This beautiful show was recorded live in December 2025, just prior to the surge escalating here is MN – Minnesota’s delightful First Lady Gwen Walz shares her love of teaching and the students who nurtured her, the transformational experiences that propelled Gwen and her husband Tim into a life of politics AND “the call” from Kamala Harris that unleashed a whirlwind 90 days of stump speeches, rallies and dog parks. Musical guest Chastity Brown brings us powerful songs that express anger for love’s sake, that break through the walls we’ve built around ourselves and that ultimately implore us to just Say It. Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen embodies grace as she answers the call to step up as a leader both for the community during the immigration raids and for a growing clergy coalition calling for an end to weapons of war in our neighborhoods. Zippy Laske and violinist DGS perform a stunning new song that underscores the Power of One. Sue Scott and actor Melissa Denton celebrate the strong shoulders we’re standing on. And the audience helps us sing about this little light.
- Island of Discarded Women Episode 45 was directed and produced by Sue Scott
- Cast: Melissa Denton & Sue Scott
- Written by Sue Scott, Melissa Denton & Zippy Laske
- Special Guest is MN First Lady Gwen Walz
- Guest contributor is Rev. Ingrid Rasmussen
- Musical guest is Chastity Brown
- Original songs: “Golden,” “Sing to the Walls” and “Say It,” music & lyrics by Chastity Brown
- “Voice of Reason” music & Lyrics by Zippy Laske & violinist DGS.
- Holiday Medley performance and arrangement by DGS
- Live Real-Time Captioning by Erica Cook
- Live Audio Engineering by John Robinson
- Volunteers are Susanne Egli, Carolyn Denton & Doug Anderson
- Photos by Bonni Allen
- Guest research by Marisa Helms
- Mixed & Edited by Sue Scott
- Mastered by Tony Axtell
- Episode 45 opening: Excerpt from “Trouble” music and lyrics by Jonatha Brooke with backup vocals by Laurie Flanigan Hegge. From our September 2025 show, Episode 44.
- The “Give Back” opportunity for this show, chosen by our guest Gwen Walz, is the 2026 Special Olympics happening here in MN in June. 2026specialolympicsusagames.org