Rooted Resilience

This episode brings together excerpts from several of the creatives we interviewed throughout 2025. You’ll hear poetry, music, and spoken word woven into short segments—offerings that invite you to pause and consider how you find warmth and light in times of uncertainty, and the power we each carry to create it.  💌 Episode extras & transcripts: rootedresilience.substack.com 🌱 Support the Roo...

In this episode of Rooted Resilience , we talk with Pamela Means , a bi-racial and queer singer-songwriter, jazz musician, activist, and educator. A native of Wisconsin, Pamela arrived in Boston in her 20’s, toured nationally and internationally in her 30’s, and is now an anchor to the western Massachusetts music scene. Pamela has been compared to both Tracy Chapman and Ani DiFranco and has also b...

Today, we bring you a conversation with three of the co-directors of Translate Gender , a trans-led, consensus-run non-profit organization based in the Northampton area supporting trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive community members to find our power and autonomy. With support programming for youth and caregivers, community gatherings and events like the Trans Day of Visibility Resource &...

In this special episode of Rooted Resilience , we sit down with Cassandra Holden, Executive Director of BOMBYX Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, Massachusetts. As an organizer, producer, and creative visionary, Cassandra has played a central role in reimagining what community-centered arts spaces can be. BOMBYX has served as Rooted Resilience ’s fiscal sponsor from the very beginning—helpi...

How do you transform grief, politics, and identity into a living, breathing work of art? In this episode of Rooted Resilience , we sit down with Karol Matuszak , a Polish-born actor and performer now based in Ashfield, MA, and a company member of Double Edge Theatre. Karol opens up about his journey across borders—from Catholic school in a small Polish town, to experimental stages in Scandinavia,...

What does it look like to build a creative business that’s as committed to community as it is to craft? In this episode of Rooted Resilience , designer, multidisciplinary artist, and Small Victories owner Isa Wang (he/him) takes us inside the evolving world of his Northampton, MA–based shop and studio. From plantable seed cards to enamel pronoun badges, Isa’s work blends illustration, environmenta...

In this moving episode, we speak with Leo —a gifted jazz vocalist whose voice glides effortlessly over hip hop beats, lush keys, and syncopated rhythms. Echoing the ingenuity of Stevie Wonder and the intimacy of João Gilberto. An autistic, Black, trans artist, Leo speaks candidly about navigating identity, burnout, and grief while carving a path in the music industry. From early performances shape...

Episode 4 — Writing Resistance with Hannah Moushabeck How do you carry forward a legacy of liberation—and create new paths along the way? In this powerful episode of Rooted Resilience , we speak with author, editor, and publisher Hannah Moushabeck , whose debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (2023) marked a groundbreaking return of Palestinian stories to U.S. children's...

🎧 Episode 3 — The Revolution Will Be Well Fed with Corrie Locke-Hardy What happens when you blend radical joy, social justice, and a love of baking? In this episode of Rooted Resilience , we sit down with Corrie Locke-Hardy (she/they), the queer educator, activist, and author behind The Revolution Will Be Well Fed: Recipes for Creating Community (Raspberry Bow Press, 2024). As the founder of The...

M and Jey are two artists building community both independently as makers, and together as co-organizers of Yet Another Queer Pop Up Market (YAQPUM) — a growing venture that centers two spirit LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC artisans, makers, and creatives exploring their craft in Western Massachusetts.  In this episode of the Rooted Resilience podcast, Luc talks M and Jey about their collaboration as co-organ...

Indë contends with American imperial systems of division, using multimedia compositions to combat the lynching, disenfranchisement, and misrepresentation of queer people of color.  In the first episode of the Rooted Resilience Podcast, we share an interview with Indë about the roots of their creative practices and methodologies, recent performance exhibitions, and how he sees his work evolving.  C...