Professor Peyton's Podcast

In this episode, we explore the complex layers of identity, spirituality, and borderlands inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa’s groundbreaking work. Discover how borders—both physical and psychological—shape our sense of self and community, and why exploring them can be a powerful act of reclaiming your roots in a world obsessed with labels. If you've ever felt torn between cultures, identities, or hi...

This episode dives into Gloria Anzaldúa's transformative spiritual and political insights, revealing how embracing spiritual practices and decolonizing our perceptions of reality can ignite profound societal change, starting within you. Discover how symbols operate within spiritual and ontological tools like tarot cards, and explore why breaking binary ways of thinking can open pathways to exp...

Gloria Anzaldúa’s teachings from over 20 years ago remain startlingly relevant as we grapple with the aftermath of 9/11, ongoing wars, and systemic trauma. In this episode, Dr. Peyton Del Toro distills Anzaldúa’s powerful insights into how confronting collective and personal shadows can be the doorway to healing, spiritual awakening, and radical change.

This episode is about Dr. Del Toro's journey to spirituality through feminist theory, specifically the work of Gloria Anzaldúa. Here, we focus on the preface of Light in the Dark by Gloria E. Anzaldúa, and we'll work through the book together in the following episodes.

This episode delves into Gloria Anzaldúa's "Borderlands/La Frontera" and its relevance to the tragic death of Renee Nicole Good. Professor Peyton explores the themes of mestiza consciousness, the historical and ongoing impact of borders, and the constructed nature of belonging and identity. The discussion highlights how Anzaldúa's work provides a framework for understanding the c...

This conversation delves into the life and works of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun, poet, and proto-feminist. The discussion highlights her challenges against patriarchy, her intellectual pursuits, and her (queer?) relationships, particularly with María Luisa. It explores her poetry's critique of male hypocrisy and her theological debates, culminating in her response to...

Professor Peyton delves into the political context of Heated Rivalry and Boots, two popular queer shows right now. This episode is about understanding homonationalism and the alignment of (certain) queer subjects with state power. Also discussed: queer representation and war legitimization, homo-nationalism and queer bodies, neoliberal politics and trans rights, necropolitics and sovereignty, war...

Welcome to Revolutionary Readings with Professor Peyto, where we take theory off the shelf and put it where it belongs: in the streets, in our bodies, and in our breath. This episode: Meeting the Universe Halfway by Karen Barad (https://www.dukeupress.edu/meeting-the-universe-halfway)Physicist, feminist, philosopher Karen Barad asks us to rethink everything we’ve assumed about reality, science, an...

✨ Episode 1: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera In this episode, Professor Peyton dives into a coming-of-age novel that doesn’t flinch from the messy intersections of queerness, race, family, and feminist betrayal. We talk: - What happens when your mother doesn’t see you - What white feminism gets wrong - Being Boricua and queer in Portland - The heartbreak of looking for liberation and findin...

Welcome to class with Professor Peyton, where we take theory off the shelf and put it where it belongs: in the streets, in our bodies, and in our breath. Today, we’re doing the Lorde’s work! This episode dives into two of Audre Lorde’s most powerful essays: “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” and “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power." We’ll talk about why liberati...

Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus explores the concept of the absurd, or the conflict between humanity’s search for meaning and the universe’s indifference. Sisyphus, condemned to push a boulder up a hill for eternity, becomes a symbol of this struggle. Rather than viewing his fate as despairing, Camus argues that he must be imagined as happy, embracing his task despite its futility. This perspec...

The Professor Peyton podcast is a space for deep dives into radical ideas, literature, and theory, making complex texts accessible, engaging, and relevant to our world today. This episode is part of the Revolutionary Reading Series, where we explore foundational political and philosophical works that have shaped movements for justice and liberation. Whether you’re a student, an activist, or just c...

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' The Communist Manifesto is one of the most influential political texts in history. It begins with a powerful assertion: human history is the history of class struggle. From ancient times to modern capitalism, societies have been divided into those who own the means of production (the bourgeoisie) and those who sell their labor to survive (the proletariat). Capit...

LOVE AS AN ACT OF WILL: Rethinking Connections with bell hooks in a Capitalist World This is the fifth lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This lecture delves into the ideas presented in the first two chapters of bell hooks’ All About Love, where she critiques the lack of a clear, universal definition of love in...

This is the fifth lecture for the 2024 Fall session of English 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. Today, we’re talking about Maria Lugones’ “world-traveling” and how it connects with the ideas of Robin Wall Kimmerer and Gloria Anzaldúa. We’ll explore how shifting perspectives can reshape the way we think and write, much like Kimmerer’s lessons on reciproci...

This is the fifth lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. In this lecture, we dive into Mark Fisher's book Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? and how neoliberal capitalism impacts daily life. We explore how capitalism co-opts strategies and movements of opposition, turning women’s empowerment (for example)...

This is the fourth lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This episode explores the intersections of language, identity, and power through the lens of Gloria Anzaldúa's essay "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Beginning with a personal poem inspired by Anzaldúa's work, I reflect on the complexities of cultural assimilatio...

This is the third lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. By looking to nature for models of design, as in the practice of biomimicry, Kimmerer argues that Western science is beginning to catch up to the wisdom Indigenous peoples have long held—wisdom that has been marginalized or dismissed by academic institutions f...

This is the second lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro.  In the process of writing or creating anything, inspiration often comes from various sources—personal experiences, the experiences of our families and communities, observations in popular culture, interactions with others, or even random moments of insight....

This is the first lecture for the 2024 Fall session of ENGLISH 1110 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. Here, we focus on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s beautiful contributions to the world with her book on indigenous stories and the science of ecology, titled Braiding Sweetgrass. We’ll start with the “Planting Sweetgrass” section of the book! For a deeper dive on the “S...

This is the sixth and final lecture for the 2024 summer session of ENGLISH 3372 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This lecture breaks down the viewing of the week: “Worlding” (https://newmaterialism.eu/almanac/w/worlding.html) by Helen Palmer and Vicky Hunter, & “SF: Speculative Fabulation and String Figures” (http://bettinafuncke.com/100Notes/033_A5_Haraw...

This is the fifth lecture for the 2024 summer session of ENGLISH 3372 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This lecture breaks down the viewing of the week: Beasts of the Southern Wild directed by Benh Zeitlin. The Bathtub is a fictional place in a fictional moment that represents a multitude of places and temporalities. It is not necessarily any particular area,...

This is the fourth lecture for the 2024 summer session of ENGLISH 3372 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. From bashful encounters with trees to the history of pigeons, this lecture is all about shameless kinship with the more-than-human world. This lecture breaks down the theoretical “reading” of the week: A For the Wild Podcast with Dr. Patricia Kaishian. We’l...

This is the third lecture for the 2024 summer session of ENGLISH 3372 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This lecture breaks down the theoretical reading of the week: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet by Heather Swanson, Anna Tsing, Nils Bubandt, and Elaine Gan. Monsters and ghosts, according the sections we are reading, are conceptualized in a broader ecologi...

This is the second lecture for the 2024 summer session of ENGLISH 3372 for The Ohio State University, taught by PhD Candidate Peyton Del Toro. This lecture breaks down the theoretical reading of the week: Mark Fisher’s book, Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative? Peyton begins by explaining what capitalism is, and how it is connected to the history of colonization. Fisher articulates the ref...