THE PODCAST
PART I: VISION & REVELATION
With the best of intentions, the narrator of this seriocomic, poetic, three-part audio drama, Miss Experience White, summons the Demon of White Supremacy, Tyrannosaurus Wonderbread, and his Pearly White Retinue. These magical exploits lead her to a harsh and heroic realization. Immersive sound design by Earwax Productions plunges the listener into the surrealism of the poetry.
Written and performed by Milo Starr Johnson, produced by The Tea Club and Jim McKee.
Featuring the music of It Thing, additional music by Omar Ledezma Jr., Dave Mihaly and Daniel Fabricant. Music consultant: Erik Walker. Acting coach: Charlie Varon.
Limited Series & Specials
(Scripted) Fiction
Limited Series & Specials
Best Sound Design
Mini-series & Specials
Cause Awareness
Podcast Features
Best Use of Original Music/Sound Design
ABOUT MISS EXPERIENCE WHITE
Miss Experience White is a surreal, seriocomic audio drama about white privilege, produced as a three-part podcast, based on the political poem cycle of the same name. Through a series of mystical visions and revelations separated by a decisive ancestral inventory, the eponymous narrator comes to a new understanding of her inner landscape, along with the outer landscape of America. Beginning in 2018, impelled by the hideous logic of Donald Trump’s election and cruelty of his reign, Milo researched and wrote the poems not just to manage her daily rage and angst, but to address a sometimes crippling confusion caused by white privilege and guilt, and to explore these complex issues in depth.
Milo came across the name “Experience” while doing genealogical research on her Puritan lines. She found stillborn babies with the name, suggesting it was a Puritan version of John/Jane Doe. But eventually she found a man, “Experience White,” possibly an ancestor, who had lived to age 25. Although the characters in Miss Experience White are inspired by and based upon Milo and her family, they are more “truthy” than truthful. Having wanted to write about some of her ancestors for decades, she didn’t know how until the current political scene revealed plenty of connective tissue, forcing yet another radical examination of herself and predecessors.
“As a result of writing this, I shed some ancestral guilt, and feel more flexible when the need to question assumptions arises. The only time a person can change is in the now, which can’t be found if you’re lost in some past. If we don’t keep evolving as a country, after centuries of violence, oppression, and waste, what has it all been for?”
CREDITS
MILO STARR JOHNSON
WRITER, PERFORMER
CO-PRODUCER (THE TEA CLUB)
Acclaimed theater artist Milo Starr Johnson is a poet, playwright, songwriter, singer, producer, and performer specializing in personal, provocative work.
DAVID LAWRENCE
CO-PRODUCER, (THE TEA CLUB)
David Lawrence is a designer, producer, researcher, and media artist with over 30 years of expertise in all aspects of digital media.
JAMES MCKEE
CO-PRODUCER
SOUND DESIGNER (EARWAX PRODS.)
Sound designer, composer, engineer, and technical producer, Jim McKee is an inspiring leader in sound technology and the owner of Earwax Productions.
ERIK IAN WALKER
MUSIC CONSULTANT
Erik Ian Walker has been composing and recording music for theater, dance, film, and television since 1982. He runs his studio, WackoWorld Music in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
CHARLIE VARON
ACTING COACH
Based at The Marsh in San Francisco, Charlie Varon has been writing and performing for over 30 years. His award-winning solo show, “Rush Limbaugh In Night School,” toured nationally. He conducts writing and solo theater workshops on an ongoing basis.
OMAR LEDEZMA JR.
PERCUSSION
A Grammy Award winning performer, Omar Ledezma Jr. is a world class musician who’s toured internationally with renowned artists. His current band is the Pacific Mambo Orchestra, and he’s on the faculty of the San Francisco Community Music Center.
DAVE MIHALY
PERCUSSION
Synonymous with the San Francisco psychedelic, spiritual jazz, and folk music scenes since 1980, Dave Mihaly is one of the city’s most sought after and idiosyncratic drummers and percussionists. His jazz ensemble is Dave Mihaly & The Shimmering Leaves. He is also a teacher.
DANIEL FABRICANT
BASS
Playing upright or electric, any genre from chamber music to Latin Jazz, Daniel Fabricant is known for his versatility. He’s performed internationally, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the Café Carlyle in NYC. A founding member of the award winning Nice Guy Trio based in San Francisco, Daniel is also a music teacher, particularly gifted with younger children.
IT THING
FEATURED MUSIC
It Thing was an offshoot of the 80’s underground band The Catheads. Featuring Mark Zanandrea (strings) and Melanie Clarin DeGiovanni (drums, keys, harmonies, accordion) It Thing released two albums: "The Ode to Billy Joe Bob Dylan Thomas Jefferson Airplane Experience" (no longer available) and “Kensington Way Revisited”. Their home-recorded, eclectic sound is notable for striking guitar riffs, impeccable harmonies, and artful pop arrangements.