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 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

You can listen to NO: Advance + Advance online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

NO: Advance + Advance is an episode from The Heart by Mermaid Palace, Radiotopia & Kaitlin Prest.

This episode is 28:33 long.

This episode was published on Jul 26, 2025.

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