Podcasts about queer liberation

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Mischa Oak about his book, Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ Life Lessons for Everyone (Page Two Book Inc. 2026) Joyful life lessons from the LGBTQ+ community to help you move through the world with more harmony, authenticity, and possibility. Rainbow Wisdom is a companion for anyone who wants to live more fully. The LGBTQ+ experience can inspire us all. Regardless of sexuality or gender, every person is unique and unusual in some way. Drawing on firsthand research, global thought leaders, and personal reflections, renowned educator Mischa Oak presents 18 uplifting lessons from the LGBTQ+ community that will make anyone feel good. You will learn how to: - Live authentically by asking Why Fit in a Box When You Can Break It Down?- Raise the Bar by leaving behind exhausting debates and embracing conversations rooted in values and hope.- Challenge Queer Fear by confronting misinformation and dismantling “flawgic” (aka flawed logic) with clarity.- Celebrate your own difference with Congratulations! You're You!, a lesson that helps you embrace and affirm your identity—whatever it may be—and walk proudly in your truth. These and other lessons show you how to approach the world with more passion, flair, innovation, and liberty to be yourself, while you shift humanity forward. Whether you're seeking deeper understanding, stronger allyship, or ways to live more freely, Oak invites you into a space of connection, where everyone can draw on LGBTQ+ experiences to live with more joy and make the world a better place. With a rich glossary of LGBTQ+ terms and practical tools for building more welcoming conversations, spaces, and communities, this book will lift you up, push you forward, and remind you that different is powerful. Rainbow Wisdom is also your allyship guide—helping you grow into a more confident and informed ally, and supporting Queer people and their loved ones to feel valued. This is what LGBTQ+ life lessons are all about: seeing yourself and the world in new ways, to be the best version of yourself possible. About the author: Mischa Oak founded LGBTQ Inclusion Training to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people and support meaningful diversity and inclusion within organizations. With over twenty years of experience as an educator and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate, Oak holds a Master of Education in Social Justice Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. He gained international recognition as part of the first wave of legal same-sex marriages in the world, featured on the reality TV series My Fabulous Gay Wedding. His involvement in the Queer Liberation movement propelled his lifelong advocacy, including expanding transgender and Queer inclusion in Canadian schools during his seventeen-year teaching career. Today, Oak delivers transformative talks worldwide, guiding teams, communities, educators, care and service providers, and governments toward meaningful 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Oak is a Loran Scholar and an alumnus of Queen's University, the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. He lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. 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 this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Mischa Oak about his book, Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ Life Lessons for Everyone (Page Two Book Inc. 2026) Joyful life lessons from the LGBTQ+ community to help you move through the world with more harmony, authenticity, and possibility. Rainbow Wisdom is a companion for anyone who wants to live more fully. The LGBTQ+ experience can inspire us all. Regardless of sexuality or gender, every person is unique and unusual in some way. Drawing on firsthand research, global thought leaders, and personal reflections, renowned educator Mischa Oak presents 18 uplifting lessons from the LGBTQ+ community that will make anyone feel good. You will learn how to: - Live authentically by asking Why Fit in a Box When You Can Break It Down?- Raise the Bar by leaving behind exhausting debates and embracing conversations rooted in values and hope.- Challenge Queer Fear by confronting misinformation and dismantling “flawgic” (aka flawed logic) with clarity.- Celebrate your own difference with Congratulations! You're You!, a lesson that helps you embrace and affirm your identity—whatever it may be—and walk proudly in your truth. These and other lessons show you how to approach the world with more passion, flair, innovation, and liberty to be yourself, while you shift humanity forward. Whether you're seeking deeper understanding, stronger allyship, or ways to live more freely, Oak invites you into a space of connection, where everyone can draw on LGBTQ+ experiences to live with more joy and make the world a better place. With a rich glossary of LGBTQ+ terms and practical tools for building more welcoming conversations, spaces, and communities, this book will lift you up, push you forward, and remind you that different is powerful. Rainbow Wisdom is also your allyship guide—helping you grow into a more confident and informed ally, and supporting Queer people and their loved ones to feel valued. This is what LGBTQ+ life lessons are all about: seeing yourself and the world in new ways, to be the best version of yourself possible. About the author: Mischa Oak founded LGBTQ Inclusion Training to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people and support meaningful diversity and inclusion within organizations. With over twenty years of experience as an educator and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate, Oak holds a Master of Education in Social Justice Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. He gained international recognition as part of the first wave of legal same-sex marriages in the world, featured on the reality TV series My Fabulous Gay Wedding. His involvement in the Queer Liberation movement propelled his lifelong advocacy, including expanding transgender and Queer inclusion in Canadian schools during his seventeen-year teaching career. Today, Oak delivers transformative talks worldwide, guiding teams, communities, educators, care and service providers, and governments toward meaningful 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Oak is a Loran Scholar and an alumnus of Queen's University, the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. He lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Mischa Oak about his book, Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ Life Lessons for Everyone (Page Two Book Inc. 2026) Joyful life lessons from the LGBTQ+ community to help you move through the world with more harmony, authenticity, and possibility. Rainbow Wisdom is a companion for anyone who wants to live more fully. The LGBTQ+ experience can inspire us all. Regardless of sexuality or gender, every person is unique and unusual in some way. Drawing on firsthand research, global thought leaders, and personal reflections, renowned educator Mischa Oak presents 18 uplifting lessons from the LGBTQ+ community that will make anyone feel good. You will learn how to: - Live authentically by asking Why Fit in a Box When You Can Break It Down?- Raise the Bar by leaving behind exhausting debates and embracing conversations rooted in values and hope.- Challenge Queer Fear by confronting misinformation and dismantling “flawgic” (aka flawed logic) with clarity.- Celebrate your own difference with Congratulations! You're You!, a lesson that helps you embrace and affirm your identity—whatever it may be—and walk proudly in your truth. These and other lessons show you how to approach the world with more passion, flair, innovation, and liberty to be yourself, while you shift humanity forward. Whether you're seeking deeper understanding, stronger allyship, or ways to live more freely, Oak invites you into a space of connection, where everyone can draw on LGBTQ+ experiences to live with more joy and make the world a better place. With a rich glossary of LGBTQ+ terms and practical tools for building more welcoming conversations, spaces, and communities, this book will lift you up, push you forward, and remind you that different is powerful. Rainbow Wisdom is also your allyship guide—helping you grow into a more confident and informed ally, and supporting Queer people and their loved ones to feel valued. This is what LGBTQ+ life lessons are all about: seeing yourself and the world in new ways, to be the best version of yourself possible. About the author: Mischa Oak founded LGBTQ Inclusion Training to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people and support meaningful diversity and inclusion within organizations. With over twenty years of experience as an educator and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate, Oak holds a Master of Education in Social Justice Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. He gained international recognition as part of the first wave of legal same-sex marriages in the world, featured on the reality TV series My Fabulous Gay Wedding. His involvement in the Queer Liberation movement propelled his lifelong advocacy, including expanding transgender and Queer inclusion in Canadian schools during his seventeen-year teaching career. Today, Oak delivers transformative talks worldwide, guiding teams, communities, educators, care and service providers, and governments toward meaningful 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Oak is a Loran Scholar and an alumnus of Queen's University, the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. He lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Mischa Oak about his book, Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ Life Lessons for Everyone (Page Two Book Inc. 2026) Joyful life lessons from the LGBTQ+ community to help you move through the world with more harmony, authenticity, and possibility. Rainbow Wisdom is a companion for anyone who wants to live more fully. The LGBTQ+ experience can inspire us all. Regardless of sexuality or gender, every person is unique and unusual in some way. Drawing on firsthand research, global thought leaders, and personal reflections, renowned educator Mischa Oak presents 18 uplifting lessons from the LGBTQ+ community that will make anyone feel good. You will learn how to: - Live authentically by asking Why Fit in a Box When You Can Break It Down?- Raise the Bar by leaving behind exhausting debates and embracing conversations rooted in values and hope.- Challenge Queer Fear by confronting misinformation and dismantling “flawgic” (aka flawed logic) with clarity.- Celebrate your own difference with Congratulations! You're You!, a lesson that helps you embrace and affirm your identity—whatever it may be—and walk proudly in your truth. These and other lessons show you how to approach the world with more passion, flair, innovation, and liberty to be yourself, while you shift humanity forward. Whether you're seeking deeper understanding, stronger allyship, or ways to live more freely, Oak invites you into a space of connection, where everyone can draw on LGBTQ+ experiences to live with more joy and make the world a better place. With a rich glossary of LGBTQ+ terms and practical tools for building more welcoming conversations, spaces, and communities, this book will lift you up, push you forward, and remind you that different is powerful. Rainbow Wisdom is also your allyship guide—helping you grow into a more confident and informed ally, and supporting Queer people and their loved ones to feel valued. This is what LGBTQ+ life lessons are all about: seeing yourself and the world in new ways, to be the best version of yourself possible. About the author: Mischa Oak founded LGBTQ Inclusion Training to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people and support meaningful diversity and inclusion within organizations. With over twenty years of experience as an educator and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate, Oak holds a Master of Education in Social Justice Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. He gained international recognition as part of the first wave of legal same-sex marriages in the world, featured on the reality TV series My Fabulous Gay Wedding. His involvement in the Queer Liberation movement propelled his lifelong advocacy, including expanding transgender and Queer inclusion in Canadian schools during his seventeen-year teaching career. Today, Oak delivers transformative talks worldwide, guiding teams, communities, educators, care and service providers, and governments toward meaningful 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Oak is a Loran Scholar and an alumnus of Queen's University, the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. He lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/spiritual-practice-and-mindfulness

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Mischa Oak about his book, Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ Life Lessons for Everyone (Page Two Book Inc. 2026) Joyful life lessons from the LGBTQ+ community to help you move through the world with more harmony, authenticity, and possibility. Rainbow Wisdom is a companion for anyone who wants to live more fully. The LGBTQ+ experience can inspire us all. Regardless of sexuality or gender, every person is unique and unusual in some way. Drawing on firsthand research, global thought leaders, and personal reflections, renowned educator Mischa Oak presents 18 uplifting lessons from the LGBTQ+ community that will make anyone feel good. You will learn how to: - Live authentically by asking Why Fit in a Box When You Can Break It Down?- Raise the Bar by leaving behind exhausting debates and embracing conversations rooted in values and hope.- Challenge Queer Fear by confronting misinformation and dismantling “flawgic” (aka flawed logic) with clarity.- Celebrate your own difference with Congratulations! You're You!, a lesson that helps you embrace and affirm your identity—whatever it may be—and walk proudly in your truth. These and other lessons show you how to approach the world with more passion, flair, innovation, and liberty to be yourself, while you shift humanity forward. Whether you're seeking deeper understanding, stronger allyship, or ways to live more freely, Oak invites you into a space of connection, where everyone can draw on LGBTQ+ experiences to live with more joy and make the world a better place. With a rich glossary of LGBTQ+ terms and practical tools for building more welcoming conversations, spaces, and communities, this book will lift you up, push you forward, and remind you that different is powerful. Rainbow Wisdom is also your allyship guide—helping you grow into a more confident and informed ally, and supporting Queer people and their loved ones to feel valued. This is what LGBTQ+ life lessons are all about: seeing yourself and the world in new ways, to be the best version of yourself possible. About the author: Mischa Oak founded LGBTQ Inclusion Training to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQ+ people and support meaningful diversity and inclusion within organizations. With over twenty years of experience as an educator and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate, Oak holds a Master of Education in Social Justice Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning. He gained international recognition as part of the first wave of legal same-sex marriages in the world, featured on the reality TV series My Fabulous Gay Wedding. His involvement in the Queer Liberation movement propelled his lifelong advocacy, including expanding transgender and Queer inclusion in Canadian schools during his seventeen-year teaching career. Today, Oak delivers transformative talks worldwide, guiding teams, communities, educators, care and service providers, and governments toward meaningful 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Oak is a Loran Scholar and an alumnus of Queen's University, the University of Toronto, and Memorial University. He lives in Vancouver Island, Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

Suga' with Bundle of Sticks: Black Queer Identity, Gender Freedom, and Healing Through ArtI'm so glad to welcome back Dazié Grego-Sykes and Derrick Miller-Handley of Bundle of Sticks Art Collective for a conversation about their upcoming performance ritual, Suga'. This art collective has spent over 25 years exploring the intersection of Blackness and queerness through performance art, visual art, and community building — and their newest work may be their most personal yet.Suga' is an immersive performance ritual in which Derrick steps into the performer role for the first time in over 20 years, using art as a vehicle for gender identity exploration, radical self-acceptance, and spiritual healing. We talk about what it means to exist outside of society's containers, the power of Black ancestry as a spiritual resource, and why embracing your authentic self is an act of liberation.If you're in the Bay Area, Suga' runs May 29–31 at Eastside Arts Alliance in Oakland. Find tickets by searching Suga' on Eventbrite.Topics Covered:[0:47] Introducing Bundle of Sticks Art Collective[4:19] The intersection of Blackness, queerness, visual art, and performance[6:00] Trust, safety, and creative collaboration[10:13] What is Suga' — and why call it a ritual?[13:47] The many meanings of the word "Suga'"[16:53] "Suga' in your tank" — reclaiming a slur as a source of power[22:03] The immersive space: artifacts, ancestry, and performance[26:17] The tension — and natural harmony — between Blackness and queerness[31:08] Gender identity, legibility, and refusing society's containers[37:59] How Suga' came to be and why now[54:44] Why this work matters in today's political and social climate[59:32] Tickets and show detailsFind Tickets to Suga'Bundle of Sticks websiteArt Heals All Wounds websiteSupport the show

On the Season 5 finale of Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast, Nikko Viquiera, Deputy Senior Vice President of Programs, sits with internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, public speaker, and actor ALOK Vaid-Menon. This conversation was recorded this past November at Just Narratives for Multiracial Solidarity 2025, In their conversation, Nikko and ALOK explore how storytelling can be used to challenge and transform the dominant narratives that shape our understanding of identity, power, and belonging. ALOK reflects on their journey from navigating childhood shame and public violence to cultivating a practice rooted in joy, play, and self-determination, offering a powerful reframing of what liberation can look and feel like. Together, they examine how vulnerability, when embraced and shared, can become a force for healing and a tool for shifting culture. The conversation also connects these personal insights to broader movement work, unpacking how binary thinking, especially around gender, limits the possibilities of racial justice and multiracial solidarity. ALOK situates the gender binary as a colonial system that has been used to categorize, control, and divide people, reinforcing racial hierarchies and restricting self-determination across communities. Through this lens, they make the case that challenging the gender binary is not separate from racial justice work, but essential to it, expanding what it means to belong, to lead, and to exist freely. Resources:  ALOK (Official Website) https://alokvmenon.com/ In Conversation with Alok Vaid-Menon: Turning Queer Pain Into Grace, One Stage at a Time (via Pride Source)  https://bit.ly/4mWkWae Difference Can Be Beautiful': Alok Vaid-Menon On Gender, Fashion, And Finding Community In India (via Elle Magazine India)  https://bit.ly/3PaUUUf Facing Race 2026 https://facingrace.raceforward.org/ Executive Producers: Hendel Leiva,  Cheryl Blakemore

An androgenous figurehead of a found family that refuses to grow up -- if you've never thought of Peter Pan in those terms, director Tina Romero is here to set you straight (er, in a manner of speaking). Tina also shares the ins, outs, and inspirations behind her feature debut, Queens of the Dead, which continues and reinvents a family legacy of zombie cinema (Tina is the daughter of the legendary George A. Romero). And as always, Jordan digs up all the connective tissue between all of the above.Then, Jordan has one quick thing about Nia DaCosta's new film, Hedda, starring Tessa Thompson. Feeling Seen is hosted by Jordan Crucchiola and is a production Maximum Fun.Need more Feeling Seen? Keep up with the show on Instagram and Bluesky.

Send us a textHey everyone, we have a super cool crossover episode with Lez Hang Out to hold y'all over until we're back from break!We hope you enjoy!!Lez Hang Out Show Notes!Title: 814: Serving Books with Queer Liberation LibraryDescription: When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and by purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp.Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to read banned books!This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with academic librarian Amber and nonprofit witch Lindsay of the Queer Liberation Library (@queerliblib). The QLL got its start in 2023 and has since curated a collection of 2,715 unique LGBTQ+ ebooks and audiobooks accessible to anyone in the United States (regardless of zip code) for the low, low cost of absolutely nothing! Once you sign up (for free!), you will be able to check out ebooks and audiobooks from an ever-expanding collection through Libby. They have everything from popular queer adult fiction to LGBTQ+ poetry, manga, and children's books. In today's environment of book bans and censorship, projects like the Queer Liberation Library are more important than ever as they provide access to titles that local physical library branches may not be able to stock.We talk with Amber and Lindsay about how the Queer Liberation Library got its start, going from “7 friends in a trench coat” with a big dream to create a nonprofit to “7 friends in a trench coat” with an extensive, fully functional digital library. We also talk about how the curation process works, the intricacies of licensing restrictions on book borrowing, and all the little behind the scenes things that make the project possible. One of the best things about QLL is the accessibility. While there are already well-established physical libraries dedicated to LGBTQ+ books (and doing an incredible job!), they are not accessible for someone like a queer or trans youth with unsupportive parents or someone living in a more restrictive state where the physical libraries may have less ability to combat queer censorship. Digital collections like the one at QLL are lifesavers in these cases because they can be accessed for free from anywhere in the US, providing a way around any potential local physical barriers to access.You can join the QLL today and start borrowing books right away by going to their website. And if you do happen to live in a less queer-friendly location and are in any way nervous about being caught browsing the site, the QLL provides an easy exit button that redirects visitors to weather.com in the blink of an eye. Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod. Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively.

The Indypendent's John Tarleton and Amba Guerguerian speak in the first half of the show with mayoral candidate and former Bronx Assemblymember Michael Blake who cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani the previous day. In the second half of the show, we talk with Jay Walker, co-founder of the Queer Liberation March who previews this year's march and how the second Trump administration was shaping its message. Founded in 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the QLM has become the radical alternative to the corporate-sponsored NYC Pride March.

Reframing Media Narratives for Queer and Trans Liberation with Marsha P Johnson's Story.  How Artists and Activists Are Reframing Media Narratives for Queer Liberation.SAVE THE DATE July 16th 7pm EDT:  Laura hosts an online conversation just for our donors. It's a chance to connect, ask questions, and hear what's coming up behind the scenes. Make a one off donation or become a sustaining member by making it monthly go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Episode Description: Activist and artist Marsha P. Johnson was one of the key founders of the gay liberation movement after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, but it's taken years for her to receive recognition. On this special Pride Month edition of “Meet the BIPOC Press”, we're celebrating Marsha's life and legacy with two activists carrying her story forward. A new biography from Penguin House, “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by our guest, Tourmaline traces Marsha's working-class beginnings to her work with sex workers and street activists, to her death in 1992. Qween Jean is a self-described “spiritual daughter” of Marsha and the founder of Black Trans Liberation. Explore how mainstream media coverage once excluded Marsha, and what's changed since then. We also unpack the media's coverage of transphobia and the recent ruling from Tennessee that restricts gender-affirming care for minors. In the face of extreme backlash and repression, how are artists and activists reframing media narratives for queer and trans liberation?“A lot of trans and queer people, especially here in New York City, that are asylum seekers that have had to leave other countries from persecution now find themselves in a place of purgatory . . . They can't even go to get a hormone shot because they're afraid. What if ICE is literally outside waiting for us?” - Qween Jean“Marsha knew that these conditions didn't get to determine how she felt about herself. No court, no Supreme Court, no police officer, no governor, no president . . . She was creating the conditions to remind herself and each other that we too get to feel beautiful and know our value firmly.” - TourmalineGuests:•  Qween Jean: Founder, Black Trans Liberation; Human Rights Activist & Costume Designer•  Tourmaline: Artist; Author, MARSHA: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson Watch the episode released on YouTube June 27th 5pm ET; PBS World Channel June 29th, 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 July 2nd. Full Episode Notes are located HERE. RESOURCES:*Recommended books:•  “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline: Get the Book*•  “Revolution is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation”: Get the Book*(*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:•  Full Uncut Conversation:  Marsha P. Johnson's Queer Legacy Lives On: Tourmaline & Qween Jean on Trans Liberation  LISTEN•  Special Report- Power Grids Under Attack: The Threat is Domestic Terrorism – Not Drag Artists. Watch / Listen-Download•  Imara Jones: Countering The Anti-Trans Hate Machine:  Watch / Listen: Episode•  Holly Hughes & Esther Newton: How Queer Kinship Ties Help Us Survive: Watch / Listen:  Episode•  Beyond Disability Rights;  Disability Justice:  Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Watch  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O'Conner. 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

Welcome back to The NERVE! Conversations With Movement Elders a podcast from the National Council of Elders featuring intergenerational conversations between elder and younger organizers about important topics in our movements today.  This episode features a conversation about the history of the rise of the authoritarian right wing in the United States, attacks on our archives and schools, and how we organize for a world beyond fascism.  This episode is hosted by Frances Reid (she/her) a member of NCOE and a longtime social justice documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, CA. Joining Frances in this conversation are: Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons (she/her) is Professor Emerita from the University of Florida. She is a Veteran of the Black Freedom, Peace, and Social Justice Movements from the 1960s until today. She was a student activist in the 1960s Sit-In Movement. Simmons was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and its Project Director In Laurel, Mississippi for two years beginning with the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project.  Suzanne Pharr (she/her) is a southern queer feminist and anti-racist organizer and political strategist who has spent her adult life working to build a broad-based, multiracial, multi-issued movement for social and economic justice in the United States. Since 1980, Pharr has been tracking the growth of a US authoritarian movement and providing political education about its goals, strategies, and leadership.           Ashby Combahee (s/he/they) is a Black queer memory worker from the South. Ashby is a full-time librarian and archivist at the Highlander Research and Education Center and cofounder of Georgia Dusk: A Southern Liberation Oral History   Uyiosa Elegon (he/him) is an Edo organizer rooted in Houston, Texas. He is a co-founder of Shift Press, a media organization that provides training and news that encourage local youth civic engagement. To download a free e-copy of Suzanne Pharr's recently re-released book In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation visit suzannepharr.com CREDITS: Created and produced by the National Council of Elders podcast and oral history team: Aljosie Aldrich Harding, Frances Reid, Eddie Gonzalez, Sarayah Wright, alyzza may, and Rae Garringer.

Here's your local news for Monday, June 30, 2025:We find out why victim service providers are sounding the alarm on the Legislature's proposed state budget,Join this weekend's Queer Liberation March,Share the local government's calendar for the week ahead,Hear a radical historian's take on Independence Day,Review two movies,And much more.

Madison's Queer Liberation march seeks to make Pride political again. We hear from participants at the June 28, 2025 rally. The post Madison Queer Liberation March Brings Politics Back to Pride appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.

In this episode of LaidOPEN Podcast, I have an insightful conversation with activist and author Dean Spade about his extensive work in movements for queer and trans liberation, anti-militarism, and the abolition of police and prisons.  Dean and I discuss his new book titled 'Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together,' covering topics such as mindful practices for managing stress, the evolution of his book over nine years, and personal growth in relationships.  We also delve into the romance myth, decentralizing romantic relationships, and the importance of community support. Dean shares valuable insights and practices for generating internal safety and the importance of collective care in social movements.  This episode is an enriching dialogue aimed at anyone interested in social justice, personal growth, and transformative community practices.   Show Notes: 00:00 Introduction and Course Announcement 00:55 Introducing Dean Spade 02:01 Dean Spade's Book Journey 02:28 Healing Modalities and Personal Growth 03:05 Non-Monogamous Relationships 03:34 Challenges in Writing the Book 05:15 Self-Help Literature Critique 06:45 Emotional Awareness in Movements 15:27 Decentralizing Romantic Relationships 23:49 Self-Generated Safety and Belonging 31:40 Therapy Misconceptions and Realities 32:38 The Overuse of Pathologizing Language 33:23 Forgiveness and Self-Inquiry in Relationships 36:05 The Impact of Alcoholism on Relationships 37:28 The Process of Forgiveness and Healing 41:34 Sexual Trauma and Cultural Narratives 44:18 Transformative Justice and Community Response 49:52 Decentralizing Romantic Relationships You can watch this episode on my YouTube channel, just search LaidOPEN. Plus, I have free guided visualizations and a host of other tools and resources available to you there and on my website at CharnaCassell.com.

Support the campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acidhorizon/vintagia-i-ching-oracle-for-psychogeographers-and-creatives"Living Currency" syllabus: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OeUT0XSZdIQ9VpgLaqjuw0sP3blJZySG/view?usp=drive_linkWhat happens when queer liberation becomes entangled with the myths of the nation-state? In this episode, we speak with Alexander Stoffel about his new book Eros and Empire, which traces the transnational roots of sexual freedom movements in the U.S. From gay liberation to Black lesbian feminism and AIDS activism, Stoffer shows how desire has been both constrained by and mobilized against imperial and capitalist systems. Together, we explore how a Marxist approach to desire can open new paths for solidarity beyond the boundaries of the bourgeois state.Eros and Empire: https://www.sup.org/books/politics/eros-and-empireSupport the showVintagia Pre-Launch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/acidhorizon/vintagia-i-ching-oracle-for-psychogeographers-and-creatives Support the podcast:https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/acidhorizonAcid Horizon on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/acidhorizonpodcast Boycott Watkins Media: https://xenogothic.com/2025/03/17/boycott-watkins-statement/ Join The Schizoanalysis Project: https://discord.gg/4WtaXG3QxnSubscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438Merch: http://www.crit-drip.comSubscribe to us on your favorite podcast: https://pod.link/1512615438 LEPHT HAND: https://www.patreon.com/LEPHTHANDHappy Hour at Hippel's (Adam's blog): https://happyhourathippels.wordpress.com​Revolting Bodies (Will's Blog): https://revoltingbodies.com​Split Infinities (Craig's Substack): https://splitinfinities.substack.com/​Music: https://sereptie.bandcamp.com/ and https://thecominginsurrection.bandcamp.com/

In Part Two of our Queering Talks series with Dr. Jen Self, we will center the voices of those who have always led the way in liberation movements, claiming the spotlight for those who have consistently been “out in front” of struggles for justice, love, and equity, demonstrating that the margins have always been the source of radical change. Queering leadership is not just about reclaiming lost stories; it's about futurism — imagining and building new realities. Leaders who live at the intersections of power systems have long envisioned new possibilities and turned them into reality. They've led us beyond the dismantling of oppressive systems and into the creation of new spaces where power is shared, community is centered, and liberation is a lived practice. Queer futurism taps into the resilience and creativity of those who dream beyond the status quo, moving us from inclusion to transformation, and inviting us to build new worlds rooted in radical imagination and collective care. From the beginning, Town Hall has been a space for meeting the needs of our city—hosting concerts, book talks, and new ways to connect. This bold new series reimagines the traditional lecture format through a queer lens, challenging ideas about who speaks, who listens, and who is centered. Built around three themes — In Between (exploring fluid identities and spaces), Out in Front (centering changemakers leading justice and equality movements), and Always Been (highlighting the historic contributions of queer visionaries)—this series promises to inspire, expand perspectives, and celebrate inclusivity. Join us in sparking meaningful conversations and building a community that values growth and connection. Dr. Jen Self (they/them) is a therapist, educator, performer, and writer whose work lives in the third space—the liminal zone where identities, systems, and possibilities collide and transform. As the founding director of the University of Washington's Q Center, Jen reimagined what it means to create community healing spaces by centering a queer intersectional praxis. Jen knows that macro changes take place in our everyday decisions and actions. Their career spans decades of racial and gender justice work as a therapist, educator, strategist, program innovator, and truth sayer, navigating—and disrupting—institutions to make them more humane and transformative. Jen's current projects include writing everything from maps on napkins to a memoir, co-leading The Racial Healing Project, and co-creating the Queer Leadership Lab. Ariyah Jané is a Black Trans-Woman from Montgomery, Alabama. Deeply rooted in her diverse background, her artistry spans Musical Theatre, Gospel, and Blues. She has performed in celebrated productions like Ain't Misbehavin', graced the iconic stage of Carnegie Hall, and shared the stage with top contestants on the 2019 Sunday's Best Tour. In 2024, she released her debut EP, Dear Ariyah. Beyond her musical achievements, Ariyah is the founder and CEO of Muses and Moguls, a creative support network for independent and emerging artists navigating the challenges of the entertainment industry. She is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and focuses on public service, housing, and healthcare advocacy for queer and gender non-conforming individuals. Bryanna Jenkins (she/her) is the Policy Director at Lavender Rights Project. Ms. Jenkins received her B.S. from Morgan State University, her M.A. from the University of Baltimore, and her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Ms. Jenkins also published Birth Certificate with a Benefit: Using LGBTQ Jurisprudence to Make the Argument for a Transgender Person's Constitutional Right to Amended Identity Documents in the CUNY Law Review. Prior to law school Bryanna founded and led The Baltimore Transgender Alliance and organized the cities first Baltimore Transgender Uprising March in 2015. Bryanna is also the Vice Chair of the National Bar Association's LGBTQ Division.

Lez Hang Out is proud to be sponsored by Olivia, the travel company for lesbians and all LGBTQ+ women!  When you join our Lez Hang Out family on Patreon you will gain instant access to 24 and counting full-length bonus episodes, ad-free weekly episodes, mp3 downloads of all our original songs, an invite to our exclusive Discord channel, and more! You can also support the podcast by buying our original merch at bit.ly/lezmerch and by purchasing our original Lez-ssentials songs for as little as $1 each on Bandcamp. Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to read banned books! This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with academic librarian Amber and nonprofit witch Lindsay of the Queer Liberation Library (@queerliblib). The QLL got its start in 2023 and has since curated a collection of 2,715 unique LGBTQ+ ebooks and audiobooks accessible to anyone in the United States (regardless of zip code) for the low, low cost of absolutely nothing! Once you sign up (for free!), you will be able to check out ebooks and audiobooks from an ever-expanding collection through Libby. They have everything from popular queer adult fiction to LGBTQ+ poetry, manga, and children's books. In today's environment of book bans and censorship, projects like the Queer Liberation Library are more important than ever as they provide access to titles that local physical library branches may not be able to stock. We talk with Amber and Lindsay about how the Queer Liberation Library got its start, going from “7 friends in a trench coat” with a big dream to create a nonprofit to “7 friends in a trench coat” with an extensive, fully functional digital library. We also talk about how the curation process works, the intricacies of licensing restrictions on book borrowing, and all the little behind the scenes things that make the project possible. One of the best things about QLL is the accessibility. While there are already well-established physical libraries dedicated to LGBTQ+ books, they are not accessible for someone like a queer or trans youth with unsupportive parents or someone living in a more restrictive state where the physical libraries may have less ability to combat queer censorship. Digital collections like the one at QLL are lifesavers in these cases because they can be accessed for free from anywhere in the US, providing a way around any potential local physical barriers to access. You can join the QLL today and start borrowing books right away by going to their website. And if you do happen to live in a less queer-friendly location and are in any way nervous about being caught browsing the site, the QLL provides an easy exit button that redirects visitors to weather.com in the blink of an eye.  Remember, you can give us your own answers to our Q & Gay on Instagram and follow along on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and BlueSky @lezhangoutpod.  Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're talking with QLL about who they are and what they do! Tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/queerliblib  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/queerliblib/?hl=en  Bsky https://bsky.app/profile/queerliblib.bsky.social  Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@queerliblib  Media mentioned https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/queer-liberation-library-offers-free-lgbtq-books-response-wave-school-rcna156463 https://xtramagazine.com/culture/books/queer-libraries-book-bans-activism-255227 https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/library_sp/68/  https://www.gaycity.org/library-information/ Donate: https://givebutter.com/J9nhcW  Preorder The Emperor of Gladness (% of pre-order proceeds go to QLL): https://sites.prh.com/emperor-of-gladness/preorder/  

Tabitha! We're taking Carrie White to the prom with a look at Stephen King's first feature film adaptation: Brian De Palma's 1976 classic, Carrie. Up for discussion: debate over Carrie as Monster, a satire of religion, our love of Miss Collins, Pino Donaggio's score, and why Trace implores everyone to watch Chris' death scene in the 2013 remake. References: > Brant Lewis. “They're All Going to Laugh at You – Exploring the Queer and Trans Lens of Carrie.” Slay Away > Brandon Trush. “The Power of Identity and Queer Liberation in Carrie” Bloody Disgusting Questions? Comments? Snark? Connect with the boys on Instagram, BlueSky, Youtube, Letterboxd, Facebook, or join the Facebook Group to get in touch with other listeners > Trace: @tracedthurman > Joe: @bstolemyremote  Be sure to support the boys on Patreon!   Theme Music: Alexander Nakarada   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guest is Lucas Wilson (he/him). Lucas is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, which features personal essays written by survivors about their experience in Conversion Therapy (CT). Lucas is also a survivor of CT and this is the focus of our conversation today - his own personal journey as a survivor of conversion therapy, and his experience studying and knowing the experiences of other survivors. This conversation includes discussion of conversion therapy, religious trauma and mentions of sexual abuse. We also talk about what it means to heal and liberate after these experiences. About the guest:Lucas Wilson is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy (out January 21st!), and he is the author of At Home with the Holocaust: Postmemory, Domestic Space, and Second-Generation Holocaust Literature, which received the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award. His public-facing writing has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues. He is currently working on two interrelated monograph projects that examine evangelical homophobia and transphobia in the U.S.Pre-order Shame-Sex Attraction HERE.Instagram: @lukeslamdunkwilsonThreads: @lukeslamdunkwilsonBluesky: @lukeslamdunkwilson.bsky.socialTwitter/X: @wilson_fwLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-wilson-2a0753b1/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.wilson.96For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod (IG).

Lessons from Stonewall: Alison Thorne discusses Queer Liberation in an era of pinkwashing and rainbow capitalism.  First broadcast 7 June 2024 and edited for today's episode.  

This week we bring you our live panel featuring Vanessa Carlisle, PhD and Sydney Rogers, aka Miss Barbie Q, exploring the intersections of sex work, activism and queer liberation from Circa Queer Histories Festival. Our discussion explores the longstanding alliance between sex worker activists and queer activists, the ways activism shows up in queer and sex worker spaces, and combatting burnout in the fight for liberation.This panel was made possible by the One Institute. You can learn more about the Circa Queer Histories Festival at their site https://circafestival.org/Join us over at patreon to get videos of each recording and see our adorable pups or follow along on IG or TikTok.

Join Joe as he chats with Kieran Hickey - his friend and founder of the Queer Liberation Library! Kieran shares his inspiration behind creating the queer digital library, how you can become a member of the library, and all the ways you can support QLL. They also talk about the importance of Queer History Month and recommend a few gay books. You can follow QLL on Instagram! You can learn more about QLL here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/ find resources and access info here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/resources become a member here: https://www.queerliberationlibrary.org/members and, donate here: https://givebutter.com/J9nhcW Titles mentioned in this episode: Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly The Women's House of Detention by Hugh Ryan Blackouts by Justin Torres Readers can sample and borrow the titles mentioned in today's episode in Libby. Library friends can shop these titles in OverDrive Marketplace. Looking for more bookish content? Check out the Libby Life Blog! We hope you enjoy this episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. Be sure to rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen! You can follow the Professional Book Nerds on Instagram and TikTok @ProBookNerds. Want to reach out? Send an email to professionalbooknerds@overdrive.com. Want some cool bookish swag? Check out our merch store at: https://plotthreadsshop.com/! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Brian and Jeff celebrate queer horror. We explore how horror has become a space for queer expression, challenging societal norms and offering a unique perspective on both classic and contemporary horror.Our guest, Eric LaRocca, a popular and prolific author of queer horror, will join us to discuss:The Monster Within: How horror reflects our deepest fears and anxieties about identity and belonging.Queer Liberation through Horror: How the horror genre provides a space for queer individuals to challenge societal norms and express their identities.The "New Queer Horror": Exploring the emergence of queer horror as a genre and its impact on our understanding of monstrosity and normalcy.Join us as we traverse this transgressive landscape and discover the queer joy and horror that lies within.Poppy Z. Brite/Billy MartinRed X by David DemchuckGretchen Felker-MartinAlison RumfittHaley PiperClive BarkerSomething is Killing the ChildrenSleepaway CampDarren Elliott Smith and John Edgar BrowningThe Dumb House by John BurnsideThe Pillow Man Martin McDonoughDennis CooperIt Came From the Closet edited by Joe Vallese 

In this very special episode to launch Season 6 of The Art Career, we sit down with founders of BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY), Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol. We share this episode with the public just a day after the kickoff in Times Square to their cross country tour, in an effort to advocate for Trans Rights, Liberation and Queer Joy, bringing resources and materials and culture to folks across the nation!! BODY FREEDOM FOR EVERY(BODY) is a cross-country exhibition tour inside a 27-foot Box Truck celebrating Reproductive Justice, Queer Liberation, and Trans Joy! We're bringing over 200 artists' works inside this truck to cultivate community coast-to-coast. The two-part endeavor (a traveling exhibition and an accessible digital database) addresses the importance of agency, autonomy, and choice when it comes to healthcare and individual identity. This project aims to create awareness, cultivate community, and engender support for bodily autonomy through art. This project emerges as a response to a relentless wave of conservatism that continues to politicize queer liberation and restrict reproductive & gender-affirming healthcare. The overarching message of this program is broadening awareness of the right to Safe, Legal, and Accessible health care that allows us to live in our power and choice. Rebecca Pauline Jampol is an arts educator, gallery director and independent curator and co-director of Project for Empty Space based in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Jasmine Wahi is a curator, arts educator and the Founder and Co-Director of Project for Empty Space, a nonprofit organization in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Project for Empty Space (PES) is a multifaceted arts organization in downtown Newark, NJ, and downtown Manhattan, NY. PES is a woman-run, femme-powered, People of the Global Majority/BIPOC, Queer, and unapologetically radical ecosystem for creatives. Today, PES provides safe, equitable spaces for artistic innovation and complex public engagement by supporting artists whose work is oriented toward social discourse.  

This week my friend Jenna DeWitt returns to the podcast to discuss two songs - "You're Losing Me" by Taylor Swift and "Faith" by Selmer - and exploring them in detail, in relation to their respective messages about queer liberation and owning your gender and identity. We breakdown the lyrics of each song and discuss them in depth, and Jenna gives great insight into the deeper meaning of these songs, how they've impacted her, and how they can speak to us too. We also touch on how despite one piece of art being labelled 'secular' and one more overtly, 'Christian', both can impart equally powerful messages about these issues.

Mary continues her conversation with Season 12 contestant of RuPaul's Drag Race and the national co-chair of Drag Out The Vote, Brita Filter for The Politics of Disability Pride series.The two discuss anti-LGBGTQIA+ legislation, voting, lack of access to voting, lack of accessible social media, and more.Drag Out The Vote is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy. You can learn more about it here.The Politics of Disability was named Best Interview Podcast at the Astoria Film Festival in both October 2022 and again in June 2023.

In part one of the initial interview for The Politics of Disability Pride series, Mary sits down with Season 12 contestant of RuPaul's Drag Race and the national co-chair of Drag Out The Vote, Brita Filter.The two discuss mental health, advocacy, voting, voting rights, Pride, the lack of accessibility when it comes to Pride events, and more.Drag Out The Vote is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that works with drag performers to promote participation in democracy. You can learn more about it here.The Politics of Disability was named Best Interview Podcast at the Astoria Film Festival in both October 2022 and again in June 2023.

In this episode of the Psychedelic Medicine Podcast, Wilhelmina De Castro, LCSW joins to discuss the ways psychedelics may be used to support goals of queer liberation. Wilhelmina is a psychedelic therapist in the San Diego area and serves as a DEI officer for Integrative Psychiatry Institute. She is also lead faculty for the Psychedelic Research and Training Institute and is committed to creating access to psychedelic healing for historically marginalized populations.   In this conversation, Wilhelmina discusses the major topics at the intersection of psychedelic healing and queer identities. She shares her own journey of how psychedelics helped with self-discovery and acceptance of her queer identity, discussing the ways these substances can help gender and sexual minorities step outside of forms of normativity that are enforced in the culture. She also discusses creating safe spaces for queer folks where they can access psychedelic healing with facilitators and other participants of a similar background. In closing, Wilhelmina reiterates the continuing issues of access and trust queer people face in the current psychedelic landscape, emphasizing the significant work which must be done to improve this situation.    In this episode: How psychedelics can help with self discovery and self exploration What inspired Wilhelmina to begin working professionally with psychedelics Creating spaces for psychedelic healing tailored to queer-identified people Dealing with microaggressions in the context of a psychedelic retreat Working with a therapist or facilitator who shares a queer identity The queerness of psychedelics   Quotes: “When I began to explore with psychedelics, there were moments of this connection beyond… the way I was socialized or conditioned to think was normal. I was able to just be myself [and] found that this attraction and this embodiment that I was feeling was actually where I was supposed to be.” [4:41] “Psychedelics can be really helpful in challenging, in questioning, in dissolving those oppressive narratives that keep people oppressed, that keep them from accessing their liberation. And so if we can do this consciously, and if we can do this in a safe space where harm is not perpetuated, then we actually have this beautiful opportunity for collective liberation” [14:25]   Links: Wilhelmina's practice, Integrate  Integrate on Instagram Integrative Psychiatry Institute Psychedelic Research and Training Institute Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine SoundMind Institute Psychedelics and Identity Initiative Queer Psychedelic Society Psychedelic Liberation Collective Previous episode: Psychedelics and the LGBTQIA2S+ Community with Dr. Angela Carter Psychedelic Medicine Association Porangui

June is Pride Month, and while it is celebrated worldwide, the increasing anti-trans and LGBTQ+ hate continues to be a concern. In this episode, we will explore the intersection of queer liberation and anti-militarism. I will be joined by my co-organizer at CODEPINK, Tim Biondo, and we will listen to a clip from a Seattle town hall called Queer Anti-Militarism: Trans Liberation, Not U.S. Invasion at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. If you're in Washington D.C., join CODEPINK and partners as we march in the Capitol Pride Parade on June 10th. If you're not, bring anti-militarism messaging to a Pride Month event happening near you!

Echa Waode, the general secretary of Indonesian LGBTQIA+ organisation Arus Pelangi, speaks on the fight for queer and trans rights in Indonesia, including the recent criminalisation of same sex sexual activities. Special thanks to Ari Tampubolon for translating!Mani Blü drops in to share her latest track ‘Nightmare'.Queer Palestinian activist Fahad Ali speaks about Israeli pinkwashing during Tel Aviv Pride, and queer liberation in Palestine. Check out the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign.Songs:Only U in the End by Umbra MoonDwell by OdetteNightmare by Mani BlüRound & Round by Mani BlüPangaea by Stev Zar

'Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary' is out this week, wherever you get books. patreon.com/toshiom has upcoming book events. Nice things people have said about the book: I'm so thrilled everyone gets to see what I see every day in Miss Major Speaks. Miss Major has shaped the world in countless ways from Stonewall to today, by being her unruly, fabulous self, leading communities, making time, and caring for and keeping her girls going. Lucky us to live in a moment where she is radiantly shining her light unto us all through this book! – Tourmaline The extraordinary insights in this book, always punctuated by Miss Major's razor-sharp wit,  allow us to understand how liberation movements for trans, queer and other routinely marginalized people can hold the most emancipatory potential for all. – Angela Davis Miss Major Speaks is the rarests of gifts, like sitting at the feet of a wise, no-fucks-given elder, listening to her testimony, and being fortified by her brilliance. This book is a monument to the life's work of Miss Major and the liberation movements she's shaped. It reminds us that we are all we got and that is plenty. – Janet Mock    

Find AC @acfacci on twitter Find Matt at MattHorton.LIVE Art by Scout (https://ko-fi.com/humblegoat) Music by Ethan Geller (@pragmatism on Twitter) New Intersections: Queer Futurism and the Krakoan Body Politic by Sinead Kinney Houseofx.org's recap of book 4 of House of X. This has some photos we talk about in the episode. 00:00 - Can't Let X-Men Go 00:43 - Our history with X-Men 06:08 - House of X and Powers of X 22:17 - Krakoa 31:56 - Best friends doing best friend shit 31:59 - A fantastic aside 33:41 - Krakoan culture 35:57 - Resurrection 53:22 - Xavier and Magneto as metaphor? 1:04:28 - Dear Ryan Coogler... 1:07:27 - The inevitable Fall (of X) 1:14:57 - What's next? Find out more at http://cantletitgo.gay

SHE'S BACK!!! And holy balls is this conversation juicy AF.If you're newer to the pod, Jordan Shomer (she/her) is a friend, colleague and our very own resident astrologer. Jordan is a Queer Jewish intuitive astrologer who recognizes the patterns and puzzles of astrology and synthesizes them into stories that land on your heart. She believes that within the map of the stars lives a blueprint to healing and guidebook to growth. She is passionate about holding space for you to greet yourself in all your cosmic glory. And f*ck me, is she pure magic. Every time we have Jordan on, I get full body chills. And in preparation for todays episode, I listened back to the episode we last did in December 2021 and when I tell you every. thing. that. she. predicated. came. true. And in true to form of our previous episodes, I got hella fucking emotional and am brimming with gratitude for this conversation, and I know you will feel it too. And learn SO much about what's to come and where we're moving from as a collective, so you can come home to yourself as the uniquely beautiful individual you are.Things we talk about in todays episode:owning and embodying our intuitive witchy selvesyour sun, moon and rising signs in astrologysetting boundaries and navigating the patriarchal culture in our intimate relationshipssaturn returns, what to expect, and how Amanda's coincided with the downfall of her marriagestanding in your power and coming home to your wholehearted selfanti-capitalism, what to expect astrologically speaking in 2023, finding the magic in the mess, breaking the binary, some personal updates & beyond CONNECT WITH JORDAN:Jordans Instagram | Newsletter Book a reading with JordanMoon gatherings ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED:Fucking Queer Merch - use code QUEERDO for 15% off Jordans previous episodes: episode 76, episode 111 The 7 spiritual laws of success by Deepak Choprah Alok V MenonAll About love Thousand Miles (feat. Brandi Carlisle) by Miley Cyrus WORK, SUPPORT & CONNECT WITH AMANDA:Fucking Queer Merch — 100% of proceeds from now through the end of Pride Month will go towards the LGBTQ+ charity/organization the community chooses Amanda's Instagram | Website | Tik TokAmanda's book, I Chopped Off My TitsPatreon to support the pod Join her email list for free curated playlists and very occasional gifts & announcements in your inbox

Ahmed Sadkhan (The Healing Khan) is a queer activist and life coach specializing in inner alignment and inner child work.  He is Lebanese-Iraqi and grew up in Berlin; during this episode, Ahmed discusses the work he has done internally and externally to examine the pieces of himself and his identities that have yet to receive needed care.  Ahmed also talks about the work he has done with others to help them along their healing journeys, the ways he has contributed in the collective aim for queer liberation, and more. You can follow Ahmed on Instagram @TheHealingKhan, and check out his…

Regular readers and listeners know my passion for cleaning my local park, Washington Square Park, and how my heart breaks at how we abuse this sliver of a vestige of nature, especially the mornings after the Queer Liberation Marches of the past two years.As an organizer, Jay didn't have to respond to my request, but he did. By the end of this recording, you'll hear us talk about reducing waste next year. We begin by talking about the evolution of the pride marches from when he started attending in the 1980s. He describes them becoming more corporate, less participatory, but most of all, controlled by the cops, not necessarily helping the march. The cops often seem like they're just dominating parades; all New York City parades, not just this march. As a New Yorker, his description struck a chord. His split with the older march sounds almost heartbreaking.Then we talk about the mess attendees created. I point out that nearly everyone identifies ground and waterway waste as sanitation issues, but I see them as too-much-supply issues. We talked about collaborating to reduce the waste people bring and buy at the event. For decades, if people brought things to marches and parades, they didn't leave plastic garbage behind. If they did, not nearly in the quantities of today.It may not seem fair for people to have to decline buying trinkets and bottled water when they just want to have fun, but attendees before cheap, abundant plastic enjoyed parades as much as today. I expect there will be more fun if we communicate to next year's attendees to refuse disposable anything.We also did the Spodek Method and you may be able to tell from the picture I used how it went before you listen to our second episode. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 151: Queer Liberation Means Decriminalization, Demilitarization, Decolonization.

Co-Chair of GAPIMNY-Empowering Queer and Trans Pacific Islanders, Jason Wu, joins Zerlina on the show to discuss Pride Month and the intersections between API + Queer and Trans identities!Jason Wu is a co-chair for GAPIMNY-Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders, a queer and trans AAPI organization based in NYC that focuses on community building, political education and mutual aid. Wu's writing on abolition, intersectionality, and social movements has been published in Teen Vogue, Truthout, Gotham Gazette, NY Daily News, and more. Jason is also the Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society's Harlem Community Law Office.About GAPIMNY:Founded in 1990, GAPIMNY is an all-volunteer, membership-based community organization with the mission to empower queer and trans Asian Pacific Islanders* to create positive change. We provide a range of political, social, educational, and cultural programming and work in coalition with other community organizations to educate and promote dialogue on issues of race, sexuality, gender, and health.

OK catches up with fan favorite fourth mic Joey De Jesus (@DeJesusSaves) to talk Pride month, gossip about NYC local elections/budget woes, and the trap of Puerto Rican statehood. Would you join the Queer liberation army? There’s gonna be sparkly maces involved! Also we’re leaning into groomer, it’s gonna be a whole problem. The establishment … Continue reading "163 – Groomer Pride w/ Joey De Jesus"

You have the power to demand inclusion, dignity, and respect 365 days a year because you can take your purchasing power elsewhere.But don't sit in silence with your decision to support LGBTQ+ businesses or allies.☞ Read the full article here.**********As a queer thought leader, neuro-coach, writer, and podcaster, Darren Stehle helps LGBTQ+ creators and change-makers develop their self-mastery and go from confusion to making an impactful difference in the world. 

Coming into queerness later in life. Kink dynamics. Going from monogamy to non monogamy. Abusive relationships. Sex parties & beyond.All of that, and so much more, is explored in Rachel Krantz's book: Open, and I'm not lying when I tell you I devoured this book in the span of 24 hours and immediately reached out to have Rachel (she/her) on the podcast to get into the nitty gritty of it all — and this conversation does not disappoint. TW: emotional & psychological abuse, manipulation, gaslighting & self gaslighting, power dynamicsIf you're unfamiliar with Rachel's work — she's a journalist and one of the founding editors of Bustle, where she served as senior features editor for three years. Her work has been featured on NPR, The Guardian, Vox, Vice, and many other outlets. She's the recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Radio Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Peabody Award for her work as an investigative reporter with YR Media. Open is her first book.And I imagine not her last — or at least, I certainly hope not ‘cause damn, it's pretty fucking incredible, and from a personally selfish perspective, so damn refreshing to have a first person, tell all memoir around the rollercoaster that is navigating the early days of queer liberation and non monogamy. I know so many of you have been waiting for this episode so let's get the fuck to it.CONNECT WITH RACHEL / READ OPEN:Snag your copy of Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy Rachels Website | Instagram | TwitterLook out for Rachels future podcast: Help Existing ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED:Donate/Support to Abortion Funds Sign petition to defend Roe V. Wade Greedy by Jen WinstonWORK & CONNECT WITH AMANDA:Peer support sessionsPatreon - join her “close friends” list on Instagram at the $5+ levelAmanda's book, I Chopped Off My TitsAmanda's Instagram | WebsiteJoin her email list for all the important things / monthly announcements

Historian Hugh Ryan joins Zerlina and Jess on the show to discuss his new book The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, out on May 10! This singular history of a prison, and the queer women and trans people held there, is a window into the policing of queerness and radical politics in the twentieth century.The Women's House of Detention, a landmark that ushered in the modern era of women's imprisonment, is now largely forgotten. But when it stood in New York City's Greenwich Village, from 1929 to 1974, it was a nexus for the tens of thousands of women, transgender men, and gender-nonconforming people who inhabited its crowded cells. Some of these inmates—Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Afeni Shakur—were famous, but the vast majority were incarcerated for the crimes of being poor and improperly feminine. Today, approximately 40 percent of the people in women's prisons identify as queer; in earlier decades, that percentage was almost certainly higher.Historian Hugh Ryan explores the roots of this crisis and reconstructs the little-known lives of incarcerated New Yorkers, making a uniquely queer case for prison abolition—and demonstrating that by queering the Village, the House of D helped defined queerness for the rest of America. From the lesbian communities forged through the Women's House of Detention to the turbulent prison riots that presaged Stonewall, this is the story of one building and much more: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired.Hugh Ryan is a writer and curator. His first book, When Brooklyn Was Queer, won a 2020 New York City Book Award, was a New York Times Editors' Choice in 2019, and was a finalist for the Randy Shilts and Lambda Literary Awards. He was honored with the 2020 Allan Berube Prize from the American Historical Association. In 2019-2021, he worked on the Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in U.S. History curricular materials for the NYC Department of Education.

Award-winning writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation Raquel Willis joins Jess on the show to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility & discuss the past, present and future of QTBIPOC rights!More about Raquel Willis:Raquel Willis is an award-winning writer, activist, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation. She has held groundbreaking posts throughout her career including director of communications for Ms. Foundation for Women, executive editor of Out magazine, and national organizer for Transgender Law Center.Her writing has been published in Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, Bulgari Magnifica: The Power Women Hold edited by Tina Leung, The Echoing Ida Collection edited by Kemi Alabi, Cynthia R. Greenlee, and Janna A. Zinzi, and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha Blain. She has also written for Essence, Bitch, VICE, Buzzfeed, The Cut, and Vogue. During her time at Out, she published the GLAAD Media Award–winning “Trans Obituaries Project.” In 2023, she will release her debut memoir, I Believe in Our Power, about her coming of identity and activism with St. Martin's Press. Raquel is a thought leader on gender, race and intersectionality. She's experienced in online publications, organizing marginalized communities for social change, non-profit media strategy and public speaking while using digital activism as a major tool of resistance and liberation.

We interview Ani Kayode Somtochukwu on #ENDSARS, Nigerian Refugees in Ukraine, Neocolonialism, Marxism, and Queer Liberation in Nigeria. Ani is the founder of QUEST (Queer Union for Economic and Social Transformation) in Nigeria. Follow Ani here: https://twitter.com/Kayode_ani

Mardi Gras Season is upon us so this week on All The Best we're asking the question, 'what does queer liberation look like?' Our first story is a rerun from early 2018. In the months following the marriage equality plebiscite Ange talks to different LGBT+ people about their relationship with labels. 'Call Me Ange' by Angela Glindemann Producer: Angela Glindemann Supervising Producer: Bec Fary Sound design: Lee Yee and Amy Hanley Our next story comes from SPUN, a live storytelling event in the Northern Territory. 'My Birthday' by Teddy Suphannabutt Written and performed by Teddy Suphannabutt Supervising producer: Johanna Bell All The Best credits Production Manager & Host: Danni Stewart Editorial Manager: Mell Chun Episode Mix and Compile: Danni Stewart Social Media Producers:  Emma Pham Community and Events Coordinator: Lidiya Josifova See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest Austin of BanexBramble joins us this week to talk about plant spirits, earth based ritual, and dance as centered roles of his magic practice. In our exploration we touch on my favorite definition of witchcraft, that of Queer Liberation.  How can witchcraft be used as an embodied experience to bridge the gap between being Othered and Free? How can we explore the lines of madness in order to embody the other more fully? In what ways do song and dance allow us to more deeply connect with spirit? All these questions are explored, and we even found some time to talk about magic ritual and othering in the classic horror film Susperia. So join us as we move about the chthonic and wild spaces of the Other lands, and how they can be explored to liberate and exalt both the self and all lands here and in between.  To find more on Austin, check out his Instagram and Twitter @banexbramble. Check out his website www.banexbramble.com to find out more and maybe book a consultation, commission occult based art, or purchase magic materia. To find more on SaturnVox, check out the Instagram and Twitter, as well as out website www.Saturnvox.com where you can read our blog or book a divinatory reading.  Special thanks to Jules M. Dooley, multidisciplinary artists and traditional astrologer based in New Orleans, for creating the original music used on this podcast.  To support the show, please consider signing up for the Patreon, where blog content and behind the scenes videos are posted monthly. 

Josie talks about their journey to queerness, reclaiming their Latinx heritage, uncovering their authentic self through their Fertile Essence, and their mission to recenter queer, trans, and non-binary folks in reproductive healthcare. Welcome to the Intersectional Fertility Podcast. 

Hello. Hope February has been treating you well.In the second and concluding part of Gelek's conversation with Lama Row Owens, they speak about the loss of magic and exploring Indigeneity (01:25); holding space for anger and violence in creating justice and peace (09:05); the weaponization of niceness (20:55); bodies, movement and breathing in the time of a pandemic (22:40); and more.If you missed part one of the conversation, click here.Episode notesLoss of magic and exploring Indigeneity. [01:25]Loving our anger. [03:56]What Black History Month means to Lama Rod. [06:15]Holding space for anger and violence in creating justice and peace. [09:05]Discussing police, prison abolition, political systems and institutions in dharma teachings. [15:29]Weaponization of niceness. [20:55]Bodies, movement and breathing in the time of a pandemic. [22:40]Lama Rod's current and upcoming projects. [26:30]Interview transcriptYou have a chapter towards the end of [Love and Rage] where you speak about the loss of magic. Yeah, that's part of my Indigenous work right now. This is work that I hope to present in the next couple of years—me connecting more to my African as well as Native American ancestry, and putting all of that in conversation with Tibetan Buddhism. For me, again, it's a synthesis of what's being created. I think “Love and Rage” was a good beginning step to demonstrate how I am transitioning into this space. As an American Black person, my Indigenous spiritual practice is hoodoo. Hoodoo derives from the practice of Africans coming on to the West, meeting Christianity, and developing the system of philosophy, ritual magic and so forth. It's so related to tantra and Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism. I wanna understand how I can synthesize that even more so that it's more authentic for me. I remember years ago, Rinpoche [Norlha] was talking about the magic of Native Americans. He was saying, “Native Americans were so strong that they survived genocide.” It really struck me when he said that. For me, that was just the way he recognized the validity of this community of people. He respected Native American gods and spirits. When Kundun [HHDL] makes his trip to North America, he always makes it a point to also have representatives or emissaries from the local First Nations or the Native communities to meet with them and speak with them. I always find it beautiful how there are these patterns of elemental rituals that's consistent across hemispheres, cultures and Indigenous communities. I am reminded of, for instance, the whole myth or idea of how Buddhism was propagated by Padmasambhava [in Tibet], and him having to clash with nagas and deities. It's very fascinating to actually look into those things, and I'm really excited for this project that you are undertaking. The title of the book itself, I was curious about that. When you placed “Love and Rage” in that order, was that intentional?Yeah absolutely. The title came first before the content.Like not “Rage and Love,” but “Love and Rage.” Was that intentional?Yes, because love holds the rage. Love leads. So, when I talk about this conversation between love and rage, it's not a fight. It's more about how love is holding the space for our rage to be there. Love is the container that holds everything. If there is no container of love then that rage actually becomes an expression of violence. “My anger is like a living being I am in partnership with.” And then a couple of pages later you say, “Loving our anger invites it into a transformative space where it emerges as the teacher.” That's so profound. I wonder if you can expand on that a little bit.That's rooted within the teachings around the manifestation of the guru. How the guru is manifesting in the phenomenal world. One of those manifestations of the guru is through emotions. Once we pay attention to the emotion, the emotion is actually trying to teach us how to be in relationship with it. For so much of our lives, we tend to be overreacting and running away from our emotional reality. But to turn our attention back to something like anger, we begin to hold space for it and to experience it, that experience begins to teach us about the nature of emotion. And of course the nature of emotion is the nature of the mind itself. Once we realize that, the guru emerges in that moment.You're saying anger can be a vessel that helps take us to the ultimate reality.Well, anything can take us to the ultimate. The nature of the whole phenomenal world is of one essence. So if we recognize the nature of that phenomena—an emotion, an object, an idea, whatever it is—it unlocks the nature of all phenomena, and that opens us right into the ultimate.Does Black History Month hold significance for you?That's a good question. It doesn't hold significance for me because I feel like I'm always celebrating my history and culture. It's not relegated to one month—the shortest month of the year, by the way. I just think that we have to establish a culture where we're celebrating all the parts of our history; all the different groups and communities that have helped shape the world. We should have knowledge and an appreciation of that. And yes, I understand that there are histories that have been so silenced that we have to create and designate these periods of time to bring attention to it. But I really want to take it to a point where we don't need to have a special time to think about these things. That it just happens naturally. That we think about Black folks, Asian American communities, queer history, Native American history… where we just know that. And we don't. There's so much history that has been erased.This is different from how some people then take that other approach where they say, “I don't see race. I'm colour blind.” You're not saying that at all. You actually have a passage—I can't find it right now—in your book where you affirm and celebrate the different histories, traditions, lineages that we embody. Yeah, I see differences. I love that. Again, it goes back to the teachings of the mind. I can hold space for everything and notice everything. And I can look at the ways in which I have fixations on certain things. I can examine that. That fixation may also mean prejudice. It may mean resistance to certain things. I can look at that and hold space for it and allow it to be this immense amount of openness. We can hold all the difference in the world but the problem is our relationship to that difference. Is that relationship one of opening and acceptance or is it one of restricting and defining and pushing away?And asserting power.And asserting power, absolutely. Because we're fixated on our sense of self and ego, right? But there has to be space for it too.Spaciousness is another theme that's quite prevalent in your book. Early on in your book, you say (in speaking of anger): “In activist communities, our relationship to anger is immature, ill-informed and overly romanticized. We manipulate anger as a false sense of energy and inspiration.” The first image that came to my mind when I read that line is the burning of the 3rd Precinct building of the Minneapolis police department shortly after the killing of George Floyd. For me that was such a powerful, revolutionary emanation of what activism means but also what taking back justice means. Do you think your line and that image are in contradiction?I think that one of the things—and this is a really subtle, nuanced argument—that I'm always trying to push for, particularly with activists, is knowing what you're doing, and not just reacting. If you're gonna burn a building down, know that you're burning it and know that you're doing this in order to hopefully trigger freedom, liberation. Not just cause you're pissed off. I know that's a very nuanced thing. Our holding space for anger and reacting to anger may actually look like the same action. Often I'm trying to avoid violence, but at the same time, sometimes violence has to be expressed in order to reduce greater forms of violence. And so I'm not a 100 percent non-violent person. I think violence can be used skillfully to reduce other kinds of violence and harm. So we have to know what we're doing and why we're doing it. The use of violence has to be skillful. And of course people push back, but then I use this example of like, if you have a child and someone runs up and grabs your child, are you going to stand there? Are you gonna do whatever you can to get your child back in that moment?We all have the capacity to express violence. Every being on this planet has been violent in some capacity or another. What I'm arguing for is can we skillfully use that violence to reduce other forms of violence when we need to. Dr. King said, “Riot is the language of the unheard.” I think that's important for us. And then, when something needs to be destroyed, can we critically say, OK we're going to do this? Not out of hate and anger, but out of this need to be heard; to disrupt certain systems that are increasing harm and violence for others.This is perhaps my own Tibetan neurosis surfacing where I feel like non-violence tends to get weaponized, funnily enough, in how we are meant to come to terms with our traumatization and our oppression. It also operates through respectability politics, where the idea is that if you conduct yourself civilly or in a way that's appropriate, that somehow it elevates your dissent over others. I think it's very timely or relevant that you quote Dr. King because I'm reminded of his quote where he says, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.” That piece, again, gets easily paved over when those in power talk about non-violence or of being peaceful but miss the whole context of justice. And I think that in itself is actually a form of violence.I totally agree. I think in the west, the teachings of non-violence have been so over emphasized because it comes through a culture of dominance. You're already at the top, you actually have the privilege of being peaceful and practising non-violence because you're not fighting for basic resources. And that's what I have to struggle with in white, western Buddhist convert communities. I have to be conscious of what it means to be Black, particularly a Black man in the south right now, because my life can be at any point in danger depending on where I'm at, who I'm talking with, etc. At no point do I not know that I'm Black, and can be killed because I'm Black.You say, “My anger is the single greatest threat to my life.” I think that's a very skillful way to demonstrate that it's not about you being Black that's the greatest risk for you, but it's actually anger.Well, it's the anger and how my anger creates a mirror for dominant culture. I am angry because I've been hurt through systematic oppression. So I'm not angry just because I'm Black. That's not an aesthetic of Blackness. It comes from systematic woundedness and oppression.It's also a very convenient trope for those in power as well to then misconstrue that anger and say, oh just another typical Black person who's angry. So you're constantly having to navigate these very discombobulating experiences and then to comport in a way that makes you feel more agreeable. But that's not actually true to how you experienced whatever you experienced.Exactly. And that kind of trope is just another way that we are raised, that lived oppression. “Oh you're just complaining. You haven't pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps.” This another mythology that white, American individualism has created that further disciplines us and marginalizes us.Do you try not to bring in present-day politics into your teachings or is that something you let is come and go as it arises?It's so funny you mention that. [Norlha] Rinpoche was so political. He would talk about politics in public teachings all the time.Like American politics?Oh yeah. In my teaching, I'm much more interested in systems and institutions because I think those lie at the heart of politics in general. For me, particularly in America, it's not about the two-party system and democracy. There are deeper issues that we actually have to begin to name for ourselves. That's where I want the teachings to be. It's not about who's the president, it's why they're the president. What is the system that gives rise to certain people having power and others not? And we can use dharma to do that. Absolutely.Do you change your tack in any way when you speak about these issues in the context of a dharma teaching, depending on the audience, or do you keep it consistent?Yeah, it does depend on the audience. It depends on what country I'm in—that's a huge thing. The age of folks—when I work with teenagers it's a different energy as opposed to adults. Is it a BIPOC community? Is it mostly a white group? That all determines how I show up. But I think that mostly I show up in spaces where people are pretty much politically aligned with me. And that's the trick here. We're all excited about Trump being out of the White House, but let's go deeper now. Let's talk about what it means to be revolutionary and radical, instead of being centrist and liberal. Let's talk about how dharma is actually pushing us more towards being revolutionary rather than being conservative. It's about everyone getting free; everyone getting the resources that they need to be well and happy. It's very socialist. That's how I talk. That's the dharma that I use. Let's talk about what it means for the people that you don't even like to be free to have the resources that they need.For me, just over the past couple of years, my awareness and understanding of things like prison and police abolition has been way higher than it used to be. And I think it would be so amazing if the dharma community cohered around that. I feel that prison abolition is an incredibly complex thing that challenges all kinds of different notions about what we mean when it comes to justice, reformation, rehabilitation and forgiveness. I don't see a lot of that happening in my limited perspective of the dharma community and I'm really glad for people like yourself who are speaking on those things. Have you noticed a change in the tenor of those kinds of discourses?I think, for the most part, people are much more educated than they were in the past about mass incarceration, for defunding the police. Climate change, interestingly, is a really safe space for people to get progressive in. [laughs] That's like very neutral.Greta Thunberg and the Dalai Lama! [laughs]Oh yeah. American Buddhist communities: environmentalism, yes! But you start talking about mass incarceration…Wealth redistribution…Oh my god. That's when you run into it. Racial justice. It gets sticky because we're not linking all this together. If you're about justice for the environment then you have to be about justice for people and the most marginalized. This is why I love this kind of philosophy of liberation theology that we get from progressive Christinanity. God is on the side of the most oppressed. We have to bring some of that knowledge and language into dharma. We have to understand that oppression has to be something we disrupt for everyone.That is the calling.That's the calling. Dharma is about the liberation of people, even when we're the ones who are doing the oppressing—that dharma will actually have to deal with us. And again, we're not interested in that. We're not interested in being held accountable, hauled out, or any of that. Until that starts being a thing, it's like we're going to maintain this level of comfort.You have a piece in your book about niceness, where it's just about making people feel comfortable but not progressing any further than that.Yeah, exactly. Somehow niceness is dharmic—that's what we're supposed to do—when the fact is it's just weaponized. That's the first thing I noticed when I started going to sanghas: everyone's so nice. Then when you start talking about issues of inclusivity—cause I was the only person of colour in my early sanghas, period—people shut down. Then another kind of nice emerges where it's like, “You don't have to think about that, Rod. We're not a racist sangha.” It's like the movie “Get Out.” It's like a Jedi mind trick where I literally had people actually turn the teachings around and say, “Rod, you're too fixated on identity.”We're all Africans is another one I've heard.Right. That sounds great. This is why I've survived all of that, I went through it, and now I'm in a different space where I need to commit to creating new communities where we're not having these one-on-one, intro conversations about race. We need to start living and embodying inclusivity and radicalism in this moment, on this spot. How do we do that? It's not about having the conversation; it's about living it and doing it right now.The final piece I want to touch on is about embodiment: all the different ways that you've studied it, how you've related to your body and those of others as well, especially in the context of the pandemic that we're currently situated in. How has your relationship to your body evolved?For me it's like a deepening relationship to all the ways my body shows up. Even this past year I've noticed how when one aspect of my body is off, it impacts all my other bodies. When my subtle energy body is out of balance I'm physically and emotionally unwell. It's hard for me to connect to others. Even with my physical body, being static and so stationary for a year I feel the impact of that. I also feel the impact of all the vicarious trauma physically. I know that particularly this year so much of my work is going to have to be about getting back into the body—even my yoga practice I haven't been really doing. Moving and working energy through the body is going to be incredibly important for all of us. The body is necessary for us to process and metabolize trauma, and movement is a part of that. And also breathing, which is a key piece throughout your practice. I was thinking about how we're in a pandemic of a disease that affects the lungs and I wonder if you had any thoughts on that. About people who may have contracted COVID, or know people who did, and how that affects the act of breathing, and can be an incredibly destabilizing thing. Breath, as you've enumerated many times in the book, is one of the foundational pieces on how we first process all the different energies, right?Yeah absolutely. Even in general, I think breath is really tricky for a lot of folks. I've had to over the years had to develop ways for people to re-approach the breath. Even now, looking at a pandemic that's really affecting the lungs, one of the practices that I've been working with people is kind of like a tonglen practice—this taking and sending practice. As we're breathing, imagining that we're breathing on behalf of so many folks who can't breathe. That's gonna direct us deeper into the fear of all of this as well. We have to open our minds to the reality that people are dying because they can't breathe, not just through the pandemic but through social oppression as well. Breath has been a part of how police have attacked Black folks.I can't breathe, a slogan from a few years ago.Absolutely. All of that. Breath is important. Breath is life. We know that very intimately in the practice. Breath carries life force. So we just want to breathe and add this energy and I guess do emotional labour of acknowledging that we can breathe on behalf of so many people who are struggling to breathe. That way we stop taking our breath for granted.Thank you. Before we wrap up, can you please give us a quick rundown of the things you're working on right now and looking ahead to?I have a bunch of different events coming up through February and through March. All of that information can be found on my website. I'll be also developing some content for the Calm app over the next few weeks so I'm excited about that. I'm being introduced to the Calm network so if people subscribe to Calm, please check that content out. Are you also working on a book?I am working on a book. I am kind of in the process of figuring out what area or topic I want to go with; I have a couple of different ideas. I will say that over the summer we will be introducing a brand new course on grief and using a lot of the practices from Tibetan Buddhism and some practices from my own Indigenous practices as well. Creating something that's going to help people work through what I call the brokenheartedness of not just this past year but the grief of our lives in a way that hopefully will be really powerful and meaningful.We've lost so much ritual because of the lockdown just around grieving and mourning. I know that in many Black communities and churches, funerals are actually a social thing, with lots of spectacle and pomp. It's also true in Tibetan communities. We actually have 49 days of people gathering in homes and chanting daily. All of that has not been in play, unless you are actively contravening lockdown measures. I think that also speaks to a very special kind of isolation, especially in the moment of when you're losing someone. So thank you so much for putting that together. I think it's extremely timely.Thank you. I appreciate this.—lamarod.comInstagramTwitter This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit agoodrefugee.substack.com

Jamie and Andy interview three contributors to Commune Magazine's Summer issue. First we talk to Marxish Rock Critic Joshua Clover on Lil Nas X and its transgression of the color line. Then we chat with Michelle O'Brien about the Queer Liberation march for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, family abolition, and what life will look like on the Queer Commune. Finally we talk to Commune editor Chloe Watlington on climate change, personal tragedy and mourning, and the existential need for communism. https://communemag.com/the-high-rise-and-the-hollow/ https://communemag.com/fifty-years-of-queer-insurgency/ https://communemag.com/who-owns-tomorrow/ Help build Commune by becoming a subscriber: https://communemag.com/subscribe/