PUBLIC FORUM: Tony Kushner & Rachel Maddow

On December 2, two of America's leading progressives met at Joe's Pub at The Public for the latest installment of Public Forum Duets, the series of conversations pairing an artist who has been vital to The Public with a leading voice from outside the theater.

Their fast-moving conversation swung from the political right — with Maddow noting that "progressive" had become the epithet that people fling at her in all-caps over Twitter, and Kushner wondering if the conservatives who wrote in praise of Lincoln might be joking — to the political left, with Maddow acknowledging that she felt embarrassed by the way she criticized President Obama's handling of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and Kushner voicing his frustration with the powerlessness of his fellow lefties.

(And, late in the program, he briefly dropped into character as Senator Lindsey Graham.)

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