The Heart

NO: Questions + More Questions

[Ep 4 of 4 and more to come] We were all left with burning questions after the first three episodes. In the final installment of the original ‘NO’ series from 2017, KP and the team play VMs and read letters from the audience and have a big 'ol processing party with Samara Breger, [https://www.samarabreger.com/] former Heart producer, sex educator and more recently: queer romance novelist.  What do I tell my kids? What if my no DOES mean yes? How bad DOES he have to feel? How are racial dynamics similar? How do I not be depressed about humanity?  This is an extended version of the original episode from 2017, including more questions and more grappling. SEND KP YOUR THOUGHTS in VM form [https://www.instagram.com/kaitlinprest/?hl=en] for the update-isode! DONATE [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=S8FKUMPUK6GVS&ssrt=1679768302567] to support the creation of a final episode telling the story of all that happened after this famed series aired; friendships rekindled, apologies made, mistakes repeated, lessons learned and unlearned and never learned and will she ever learn.  THANK YOU to all who have donated 100+ dollars! Look out for an email soon where you will receive unreleased writing and the story of what happened to KP and Jay after she made the series.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices [https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices]

NO: Answers + Updates

[Ep 3 of 4] Answers: Kaitlin’s search asking why coercion is so omnipresent lands her in one obvious place. Straight, cis-gendered men. In this episode, Kaitlin consults the men in her life that she loves, her friends, her father, her exes to see if they had ever pressured someone into having unwanted intimacy. But she knows she cannot end her search here. She must reach out to the men who have transgressed her to get their side of the story. Updates: we hear about the men who interviewed in the series and notable developments since 2017 in their journeys navigating gender, power and consent. DONATE [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=S8FKUMPUK6GVS&ssrt=1679768302567] to support the creation of a final episode telling the story of all that happened after this famed series aired; friendships rekindled, apologies made, mistakes repeated, lessons learned and unlearned and never learned and will she ever learn.  "Tending the Garden" [https://www.tendingthegarden.love/about-us-1] is a new healing resource, launched by the Trauma Queen Jimanekia Eborn. FOLLOW THIS WOMAN [https://www.instagram.com/jimanekia/]. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices [https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices]

NO: Inheritance + Reality Check

[Ep 2 of 4] Why listen to this series now? KP's schpiel. And then: we catch up with our shero in her mid-twenties, waiting to fall in love. Over the years she has become an expert at advocating for her own pleasure. She has learned how to say no to the sex that she doesn’t want to have with tact and grace. Just as she thinks she has figured out the art of sexual negotiations, another unsettling experience becomes a catalyst for a search for answers. In the "reality check" section: we hear a 37 year old echoing the words of a 27 year old. An attempt at reconciliation gone wrong, the precursor for what we will hear in the next episode.  DONATE [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=S8FKUMPUK6GVS&ssrt=1679768302567]to support the creation of a final episode telling the story of all that happened after this famed series aired; friendships rekindled, apologies made, mistakes repeated, lessons learned and unlearned and never learned and will she ever learn. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices [https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices]

NO: Advance + Advance

[Ep 1 of 4] Inside a locked diary are the hopes and dreams of a little girl who wants one thing more than everything else: this little girl wants to be wanted.  [TW: SA] When the little girl becomes a teenager and her deepest want comes to pass, it turns out she doesn't want it. She wanted. . . something else. Something more?  Something less? Something sweeter. She doesn't know exactly what she wants, but she learns the hard way what she does not want.  "Advance" a non-psychedelic trip into my girlhood was originally produced in May 2017. It was named after the type of advance that is made flirtatiously (or threateningly or shyly and on and on).  In this 2025 update we lean into the double meaning:  HAVE WE ADVANCED ON THESE ISSUES SINCE 2017? OR HAVE WE...RETREATED? ['retreat' is listed as the opposite of the word 'advance' on dictionary dot com. Not a word we generally use in reference to this topic, and yet it feels like an interesting way to look at what we usually call "regression"]. Listen to decide for yourself, and then send us a voicememo with your thoughts to kaitlin@mermaidpalace.org.  2025 UPDATE FROM KP: Drove by North Dundas the other day on a joyride. The smoking tree is not small anymore.  DONATE [https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=S8FKUMPUK6GVS&ssrt=1679768302567]to support the creation of a final episode detailing all that happened after this famed series aired; friendships rekindled, apologies made, mistakes repeated, lessons learned and unlearned and never learned and will we ever learn.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices [https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices]

NO: Again? Again.

Revisiting NO: after 8 years and several disappointing hook-ups wherein KP found herself wondering if the world forgot the lessons that shook 2017; she decides it's high time to listen again to the series that brings you inside of a 'no' that sounds like a 'yes', and all the 'yes's that really wanted to be 'no's.  ----------- Donate to Mermaid Palace! [https://mermaidpalace.org/Donate-Mermaid-Palace] Exciting new projects incubating in need of anti-capitalist support aka indie financing. Thank you to all who already donate, it makes a big difference and we love you <3 Sign up to get our trianual newsletter [https://theheartradio.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3c8e0ba50f790ad9d0625c90b&id=d7230fd6c0]: the one email KP writes per every three years.  Support the Jaber kids in their studies <3 [https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-three-med-students-from-gaza-to-reclaim-their-dreams?attribution_id=sl:87bc8009-6f0f-4fd0-bff4-77069012be72&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link] Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices [https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices]