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A panel featuring four of Nia King's favorite artists: Sawyer Lovett, Joe Hatton, Vo Vo, and Cristy C. Road. Zines played a crucial role in reducing social isolation for many of us, whether we were one of the only punks of color in our scene (Nia in Boston, Joe in the Dakotas, and Vo in Sydney, Australia), or the only gay in our rural Virginia town (Sawyer). Cristy C. Road discusses growing up in Miami's predominantly Black and brown punk scene and using zines to process heartbreak and trauma.

Listen here. Read here. Donate here.

More zinesters you should know below:

Mimi Thi Nguyen, Jackie Wang, Lauren Jade Martin, Suzy X, Osa Atoe, Adee Roberson, Lawrence Lindell, Breena Nuñez, Ajuan Mance, the Queer Zine Archive Project, Jenna Freedman/the Barnard Zine Library, and many, many more. 

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Advice for first-time interviewers

Before the interview:

Research the interviewee.

Prepare your list of questions (based on your research).

Try to identify assumptions that may be embedded in your questions.

Example of a leading question/question with embedded assumptions: Wasn’t XYZ the best American president?

Rewrite the questions, removing the embedded assumptions. Usually, you don’t want to steer the interviewee towards a particular answer.

Example of a more neutral question: Who do you think was the best American president?

Be prepared for them to answer with something unexpected, like “I think all presidents are bad and also America is bad and democracy is a joke.”

Charge your recorder.

During the interview:

Don’t forget to hit record. Yes, I’ve done this. : (

Be humble: Don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions, especially if they use terms you aren't familiar with.

Be flexible: Even though you came with a list of questions prepared, you don’t have to stick strictly to them.

Ask follow-up questions. It shows you are listening.

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Bebop Thoughtz, part five

If you don't want Cowboy Bebop spoilers, stick with part one.

I just finished rewatching the cartoon. I thought I'd make a list of things the anime does better, and things the live-action version does better.

Things the anime does better:

humor - The humor of the anime version largely comes from visual gags like people having animals on their heads. (They go back to this well three times, and it works every time.) The humor in the live-action version mostly comes from Spike's dry wit and Faye's use of oddly childish obscenity, which largely fell flat for me.

characters - The characters of the cartoon manage to be charming, at least at times, despite their obvious flaws. For example, Faye reveals herself to be pretty amoral (stealing from Spike and Jet, lying/breaking promises to Ed), and yet her tragic backstory makes her compelling and somewhat sympathetic in my view.

racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia - The caricatures of Native Americans, Black people, and Latinos in the anime are wildly racist. I personally think the episode Mushroom Samba takes the cake for racism, but Heavy Metal Queen is a close second. Jet and Spike are constantly talking trash about women. (Spike also hates children and dogs. This is our hero!) The homophobia and transphobia mostly comes out in Gren's two-episode story arc, which I'll get into later.

fatalism - The ending of the series is BLEAK. [Major spoilers coming] Ed and Ein leave the crew, possibly to reunite with Ed's dad who can't seem to remember her name, gender, or the fact that he left her in an orphanage. Faye leaves in search of her childhood home, finds it destroyed, and returns to the Bebop. Spike basically commits suicide by storming the HQ of his enemies, after watching the alleged love of his life die. I say alleged because their love story is not developed at all in the anime.

Things the live action does better:

make sense - The episodes of the live-action show all have fairly linear, easy-to-follow storylines, whereas some of the anime episodes feel more like fever dreams.

provide an overarching plot that tied the episodes together - Some of the anime episodes feels like the creators came up with an idea for a villain, and based the whole episode around that, rather than trying to build a coherent narrative. I like how, in the live-action version, Spike and Vicious' relationship is the through-line, and each development brings us closer to their final confrontation. Knowing that we are always moving forward, to the resolution of the overall conflict, gives you something to hold on and a reason to pay attention.

family dynamics - Though I found the live-action versions of the characters charmless, we like them because they are willing to risk their lives for each other. Each has lost a family. Spike is an orphan. Faye was frozen, lost her memory, and the closest thing she has to a family is a woman who scammed her into believing she was Faye's mom. Jet is divorced or separated from his wife, and his daughter, who he has minimal contact with, now calls one Jet's cop ex-buddies "daddy." The members of the Bebop represent a chosen family, and even though they are often not honest or kind with each other, they always seem to show up for each other when most needed. What the live action lacks in charming characters, it makes up for in heartwarming vibes.

develop the backstory for Spike and Vicious' relationship - Episode 9 is one of my favorite eps, and it's one of the ones that strays the most from the source material. This ep is pure backstory and it gives us a reason to care about Spike, Vicious, Julia and their weird love triangle, which was barely perceptible in the anime. It also tries to humanize Vicious by giving him an abusive father, but... I'm not sure that justifies his impulsiveness or bloodlust.

bigger roles for Ana/Annie and Gren - These are extremely minor characters in the original who get much better developed in the live action. In the anime, Annie owns a... porn store? Liquor store? Corner store? Unclear. Her and Spike clearly have an affinity for each other, but we only really see her once before she gets murdered. In the live-action version, Ana is a powerful Black disabled woman: a jazz club owner, a spy of sorts, a liaison between rival parties within The Syndicate. In the original, Gren is a man who grew breasts due to a hormone imbalance. In the live action, Gren is trans femme without breasts, and also Ana's right hand in running the club and keeping the troublemakers at bay. Ana and Gren were my favorite characters, and least to have to least-compromised moral compasses of all the characters. I loved Tamara Tunie as Ana. She and Spike have a cute flirtation going, but I never understood, in either version, why this character was so loyal to Spike.

surprise betrayal - One of the major plot points of the live-action version is Vicious' scheme to overthrow the Elders. In the anime, the scenes of the actual betrayal are pretty confusing, and involve, I believe, an exploding bird? In the live-action version, Vicious overthrows the Elders in a surprise twist that really got me, so I don't want to spoil it for you.

give women agency - In the anime, no one really cares what Julia wants. She's just "the girl," a prize to be won by either the "hero" or the villain. In the live-action version, she claims her power in a way that I, as a viewer, did not at all see coming. She's a much more well-developed character: smart and manipulative.

The humor of the original and and charm of its characters carried it a long way. Perhaps remakes are destined to disappoint, but this one did some cool things with casting, storylines, and of course, fight scenes. The fact that John Cho was almost 50 when he filmed them makes it all the more impressive.

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Bebop Thoughtz, part four

If you don't want spoilers for the live-action Cowbop Bebop series, I recommend sticking to part one.

This is a going to be a deep dive into episode three (Dog Star Swing in the live-action, which maps loosely onto Stray Dog Strut in the anime). This is possibly the zaniest of all the live-action episodes: It's got BSDM, a gratuitous massacre, dognapping and... whiteface?

The anime version and the live-action version only really have two things in common: 1.) the introduction of Ein to the Bebop crew and 2.) the villain, Abdul Hakim. In the anime, he's just a dog thief, but the live-action version he is also a serial killer. Odd choice, imho.

What I really want to talk about in this episode is the portrayal of sex workers and brothels, the unnecessary violence against disabled people, and some of the amazing work by character actors.

Spike and Jet are looking for Hakim, a Black man who has disguised himself as a white man through face-changing technology, at the two "low-rent brothels" on the planet Tharsis: Betty's Boop and Betty's Bottom. Betty's Bottom, where they eventually find Hakim, seems like a cross between a strip club, a queer club, and a kink club. I think it's trying to seem seedy, but it's giving pretty PG-13 vibes as far as portrayals of sex work spaces go.

After a chase through the brothel/club, Spike catches up to Hakim on the rooftop, where they engage in hand-to-hand combat using only found weapons. This fight scene was my favorite part of the episode. It's also where white Hakim changes back into Black Hakim. (In the anime Hakim is a white man who "becomes Black" through "plastic surgery." I think the live-action version made an improvement here.)

Later, after Hakim gets away, Spike and Jet try to get back into the club to find out if he's a regular of any of the sex workers there. They get their answer from Greta the Domme, a portrayal of sex workers I found truly bizarre. She seems to always be trying to upsell her customers on services they have no interest in. I've met a number of pro dommes in my life and she reminded me of none of them. (This actress, Natascha Diaz, is from Colombia, and I think is doing a great job despite the ridiculousness of the lines she was given.)

Having gotten into the sex (work), let's get into the violence. This episode contains, in my opinion, the most upsetting scene in the whole series. Vicious (remember him, our Big Bad?) has to shut down his drug manufacturing operation, by order of the Elders, and decides to do it by killing off all of his workers in the drug lab.

When we arrive at the lab, we see all of these workers are naked and have had their eyes sewn shut. Vicious and his sidekicks Lin and Shin then shoot all of them in a truly disturbing scene that is completely unnecessary to the overall plot.

Is the scene meant to establish that Vicious is a bad guy? Has the show not already done that by showing him as a domestic abuser? I truly could have done without this gratuitous violence against defenseless, blind workers. I honestly recommend just skipping 20:50 to 21:50 of this episode.

Lastly, I want to shout out a few of the memorable character actors whose appearances really make this episode. The first is Maaka Pohatu, who playes Benicio, "the black-market Santa." I could not take my eyes off him while he was on screen, in part because his face is covered in tattoos. The actor is a Māori musician from Aotearoa with zero face tattoos in real life. Shout out to hair and make-up, his look must have taken them hours.

Another memorable appearance is by Bronwyn Bradley, who plays Betty, proprietor of Betty's Bottom. I'm not sure if she's supposed to be a sex worker, a bouncer, or just a madam, but her 15-second appearance on screen is unforgettable, from her fire engine-red hair to her threat to "stab the beef off of" Spike and Jet.

(It turns out the actress that plays Betty is also from Aotearoa and graduated from the same theater school as Maaka Pohatu.)

I feel like the angry madam is sort of a trope or stock character. Heavier women are usually cast to play them and they are usually portrayed as powerful, and often a little sassy. I'm pretty much always here for it.

I want to give an honorable mention to Carmel McGlone, (also from Aotearoa,) the actress that plays Woodcock, one of Jet's informants. She is a ridiculous character with only ridiculous lines. She flirts with Jet in ways that are aggressive and uncomfortably racialized. Real cringe stuff.

Though I didn't love her character, I thought the actress did great work as one of the horny old women of Cowboy Bebop. (Faye's mom is the other notable example.) I've heard that it's hard for older women to get cast in Hollywood, but Cowboy Bebop has three that give really memorable performances, the third being Maria Murdock in episode four.

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Bebop Thoughtz, part three

If you don't want major spoilers for the live-action Cowboy Bebop series, you'd be better off sticking to part one of this series.

I said in part one I'd get into the theme of toxic masculinity, so that's what this post focuses on. Content warning for domestic violence.

Having gotten into the "good guys," -- who, again, are mostly all unrepentant murders -- it's time to get into the villain, Vicious, the love interest, Julia, and their relationship.

A major plot point of the live-action series is that our protagonist, Spike, fell in love with Julia, who is married to the villain Vicious. We later find out that, at the time, Spike and Vicious were best friends, but we don't get into that back story until episode 9.

In episode 2, we get two glimpses of Julia and Vicious' marriage. The first is when the Elders, bosses of the crime syndicate Vicious works for, demand that he kills Julia as punishment for dealing drugs behind their backs.

At this point, Vicious still seems like a decent-ish husband. He begs for his wife's life and offers to let the Elders cut off his fingers, or his whole hand, instead. When they insist that he shoot Julia instead, he reluctantly obliges, only to find that the gun is unloaded. They were testing him.

Back at home, Julia is pretty pissed that her husband almost murdered her to prove his loyalty to his bosses, understandably. Then she says something to the effect of how he'll never be "man enough" to stand up to them and he grabs her by the throat. At this point it becomes great he was never a great husband, and that he is almost as vicious to his "loved" ones as to his enemies.

The fact that he says "Don't you ever tell me that I'm not man enough," with his hands clenched around his wife's neck indicated that his masculinity is a sensitive issue for him, and that perhaps his penchant for violence is driven by a need to prove he's a real man. We later find out he has major daddy issues, but that's not until episode 9.

Cowboy Bebop offers three models of masculinity. The blatantly toxic model of Vicious, the good-dad model of Jet, and the too-cool-for-school model of Spike. Spike's seeming detachment from everything makes his inability to get over/forget Julia seem out of character, in my opinion. But I guess we're meant to believe the initial heartbreak of her "get away" is why he became so detached in the first place.

One more thought on the topic of masculinity in this episode. Spike and Jet have a pretty cute bromance, which reminded my *slightly* of Troy and Abed (if Troy and Abed were murderers). They spend a lot of this episode bickering like an old married couple, but come through for each other when the situation is life-or-death.

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Bebop Thoughtz, part two

If you don't want spoilers for the live-action Cowboy Bebop, I recommend you read this entry instead.

In the last blog post, I talked mostly about Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, and Cowboy Bebop as a whole. In this entry, I'm hoping to get a bit more in depth into Faye Valentine's character.

Faye was my favorite character in the live-action version because she doesn't seem to blatantly enjoy killing people the way Spike and Jet do. (They were way less horny for murder in the original cartoon.) Also [spoiler alert], Ed doesn't show up until the last few minutes of the last episode (and is immediately insufferable). Faye also has the best storylines.

I think the live action version does best when it's not sticking to the original source material. One of my favorite eps were the one where we meet Faye's mom, episode 7. What follows is a deepish dive into that ep.

Faye's mom is the ultimate scammer. She lies constantly and shows no shame or remorse. On one hand, we love a scammer. On the other hand, it's not like she just scams big corporations, she actually hurts people, and the people closest to her the most.

In one particular scene, Faye gets the opportunity to be part of a scam with her mom, and seems to have fun doing it. But the spell is quickly broken once Faye sees that her mom's tomfoolery actually has a cost, a human life. If you have a narcissist in your life, this episode might hit real close to home.

Episode 7 also has some cute father-daughter stuff between Jet and Kimmie. ("Who is Kimmie?" you might be wondering, because she sure didn't exist in the original series.) Jet basically Skypes/Zooms/holograms into this daughter's school play, leaving Spike to fight several assassins alone in the background, in what I thought was one of the funniest scenes in the series.

Spoiler alert for episode 6: I really liked the choice to make Faye gay (or bisexual) and to give her a romantic storyline with a sexy female mechanic. Maybe this opinion comes from all the Love & Rockets I used to read, or my own lack of handiness, but there's nothing hotter than a girl who can fix things.

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Episode 117 / 10 Year Anniversary Episode: This special episode is a panel discussion featuring three artists from Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume Three.

Listen to the interview here, in iTunes or in Stitcher. Support the podcast here​. Read the transcript here.

It's wild that We Want the Airwaves has survived 10 years. Many forget, or never knew, about the lil QPOC art activism podcast that pre-dates Serial, from back when the most common response to telling people you had a podcast was "what's a podcast?" But here I am, 10 years into WWTA, having interviewed over 100 queer and trans artists of color and self-published three books of those interviews. 

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I just finished binge-watching Cowboy Bebop: the live-action version and the original anime. I'm dipping my toes back into blogging to offer a little comparison and some thoughts on both.

I initially watched the anime in the early 2000s, when it first became available in the US in English. I was about 13. I remember having a strong attachment to the characters, especially Ed and Ein, generally liking the show, and loving the theme song. It was also, almost definitely, the first anime I'd ever seen, so the novelty of it might have been part of what had me enraptured.

The show hits very differently at 36 than it did at 13. It seems clear to me that Ed and Ein were added for comic relief, because the rest of the show is pretty damn dark. It's about a group of bounty hunters (basically freelance cops, not heroes) who are always broke, always hungry, and [spoiler alert] never seem to catch the "bad guys." They are also set up by the system to fail/never receive a major payout.

Apparently the live-action version has gotten a lot of bad press, so I'll start with what I liked about it.

The aesthetics are probably number one. If you have a weakness for antiquated technology like I do, you may get a kick out of seeing VHS tapes, flash drives, and old-ass computers in the "future."

I also thought the show did a great job with costumes, specifically matching them to the original anime. It's particularly striking with the characters of Katerina Solensan (ep. 1 of the live action) and Maria Murdock (ep. 4 of the live action). I appreciated the update to Faye Valentine's outfit: She still looked tough and sexy, but wasn't nearly as nude.

Speaking of updates, the live-action version is way less racist, sexist, and transphobic than the original. I remembered none of that from my initial viewing, but rewatching the original, it was pretty hard to ignore. I appreciate the creators of the live-action version for that.

The casting, another strength, probably helped. I think making Jet Black actually Black was a great choice. I wasn't initially sold on John Cho as Spike or Daniella Pineda as Faye, but they grew on me over the course of the show (especially when I learned that Pineda is Mexican, from Oakland, and went to the same college as I did).

Also, the live action version is way gayer (and kinkier) that the anime.

Now on to what I didn't love.

It seems hard to play a cartoon character. I thought all the main actors did a fine job, but so much of what made the anime characters lovable made the live-action characters unbearable. In the original, Jet has real strong grumpy dad vibes, Spike is the too-cool-for-school older brother, and Faye is the annoying kid sister. (None of them are blood-related.)

All of those traits were essentially retained, but while it's ok for a cartoon character to be flat, a live-action character has to be, well, three dimensional. For example, in the live action, Jet seems super one note, his one note is trying to be a good dad. The original Jet didn't have a kid, and I thought giving him one was an odd choice.

When I first watched the anime at 13, Spike Spiegel seemed *so cool.* Upon rewatching the cartoon, I realize what signified coolness then was his constant drinking/smoking, fearlessness, detached demeanor, and fighting abilities.

Rewatching it as an adult, his smoking and drinking seem like addictions, his fearlessness comes across as a death wish, and his detachedness comes across as insufferable arrogance and emotional repression.

It seems clears that Spike has PTSD, but refuses to talk about his feelings/memories/trauma with anyone, despite Jet offering the space to share several times (ep. 2). So much the show is about toxic masculinity, which I'll get into in a later post.

Spike's fighting skills are still pretty sick though. I thought the live-action fight sequences were well-choreographed and fun to watch. And of course, in both the anime and the live-action version, all fight scenes are set to incredible music. In both versions, the opening title sequence is a real highlight. And not just because the theme song rules... but it really does.

Part two, coming soon.

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Queer & Trans Artists of Color: Volume Three Book Launch!

Register here!

A night of interviews featuring the following artists:

Qwo-Li Driskill is an unenrolled Cherokee Two-Spirit/queer/trans writer also of African, Irish, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage ascent. They are the author of Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory and Walking with Ghosts: Poems.

Ant J. Williams is a Black queer abolitionist writer and sociologist. Their work on Blackness, gender identity, sexuality, and disability has been published in Hazlitt, California Magazine, Electric Lit, and The Outline. antjwilliams.com.

Joamette Gil is an Afro-Cuban cartoonist, editor, and letterer for hire. She’s the publisher of such award-winning titles as Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology and Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of of Sylvan Fantasy.

Kamal Al-Solaylee is an award-winning author of three nonfiction books: Intolerable, Brown, and Return. He is the director of the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Osa Atoe is an artist, teacher, and ceramicist operating Pottery by Osa, producing small-batch handmade ceramics. Osa wrote Shotgun Seamstress and performed in numerous bands, including VHS, New Bloods, and Firebrand.

Venus Kii Thomas is a Black trans femme multidimensional artist & sex worker based in Baltimore, Maryland. Support Venus at bit.ly/venuskiithomas.

Arielle Twist is a Nehiyaw, Two-Spirit, author and artist originally from George Gordon First Nation, Saskatchewan, now based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her debut collection, Disintegrate/Dissociate, won The Indigenous Voices Award for Published Poetry and she won the 2020 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBTQ authors.

Nia King and Maliha Ahmed are the co-hosts of this event and the co-editors of Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume 3. Buy the book at bit.ly/buyQTAOC3.

Sponsored by the Aydelotte Foundation, Black Studies, Film & Media Studies. ASL INTERPRETATION PROVIDED by the Libraries at Swarthmore College.Time

Mar 23, 2023 06:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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We Want the Airwaves episode 116 / No Hay Tos: In this very special CROSSOVER episode, I interview the hosts of the Mexican podcast No Hay Tos (in English after they interviewed me for their own show in Spanish). Beto and Héctor, both long-time Spanish teachers, discuss their own language-learning journey, what they love about podcasting, and some of the challenges of teaching. Listen to the interview here, in iTunes or in Stitcher. Support the podcast here​. Read the transcript here.

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Was extremely honored to be interviewed on the Mexican podcast No Hay Hos. Click the link to hear me struggle to explain my work en español. My interview (in English) with Beto and Héctor is coming in December. The focus is language learning, language teaching, and podcasting. They are straight as far as I know.

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This pride month only! You can get all three of books in the Queer & Trans Artists of Color series ($60 value) for only $50, plus free shipping within the US. To place an international order, email niaking (at) zoho (dot) com. Order here.

Volume One:

A collection of sixteen unique and honest conversations you won’t read anywhere else... Mixed-race queer art activist Nia King left a full-time job in an effort to center her life around making art. Grappling with questions of purpose, survival, and compromise, she started a podcast called We Want the Airwaves in order to pick the brains of fellow queer and trans artists of color about their work, their lives, and “making it” - both in terms of success and in terms of survival. In this collection of interviews, Nia discusses fat burlesque with Magnoliah Black, queer fashion with Kiam Marcelo Junio, interning at Playboy with Janet Mock, dating gay Latino Republicans with Julio Salgado, intellectual hazing with Kortney Ryan Ziegler, gay gentrification with Van Binfa, getting a book deal with Virgie Tovar, the politics of black drag with Micia Mosely, evading deportation with Yosimar Reyes, weird science with Ryka Aoki, gay public sex in Africa with Nick Mwaluko, thin privilege with Fabian Romero, the tyranny of “self-care” with Lovemme Corazón, “selling out” with Miss Persia and Daddie$ Pla$tik, the self-employed art activist hustle with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha, and much, much more. Welcome to the future of QPOC art activism.

Volume Two: 

A celebration of queer and trans Black and brown genius… Building on the groundbreaking first volume, Queer and Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some of Our Lives, NIA KING is back with a second archive of interviews from her podcast We Want the Airwaves. She maintains her signature frankness as an interviewer while seeking advice on surviving capitalism from creative folks who often find their labor devalued. In this collection of interviews, Nia discusses biphobia in gay men’s communities with JUBA KALAMKA, helping border-crossers find water in the desert with MICHA CÁRDENAS, trying to preserve Indigenous languages through painting with GRACE ROSARIO PERKINS, revolutionary monster stories with ELENA ROSE, using textiles to protest police violence with INDIRA ALLEGRA, trying to respectfully reclaim one’s own culture with AMIR RABIYAH, taking on punk racism with MIMI THI NGUYEN, the imminent trans women of color world takeover with LEXI ADSIT, queer life in WWII Japanese American incarceration camps with TINA TAKEMOTO, hip-hop and Black Nationalism with AJUAN MANCE, making music in exile with MARTÍN SORRONDEGUY, issue-based versus identity-based organizing with TRISH SALAH, ten years of curating and touring with the QTPOC arts organization Mangos With Chili with CHERRY GALETTE, raising awareness about gentrification through games with MATTIE BRICE, self-publishing versus working with a small press with VIVEK SHREYA, and the colonial nature of journalism school with KILEY MAY. The conversation continues. Bear witness to QTPOC brilliance.

Volume Three:

Is it possible to make art and make rent without compromising your values? Nia King set out to answer this question when she started We Want the Airwaves podcast in 2013. In her Queer & Trans Artists of Color book series, Nia collects podcast interviews —​ with Black, Latinx, Asian, Middle Eastern and Indigenous LGBTQ writers, musicians and visual artists — which feature both incredible storytelling and practical advice. In the latest installment, Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume Three, she discusses performing at the White House with VENUS SELENITE, the global nature of colorism with KAMAL AL-SOLAYLEE, writing for Marvel Comics with GABBY RIVERA, using lies to tell unspeakable truths with KAI CHENG THOM, Black mental health with ANTHONY J. WILLIAMS, curating diverse anthologies with JOAMETTE GIL, growing up trans in rural Idaho with MEY RUDE, covering crime as a baby-faced reporter with SAM LEVIN, feminist approaches to journalism with SARAH BURKE, documenting Black punk history with OSA ATOE, crossing color lines with QWO-LI DRISKILL, fat hairy brown goddesses with PARADISE KHANMALEK, the usefulness of anger with JIA QING WILSON-YANG, transitioning as death and rebirth with ARIELLE TWIST, surviving homelessness and touring the world with STAR AMERASU and much, much more.

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We Want the Airwaves episode 115 / the 8 year anniversary ep! Sri Lankan-American Tamil trans woman reporter and martial artist Simi Kadirgamar is the guest on this month's podcast episode. In it, we discuss her reported/illustrated zine on the Indian and Pakistani occupation of Kashmir, a family that peddles Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training to police all over the world, and why she chose hate groups and the far-right as her beat. Shout out to my BFF Amirah for introducing me to this amazing woman! Listen to the interview here, in iTunes or in Stitcher. 

Read the transcript here. Support the podcast here​.

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We Want the Airwaves podcast episode 114! Actor, dancer, singer: Briyana D. Clarel is a triple threat! In this episode, the Black, nonbinary theater artist discusses growing up in South Jersey, racism at Princeton, and learning to love musical theater, sketch comedy, and a capella. Briyana is also the founder and director of The Starfruit Project, which supports radical healing and brilliant growth through creative writing and performance programs that center Black queer and trans people. Listen to the interview here, in iTunes or in Stitcher. Support the podcast here​. Read the transcript here.

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In episode 113 of We Want the Airwaves podcast, Afro-Latina trans woman essayist Princess Harmony stops by to discuss her writing for Black Girl Dangerous, Wear Your Voice and Workers World. We also discuss what's missing in reporting about the opioid pandemic, the different types of medication-assisted treatment available and whether rehab is a scam. Listen to the interview here, in iTunes or in Stitcher. Support the podcast here. Read the transcript here.

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Had the privilege of interviewing my friend and ex-coworker Gabriela Watson-Burkett, a BRILLIANT, trilingual Afro-Latina filmmaker and producer whose FIRST film screened in TEN different countries. This is part one of our two-part interview. In it, we discuss growing up Afro-Peruvian in Brazil and her first film, Nosotros Afroperuanos. Stay tuned for part two (Sept 20).

Listen to the podcast interview here.

Read the transcript here.

Support the podcast here.

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How has coronavirus impacted the fitness industry? In this episode of We Want the Airwaves podcast, Nia chats with two queer Black business owners, athletic trainer Mike Watkins and Pilates instructor Teresa Ellis, to find out. They also discuss creating fat-positive fitness spaces, rehabbing injured clients, and ways they try to make their services accessible to low-income folks who want to work out.

Listen here. Read the transcript here. Support the podcast here.