Podcasts about Audre Lorde

Step into a soul drenched, body awakening, and profoundly tender conversation with Regena Thomashauer, founder of the School of Womanly Arts and New York Times bestselling author of Pussy: A Reclamation, on this episode of Intimate Conversations: Dark Night to Divine Light. For more than 25 years, Regena, also known as Mama Gena, has helped hundreds of thousands of women reclaim pleasure, desire, emotional expression, and feminine power. Her newest book, On Our Knees, invites women to stop bypassing pain and discover the power within grief, rage, pleasure, and surrender. Regena shares the extraordinary journey that brought On Our Knees into the world. Born from six years inside what she calls a death portal, she began writing at four in the morning when the book would wake her. What emerged is an exploration of feminine wisdom, grief, erotic aliveness, and the radical practice of meeting yourself with tenderness. We explore the disconnection so many women experience from their bodies, desires, and emotional truth. Regena explains how women have been conditioned to bypass the full 88 keys of their emotional piano and play only middle C. Her invitation is to return to the body, grief, pleasure, and the erotic aliveness that lives within us. Recorded in NYC, Allana vulnerably shares her in the moment experience of reconnecting with her son after six and a half years of no contact. Together, they practice Swamping from On Our Knees live on air, beginning with Allana's grief and rage and moving into embodied erotic energy as a way to transmute emotion with fierce compassion. We also talk about: Why women have been disconnected from erotic aliveness The difference between the erotic and the sexual Grief as a portal to power, not a problem to solve The On Our Knees Move and how to practice it Patriarchy, religion, and disconnection from inner Source Inanna, Lilith, Aphrodite, and feminine wholeness Children of divorce, rejection, and breaking blame cycles Why listening to your body can be more powerful than listening to your brain Cyclical wisdom and the intelligence of the female body Practices for reconnecting with yourself during difficult times Meeting yourself with tenderness when your heart is broken Erotic aliveness and Audre Lorde's The Uses of the Erotic This episode is a reminder that a woman's body is not the problem. It is the answer. Grief, rage, desire, and pleasure are not obstacles to healing. They can become the path back to ourselves. This conversation invites us to come back into the flesh, feel what is true, and remember that we were never meant to be "fine." ABOUT REGENA THOMASHAUER Regena Thomashauer, also known as Mama Gena, is a teacher, bestselling author, speaker, mother, and founder and CEO of the School of Womanly Arts. Founded in 1998, the School has grown into a global movement serving hundreds of thousands of women. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Pussy: A Reclamation and author of On Our Knees, exploring heartbreak, grief, surrender, pleasure, and feminine power. CONNECT WITH REGENA Website: www.mamagenas.com Instagram: @mamagena Facebook: mamagenaschool YouTube: @mamagenas ————————————————————————————————————————— Go deeper with me, inside The Intimate World ➡️ Visit: www.patreon.com/allanapratt

Today at 1pm on KPFA Radio's Women's Magazine I am featuring two segments both focusing on Buddhism, healing and spirituality. First I talk to Kithi Nath and Lata Mani about their two new films showing at the Elmwood Rialto cinema on Wednesday August 19th at 6:15 PM as part of a special one time program called “Cinema as Prayer: A Night of Queer South Asian Films.” This film program features “PARAMITA” by Kirthi Nath and “Longing Suite” by Lata Mani and Nicolás Grandi—two poetic films that move through longing, belonging and spiritual transformation. PARAMITA bears witness to Prajna Choudhury's 25-year journey of coming out to her traditional Bangladeshi mother. Told with intimacy and tenderness, the film invites us into a meditative experience as Prajna connects with Buddhist practice and nature as gateways for intergenerational healing. “Longing Suite” is a lyrical exploration of awakening to the feminine Divine. Building on a cycle of poems written by Mani in the 1990s, the film traces the arc of a heart-mind-body awakening to the sacred in all that exists. Together, these intimate, spiritual films invite us to experience cinema as prayer. The screening will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with the filmmakers, moderated by Madeleine Lim, Executive and Artistic Director of QWOCMAP (Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project). And then I talk with Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad, the author of “The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde” — a book exploring the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde through a Dharmic lens. “The Fire Inside”reveals how two of America's greatest literary voices reflect — and expand — Buddhism's most timeless truths toward justice and liberation, showing that liberation depends not only on organizing and mass movements, but on the generative power of inner well-being, authenticity, art, and embodiment. It offers space for the kind of conversation our communities need: one that centers and celebrates Black, queer, radical thought, and doesn't shy away from difficult truths. That's 1-2pm on KPFA Radio at 94.1FM or online at kpfa.org where the show will be available afterwards to stream and download. The post Buddhism, Spirituality and healing from Racism, Sexism, Suffering appeared first on KPFA.

Welcome back to the Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers Black August series. This month, as we honor our political prisoners and radical revolutionaries, I'm situating myself in that literary canon and providing clarity on how The Defying Gentrification Playbook can give you the inspiration for your and your community's journey to liberation.Today, I talk about muses and how Audre Lorde became mine in this moment of reclamation and redefinition!Make plans to join me virtually at 7:30 pm Eastern on August 21 for the inaugural Making New Fantasies: A Workshop in the Pursuit of Defying Gentrification. Learn more and register here! And purchase a PDF copy of the full Playbook here. Get full access to Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Vince Fakhoury Horn speakswith Rima Vesely-Flad about The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde—the silence she found in her own Buddhist community when she began writing about Palestine, Baldwin and Lorde's distinction between hatred that corrodes and rage that comes from the examined life, and the question they keep returning to: how to feel it all without causing more harm.Vince Horn: So, Rima, great to see you.I've been really loving getting to know you as a person and also your work. I've been reading your book. Unfortunately, I also spilled water on my copy, so it is a little... If you see me struggling to flip through the pages, that's ‘cause we had a bit of an accident here. But I've really enjoyed reading your work. Can't wait to get into it with you. Thank you so much for your time.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yeah. Thank you, Vince. It's been great to get to know you, too. We're so close. Amazing. Amazing.Vince Horn: Yes, and it's amazing as adults, we can carve out the time to hang out. So that's sometimes the hardest part. I feel like being in middle age is, like, making time to spend with cool people, so appreciate your time.Rima Vesely-Flad: Me too.Vince Horn: So let's talk about your new book. This is The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Of course, before reading this book, I was familiar with you and your work. But it really struck me that you were writing in this book, like from the very beginning, you're writing about Palestine and Israel, which is not something I see many Buddhists really writing about or talking about in America.So it stands out just the fact that you're even talking about this subject. And then on top of that, you're bringing to bear these beautiful Dharma teachings and wisdom teachings from the Black tradition of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, bringing them to bear on this topic in the first chapter of the book, which I thought was quite courageous.And I really appreciate it, you know, as someone who has Palestinian family members and people in the West Bank I care about. So just on a personal level, really am grateful that you centered this in your writing. And I thought maybe we could start with that first chapter if you're up for it.Rima Vesely-Flad: Absolutely. It was actually the very last chapter I wrote. I wrote this book of course over several years, but as I was concluding in real time, the genocide was taking place, and I just found myself absolutely in a state of grief and rage and was really politically active around it in ways that I hadn't been in quite some time.Like feeling very pushed to speak out and to contact the Biden administration and representatives, people here in North Carolina who might or might not speak in Congress, and just found that I needed ways to speak out, and this is my community. The people who self-identify as Buddhist claim these traditions, these lineages, these practices, these schools of thought, and yet there was so much silence, and I felt really compelled to speak into that silence. And I know that's something that you feel and understand in a deep way. And then also, I'm not by any stretch the first Black activist or academic or thought leader to make the connections between oppression of people of African descent whose ancestors were enslaved and people who are in a state of survival as their land is being taken in real time. So all of those connections were very present, and yet in the Buddhist world, there was so much silence, so much evasion or even erasure of what's taking place. And it felt like it wasn't separate from my practice, and I had to speak.Even though at the time I hadn't even visited the West Bank. I since have, but at the time I was thinking and writing and observing and feeling from afar.Vince Horn: Yeah. Okay. I didn't realize you'd gone to the West Bank. Wow, we'll have to talk about that sometime. Yeah, there's early on in the book, there's a quote here that's really echoing what you just shared.I thought I'd share this ‘cause it really moved me quite a bit. You said, “I, like many Black Americans, like Southwest Asian and North African Buddhists, observe that violent oppression of Palestinians can never bring safety and security to Jewish Israelis. And as a Buddhist practitioner, it's important for me to speak out against the violence sanctioned by my government, my tax dollars.The policies of the US government do not represent my commitments. I'm horrified by the massacres in Gaza day after day, by the constant terrorizing of Palestinians in the West Bank. I think daily of Baldwin's words, ‘You don't know what's happening on the other side of the wall because you don't want to know.'”Rima Vesely-Flad: Wow. Even just hearing Baldwin's words in that context again, it really brings me chills. And so prescient, right? So prescient in terms of just anticipating how much more extensive... At the time actually that Baldwin visited, there wasn't a formal occupation, although there was theft of land. But this— that was 1961, and then the wall— right now the walls, the checkpoints, the just sheer magnitude of aggression and violence. Like Baldwin anticipated that, and then the myopia in Israel and in the United States.Vince Horn: Yeah. I think at the same time though as I read through your writing on this, I was really also struck that you're really trying to hold multiple realities here at once.You know, both holding the suffering of the Palestinians and the apartheid state that you're describing. At the same time, you have a lot of, as I do, Jewish friends and people that you care about who may not be able to hold that reality in the same way or who are struggling to in some cases. Who...and you treat that with real compassion I think in your writing and in your words. As I try to, you know, my best. And it's, of course, important to differentiate between Jewish identity and Israeli identity, which is often, you know, merged intentionally by the State of Israel.And for many people it's the way they're inculturated. It seems like that was kind of an unconscious merger in a lot of folks' identity. At least I've noticed that with close friends and even students in the last few years where we've had conversations around this. There's been real tension.And anyway, I appreciate that you're holding it with compassion, both realities here, not trying to sort of demonize Israelis or Jewish people. And really being aware of the antisemitism that this whole issue is also bringing about. Or it's... I'm not sure if it's bringing about or giving excuse to people to be bigoted.So I think it's cool the way that you're trying to weave those different things. And I guess I'm curious if you could say a bit about how you're taking that approach or why that's important to you.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yes. I start off the book talking about a relationship I had with a, I would say a mama bear, a mother figure who claimed herself, who self-identified as my godmother, and she was born in France to a very well-known filmmaker who had the opportunity for asylum in the United States, and he and his wife were granted this opportunity to flee, but were told they couldn't take their daughter, who was my godmother Via–Vince Horn: Wow.Rima Vesely-Flad: –was sent to a convent in France. So a Jewish girl sent to a Catholic institution, and she was blamed for the war and has suffered horrific antisemitic abuse. And it scarred her indefinitely. When she came to the United States, she took off the first part of her name, just called herself Via.She died of cancer many years later, and the wounds of that period were still quite evident at the time. I just remember, I have such extraordinary memories of her and what she suffered. And so part of my compassion and empathy, which is real, is that this nation state we call Israel was founded as ostensibly a refuge for people like Via and her parents.And this is a nation state founded upon theft of land. And what it meant practically is that 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their ancestral lands, and they and their descendants still to date live in refugee camps, which I was able to visit when I went to the West Bank. These are no longer tents.They're now concrete buildings, but stacked very high, very crowded, very narrow passages for walking, no play space for children. One of the refugee camps I visited in Bethlehem has an entryway that consists of keys welded into an arc, and these are the keys for return. People still possess the keys to their homes they were driven from 75 years ago. So to recognize the terror that took place during the Holocaust in Europe, and then to recognize the consequent suffering that was inflicted upon Palestinians, I think is not simple. Yes, safety, but one thing Baldwin says that stays with me over and over is that Palestinians should not pay for the sins of Europeans.Europeans committed the genocide, the Holocaust, and Palestinians should not have had to pay for that and should not have been driven from their lands to establish what is supposed to be a state of safety. And yet the atrocities being committed by this government and other governments, not saying that this very right-wing government is the only government that has committed atrocities against Palestinians. To say that this is a state of safety for people whose ancestors were exposed to the horrors of the Holocaust is, I think, to be very myopic, very limited. And part of what I'm trying to wrestle with is such deep confusion, like a deep state of confusion of how, if your ancestors have experienced the Holocaust, could you inflict this upon another peoples?So that's some of what I wrestle with in this first chapter is just like—Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: —what? And I'm not the only one. Like Ta-Nehisi Coates starts off his book talking about the— the book is called The Message. And he starts off his book saying like, “I just don't get it.” And I feel that too. I just don't get it. But then also, I don't understand this claim to sacred land, and that's part of what's happening with the atrocities in the West Bank in real time. And you know, all of us know it has escalated dramatically in the past few weeks.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: Like even worse than when I was there. And when I was there, that's when the farmers during harvest, the Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest were being terrorized.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: Including many Jewish activists, similarly from the United States and from Israel were being terrorized, all of them. Everyone who was in the fields trying to harvest the olives.Vince Horn: Right.Rima Vesely-Flad: That was happening in October, but now it has escalated dramatically in a city called Nablus and its surrounds.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: I actually went to Nablus. That was one of the places we spent some time.Vince Horn: Yeah. That's where my cousin is based. So yes. Oh, yeah. And I've heard that as well from her. So that's, in recent, like week or two, her house was broken into by the IDF and they destroyed one of the walls and were calling out for someone who they have no idea who it is.Yeah. And just, you know, like that's becoming more just kind of more standard. Like that's just happening all over the place. Yeah.Rima Vesely-Flad: It's becoming normalized.Vince Horn: Normalized, yeah, exactly.Rima Vesely-Flad: That aggression. Yes, so much. And one of the things I just sat with when I went, you know, I was in Jerusalem initially.There is coexistence. It's, you know, people are not separate. They are coexisting in real time. And yet, when I went to the West Bank and, you know, it's like I just don't understand. Jewish refugees were given 51% of the land by initially Britain and the United Nations then in 1948, 1947, 1948.Drove out Palestinians from their ancestral villages into refugee camps. Why do they want more? And one of the things I realized is that the West Bank consists or has many holy sites, both for Palestinians who practice Islam and for Jewish peoples who see these sites also as their holy sites. So I was based in a city called Al-Halil, and there's a mosque there that's called the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and that is one of the holy sites also for Jewish practitioners, people who are adherents.They have built settlements on top of Palestinian buildings, especially in the old village. So I saw all of this actually arrive just as there was an incursion of young people from these settlements into the city of Al-Khalil, which is also called Hebron. In any case, that claim to holy space in the sense, the idea, the narrative that God gave it to a certain peoples who are chosen and therefore all of the land is theirs, something I don't understand. And I have some real hatred— with regards to the atrocities taking place. And I feel that part of my practice is to really own that and feel that in my body, and then to work with it in such a way that it doesn't come out and get directed towards people.But I can feel that. And so part of what it means for me to claim these practices, like you, I'm in the Insight Diaspora, so we likely know many of the same practices. But part of it is working effectively with the body so much so that it's not targeted, it doesn't come out in random ways and cause further harm.But it's a hard practice, and some of what you see in that chapter or read is that muscle being flexed of like, how do I feel without it coming out in a way that causes harm? That is part of the wrestling. That is part of the practice.Vince Horn: Yes. And it's one that I noticed, like in my own training, I didn't get a lot of tools for that in the insight tradition because hatred was sort of like something we're trying to transcend or, you know, like notice and then counteract.That was usually the frame around hatred. It wasn't something like you can actually feel this anger and really feel rage. Like although sometimes people would, I think, give lip service to that, it never felt to me like a culture where people were actually doing that.And so I was just sort of repressing all this rage and sort of like carrying on. And now I realize that the wisdom of what you're saying is like, if you repressed all that rage it goes inward, it goes outward. It is not constructive. It's not generative. It's not healing. It's just kind of like a time bomb ticking.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yeah I think that's so wise. It causes anxiety and depression. It needs a place to land, and part of what I think we're meant to do with this work is cultivate that place to land, but do it in a way that's skillful so that we're not creating more harm. And I don't think that... is harmful, but I think it, when it's not effectively worked with, it does come out sideways, and then it can inadvertently or maybe—Vince Horn: Intentionally even.Rima Vesely-Flad: —intentionally create that. But I think part of it also is recognizing it, giving it space to be named—Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: —and legitimizing it. Like, it is a just rage. And hatred— actually Baldwin and Lorde both talk about hatred as corrosive. They talk about how it does actually impact us in ways that are not useful, and it does need to be worked with skillfully.But rage, they both say, comes from the examined life. It comes from legitimate and clear observation of patterns of oppression taking place and experienced in real time. And so that's energy that can be used, that can be directed in fruitful ways. And I think that distinction is really important, and it did inform my own experience of hatred.Of like, “Oh, it's here. How do I work with it in a way that doesn't corrode my spirit or it doesn't corrode relationships that matter to me?”Vince Horn: Yeah. I love what you're saying there. It seems like conflating hatred and rage would be one mistake there, to think like, “Oh, I shouldn't be experiencing this anger or this rage because somehow it's a sign that I'm, like, in this corrosive state of hatred.”But like, oh, it's real, and it's arising in response to something real. Like, I had never seen this quote from James Baldwin about how being a Black American means living with rage all the time everywhere, and that hit me so hard. I'm like, yeah, that's what it feels like as a Palestinian right now. I feel that and have always felt that.I didn't know that's what I was feeling for so many decades. But now that it's out in the open and it's like, oh yeah, like it's just this constant sense of rage at being constantly policed. You know, having your tone of voice policed, your words. Not being able to be a certain kind of emotive or, you know, loud.Like, all these things that are culturally, like what I grew up with. This was like the way that our family was. Like, it's not okay in this larger kind of white culture to display these kinds of things. And so you just like, you gotta tamp it down.Rima Vesely-Flad: And, you know, Foucault would say we learn to police ourselves to discipline ourselves. And I think part of our work then, in terms of recovery, is to name the ways that we self-oppress.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: I would say that's a huge, huge part of my practice, ongoing.Vince Horn: Yes. That makes so much sense because it is, like you're saying, it's internalized.Like, I— yeah, it's like I only need to get a few social signals before I start to realize, ‘cause I'm a socially intelligent being, like we all are. Like, oh, like, this is not okay. And if I continue to do this, there's gonna be kind of repercussions. And I think the bravery and the courage to do it anyway, and to deal with those repercussions, like, that seems to be where your work lives here, and it's a hard place to live.Rima Vesely-Flad: It is hard, yes. I mean, one of the things I also talk about in this book more broadly is that I grew up in a family where I wasn't wanted. My birth was not welcome, and that was something I knew from a very early age. So I learned to adapt. I learned all of these ways of trying to be wanted, trying to be claimed, being exceptional.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: So the idea that I would self-exile is, like, anathema. And that's where I start talking. And part of the way I use Audre Lorde's work in this first chapter in particular is to say, she calls us out, saying, “We must speak remembering we were never meant to survive.” But for me to speak in ways that might be confrontational or perceived as offensive is a very hard edge.But to self-silence is also to betray myself and my people. And that's the edge, right? To speak and to risk exile for someone like me, who has been exiled just because of the way I appeared in the world with dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair, curly hair. And then also to adapt in so many ways that I recognize a level of self-betrayal or a betrayal of the people to whom I'm accountable.And I do consider my people are people of African descent who have been oppressed because of their embodiment in this particular context, which has shunned people of African descent as unworthy, as less intelligent. Has seen a kind of embodiment as inferior. We come up against that. I came up against that in my own family.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: It's a hard edge, and I think part of the work is to actually not be so alone, to find our people, to find people with whom we feel mirrored. That's also hard work, but it has come over time. I have found community, and that matters. And I think part of this work of sangha, which I think in our lineage is not so prioritized—Vince Horn: Right.Rima Vesely-Flad: —but if we take it on intentionally, we can truly honor it as one of the three jewels. Part of our work is really investing in sangha, even when it feels scary or even when it feels like, wow, I have to be held accountable for things that I say that might actually really harm somebody else. But to keep doing that work and to ask for that feedback and that accountability.Vince Horn: Yeah, that strikes me as so true, and I understand why sangha isn't prioritized when you have such an individualistic kind of culture of, you know, meditative achievement and self-work. It's like, oh yeah, well, of course if we're all just focusing on ourselves together, we're not gonna be focused on the bonds that connect us.And yeah, I found that to be a limitation really for many years now in that community. And sort of what drove me to like explore relational practices and other things that felt like they kind of help soften those boundaries and begin to kind of get a felt sense for like what interbeing feels like in real time.It's like this is what it actually is like to be connected to someone or to disconnect or to lose myself in someone else's perspective. I guess I wanted to honor too that like you're talking about all the reasons that one could not speak out even if there's injustice and one wants to speak out on behalf of people they care about and are identified with.That on top of the racial dimension of this, there's also imagine the gendered dimension of this for you as well. Like I see with my wife and other women I know who are raised in a more kind of gendered female way. Like it's just speaking up in general is hard to do. Or it's not something that's encouraged or, you know, people don't have...they're not offered that same level of training often when they're in a female body. So I guess I'm curious like is that also part of what you've had to work with in addition to the racial dimension of this?Rima Vesely-Flad: That's a really good question. I think initially, yes.Like, I was raised to watch and serve and people please. And that's how I got my goods, as my therapist would say. Like, I felt wanted when I—Vince Horn: Right.Rima Vesely-Flad: —gave people what they wanted, and I think that is a very, very gendered experience. I cleaned the house at an early age. I took care of my younger brother.I was with a single mother who worked a lot, so I held things together in the family home. And yes, I think that is a highly gendered experience that I've carried into adulthood. I think I have patterns that I'm still trying to work with around serving and adapting, people pleasing and what have you.I do also feel like there's some corrective, if you will, by becoming an academic. I think in my line of work, having jumped through a thousand hoops, I did three master's degrees, I did a PhD, I learned how to cite research and ask questions and back up and demonstrate. You see it in this book, right?Actually, the book initially was an academic book where I just took on Baldwin and Lorde and tried to show how they illuminate these incredibly important and timeless teachings that we now associate with Buddhism or call Buddhist. And I had a friend and a mentor, Ruth King, say, “Actually, we need your practice in this book.We need this to not just be through the third person, but we actually need your voice in this book,” which was really important and also incredibly hard. But part of why I felt I could take it on is that I was in a world in which I was expected to speak and facilitate, and I think there was a training not necessarily in the broader environment to which you're pointing, but in an academic environment where standing up and giving a talk or a lecture or doing Q&A on the spot was something I learned how to do.So in that way, I think there's more of a sense of, oh, I have this. I can do this. And that feels more, I would say, naturalized, for lack of a better word, just because it's been two decades of doing this so explicitly. And I've loved the academy, you know, being with people who read thick books.And I'm the kind of person, I'll walk into a store and I'll look at the endnotes before I look at the introduction, just ‘cause I wanna know who's cited and, you know, what research are they relying on? And like, who has informed this work? That matters to me even more so than the title or even the introduction.I wanna just know who, what school of thought is this author drawing upon. And I love being with people who also operate in that way. And I have this funny story of being a consultant for a book project for a friend of mine, and we were all taken out to Portland. It was my first time in Portland, and you know, beautiful city.And we hung out and talked and conversed and worked through these chapters, and then we sat in the hot tub and discussed Foucault. And, you know, it's just so, for me, natural to be in an environment where something like that is really fun. And that is, I think, a part of learning how to speak. I think the harder part, and this goes back to the gender question, is having been a Black girl in a white family and trying to figure out how to survive in such hostility.So yes, I do think that's both racialized and gendered kind of experience.Vince Horn: Yeah. Okay. Yeah, makes sense. I hadn't considered the training in academia would be such a sharp training. But it makes sense, yeah, that you'd sort of be expected to be able to receive critique and offer it and speak and debate.Yeah, that... I could see that both being kind of traumatizing and a very good training at the same time.Yeah. I appreciate it so much that you did bring your story into this book as well, because I feel like at least for me as a reader, it gives me something personally to connect with where I can sort of see, like, how the universal becomes personal, you know, in a way. Where it's like all these things that you're describing, and Baldwin and Lorde are describing, like, they make sense to me and I understand it.But then when you describe, you know, your experience of coming up with your grandparents and the specific ways, like not having your picture hanging up with the rest of your cousins, for instance. Like, that specific experience and the way that you shared it just made... It made all of the abstract universal stuff real for me in a way, you know, that I think it sticks with me, and it's like it lands in my heart, you know, in a way that is transformative.So I suspect that's probably true for others as well. So thank you for sharing that.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yeah, I would say that was hard in a way that academic citations and reading for ideas, making arguments is not so hard. Like, it actually comes very naturally. But the harder work of communicating the harm that was done and how I received it, and certainly because I was raised knowing them, my grandparents' rejection of me based on my skin color in particular was, it was deeply traumatizing, and I still work with some of my patterns of adapting, ways that still do not serve me.And then too, and this is something I'm more present with, is my experience of being abandoned by my father. Actually, yesterday was his birthday, August 2nd, also James Baldwin's birthday, and I found myself honoring James Baldwin, and having a really hard time honoring my father, who I had not seen at the time that he passed away for more than 40 years. And I also feel that, and the disconnection not just from him, but also my lineage. And a big part of this book is actually not attempting to reconcile with my grandparents or the members of my family that are still very overtly racist, and there are many, but actually to find my father's people and to cultivate a sense of lineage and belonging through my father's people who came from the Mississippi Delta.My grandmother moved north during the Great Migration, and I am in touch with those family members who descended from her. She's now deceased, but, and my father is also deceased. But to have some sense of connection and being claimed, to have visited the graves of my great-grandparents, in a certain way it's not full circle, but it is a sense of return, and by that I mean return to ancestors, biological ancestors who I now know the names of and have a place to go and now developing relationships with in terms of a broader family system. And those are folks who have claimed me.I, about a month ago, maybe just about three weeks ago, got to talk to the matriarch of my father's family, one of, uh, his youngest... Uh, not my father, I'm sorry. My great-grandparents, their lineage. I was able to speak to one of their youngest daughters, my great-aunt who turned 100 last December.Vince Horn: Wow.Rima Vesely-Flad: Who's now about 100 and a half, and I just think, wow, how amazing to have met her. That she knows my name, that I had some time with her, that she still wants to speak to me on the phone. That she sees me as a way to connect to her sister, my grandmother, who's, as mentioned, deceased. Sometimes I think that healing process is not attempting to reconcile with the people who have denied or rejected your existence, but to find people who claim you and who want to be part of you.I think that also speaks to this broader political environment. It's not about getting accepted by the people who have ideas of your inferiority. It's not about proving that you are, in fact, worthy of X, Y, and Z, but it's actually about claiming and developing and cultivating your own spaces. And I'll say this in a personal way, not so much about being accepted by a dominant white culture community, as much as cultivating the spaces that do feel supportive, in which I am mirrored.And I feel like both Audre Lorde and James Baldwin were oriented that way as well. Like Audre Lorde was part of the second generation women's movement, and they weren't, like, trying to fit into some stereotype of women. They created their own communities, and they had relationships with one another. She was a self-defined lesbian, and was with a community of women who honored their own sexuality and their gender, and who sought a kind of alternative to the broader dominant culture. I think that is so important. And Baldwin, as a gay man too, was oriented towards honoring his own sexuality and creating communities that essentially I don't want to use the word affirmed in, like, a tidy way, but just said, like, all of you, every part of you is welcome here.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: And so I do think that is incumbent upon us as well, not to look for acceptance, not to be claimed, but rather to invest in communities that we want to be part of.Vince Horn: Yeah. So it's like you're getting your belonging needs met by creating or finding the kind of community that you can be yourself there and not have to be constantly seeking external validation from a culture that's not going to validate you, or probably not for the next few decades at least. Rima Vesely-Flad: We could even say that within our insight lineages.Vince Horn: Yeah, absolutely. I guess that's the need for diasporas is rooted there. You know, finding... I remember the early community of people I hung out with were mostly people that were unabashedly interested in, like, mastering the states and stages of the path, which is a weird thing to say now ‘cause that's not where I am at all.But yeah, it was like a subculture of people who were like, “Yeah, we're really interested in hardcore meditation.” And that wasn't the scene in the insight tradition. It was more like healing and kind of long-term retreat. So yeah, I can absolutely relate to what you're saying. I'm curious to go back a little to the part of the book where you talk about karma.Because this is, I think this is an area where I've always struggled with early Buddhist teachings. And I remember the first class I took at Naropa on the first turning with Judith Simmer-Brown. We really explored karma in depth there, and it became clear to me, like the early Buddhist vision of karma was very individualistic.It was like you are the cause of— it was primarily putting everything back onto the individual. So I thought it was interesting when you're trying to bridge that with collective understanding of karma as well, and seemed like you're trying to hold both the individual and collective perspectives together, like not kind of falling into one or the other.But I always found early Buddhism was like collapsed straight into the individual perspective. So I'm curious, like how do you work with... Is that true from your point of view and from, you know, your scholarship? And like how do you then work with a tradition that seems to be, I don't know, hyper individualistic when there are also deep teachings on interdependence and interbeing you can find in the tradition as well, though I haven't found them as prominently in the early Buddhist tradition.Rima Vesely-Flad: I think that's true. I mean, the sutta that I rely on at the beginning of the chapter, which I can put into the chat if that's helpful, is one of the few that explicitly says, oh, and there are other causes and conditions for suffering, and I actually, I'll read that.Vince Horn: That's cool. So it is there.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yeah. It's, so it's an early Buddhist teaching or sutta, the Moliyasivaka Sutta, and it says, “Bile, phlegm, and also wind.” So our bodies, what's around us, “imbalance and climate too—”Vince Horn: Wow.Rima Vesely-Flad: —”carelessness and assault, with karma result as the eighth.”And it's saying these are all reasons for suffering. But it's true. It's one of the few suttas that explicitly acknowledges causes and conditions as sources of suffering. Where I delve into collective karma is, it's true, I found it less in early Buddhism, more in Mahayana Buddhism, the focus on language actually.The fact that we come of age as very small beings and learn language, and our language is collective. We are learning certain meanings along with certain phrases, and that is collectively formed, and that is a part of our thoughts. That is something that a number of scholars within the Mahayana Buddhist lineage talk about in many very complex texts over actually several centuries.So it is to say that we find that less in early Buddhism, but we do find that, and it's with that analysis in mind that I talk about the fact that we are shaped by the collective, and also that we have agency.Some of the gleanings I have towards how we might employ karma in a very constructive way come from postmodern thinkers who claim Buddhism, but who are also broadly read with thinkers such as Marx, thinkers such as Foucault, and, you know, people who are making connections in ways that, of course, are very far removed from early Buddhism.But one of the things that is drawn out by now a wide range of postmodern Buddhist scholars, so people who both practice Buddhism and are scholars of Buddhist teachings, is that we have agency. We're not simply beholden to actions of the past or even the collective, that we actually can practice and cultivate our thoughts, cultivate our words, cultivate our actions in a way that allows us to break free of patterns that are harmful or do not serve us. So that's where I go with that chapter on karma.Vince Horn: Yeah.Rima Vesely-Flad: Wanting to say we inherit so much, and we do. We inherit language. We also inherit culture. We inherit ways of thinking, and it's hard to see that because we swim in the waters even as we are inheriting them, yet there is some capacity for agency.Vince Horn: Yes.Rima Vesely-Flad: And that is what we can do. And maybe that's the emphasis in early Buddhism, is that we can work on our minds. We can free our minds from these oppressive patterns.Vince Horn: Yes. Yeah, and that makes so much sense in the context of, like, Indian caste system and the emergence of this, like, other way of living that's kind of outside of that caste system.I mean, it seems like such a powerful move to claim agency when you're in a culture that's, like, so determined by birth and status.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yes.Vince Horn: And then now, but in 21st century America, it feels like in some ways that view prevents moving forward to me with some of the deep learnings that the postmodern theorists have offered us over the last decades, you know, around the way that power gets calcified and ossified in systems, you know, that we're embedded in, in cultures that we are raised in.You know, having grown up here in the rural South, you know, this is a lot of what I've reflected on when it's come to reading works like yours and looking at racialization. Is like how I can't separate myself out from the place that I came up in. And I can see even with a Palestinian mixed racial household, like I was in a sea of white Southern Baptist Christians mostly.And, like, it had a huge effect on the way I talked and the things I thought were acceptable to say or to think. And, you know, I can even see the ways that I was always... I was trying to bridge the gaps with folks who are different because my grandfather moved into the part of town where the only Black folks in the entire county lived.There were two students in my high school who were Black. They were both... We rode on the bus together. I was quite close friends with one person. And it's like growing up in the small little mini minority space I remember trying to make connections with folks and sometimes just like really messing up and not because of that inculturation.I remember one time I wanted to share this story, which I've never shared before. Which I think it... I want to meet you in your vulnerability here because you shared so much in the book. But I remember a friend of mine had a friend over, young Black girl, and she was, I forget her name, but she came over.We were hanging out and getting to know each other. And I remember this thing that I said to her as a... Really, my intention was to try to connect. And I said, sometimes me and my family, we're also called “sand,” and then I used the N word. And this was my— and I said it totally smiling, you know, like really assuming this would bridge some gap between us, and that she would see, like, I'm like her.But the impact that it had was totally the opposite. You know, it's like, it really bothered her. She was crying later. My friends were like, “What the heck is wrong with you? Why did you say that?” And I was like, oh my gosh. And it was just such a rude awakening to the reality of race, and I could see that even as an older adult, you know, asking people where they're from to try to connect, when I appear as white, has this impact of really causing people to feel paranoid or feel like I'm coming at them in a way that's racially biased.You know, where I'm trying to, like, figure out where they're from ‘cause they're not from around here, you know, and stuff like that. And I could see how even being well-intentioned when you're trying to connect across difference, it's very easy to, because of ignorance, to really harm people. And I can see that in the community of white Buddhist practitioners, you know, where a lot of very smart and well-intentioned people, as they engage with this work, like, we struggle to figure out how to do that in a way that's not perpetuating harm on a racial basis.It seems safer to just not talk about it sometimes. And I can see that this is a real problem. Like, it prevents learning and it prevents people from being able to kind of see their own conditioning and kind of acknowledge like, oh, this is really ugly. You know, it's really ugly that I thought it was okay to just, like, use that language and that it wouldn't have that kind of impact.Like, I thought for some reason it was neutral.Rima Vesely-Flad: Yeah. Yeah, that, I think that does speak to what we were just talking about with regards to karma and language and how we are socialized, how we inherit so much, and how even a word that has been weaponized with such vitriol and hatred over centuries in real time is still like a brick at the body.Like, it can land and it's almost... Yeah, I could even feel, like your reference to it, just how it landed, ‘cause it's still such a powerful word, and it does point to the fact that we do exist in conditions of such hatred and violence, that we are landed upon all the time, and we have to figure out, like, how to acknowledge that in ways that don't take us under or, frankly, if this is wanted on all sides, create rupture so that there can't be a way forward to acknowledge the weight of what's taken place.And I think for people who have had that hatred— and again, I'm thinking of both Baldwin and Lorde speaking to this with such clarity and self-empathy. For that hatred to be received over and over, especially in early years, but not exclusively in early years, and to have ways to acknowledge it and to come out of it, I think is something that we are all called to do.And to maybe to, and I say this with real tenderness, ‘cause I am still learning and asking for feedback all the time. With some tenderness to, if you notice that something has been, that some harm has taken place, that something has caused rupture, or if you're told that by other people to go in, not with some sense of defensiveness or a sense of needing to explain yourself, or even needing to clarify your intention, but to come in and to say with real humility, “I'm sorry, and I want to know what this is for you, and it matters to me that your inner being, that your wellbeing is cared for.”That's what matters. And actually, I had a moment a couple of weeks ago, not even quite that long, where I said something quite offensive to a friend of mine, and I noticed. I just— you know, noticed by reading facial expressions, and this is part of our work too, right? To observe. And so I asked, and was able to receive some feedback and to really hear it.And I think something that I struggle with, and I imagine for you, Vince, this is real as well, is we both are parenting young kiddos. You have an 11-year-old, I have a 10-year-old, about to be 11. We are really busy. We're running households, and I think some of what I come up against in my own work is, where is the time to do that inner work of reflecting, processing, synthesizing how we might have created harm, returning to the relationship?Like, where is the time to really do that? And that is something I'm sitting with, is if I have said something or not said something and it has created harm, where is the space to process that? And so this practice of sitting every day, of taking refuge, creating a kind of consistent place to land every day, I think that is some of the work as well, is to have a place where we can receive ourselves and how we are working with that harm that we have imputed upon someone else.And that's a big part of the practice as well for me, is just to create that level of consistency. And to feel into that remorse, to feel into that regret, to feel how it lands with us, and to hope that we might be able to convey that and to be received. And we don't always know. We can put ourselves out there.We may not be received, but just to have that sincerity of approach and to not make it about us, but to really focus on how it has landed for the other person, and then in our own practice to do our work. I think that, for me anyway, has been a way forward. Not that I could write a rule book or some set of instructions. I would not say that. But, you know, I take real guidance from Audre Lorde who said, like, “It's on me to see my heel print on another woman's face.” I have to do my own work even if I do self-identify as someone who has had that level of systemic and interpersonal harm coming at me.I'm also in a place where I can oppress other people. I'm doing real harm for other people. And it's not one or the other. It's not simplistic, but it involves a level, I think, of spiritual and emotional maturity to really see that for ourselves and to be open to whatever has arisen and whatever harm has been done, and then to be accountable, to put ourselves in a position of being accountable to a group or to another person it is really hard work. Really very hard work.Vince Horn: Yeah. Yeah. At the same time, I mean, I can see that's the only way to gain in wisdom is to be able to do that work and then be like, “Oh, yeah, now I know better. You know, I know a little better how to engage or be with folks in a way that's not gonna cause as much harm.It's going to, you know, support others.” So yeah, thank you for talking to me today and for exploring this with us here in the Insight Diaspora. I wanted to mention, too, that you're very generously offering up sort of in-depth content around this for sanghas and other communities and leaders that are kind of interested in bringing this work into their communities.I don't know if you wanted to mention that for those that are listening and might want to reach out to you and explore that.Rima Vesely-Flad: Oh, yes. And I can put... I have a couple of things I want to put in the chat, but I can put my website in, and the bottom of the page are these offerings. Yeah, so—Vince Horn: Please.Rima Vesely-Flad: I have recorded a number of Dharma talks, eight Dharma talks with two practices based on the book. And the hope is that this is a self-guided course, but the hope is that people can both listen and then practice. And the hope is in community that actually that can happen. And still trying to figure out exactly how to essentially package all of that.But at the moment, people can register for a self-guided course and listen to Dharma talks, some of which come from the book and are somewhat expanded, and some of which come from other work I've done. So there's one called The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, and then there are three that will be offered live with a good friend of mine, Rashid Hughes, who has put together a practice he refers to as rest.He is a lovely human. He's done restorative justice work for a long time. He also has a Master of Divinity degree and leads a sangha in DC. And so Rashid will offer practice spaces live, and I will record Dharma talks. The next one is called Buddhism and Black Liberation. That comes from a book I published in 2022.And then there will be one offered in January called The Discipline of Liberation, and I think that's my next project. I'm just starting to get my head around it, but it's informed and guided by the writings of bell hooks.And then there will be one that actually points to exactly what we were just talking about with regards to harm and conflict and how to work with it internally and how to be in community, and I think a lot of us don't have that training, and I'm still someone, even now, who if I receive something in a hard way, I will go to my cushion before I'll go to another person.And maybe that's okay, except if I don't ever get off the cushion and go to that person, that's not okay. So really trying to, this is in real time, also trying to learn, like, how to have these harder conversations and do repair. That's really what I'm pointing to, how to do repair effectively so that there isn't only rupture, but there's a relationship that's sustained. So there will be one self-guided course. It will open in about a month on Tuesday, September 1st, and then three live classes with my friend Rashid, and starting in October, and then in 2027, two classes. And my hope is that we start to create some spaces that are trainings and also collective spaces where we can be guided, especially by, in my case, I'm thinking of Black thinkers, although always in conversation with other lineages, but really wanting to bring the wisdom of Black thinkers to the center of Dharma practice.Vince Horn: Yeah.Rima Vesely-Flad: Palestinian voices as well. I am really invested in that, too. And a friend, Kareem Gandoor, refers to Palestinian dharma, and I think, yes, that really resonates with me.Vince Horn: So yeah, Kareem. I know Kareem. Good stuff. Yeah, I've recently just connected with Mohsen Mawdawi, who is the president of Buddhist Association at Columbia.I think— didn't you do your grad work at Columbia?Rima Vesely-Flad: I did one of those degrees there. Uh-huh. In the same program he was in, yeah.Vince Horn: Uh-huh. Yeah. And it's been so nice to connect with fellow Palestinian Buddhists. All five of us are now connected. So I feel a lot of solidarity with the work that you're doing, and the way that you're centering the wisdom of Black teachers in the Buddhist lineage, bringing that to bear.So thank you so much for that work. I hope you continue doing it for a long time.Rima Vesely-Flad: Well, thank you. It does feel like the right work, and I feel so grateful to be able to do it long term. I mean, that's I think where I'm going here. Actually, being able to work... I'm gonna put my website into the chat.Being able to organize some of these classes is an attempt to make this work more sustainable, in addition to being like it both informs the next project and is an outgrowth of the current project. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Amanda Holmes reads Audre Lorde's “Now That I Am Forever With Child.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you'll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

En 1988, Audre Lorde escribió desde su cama de hospital, con cáncer de hígado:"Cuidarme no es autoindulgencia, es autopreservación, y eso es un acto de guerra política."Era mujer negra, lesbiana, madre, activista. No estaba hablando de una rutina de skincare. Estaba hablando de preservarse en un sistema que tenía interés político en que no lo hiciera.Hoy el mercado global del wellness mueve 5.6 trillones de dólares anuales, más que la industria farmacéutica global, vendiendo exactamente lo contrario: soluciones individuales a problemas estructurales. Suplementos, apps, retiros, skincare, wearables.Cuando individualizas el autocuidado, también individualizas el agotamiento y la ilusión de solución también. Y así, el sistema no cambia sino que tú aprendes a adaptasrte mejor a él.En este episodio excavamos de dónde vino el concepto antes de que se corrompiera, por qué el autocuidado decepciona cuando el problema no tiene solución individual, y la pregunta que Audre Lorde haría antes de comprar cualquier cosa que se vende como "autocuidado". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Dr Alexis Pauline Gumbs, aka Docta Sista, who describes herself as Queer Black Troublemaker and Black Feminist Love Evangelist and an aspirational cousin to all sentient beings. An independent scholar/author writer, she is a prolific writer of books, poems, essays, and more. Alexis and their beloved Sangodare also create and facilitate regularly scheduled spaces for education, emotional and spiritual renewal and transformation. She has received numerous awards such as the prestigious Whiting Award for non-fiction Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals in 2022 and ZORA (formerly the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award) in Non-fiction and the Judy Grahn prize in Lesbian Non-fiction for the 2024 Survival Is a Promise, The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. Alexis will also discuss her latest publication “Primary-After and With Alma Thomas.” The post “Every Breath: The Cosmic Purpose” Conversation with Alexis Pauline Gumbs appeared first on KPFA.

RU407: LANGSTON KAHN & ALESSANDRO RŌZ ON WOVEN: A RITUAL OF BELONGING FOR QUEER MEN https://renderingunconscious.substack.com/p/ru407-langston-kahn-and-alessandro Rendering Unconscious welcomes Alessandro Rōz and Langston Kahn to the podcast! They're here to talk about their upcoming event Woven: A Ritual of Belonging for Queer Men, a four-day immersive ceremony to be held in SICILY, JULY 23–26, 2026. https://www.brotherhoodoflovers.com Rendering Unconscious episode 407. On this episode, Langston and Alessandro discuss the upcoming Brotherhood of Lovers retreat in Sicily, WOVEN, aimed at fostering deep belonging and intimacy among queer men. The retreat will include ecstatic dance, somatic work, and elemental rituals, emphasizing transformation and ecstasy. Alessandro and Langston stress the need for men to reclaim their full selves, including cut off feminine and queer aspects. They highlight the importance of integrating queer perspectives and challenging heteropatriarchal norms. The conversation also touches upon the role of queer people in society and the transformative power of erotic energy. Together Alessandro Rōz and Langston Kahn co-founded the queer-led mystery school Brotherhood of Lovers. https://www.brotherhoodoflovers.com Follow them on Instagram at: https://www.alessandroroz.com https://www.instagram.com/LangstonKahn https://www.instagram.com/BrotherhoodofLovers Listen to Audre Lorde read Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power https://youtu.be/aWmq9gw4Rq0?si=OWas_dCb9Ufj58Xz ______ Check out previous related episodes: RU249: LANGSTON KAHN & DAVID SHI ON WORKING WITH ANCESTORS & SPIRIT VOICES RU163: LANGSTON KAHN ON DEEP LIBERATION: SHAMANIC TOOLS FOR RECLAIMING WHOLENESS IN A CULTURE OF TRAUMA RU63: LANGSTON KAHN – “THE THING WHICH KNOWLEDGE CAN'T EAT: GODS, ARCHETYPES & THE MIND” RU57: LANGSTON KAHN, “SHADES & SHADOWS: HOW OUR UNRESOLVED ANCESTORS & DENIED SELVES HOLD THE KEYS TO OUR COLLECTIVE LIBERATION” ______ You may find your favorite Rendering Unconscious Podcast episodes and guests here: https://renderingunconscious.substack.com/p/episodes News & events: Beginning Sunday, July 5th, Carl Abrahamsson is teaching a 4 week online course on author J.G. Ballard – The Psychosexual Pathology of Industrial Culture: The World of J.G. Ballard: with Author Carl Abrahamsson, Begins July 5: https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/jg-ballard-the-psychosexual-pathology-of-industrial-culture-with-author-carl-abrahamsson See you there! ______ Rendering Unconscious is also a book: Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics & Poetry vols 1:1 & 1:2 (Trapart Books, 2024): https://amzn.to/4sOqSEu Thank you for being a paid subscriber to Rendering Unconscious Podcast. It makes my work possible. If you are so far a free subscriber, thanks to you too. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to gain access to all the material on the site, including new, future, and archival podcast episodes. It's so important to maintain independent spaces free from censorship and corporate influence. If you are interested in pursuing psychoanalytic treatment or supervision with me, please feel free to contact me directly: www.drvanessasinclair.net/contact/ The song at the end of this episode is "Soft Explosion" from the album "The Somewhat Lost Horizon" by White Stains: https://whitestains.bandcamp.com/album/the-somewhat-lost-horizon-1991 Also available at Spotify and other streaming services. https://open.spotify.com/artist/3U9uOvTy0hvPGgWWH9V4No?si=to_XwcuhS4KSOCFTBKDNPA Links to everything can be found at: https://linktr.ee/renderingunconscious Enjoy! Thank You.

durée : 00:59:20 - Les émissions culturelles de France Culture - par : Marie Richeux - Judith Godrèche est une artiste protéiforme. Actrice, militante féministe et réalisatrice, ses choix littéraires en sont le reflet : Rimbaud, qu'elle chérit depuis l'enfance, Annie Ernaux qu'elle adapte au cinéma, ou encore une magnifique litanie de la poétesse afro-américaine Audre Lorde. - équipe : Jeanne Aléos, Mathilde Wagman, Marianne Chassort, Alexandre Alajbegovic, Cyril Marchan, Cassandre Puel, Julie Gastal - invités : Judith Godrèche Actrice, scénariste, réalisatrice et écrivaine française Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France

In this episode, Anne Marie Gunn reads Audre Lorde's essay, "Uses of the Erotic: Erotic as Power" (1978). This essay was first published in Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, was later published in 1982 as a pamphlet by Out & Out Books, and was most recently published in Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) In this talk, Aishah Shahidah Simmons explores the Buddha's teaching on the Five Hindrances — Sensual Desire, Ill Will, Sloth and Torpor, Restlessness and Worry, and Doubt — drawing on the Saṅgārava Sutta's water similes, the lineage of Sayagyi U Bha Kin through Rev. Dr. Leon E. Wright, and the words of Toni Cade Bambara and Audre Lorde. Offered through a BIPOC lens on Juneteenth, this teaching invites recognizing the hindrances with tenderness, not self-judgment, as a lifetime's practice toward liberation.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: IF YOU NEED HELP ADDING YOUR SUBSCRIBER-ONLY FEED TO YOUR PODCAST PLAYER, JUST CLICK HERE! Dark Academia is a literary genre. Dark Academia is an aesthetic. Dark Academia is a fantasy space. Or maybe Dark Academia is kind of a overgeneralizing label that few authors actually embrace. That's what R.F. Kuang, author of Babel and Katabasis thinks — and having her on the pod to talk about the trappings of the genre made for a fascinating discussion. We talk about the rise of genre right now, whether it subverts or reinforces the world it depicts, why State School Dark Academia doesn't really exist, and of course race, class, and the ideologies fantasy allows us to explore (and explode), just generally. Come hang out in R.F. Kuang's brilliant mind!! Thanks to the sponsors of today's episode: Ready to upgrade your eyewear to something functional, fashionable, fun, and affordable? Head to goodr.com/CULTURE to claim $10 off your first order. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code CULTURE at https://www.oneskin.co/CULTURE Use code CULTURE at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a free gift with your first purchase! Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! If you're in the market for a beautiful new sofa, dining table or bed, head over to https://www.article.com/ Show Notes: Pre-order Taipei Story here: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780063473744 Katabasis is now out in paperback! https://bookshop.org/p/books/katabasis-standard-edition-a-novel-r-f-kuang/078c5e32fe5f2db6?ean=9780063021488&next=t The New Yorker profile I reference: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/25/the-otherworldly-ambitions-of-r-f-kuang Subscribe to Rebecca's newsletter here: https://rfkuang.substack.com/ Taipei Story tour dates in the US, UK, Ireland, and Canada! https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/taipei-story#tour We reference Possession by A.S. Byatt: https://bookshop.org/a/56144/9780679735908 (also Possession was published in 1991, we were way off!) Rebecca mentions Audre Lorde's 1982 talk, "Learning from the 60s": https://garadinervi-repertori.blog/post/620761451560386560/audre-lorde-learning-from-the-60s-talk We're currently looking for your questions for future episodes about: THE NEXUS OF LLMS/A.I. AND CREATIVITY: A.I. Boosters argues that LLMS can free us for more creative endeavors — or "facilitate" our creative work. THOUGHTS???? (This one's with the brilliant Vauhini Vara, whose work grapples with these questions in a way I've never seen before). Hopefully this piece on how A.I. keeps wasting my G-D time will spark some questions on your end. WOMEN'S FITNESS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. As our co-host Zoe Rom puts it: "Women are told they need to do fasting, creatine, lifting, fueling, and recovery differently than men. Sometimes the science backs it. More often the "different" is a marketing mechanism: invent a gendered problem, sell a gendered protocol, collect the markup." What's going on here? Where have you seen it, what pisses you off about it... take this wherever you'd like. HOW HAVING A FAMILY BECAME SO DAUNTING (and DIFFICULT). Anna Louie Sussman is coming on the pod to talk about her incredible new book on the feeling of "impossibility" when it comes to contemporary family. We can talk about fertility, cost, equal partnership, affordability, safety, climate grief, so many things. Join the ranks of paid subscribers and get bonus content, access to the discussion threads, ad-free episodes, and the knowledge that you're supporting an indie pod trying to make its way in the world.Got a question to submit, a prompt for Ask Anne Anything, or an idea for a future episode? Tell us here.Catch up on everything else happening in the Culture Study universe here.Transcripts will be available here within 24 hours of publishing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm excited to bring you today's deep, beautiful, very warm and loving conversation.Today's guest, Mheena Bhasin, is a violist, mother of two and Pleasure Activist living in Noe Valley, San Francisco. Her work centers the arts as a vital part of civic life and community wellbeing.Mheena feels deep gratitude for her life, her family and her community. She has co-created a concert series with her husband, that brings world-class artists into neighbourhood spaces and sees music as a vehicle for community care and connection.Programming includes concerts for neurodivergent youth, lunchtime town-square performances, and wellbeing concerts.Pleasure activism is integrated into her work, especially with women, through music, movement, meditation and love as a source of energy.How she got hereMheena began her training in music at the age of four. Her early classical training was intense and rule-bound. Music was always her way of feeling deeply and now she teaches others to access that same inner wellspring.About ten years ago music had become a source of anxiety and pressure and Mheena experienced burnout. Moving from New York to San Francisco gave her a clean slate to rebuild her relationship with music. She learned to pause, reset and choose what to return to. Pregnancy and early motherhood planted the seeds for her current work.How did pleasure activism come into her life?Mheena was inspired by adrienne maree brown's book Pleasure Activism and Audre Lorde's essay Uses of the Erotic, which helped her understand that pleasure is a birthright, not a hierarchy or commodity.Pleasure is not escapism, but feeling safe, beautiful and fully alive. Society often misinterprets pleasure as indulgence or hypersexuality, when it can be as simple as sensory presence and love.Mheena doesn't label herself an activist but sees activism as putting a stake in the ground, naming your values, being willing to be seen and going first so others feel permitted to follow.At the time of our recording, Mheena was on day 11 of a gratitude practice. She encourages building a toolbox of small, accessible ways to return to love and aliveness to yourself.On her website, www.Mheenabhasin.com, she offers a free pleasure meditation and a 75-minute meditation practice for those who'd like to go deeper.Mheena welcomes conversations with anyone exploring pleasure in their life.Hope you enjoy this one!Invitations to Play with Kay* I'm offering online workshops throughout 2026, and an in-person retreat here in Maine in September - see more at https://kaylockkolp.com/events* If community is something you value, consider joining Dreamers & Doers. Here is where you can check it out: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about* Connect with me to talk about coaching or facilitation* Or, apply to work 1-1 with me (currently waitlisted)Cheers and lots of love to you today

In a special Pride Month feature produced by Brian DeShazor, young poets from Los Angeles-based Get Lit – Words Ignite respond to the words of LGBTQ trailblazers across generations. After listening to archival recordings by James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Quentin Crisp, the poets James Mondares, Candi aka Vonne, and Samantha Rios created original spoken-word pieces inspired by those voices and their enduring messages. The result is a moving intergenerational conversation that connects LGBTQ history, literature, and activism with the experiences of today's emerging writers, demonstrating how the power of queer storytelling continues to inspire new generations. This week on This Way Out, NewsWrap reports on growing concerns over proposed cuts to LGBTQ+ health research and federal grant programs under a new Trump administration plan. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, follow protests by transgender rights activists in the United Kingdom over new public-facility restrictions, report on a neo-Nazi disruption of Pride events in Athens, Georgia, and celebrate Broadway history as Qween Jean becomes the first openly transgender Tony Award winner. Featured speakers: Zohran Mamdani, Bruce Villanch, Brian Sonia-Wallace, James Baldwin, James Mondares, Audre Lorde, Candi aka Vonne, Quentin Crisp Samantha Rios Credits: Associate Producer/Lucia Chappelle, Producer/Host Brian DeShazor, News writer Jeb Backe, feature producer Brian DeShazor, NewsWrap reporters, Joe Boehnlein and Melanie Keller, music by Raye and Kim Wilson.

Guest: Mariana Alessandri, PhD — existentialist philosopher, author, and self-described "defender of dark moods"  If you've ever been told to "choose happy," "stay positive," or "look on the bright side" while your world was falling apart — this episode is for you.  Dr. Debi Silber sits down with philosopher Mariana Alessandri to explore why our society's obsession with toxic positivity is actually hurting the people who are suffering most. Mariana, author of a groundbreaking book on dark emotions (covering anger, sadness, grief, depression, and anxiety), brings a refreshing and deeply compassionate philosophical lens to the emotions we're taught to hide, suppress, or apologize for.  In this episode you'll discover:  Why the pressure to "be positive" has an insidious underbelly — and how it turns us against ourselves  The difference between saying "I'm broken" and "I'm in deep pain" — and why it matters  How souls connect more deeply in suffering than in joy (and the philosophy behind it)  The two wolves parable — and why starving the dark wolf may be keeping you stuck  Why anger deserves a hearing, not a judgment — and how it can be a form of self-care  The concept of "sympathetic resonance" and what heartstrings have to do with empathy  Why sharing your pain is a gift — not a burden — and how to find the people you can trust with it  How to talk about your pre-betrayal self with dignity, not shame  Mariana's two takeaways for everyone: It's not your job to cheer people up — and sharing pain is a gift, not a burden.  Connect with Mariana Alessandri:  Website: marianalessandri.com  Instagram: @mariana.alessandri  Resources mentioned:  Night Side of Nature (Mariana's book — chapters on anger, sadness, grief, depression, and anxiety)  Philosophers referenced: Miguel de Unamuno, Audre Lorde, Maria Lugones, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureans  The two wolves parable  Susan Caine's concept of "bittersweet" 

Se dire allié et continuer à invisibiliser les personnes qu'on prétend défendre, n'a rien avoir avec du militantisme. C'est de la posture. Et si tu ignores l'outil révolutionnaire qu'est le regard situé, tu n'es peut-être pas l'allié que tu prétends être

Latest up from Spoken Label (Poetry Podcast) features making her debut, the amazing Alexis Brown.Alexis is a poet, writer, musician, and shamanic/Reiki practitioner originally from the United States, now based in Manchester with her wife Danielle and their two cats, Jade and Salem. Raised between New York and the American South, her relationship to language was shaped early through literature, music, queerness, spirituality, and the emotional landscapes that exist between people.Though classically trained in music with foundations in blues and jazz, poetry remains the art form most deeply connected to her soul. Influenced by writers such as E. E. Cummings, Walt Whitman, and Audre Lorde - alongside the lyrical intimacy of Meshell Ndegeocello - Alexis writes toward feeling rather than simple description. Her work explores love, longing, devotion, power dynamics, queer identity, spirituality, memory, and the ways human connection can transform us.Her poetry is often shaped by the people who have crossed her path as teachers, whether through tenderness, heartbreak, desire, or revelation. Alongside Danielle, she is currently developing a collaborative poetry collection tracing the chronology of their relationship - a love they often describe as ancient, oceanic, and timeless.Now rooted in Manchester's vibrant creative community, Alexis continues building both her literary voice and spiritual practice, drawn to art that evokes emotion as viscerally as music itself.Instagram - Greyyylex and Rainbowreikishamanism

In this conversation, Amy sits down with mindfulness teacher and writer Oneika Mays to talk about her new book, Sit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation—part memoir, part meditation guide, and an unflinching look at what it means to practice loving-kindness in real-world conditions, including inside Rikers Island. Oneika shares what it felt like to work inside a system built on hierarchy and dehumanization, the tension of receiving a salary inside a harmful structure, and the moment she realized that “the system isn't broken—it's working as designed.” From there, the conversation widens into the heart of metta: not as softness or spiritual bypassing, but as grounded, actionable love that can hold anger, boundaries, and truth-telling without losing our humanity. About Oneika and the BookBook: Sit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation (HarperOne / HarperCollins; on sale March 3, 2026). How Oneika describes it: “Meditation is for messy people… This book is part memoir, part meditation guide—and it's about showing up exactly as you are.” What You'll Hear in This EpisodeThe embodied “ick” of being treated as “one of us” by staff—how hierarchy shows up in small moments, tone shifts, and access.Why reform can get absorbed by a machine—and how “helping” can unintentionally make a harmful system look more palatable.The pivot from “fixing” to “serving,” and why that matters in any therapeutic or helping profession.Metta as a practice that includes righteous anger, loving accountability, and clear boundaries (not performative positivity).The inner work of not needing to be liked—and why unconditional love is not the same as being “nice.”A grounded call to action: personal responsibility, collective responsibility, and small acts that add up. Core Themes to Highlight (for your episode description)1) Metta is not performative softness. It's a disciplined practice of staying human—especially when it's inconvenient, when you're angry, and when you need boundaries.2) The “system” is not abstract—it's embodied. Hierarchy is felt through tone, access, positioning, and whose body is treated as more worthy.3) Serving is different than fixing. When we see people as broken, we become controlling or paternalistic. When we serve, we stay in relationship with wholeness.4) Choosing yourself can be an ethical act. Not as individualism, but as harm reduction—because depleted care can become harmful care.5) Collective change is built from small refusals. Not pre-agreeing to dehumanization. Practicing “no” with steadiness, clarity, and community. Resources Mentioned in the ConversationThe New Jim Crow — Michelle Alexander (recommended by Oneika in the episode)“Helping, Fixing, and Serving” — Rachel Naomi Remen (named in the episode)Sharon Salzberg's teaching stories on loving-kindness (referenced in the episode)Audre Lorde on self-care as self-preservation (referenced in the episode)Toni Morrison quote on freedom and responsibility (referenced in the episode)Timothy Snyder's guidance on resisting authoritarianism (Amy referenced at the end) Connect with OneikaWebsite: Oneika Mays www.OneikaMays.com Book Details and Where to Find ItSit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation is published by HarperOne and is listed as on sale March 3, 2026.

In this episode, host Anne Marie Gunn highlights the book “Pleasure Activism” by adrienne maree brown and shares her own lineage of who taught her how to feel good. “Hot & Heavy Homework” Prompt from “Pleasure Activism”:“Write up your pleasure activism lineage! Who awakened your senses? Who politicized your experiences of body, identity, sensation, feeling good? If they are still living, have you thanked them properly? If yes, good, do it again. If not, reach out. If they are ancestors, honor them with a pleasure altar covered in sticky fruit, sweet smalls, sacred water, and thick earth, centered around fire. Gratitude is part of pleasure too.” Additional sources mentioned/shared:PLEASURE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster SENSUAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster The Tool Shed “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver“Holy Hurt” by Hillary McBride“The Vagina Monologues” by V Ensler“Your Body is Not an Apology” by Sonya Renee Taylor“Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde, specifically the essay “Uses of the Erotic”Other authors: Taylor Jenkins Reid and Patti Smith, Haley Jakobson, Jenny Slate, Cheryl StrayedVisual artists: Frida Kahlo, Hilma af Klint, Martha Jungwirth, Etel Adnan Musical artists: Bon Iver, Dijon, Rihanna, Janelle Monae, Chappell RoanQueer Sex Therapy on Instagram (Casey Tanner)

This episode of the Teach Different Podcast explores complex emotions and responses to racism through Audre Lorde's quote: “My response to racism is anger.” Steve, Bully, and Jarvis discuss the claim of the quote, stating that anger can be a natural response to racism. They explore some counterclaims, citing different responses one might have towards racism that aren't anger. Lastly, they pose some essential questions for further consideration when looking at issues of racism.Chapters00:00 - Introduction to the Teach Different Podcast01:19 - Exploring Racism Through Audre Lorde's Quote04:45 - Personal Experiences with Racism06:46 - Emotional Responses to Racism08:48 - Navigating Racism in Professional Environments11:37 - Transforming Anger into Empowerment14:42 - Personal Experiences with Racism18:01 - Finding Humor in Ignorance18:39 - Counterclaims and Perspectives on Racism20:23 - Teach Different Intro.mp4Image Source: K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

National Poetry Month revisits the 1979 March on Washington with poetry from the rally stage recited by Allen Ginsberg, Paula Gunn Allen, and Audre Lorde. Audre Lorde also reads a poem to close the program from 1980 recorded at a feminist event in New York City. (Produced by Brian DeShazor) Music by Elizabeth Clyde and Blackberri And in Newswrap: Hungary's political shift as Viktor Orbán is unseated by Péter Magyar, an Australian court allows trans exclusion at lesbian events, Montana affirms transgender legal recognition, and the Pride flag is restored at Stonewall National Monument. All this on the April 20, 2026 Edition of This Way Out!

This month on Laura Flanders and Friends, we're revisiting conversations around the earth, the natural world and climate justice in action. This week, Survival Guide for Humans Learned from Marine Mammals with Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Make a tax deductible donation and become a member at LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Description: Are you drowning? This year hasn't been smooth sailing for many of us — with extreme temperatures, and other crises. How do we take a breath? Alexis Pauline Gumbs' UNDROWNED: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, draws on the practices of marine mammals — they are the experts, after all, in not drowning. (The harbor seal can slow its breath to about four beats per minute!) The book landed her the prestigious 2022 Whiting Prize for nonfiction, and now she is working on a biography of Audre Lorde. Plus, she is bringing people together through Soul Sanctuary, retreats that center a Black, feminist and queer vision. Join Laura and Gumbs for a conversation on how we can all practice “another way to breathe.”  Music featured in the middle of the radio show and podcast is the title track of Samora Pinderhughes' “Transformation Suite”. “This is an offering towards evolution, towards our evolution, towards the possibility that instead of continuing the trajectory of slavery, entrapment, separation, and domination, and making our atmosphere unbreakable, we might instead practice another way to breathe.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs “The context of undrowning, breathing in unbreathable circumstances is what we do every day, in the choke hold of racial, gendered, ableist capitalism. We are still undrowning. And by we, I don't only mean people like myself whose ancestors specifically survive the middle passage.” - Alexis Pauline Gumbs Guest: Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Poet, Author, Independent Scholar & Activist Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel nationally airing Sundays at 11:30am ET and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast. Full Episode Notes are located HERE. Related Podcast:  Full uncut conversation is available in the podcast feed. Music Credit: “Transformation Suite” by Samora Pinderhughes, "Ripples" by Ketsa, "Steppin" by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends   Related Books: “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, published by AK Press as part of adrienne maree brown's Emergent Strategy Series  Find More About the Book Here (*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)   Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes: •  “Revolution Mothering”  hosted by Alexis Pauline Gumbs  Watch Here • Kristina Wong & Rebecca Solnit:  The Power of Art & Aunties  Watch & Listen Here •  Armed with Art:  Taking Down the Wall of Whiteness  Watch & Listen Here •  How Radical Self Love Can Heal the World  Watch & Listen Here •  Mariame Kaba:  Rooting Out Our Culture of Harm  Watch & Subscribe to the podcast here  and the full conversation here   Related Articles and Resources: • Song versions of pieces from Gumbs' book ‘Undrowned' in collaboration with Toshi Reagon  Listen Here •  Music video “Makalani = Eye of Heaven = She knows” by Be Steadwell featuring one of the collaborations between Alexis Pauline Gumbs and Toshi Reagon Watch Here •  Where to Turn When You Feel ‘at Odds With Being Human', by Alana Mohamed, The Atlantic, Read Here •  The Age of Stolen Salt (salt is time) by Pauline Gumbs, Orion People & Nature  Read Here Featured ‘Music in the Middle' of the Podcast: The title track of Samora Pinderhughes' “Transformation Suite”  Listen and Learn More Here   We do not accept advertisements or government funding.  We are independent movement media for the people, and funded by the people!  Become a member by making a one time donation or make it a monthly contribution at https://LauraFlanders.org/donate Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Lorna Simpson talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Simpson was born in Brooklyn, New York, 1960. Her conceptual approach to photography, and image-making more widely, reflects a desire to subvert the conventional framing of different forms of identity. From her early photo-text works to her recent paintings using found images, Lorna has explored the complexity of representation, and the visual and textual languages with which it is constructed. While she is deeply engaged with societal issues and historical inequities, and with the camera's time-honoured role as a documentary instrument, she blurs boundaries between reality and fiction, between witnessing and storytelling. The result is a practice that is precise and yet elusive, spare and yet capacious.She discusses how she achieves a balance between refusal and engagement to allow space for the viewer to enter her work. She talks about the role of the archive and history and how she navigates the use of existing images through various media. She reflects on her constant need to test herself through her work. She recalls the immense importance of discovering the work of David Hammons, how an exhibition of Francisco de Zurbarán at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York influenced her approach to image-making, and her connection to artists from Isaac Julien to Terry Adkins and Wangechi Mutu. She reflects on the importance of literature and writers including Robin Coste Lewis and Audre Lorde to her practice. And she discusses the vital importance of the films of Chantal Akerman. Plus, she gives insight into her life in the studio and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?Lorna Simpson, Punta della Dogana, Venice, until 22 November Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Executive Director of The Jung Center, Dr. Fitzpatrick's not only given the Rose community hope in the darkest of times, such as during the pandemic, but he’s also done so for countless others in the Houston area. During this conversation, Dorothy and Dr. Fitzpatrick talk about past challenges and how they’ve impacted the breast cancer community. He also discusses the need for caregivers to embrace self-care and encourages breast cancer patients to engage in self-acceptance. Additionally, we get a brief history lesson when Dr. Fitzpatrick discusses Audre Lorde, who was faced with the difficult decision of either living out what life she had left serving her values, helping women’s groups that were forming in the 1970s and the 1980s, or if she was going to take the step back to seek treatment for breast cancer. Learn more about Dr. Fitzpatrick's work and The Jung Center at www.junghouston.com. Support The Rose HERE. Subscribe to Let’s Talk About Your Breasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and wherever you get your podcasts. Key Questions Answered 1. Why is must we nurture our well-being, especially in the face of adversity? as the isolation brought on by the pandemic. 2. How is breast cancer tied to the origin of self-care? 3. What can we do to foster better support networks in our community? 4. What are Dr. Fitzpatrick’s tips for managing self-care? Timestamped Overview 00:00 Self-care in pandemic: simplified approach for all. 03:51 Infants have instinct to notice surroundings instinctively. 07:47 Paying attention to body signals for calm. 12:55 Well being defined as happiness and contentment. 15:04 Well-being through relationships, including self and community. 18:38 Commute time transformed during pandemic, newfound appreciation. 23:46 Audrey Lord, influential writer, faced cancer decision. 24:48 Self-care as political act for black woman. 28:11 Recognize interdependence, create spaces for connection.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

durée : 00:57:58 - Toute une vie - par : Charlotte Bienaimé - Poète noire, féministe, lesbienne, mère, guerrière, Audre Lorde n'a cessé de combattre, dans sa vie, et à travers ses textes, le racisme, le sexisme, l'homophobie et toutes formes d'injustices sociales. - réalisation : Annabelle Brouard

durée : 00:57:58 - Toute une vie - par : Charlotte Bienaimé - Poète noire, féministe, lesbienne, mère, guerrière, Audre Lorde n'a cessé de combattre, dans sa vie, et à travers ses textes, le racisme, le sexisme, l'homophobie et toutes formes d'injustices sociales. - réalisation : Annabelle Brouard

Amy Klein (of AK and The Hallucinations and former guitarist of Titus Andronicus) joins me for an emotionally cathartic conversation about season 1 of Heated Rivalry and our personal soundtrack wishlists for season 2. Topics include love letters to fanfiction, the inherent grief and woundedness of desire, Carl Jung's theory of the shadow self, and engaging with the erotic as a deeply female and spiritual source through the writings of Anne Carson and Audre Lorde. ✨KEEP UP TO DATE WITH AMY KLEIN ✨Web: http://www.amykleinmusic.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/akandthehallucinations/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/amyrebeccakleinSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3eRMQoarXLl60uC8Bi6BJL?si=wg_KQD1RSpGbAwmUIcyv_w ✨ SEASON 2 SOUNDTRACK WISHLIST ✨ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5rxyGRdaf22e7YCoBwg5qh✨ SOURCES & WORKS REFERENCED ✨Aya, Maxine. “two souls become one: analyzing heated rivalry's original soundtrack.” Maxine Aya Writes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://www.maxineayawrites.com/blog/two-souls-become-one.Berger, John. “Another Side of Desire.” Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance, Verso Books, 2007, pp. 126, 2 Mar. 2026. Carson, Anne. “Finding The Edge.” Eros The Bittersweet, Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 30, 2 Mar. 2026. Cultured Mag. “@connorstorrieofficial has a PSA for the Internet…” Instagram, 20 Feb. 2026, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU_w0O_iRzk/.Derrida, Jacques. "Wears and Tears (Tableau of an ageless world).” Spectres of Marx, Éditions Galilée, 1993, pp. 51, 2 Mar. 2026. Fell, Erin. “‘Heated Rivalry' Composer Peter Peter on His Debut Scoring Effort: “Pretty Insane, Especially for a First Gig.” Variety, 6 Feb. 2026, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/peter-peter-heated-rivalry-composer-interview-1236496036/. Gibson, Erin. “Heated Rivalry - Ep 2.” Attitudes, 29 Jan. 2026, https://www.patreon.com/posts/149341967?collection=1942480.Glitch Gestalt Girl. “Heated Rivalry's cinematography challenges how film language is allowed to look at men.” Instagram, 19 Feb. 2026, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU8blSbjT6L/. Jung, Carl. Chapter. Man and His Symbols, Doubleday, 1964, 2 Mar. 2026. Jung, E. Alex. “Girls Who Love Boys Who Love Boys.” New York Magazine, 23 Feb. 2026, https://www.vulture.com/article/heated-rivalry-fujoshi-fan-fiction.html.King, Gayle.” Heated Rivalry" producers on show's popularity and what to know about its second season.” CBS Mornings, 26 Feb. 2026, https://youtu.be/2MAayneb5lw?si=jj84gv-67r9W2kaG. Lorde, Audre. “Uses of the Erotic.” Sister Outsider, Crossing Press, 1984, pp.54-56, 2 Mar. 2026. Machado, Carmen Maria. In the Dream House, Graywolf Press, 2019, pp. 68, 2 Mar. 2026. Mazza, Angelina. “Sorry, the “Heated Rivalry” gay Marvel fanfic origin story isn't true.” Salon, 6 Dec. 2025, https://www.salon.com/2025/12/06/heated-rivalry-gay-marvel-fanfic-rachel-reid/ Melchor, Traci. “Heated Rivalry' creator wants show to be synonymous with "horny joy" | Jacob Tierney Interview.” Etalk, 12 Dec. 2025, https://youtu.be/1Tec_LsHueY?si=hVGsO-MluOqNc627.Plato. The Symposium. Translated by Christopher Gill, Penguin Classics, 2003, 2 Mar. 2026. Princiotti, Nora. “The Perfect ‘O.C.' Soundtrack Made Indie Music Mainstream.” The Ringer, 3 Aug. 2023, https://www.theringer.com/2023/08/03/tv/20th-anniversary-of-the-oc-music-soundtrack-rooney-death-cab-for-cutie.Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996, 2 Mar. 2026. Reid, Rachel. Heated Rivalry, Harlequin Enterprises, 2019, 2 Mar. 2026. Saturday Night Live. “Stripper.” NBC, 1 Mar. 2026, https://youtu.be/uJAIEym5FvM?si=OVUAXpJrwinQ4MV1.Shaped by the Flow. “This isn't consent education.” Instagram, 8 Jan. 2026, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTQOn39CAnA/. Sim, Bernardo. “Heated Rivalry: Hudson thought Connor would 'pin me down and f— me' in audition.” Out Magazine, 29, Nov. 2025. https://www.out.com/gay-tv-shows/heated-rivalry-connor-storrie-hudson-williams-interview.

Every spring, you're told to declutter your wardrobe, your goals, your relationships, and your mindset. And if you don't feel the urge? There's a low hum of guilt that says something's wrong with you.This week on The Scenic Route, we're asking: what if that impulse isn't wisdom, and who actually benefits from the story that your whole life needs a seasonal audit?For many women in midlife, spring-cleaning pressure hits differently. You're already navigating a season of your own — one that doesn't come with a tidy checklist. The last thing you need is Instagram telling you to declutter your chakras, too.We trace spring cleaning back to its roots — sacred, communal rituals in traditions around the globe — and follow how it was stripped of that context to become a personal productivity obligation. We look at who the "spring-clean your life" message lands on most heavily (and why that's not a coincidence). And we get into how self-care went from a radical political act — rooted in the work of Audre Lorde — to "buy this candle."Plus: what my body is actually doing in spring and why the in-between, messy, not-yet-blooming feeling might not be a problem to fix.You'll come away with: A reframe on why you feel behind every springThe cultural and gendered history behind domestic "renewal" pressureOne small invitation to try spring subtracting insteadIf this made you see spring cleaning differently, share it with someone who needs permission to not optimise their way through spring.References mentioned:Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light (1988)Inna Michaeli, "Self-Care: An Act of Political Warfare or a Neoliberal Trap?" (2017)Laurie Penny, "Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless," The Baffler (2016)Send me a DMSupport the show_____________________________________________________________________

Join Ruth and Ira today as we talk about the challenges of doing activism as a person of color in America. Age, Race, Class, and Sex: An Essay by Audre Lorde

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts.What happens when you go searching for the words of Caribbean women—and find silence where there should be an echo? We follow that uneasy question into the kitchens, verandas, classrooms, and studios where wisdom has always lived, then ask why so little of it appears on slides, posters, and timelines. Along the way, we unpack how publishing power, archival choices, and diaspora networks shape which voices become quotable and which remain unnamed, even as their ideas guide our lives.We explore proverbs like every mickle mek a muckle and one one coco full basket as distilled philosophies of patience, accumulation, and community care. These are not folk extras; they are intellectual traditions forged through scarcity, migration, and resistance. We contrast the global prominence of figures like Marcus Garvey or Audre Lorde with the many Caribbean women whose insights travel orally or locally and rarely get tagged to a name. Then we turn to a practical solution: building a living archive by treating our conversations with scholars, artists, and educators as citable sources. When a phrase reframes history, names a power dynamic, or offers a tool for survival, we capture it, attribute it, and pass it on.Together we commit to a simple practice with big stakes: cite women's words. Citation is care, visibility, and lineage—a way to ensure that students, educators, and community organizers can trace ideas back to the women who shaped them. We close with an open invitation: share the quote by a Caribbean woman you live by, whether it came from a poet, a professor, a musician, a grandmother, or a guest on the show. Tag us and tell us what it means to you, and we'll amplify it so those voices stay present in our feeds, our classrooms, and our futures.If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves Caribbean history and culture, and leave a review so more listeners can find these voices. Your citation, your share, and your story help build the archive.Support the showConnect with Strictly Facts - Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Website Looking to read more about the topics covered in this episode? Subscribe to the newsletter at www.strictlyfactspod.com to get the Strictly Facts Syllabus to your email!Want to Support Strictly Facts? Rate & Leave a Review on your favorite platform Share this episode with someone or online and tag us Send us a DM or voice note to have your thoughts featured on an upcoming episode Donate to help us continue empowering listeners with Caribbean history and education Produced by Breadfruit Media

February is Black History Month! A time to honor the leadership, scholarship, and activism of African Americans whose contributions have shaped our nation. In this episode of the Advancing Women Podcast, we center and celebrate the Black women whose intellectual and political leadership fundamentally transformed feminism and continue to shape the ongoing work of gender equity. Too often, the history of the women's movement highlights figures like Stanton and Anthony while overlooking the central role Black women played in abolition, suffrage, civil rights, and feminist thought. Long before the term intersectionality was coined, Black women were living and articulating the layered realities of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. We begin with the powerful words of Sojourner Truth and her 1851 “Ain't I a Woman?” speech, and we explore the evolution of the feminist movement through its three waves. We examine how Black feminist thought reshaped and expanded mainstream feminism during the 1960s and 1970s. We honor leaders such as: bell hooks, who defined feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” Audre Lorde, who reminded us, “I am not free while any woman is unfree.” Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, whose legacy of being “Unbought and Unbossed” redefined feminist leadership. Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term intersectionality and warned that when movements fail to be intersectional, the most vulnerable fall through the cracks. Angela Davis, whose lifelong commitment to justice reminds us that equity work is not a moment…it's a movement. Maya Angelou, whose words call us forward: “Take up the battle. It is yours.” This episode examines why Black feminism is foundational to inclusive leadership, and why intersectionality is essential to advancing women. If we are not intersectional, we are not advancing all women. If we are not advancing all women, we are not advancing women! This conversation is about honoring legacy, not just in February, but always. It is about recognizing that the unfinished work of equity requires courage, scholarship, service, and collective responsibility. Because together, we rise. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a colleague, a student, or a friend. The work of advancing women requires all of us. Let's Connect: ·        Instagram: @AdvancingWomenPodcast  ·        Facebook: Advancing Women Podcast  ·        LinkedIn: Dr. Kimberly DeSimone 

En NEGRAS, celebramos los natalicios de las poetas Angelamaría Dávila, Julia de Burgos y Audre Lorde en compañía de Mayra Santos Febres, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Georgina Vidiella y Jessica Gaspar.Mujeres afrodescendientes conversan sobre proyectos, académicos y comunitarios, relacionados a la negritud y la racialización en Puerto Rico. Aprende de los saberes de mujeres afrodescendientes y desaprende mitos que, históricamente, han degradado a las personas visiblemente negras en la nación puertorriqueña. Una producción de Colectivo Ilé ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.colectivoile.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ para Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico. Viernes 3:00 pm a través del 89.7 FM en San Juan, el 88.3 FM en Mayagüez#RADIOUNIVERSIDAD #poesia

I've been reading Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown as a way of making sense of what I've been calling my own ethical hedonism — not indulgence, not impulsivity, but the question of whether pleasure might actually function as guidance.Included in that book is Audre Lorde's classic essay The Uses of the Erotic, which I recently told a group chat might be one of the best essays I've ever read. In this solo episode, I unpack why.Lorde reframes the erotic not as performance or spectacle, but as a form of embodied knowledge — a deep connection to our capacity for joy that becomes a lens through which we evaluate our lives. When we reconnect with that internal hum of aliveness, she argues, we can no longer settle for what is merely safe, conventional, or externally approved.Along the way, I explore a resonance I can't ignore — the connection between what Lorde calls erotic knowledge and what James Hollis describes as inner authority. They are not saying the same thing. They are not operating in the same tradition. And yet both point toward an internal guidance system that asks us to live from alignment rather than expectation.This episode weaves together ethical hedonism, embodied joy, clinical reflections, and the responsibility that comes with knowing your own capacity for depth.Once you know your capacity for joy, you are responsible to it

In this episode, Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad discusses her book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. This conversation originally took place January 29, 2026 and was recorded live [...]

Andrea Jordan is the Founder and CEO of Empathium, and she's building something radically different in the AI space. While everyone else is focused on automation and efficiency, Andrea is building emotionally intelligent AI for the moments that matter most.What we loved about this conversation is Andrea's willingness to sit with the tension. She's not blindly pro-AI, and she's wrestling with big questions about what it means to use these tools to create more equitable systems.What We Talked AboutAndrea walked us through why companies are rolling back their automation efforts—turns out removing humans from human care is an expensive mistake. We explored how AI can actually help people develop empathy, attunement, and relational confidence instead of replacing those skills. She shared why Empathium is designed to work in places with limited or no connectivity (because if it only works in optimal conditions, who are we really serving?). And we grappled with Audre Lorde's wisdom about the "master's tools" and what it means to build from inside systems we're trying to change.Key TakeawaysThe self-checkout, robo-customer-service era taught companies a hard lesson: you can't just remove humans from the loop and expect it to work. Empathium is building on that recognition—not automating human interaction, but attuning humans themselves.AI's best qualities are agility, adaptability, and scale. The question is whether we use those to replace human connection or to support it. Andrea is betting on support—building tools that help people show up better in high-stakes moments.If we want better systems, we need tools that make emotionally intelligent care scalable. That means designing for healthcare, education, and human services where communication failures have the highest human and economic costs.Empathium is designed as a global product that works without constant connectivity. As Andrea puts it: "If we can't foster human connection there, are we really doing the work?"On using the "master's tools": Andrea openly wrestles with this tension. Her take? She's not trying to dismantle the house but to "make space for all of us to live in it." Use the tools we have strategically while staying grounded in intention.AI isn't the answer to everything. We need critical thinking about which tools to use when—and to recognize when we're using a hammer for a wrench's job.About Andrea JordanAndrea's background spans social work, behavioral health, and systems-level leadership. She specializes in designing products at the intersection of trauma-informed care, AI, and high-stakes communication. With Empathium, she's developing adaptive emotional intelligence infrastructure focused on where communication failures cost the most. Her belief is simple: if we want better systems, we need to build tools that make emotionally intelligent care scalable—not by replacing humans, but by building a bridge to human connection.Connect with AndreaAndrea welcomes conversations about what she's building:LinkedIn: Andrea Jordan GoubeauxWebsite: empathium.ai (join the waitlist)Early access to Tynd: Reach out to Andrea directly on LinkedInResources:Navigating a big transition? Check out our Pivot Plan: 8 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Your Next Big Move.Think coaching might be right for you? Schedule a free consultation to explore how we can help you step into your next level of leadership.Interested in going deeper in your own leadership and building your network? Join the waitlist for The CoCreate Work Leadership Book Club to explore the themes from this episode in community—through powerful reads, reflection prompts, and live conversations.Our last session of the Culture Crash Course just ended, but if you're interested in a Culture Crash Course for your organization or team, please contact us at support@cocreatework.com.Interested in leadership development for your team? Our Workshops are a great wait to develop your team's skills and connection.At CoCreate Work, we believe in asking great questions. Click here to receive our guide to 40 Powerful Questions to accelerate your growth.We would love to connect with you!CoCreate Work on LinkedInCoCreate Work on InstagramLa'Kita on InstagramChloe on InstagramVisit our Podcast PageQuestions you would like us to answer on the podcast? Email us at podcast@cocreatework.com

Ethan talks to author, scholar and teacher Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about her insightful new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Mixing scholarship, memoir, and a deep reverence for the spiritual insights of two of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th century, Dr. Vesely-Flad's newest work approaches Buddhist teachings from an angle that is deeply human, literary, and personal. How did these two great authors touch on such dharmic topics as the truth of suffering, relative and ultimate reality, and much more? Fans of literature and Buddhism will enjoy this conversation and new book deeply. This conversation belongs to one of Ethan's favorite categories: "Things you didn't know were Buddhist." In 2025, with your subscriptions to The Road Home, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). She is the founder of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and the recipient of grants from the Fetzer Institute, the Henry J. Luce Foundation, the Fredrick P. Lenz Foundation, the Crossroads Program, and the US Department of State Fulbright program. You can follow her work at www.blackbuddhiststudies.org.       Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and a guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed a mindful take on intuition, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). Free RAIN Meditation Workshop on February 12th via A Mindful World! A new free video course on a classic Buddhist contemplation called The Five Remembrances is available at this link. Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor A Mindful World!

J'ai le plaisir d'accueillir cette semaine Gabriella Papadakis, championne olympique de patinage artistique, mais surtout une femme qui a choisi de mettre des mots là où, pendant longtemps, il n'y avait que du silence. Pourquoi normalise-t-on des dynamiques de domination sans même s'en rendre compte ? Comment l'emprise isole peu à peu, sans qu'on s'en rende compte ?Et si nommer ce qui fait mal était déjà une première étape pour guérir ?Une conversation qui questionne un milieu, ses normes, et ce qu'il exige des corps et des silences.Une invitation à prendre du recul, à reconnaître ce qui nous abîme, et à comprendre que certaines transformations prennent du temps, et beaucoup de douceur.Je vous souhaite une très bonne écoute !____Recommandations : Pour un prochain épisode : Safia NolinÀ lire : Monsters: What Do We Do with Great Art by Bad People?Audre Lorde, « Transformer le silence en langage et en action » ____Pour découvrir les coulisses du podcast : https://www.instagram.com/inpowerpodcast/Pour en savoir plus sur Gabriella Papadakis : https://www.instagram.com/gabriellapapadakis/Pour suivre mes aventures au quotidien : https://www.instagram.com/louiseaubery/Si cet épisode vous a plu, vous aimerez sûrement celui-ci : https://shows.acast.com/inpower/episodes/comment-deconstruire-les-injonctions-sur-le-corps-des-femmesPhoto copyright © Alexi Hobbs Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

As the new year begins with the crumbling of hope for a stable future, how can we tap into the restorative power of the erotic to regenerate our capacities to make change and attain collective liberation from a place of deep pleasure and joy?  In our first episode of 2026, join me in exploring the ways in which we can reclaim the erotic as power and political resistance in the new year, reconnecting with the feminine life-force within all our bodies to engage in radical pleasure-making that can help us dismantle systems of oppression, at the macro-level but also at the level of the self. Inspired from the work of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, adrienne marie brown, Minna Salami and others, this episode discusses everything from the weaponisation of the erotic as a tool for oppressing women's bodies and erotic awakenings in childhood, to pleasure self-determination and building pleasure-positive communities, workspaces and lives. Feeling good is freedom, let's feel good together.

Send us a textIn honor of Audre Lorde's 1985 essay, "Poetry Is Not a Luxury," I devoted the mini Holiday Break episodes of Talking About Kids to poetry about the holiday season and issues related to kids. For this final mini episode, I read a poem by Lorde, titled “Hanging Fire,” which is an honest and moving portrayal of adolescence. A link to the poem is at talkingaboutkids.com.

Can you BELIEVE it's been EIGHT YEARS since Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist was put out into the world? I sure can't. This week, Madigan brings you the first four of her Top 8 (so MySpace coded) Feminist Faves over the last eight years. This week includes Audre Lorde, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Shulamith Firestone and Marsha P. Johnson. Original Episodes:' YANF Throwback: Audre Lorde & Shirley Chisholm: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/episode-6-black-feminists-audre-lorde-shirley-chisholm/id1339226131?i=1000403910311 Episode 59- Forgotten Feminist Faves: Matilda & Luisa: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/episode-59-forgotten-feminist-faves-matilda-luisa/id1339226131?i=1000431063024 Forgotten Feminist Faves: Ophelia & Shulamith: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/forgotten-feminist-faves-ophelia-shulamith/id1339226131?i=1000533587485 Black Feminist Faves: Madam C.J. Walker & Marsha P. Johnson: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/black-feminist-faves-madam-c-j-walker-marsha-p-johnson/id1339226131?i=1000551034214 Do you have a topic that you want the show to take on?    Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠neighborhoodfeminist@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Social media:     Instagram: @angryneighborhoodfeminist Get YANF Merch! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://yanfpodcast.threadless.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ JOIN ME ON PATREON!! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/angryneighborhoodfeminist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In The Care of the Self and the Care of the Other: From Spiritual Exercises to Political Transformation (Columbia UP, 2025), Daniel Wyche examines the political implications of what he calls practices of ethical self-change. These include Pierre Hadot's notion of “spiritual exercises”; what the French sociologist of labor Georges Friedmann terms “interior effort”; Michel Foucault's ethics of the “care of the self”; Martin Luther King Jr.'s understanding of “self-purification” as integral to direct action; and Audre Lorde's claim that caring for herself constitutes a form of “political warfare.” Each reading furnishes Wyche with a lexicon of concepts and practices that he develops with great care toward a critical account of the self in relation to others.Daniel Louis Wyche is a Senior Scholar with the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought.Nathan H. Phillips is an independent scholar working out of South Bend, Indiana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In The Care of the Self and the Care of the Other: From Spiritual Exercises to Political Transformation (Columbia UP, 2025), Daniel Wyche examines the political implications of what he calls practices of ethical self-change. These include Pierre Hadot's notion of “spiritual exercises”; what the French sociologist of labor Georges Friedmann terms “interior effort”; Michel Foucault's ethics of the “care of the self”; Martin Luther King Jr.'s understanding of “self-purification” as integral to direct action; and Audre Lorde's claim that caring for herself constitutes a form of “political warfare.” Each reading furnishes Wyche with a lexicon of concepts and practices that he develops with great care toward a critical account of the self in relation to others.Daniel Louis Wyche is a Senior Scholar with the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought.Nathan H. Phillips is an independent scholar working out of South Bend, Indiana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

In episode 70, we begin with Shanti tapping into her inner Larry David while Antoinette may have found some answers to her recent health mysteries. In honor of March as "Women's History Month", we dive deeper into our pleasure activism with help from the brilliant Black minds of Audre Lorde and Adrienne Maree Brown confronting our own processing of pleasure and codings of the erotic. Join us….Call us: (215) 948-2780‬Subscribe and Rate! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/around-the-way-curls-podcast/id1440112847Listen to Neil Satton's 200: Pleasure Activism - Change that Nourishes You - with Adrienne Maree Brown here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSP6s2ZEJJsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy New Year, Protagonists!Welcome to our (slightly) new name and logo. In this Letters from the Creative Life post, you can read about what this new name means to us, and what you can look forward to here in the upcoming year. xo,Joanna & EvelynWhat does ALIVE mean?Finding my Tentacle and Showing Up All the Way to LifeLast year, Evelyn invited me to bring some elements of my creativity coaching to this amazing Substack community. In our collaboration, we decided on a new name: Creative, Inspired, ALIVE.You might be wondering, what the heck does ALIVE mean? And you would not be alone. In fact, I struggled to put “aliveness” into words while drafting this post. Every time I tried to define alive, I got lost in a fog of woo-woo buzzwords— presence, energy, alignment, flow, wholeness—but these words do nothing to help you feel what I mean by ALIVE.I asked a friend, “How do I make this real for readers?” She sighed and answered, “Joanna, you have to tell them about your tentacle.” My eyes went wide, and heat rushed to my cheeks. “No, I can't possibly write a public post about my tentacle. It's too cringe, too vulnerable, too sensual.” And then I shook my head, because I know when I have this kind of “no way” reaction, it usually means that's exactly the way I need to go–the way to my full aliveness.Alright, let's back up a bit. A few years ago, I found myself stepping out of the vortex that is early motherhood. I understood my capacity as a human to a new depth, yet yearned to rediscover my full self again. I wanted to sink my teeth into my existence. Not just the content of life–job, family, hobbies–but the experience of living. I joined a coaching circle and started the work of seeing my full self (especially the parts I wanted to hide), challenging my stories about the world (especially the ones I clung to), and harnessing my creative power more fully.Then, I read Audre Lorde's essay, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power. I picked it up thinking it would help me understand my pull toward writing romance, and found something far deeper. I found a passionate declaration about the power of living life to its fullest, deepest, juiciest core:“For the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing. Once we know the extent to which we are capable of feeling that sense of satisfaction and completion, we can then observe which of our various life endeavours bring us closest to that fullness.”This is what I wanted to commit to in my next chapter. The power of my deep, creative force that infuses life with passion and meaning, drives authentic action and connection, and challenges mediocrity by demanding fulfillment.So, I made “the erotic embodiment of life” my resolution for 2025. When I explained my New Year's intention to my friends, I described it like this: I imagine that I have a tentacle, covered in nerve endings, and I wrap it around the people, situations, objects–everything–in my life to feel, taste, smell, experience all of it as fully as I can. Imagine wrapping your tentacle around a piece of chocolate, a loved one's tears, a sense of accomplishment. Imagine wrapping your tentacle around the words you write, the clay you sculpt, the meals you make.In the first few months, I paid extra attention to all the good stuff—the joy and love in my life—but resisted when difficult circumstances arose. At which point, a wise friend helped me see that I wasn't showing up to the whole show. Could I find the erotic in the shadow? Could I feel discomfort all the way and see what it had to teach me? So, I started wrapping my tentacle around the challenges—the grief for my father, the crush of an agent's rejection, the exhaustion of motherhood, the boredom of spreadsheets. And something crazy happened, I started noticing beauty in all those things. I came to feel their essentialness to life. These experiences are what make me whole and perfectly human.While writing this essay, I stumbled upon Ellen Langer's research at Harvard. In her “I Hate Football” study, she found that asking participants to actively notice new things about an activity they dislike resulted in them enjoying the activity more. And the more they noticed, the more they liked it. Langer says, “We're brought up to wait for something to excite us…and all of that I think is wrong. Anything can be made exciting.” Mindful engagement helps us enjoy our lives.After a year of living with my tentacle, I got what ALIVE means to me. Alive is paying attention. It's inhabiting my senses. It's feeling my body. It's acknowledging my whole self—the good and the challenging parts. It's showing up fully in the creation of my life. My tentacle moved me beyond just existing or just doing; it deeply engaged me in whatever I endeavored. And I never felt so creative and inspired. For when you taste the world through your skin, how can you not be moved? How can you not be driven to contribute to it all?A tremendous freedom also came with committing to aliveness because the intention was always in my power to accomplish. External circumstances couldn't dictate my purpose. In fact, external circumstances often made it more interesting. Sick kid at home today, let me wrap my tentacle around that. Writer's block won't go away, ok, what does that feel like? I luxuriated in the texture of my car's steering wheel and the mix of joy and sadness in seeing my children outgrow their clothes.At the end of the day, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment if I showed up to whatever was. My to-do list could still have items on it, rejection could come, plans could change, but I had a successful day as long as I paid attention.In a short time, my aliveness started to feed back into my work. I not only showed up fully to the page, but my fullness started showing up on the page. I had access to more life to create with. I felt inspired by the simplest things because I noticed them deeply. It felt as if the entire universe showed up simply by my paying attention to it. Creative energy coursed through me.During this year, Evelyn invited me to collaborate in this community. I wrapped my tentacle around the opportunity and proposed expanding from Creative, Inspired, HAPPY to Creative, Inspired, ALIVE. Evelyn said, “Yes!” While kindness and optimism are guiding values here, we also wanted to make room for the multitude of experiences that arise as we persist on our creative journey. We aim to be present with whatever shows up as we make our art and share it.So, what does ALIVE mean?Alive means being present to life in this very moment. It means allowing the wholeness of ourselves, not shutting down any of our parts, but staying open to all that is–the joy and grief, the ease and challenge, the boredom and inspiration. To be with all of it.With aliveness in the mix, we are adding some pieces to our program this year. In addition to our beloved writing and reading content, we'll offer some new elements to support the fullness of our creativity practices. We hope you enjoy:* Some non-fiction selections about the creative process in our Book Club* Mini coaching sessions to reflect on and embrace our full creative selves* Wisdom from creativity experts, in addition to authors, on the Podcast* Reflective creativity prompts in the Community Chat* And *new* interactive creativity workshops coming this Spring and Fall!We are thrilled to start this new year together in our creative, inspired, ALIVE community. Get your tentacle out and let's live!Share with us what ALIVE means to you.Have you ever had a tentacle experience?What parts of life could you show up to more fully?What feels alive for you this New Year?P.S. I just started reading The Favorites for our Book Club meeting on January 25th. Swirling inside the world of ice dancing and a Wuthering Heights retelling, yes please! Has anyone else started too? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.creativeinspiredalive.com/subscribe

Send us a textIn her 1985 essay, "Poetry Is Not a Luxury," Audre Lorde argues that poetry gives form to ideas that are "formless" but none-the-less "felt," ideas that precede "understanding." I have always believed that Lorde is describing, among other things, historic and childhood trauma. In honor of this, I am devoting these mini Holiday Break episodes of Talking About Kids to poetry about the holiday season and issues related to kids. In this first episode, I will read Edgar Guest's poem, "A Friend's Greeting," which, as the name implies, is about a friendship. A link to the poem is at talkingaboutkids.com.

In this episode, you and I are going to experiment with two actions to metabolize our rage so we can get to a headspace and heart space to practice genuine (not performative) gratitude as a family. We'll connect the dots between Audre Lorde's teaching and applied neuroscience.---------------------------Get full show notes and more information at: comebacktocare.com/podcastFor more BTS of this podcast, follow @comebacktocare on Instagram!Sign up for our weekly Care Collective Newsletter for information and inspiration on topics like decolonized parenting, embodied, body-based centering practices for you and your children, intergenerational family healing, and more.I invite you to join me in a virtual gathering once a month for you to digest the information in the podcast with other Social Justice Curious listeners. We'll put awareness into action together with group accountability at www.patreon.com/comebacktocareIf you enjoy the Come Back to Care podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review, and share with someone who needs to hear this!The Come Back to Care podcast explores how social justice, child development science, parenting, and family systems intersect—hosted by Nat Vikitsreth, a decolonized, licensed clinical psychotherapist, somatics, and social justice practitioner, and founder of Come Back to Care.

The theme for this Dead Talk is perception. In this episode, Christy brings in two 20th century poets, Mary Oliver and Audre Lorde. They were two vastly different people who shared a common thread: Perception as a tool for discovering truth. Together they bring us the Dual Perception Methid that we can use when we are unclear about the turth of a given subject. It could be a relationship, a concept, an issue we're having or just about anything else. When we're unclear, we can use this method to look at it from two very different perspective and we will discover the truth. It's absolutely astonishing how well this works. Schedule a call to learn about The Freedom Project - Click here To book a 55-minute Connect Call with Gary, click here

In this powerful episode of For the Love of History, we travel through time to uncover the history of breast cancer — from ancient Egyptian surgery manuals and Hippocrates' wild “humor” theories to the modern breakthroughs that save lives today. Host TK shares the deeply personal story of her best friend's diagnosis and remission, explores how breast cancer appeared in Renaissance art, and highlights women who changed how we see the disease — from Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals to trailblazing researchers like Dr. Jane Wright. With humor, empathy, and the occasional swear, this episode reminds us that while the past was often brutal, the present is full of hope — and the future even brighter. ✨ You'll learn: How the ancient Egyptians documented breast cancer 3,000 years ago. Why Renaissance paintings might be hiding medical secrets. How Audre Lorde fought stigma and redefined survivorship. The amazing modern advancements changing breast cancer treatment today.

In this powerful episode of For the Love of History, we travel through time to uncover the history of breast cancer — from ancient Egyptian surgery manuals and Hippocrates' wild “humor” theories to the modern breakthroughs that save lives today. Host TK shares the deeply personal story of her best friend's diagnosis and remission, explores how breast cancer appeared in Renaissance art, and highlights women who changed how we see the disease — from Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals to trailblazing researchers like Dr. Jane Wright. With humor, empathy, and the occasional swear, this episode reminds us that while the past was often brutal, the present is full of hope — and the future even brighter. ✨ You'll learn: How the ancient Egyptians documented breast cancer 3,000 years ago. Why Renaissance paintings might be hiding medical secrets. How Audre Lorde fought stigma and redefined survivorship. The amazing modern advancements changing breast cancer treatment today.