Have a great week. Yeah. We'll see you next week. Bye.

Kristen: 33:55

Bye.

Harrison: 33:55

Queer is in.