High Desert Playback

The Queer Futures Now Podcast

Kids EN ↓ 5 episodes

Go behind the scenes of "Queer Futures Now: An Alien Play" with playwright, Allison Kenny and director, Lynn Johnson. Hear what queer + trans youth across the state of New Mexico are asking for from their adult allies and take action to stand with them…right now. www.queerfuturesnow.com

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High Desert Playback

Episodes

Ep. 4: Oppression from Both Sides 14.05.2026 19:14

In Episode 4 of 7 , hosts Lynn Johnson and Allison Kenny discuss intersectionality as a way of better understanding the complex issues our LGBTQ+ young people face. Intersectionality A framework for understanding how various social and political identities—such as race, gender, class, and sexuality—overlap and intersect, creating unique, compounded experiences of discrimination or privilege Lynn a...

Ep. 3: Love Us. It's Not That Hard. 02.04.2026 15:17

In Episode 3 of 7 , hosts Lynn Johnson and Allison Kenny listen to and reflect on “The Magic We Create”, the theme song from Queer Futures Now: An Alien Play , written by Jessie Lane and performed by Jessie and Noe Field-Perkins. The chorus of the song was inspired by a quote from an interview in which an LGBTQ+ youth said: “To love us is everything. It’s so simple. It’s not that hard.” Lynn and A...

Ep. 2: So Many Beautiful Things 26.02.2026 22:23

In Episode 2 of 7, hosts Lynn Johnson and Allison Kenny reflect on what they learned from 25 LGBTQ+ youth across New Mexico whose stories inspired Queer Futures Now: An Alien Play and this podcast. Together, they explore how concepts and language around gender and sexuality has evolved across generations , why today’s youth claim their identities with nuance and fluidity, and what adults can learn...

Ep. 1: We Are Not Aliens 15.01.2026 32:02

In this 1st episode of 7, meet your hosts Allison Kenny and Lynn Johnson , co-founders of High Desert Playback , an Albuquerque-based company that makes theater for social change in New Mexico and beyond. We introduce you to Queer Futures Now: An Alien Play , our original play written from the real life stories of 25 queer and trans youth from across New Mexico. Their stories revealed to us what g...

Ep. 0: The Trailer 06.01.2026 2:40

Are we willing to do what it takes to protect queer and trans youth and fight for their queer futures…NOW? In the Spring of 2024, Health Equity Alliance of LGBTQ+ New Mexicans (HEAL Plus NM) and High Desert Playback outreached to LGBTQ+ youth ages 16-24 throughout rural and urban areas of New Mexico to hear their stories and learn what they wished their parents and caregivers knew about their expe...