Gender Spiral with Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas

Poet and novelist Cuthwulf Eileen Myles ( Chelsea Girls, An American Poem, Working Life ) debuts a new name - and haircut - in a conversation about transitioning in their 70s, their "butch straight" mother and "definitely queer" father, and the influence of death, sobriety and a working class childhood on their writing.  Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to expl...

Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas are kicking of another season of spiraling featuring all new interviews with trans and queer people from across the gender spectrum. Hear from poet Eileen Myles, activist Raquel Willis, electronic musician Tyga Paw, critic Andrea Long Chu, performance artist Jibz Cameron, writer and theorist Da'Shaun L. Harrison, and many more as we continue on our quest to explor...

In March, we got to close out UPitt's Pride week with a special live show! It was a blast talking to students, answering their questions, and reflecting on how Gender Spiral has grown over the past 3 seasons. You might say we were on fire- so much so that there may have been an incident involving a fire alarm about halfway through... Stay tuned- season 4 begins very soon! Hosted by Ally Beardsley...

It's been a month since season 3 ended, so we decided to catch up and reflect! Here are some of our favorite moments from this season, plus an update on what's going on in our own lives. Here are the clips you heard in this episode (in order): Ericka Hart & Ebony Donnelly, "Parenting on Purpose" Kamra Hakim, "Community Care in the Catskills" Cass Adair, "A Baby? In This Economy?" Judith Butler, "J...

Happy New Year! We took some time to catch up with each other, look back on season 3, and discuss Sandra Bullock's secret lesbian club (and Heated Rivalry, ofc). We also responded to some listener voicemails! Thanks for spiraling with us in 2025! Season 3 was our biggest season yet, but we've got so much more spiraling to do in 2026. Stay tuned! Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender...

The legendary gender philosopher and scholar Judith Butler tells us about their personal relationship to non-binary identity. They also provide insight on the global rise of anti-trans ideology, the subject of their 2024 book "Who's Afraid of Gender?" Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subsc...

What are the practical skills you need to survive the apocalypse? Writer, podcast host, culture afficionado, and reiki practioner J Wortham has done the research (and watched a lot of Survivor). J shares what they learned during their survivalism crash-course on a remote island in Mexico, tells us about their reiki and breathwork practices, and examines why dissasociation might not always be a bad...

Artist Zander Schlacter and his lawyer Carl Charles from Lambda Legal explain the effects of the Tr*mp administration's executive order barring trans folks from obtaining passports with their correct gender markers, and why Zander is suing the US State Department about it. For more information about Zander's case, visit lambdalegal.org . Find Zander on Instagram @zanderschlacter , and check out th...

You might already know Eoin from our live show in Chicago this past May, but you're about to get to know him even better! Before the show that day, we got a chance to talk with him in-depth about the world of powerlifting, having a cis identical twin, and why for Eoin, tattooing, sexuality and gender are all intricately connected. Then, we got tatted! Find Eoin on Instagram @eoin_mcgraw and book a...

The multi-talented Sasha Fuentes tells us about developing his queer archival practice, collecting vintage gay p*rn, and the importance of print media in the age of digital censorship. And stick around to the end of the episode: our very special season finale guest, the legendary Judith Butler(!), joins in to discuss bridging intergenerational differences within the queer community. Follow Sasha o...

Everyone wants to run away from society and build a queer homestead with their polycule, but what does it actually take to make that happen? We talk to artist and organizer Kamra Hakim about the land they bought in upstate New York, the artist residency/community space they created on it, and why conflict management is actually the most important skill in an off-grid queer community (besides knowi...

Twitter-queen-turned-fiction-novelist Rose Dommu talks about her new book Best Woman : a family drama Trojan-horsed into a rom-com loosely based on Rose's personal experiences. We also get her opinions about DIY hormone cocktails, bleaching your way out of a crisis, and what Fire Island is really like for trans folks. Best Woman is out NOW! Get your copy at a local bookstore or on Bookshop.org ! Y...

Missed us in Chicago? NEVER FEAR, THE RECORDING IS HERE! Two Chicago drag ICONS joined us for night 2 of our weekend at iO Theater in May. Irregular Girl and Mari De La Rua (AKA Stephanie) tell us about being in a drag family, how drag informed their gender identities, and why drag would suck without trans women. Find our incredible guests on Instagram @imirregulargirl and @dragmestephanie Hosted...

We're continuing the thread on trans & queer parents in a conversation with scholar, writer, audio producer Cassius (Cass) Adair. He tells us about transitioning in the early days of Tumblr, getting baby fever in his late 20s, and the nitty-gritty of pregnancy and parenting as a trans dad in Minnesota. Check out Cass's work at his website cassiusadair.com . There, you can find links to his writing...

While recovering from surgery, comedian Marley Gotterer (who you probably already know from TikTok and Insta reels) made time to tell us about getting facial feminization (FFS) and chat about her love of sports, how she got to run social media for Cardi B, and lifting twinks live on stage. Check out Marley's work and get notified about her upcoming shows on her Instagram(s) @marleyismarley and @tr...

Lou Sullivan, arguably one of the first out gay trans men, kept diaries from age 11 until his death in 1991. Decades later, Zach Ozma and Ellis Martin compiled those diaries into "We Both Laughed in Pleasure" (aka the Pink Butt Book) which tells the story of Lou's full, freaky, fascinating life. Zach and Ellis talk to us about painstakingly parsing through Lou's Catholic school cursive and learnin...

Missed us in Chicago? NEVER FEAR, THE RECORDING IS HERE! On night one of our two-night extravaganza at iO Theater in May, Ally and Babette were joined by drag artist/DJ/rapper Lynzo the Heartthrob and tattoo artist/overall lovely human being Eoin McGraw for a hilarious and thoughtful convo. Then, they answer some audience questions! Stay tuned- night two will be posted soon exclusively on our Patr...

Is it possible to get out of my mountain of credit card debt? How do I budget for mutual aid? Should I be buying stocks? What even IS life insurance?! Anti-capitalist financial planner River Nice answers these questions and more, and Babette and Ally learn a thing or two about financial literacy. Find River on Instagram @financewithriver and check out their financial literacy programs, free budget...

Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world.

Ericka Hart and and Ebony Donnelly are partners in love and podcasting, and co-parents to a toddler. We asked them to share their queer & trans pregnancy story, and give Ally some parenting pointers! Check out their podcast  Hoodrat to Headwrap : A Decolonized Podcast and find Ericka and their other work as a speaker and sex educator on Instagram @ihartericka . Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette...

A little bonus episode just to check in! More new season 3 interviews rolling out next week, and biweekly after that. And check us out at patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast for more bonus content like this! Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow to get notified when we post new epi...

Artist, activist and author (and swimsuit designer!?) Tourmaline kicks off Season 3 of the podcast with a conversation about her connection to Marsha P. Johnson that led to multiple artworks and two recent books. Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world.  Find Tourmaline on Instagram @tourmaliiine...

Babette and Ally take a look back on some highlights from season 2 of the podcast. We also hear some voicemails from listeners who tell us what queer media means to them. Thanks to our guests from season 2 featured in this episode (in order): Bay Davis, River Ramirez, Honey Pluton, Daria Lourd, Massima Bell & Dust Reid, Thomas Page McBee, Halo Perez-Gallardo, Pascal Stevenson, Alima Lee, Alys Auro...

Brooklyn-based hairstylist Alys Aurora of Studio Botanicum helps us answer questions like:  Is there such thing as a queer haircut that isn't a mullet? How can a haircut help affirm your presentation? What does "queer" hair look like for folks with textured/kinky hair?  Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our ge...

If you love Gender Spiral, you'll also love the TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones! Check out this featured episode (originally released on June 6, 2024) then go on over to the TransLash feed and binge the rest of their catalogue, starting with the latest episode  "Trans Comedy as Resistance" featuring our own Ally Beardsley! "Imara Jones first made an impact in a 2018 online docuseries about her...