Hey all you cool cats and kittens, it’s time for our BIGGEST episode ever with the Queen of our Quarantine, Carole Baskin!
It’s certainly been a big year here at Talk For Two. From returning after a 6 month hiatus with Larry King. Then welcoming Everyone from Jerry Springer to Oliver Stone. Judges Patricia DiMango and Michael Corriero took us into the criminal justice system and the world of daytime arbitration. Sean Spicer and Rod Blagojevich laid out how it feels becoming unlikely political celebrities. It was great reliving my childhood with voice actors extraordinaire Billy West and Rob Paulsen. AndPlus, so many others.
This may have been a crap year for leaving the house, But I want to thank all of you for helping me make the most of staying inside for the better part of 2020.
And what better way to end this year than with the quarantine queen herself, Carole Baskin. Baskin is the meme of 2020, shooting to instant fame with the release of the Netflix documentary Tiger King.
A big part of the draw around Ms. Baskin is that the documentary posits the question as to whether or not she was involved in the disappearance of her then-husband Don Lewis. This question is central to the documentary’s main conflict between Carole and Zookeeper Joe Exotic–a man Baskin says she has never met, despite Exotic’s deep hatred for Baskin and her Big Cat Rescue Organization.
Now, our interview does not focus on Howard Baskin’s disappearance. Why? Well for one, there are ongoing matters related to the mystery. And for another, I personally do not believe people’s guilt or innocence should be decided by a sensationalized Netflix documentary. In fact, Baskin claims the filmmakers lied to her about the purpose of the film, which took years to shoot. You’ll hear about that in just a moment.
One thing from Tiger King that we do address, however, is her perceived moral superiority over Exotic and others in the big cat industry. Twitter asked of Baskin, who was seen as righteous and indignant over Joe Exotic’s Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, is your Big Cat Rescue not as exploitative? She actually has a compelling answer on the difference between a rescue and a zoo when it comes to Big Cat conservation.
I wanted to give Baskin the platform to deliver her message in a way that the documentary did not allow. Here now, to tell us why she literally lives for Big Cats, our interview with Carole Baskin.
If one good thing comes from Tiger King infamy, I hope that it’s that Carole Baskin is able to get her message out there in a way that is impactful and goes a long way toward making sure those majestic creatures are preserved. Carole, thank you for your time and Happy New Year.
That is it for us today and this year. If you want to hear my full reflections on 2020, check out the Year in Review episode I did with my good friend and colleague, Buddy Iahn on our Music Universe Podcast.
Happy New Year and Here’s to 2021!
*A previous version of this post misstated the name of Carole Baskin’s missing husband. That has been corrected.
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