We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise

Queer Puerto Rican writer Gabby Rivera writes a series for Marvel Comics called America. The protagonist, America Chavez, is a Puerto Rican lesbian with two moms who punches star-shaped holes in time and space. In this interview, we discuss the challenges Gabby faced while trying to complete her debut novel, Juliet Takes A Breath, and how she was able use the success of that novel to launch her co...

Paradise Khanmalek draws fat, hairy, brown goddesses. In this episode, Paradise and I discuss the way capitalism segments the art world, the way Iranians are racialized in the US, and the spiritual side of graphic design work. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Former managing editor of the East Bay Express, Sarah Burke and I discuss the exploitation of gallery artists and the masculinist nature of journalism. We also try to get to the heart of what makes a good editor. Photo by Janelle Kajisa. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

In part two of this interview with Black queer writer Anthony J. Williams, we discuss anti-Black racism in POC communities, analyze some common Bay Area social justice lingo, and identify a few of the barriers Black folks face in accessing mental health help. Photo by Jee Jing. Transcription by Joyce Hatton. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactvistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artact...

Queer Black non-binary writer Anthony J. Williams and I discuss his time studying abroad in South Africa, growing up in a military family, and the lack of Black folks in Bay Area "POC" spaces. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia . Listen to the audio at qtpocart.libsyn.com or on itunes. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia .

Mixed-race Chinese and white Canadian trans lady novelist jia qing wilson-yang and I sit down to discuss her Lambda Award-winning novel, Small Beauty. Topics covered include disrupting the model minority myth, the non-linear nature of healing, and obsessive cleaning as a means of coping with transphobia. Photo by Jackson Ezra. Read the transcript: scribd.com/artactivistnia Support the podcast: pat...

Indian-Canadian queer Muslim author Farzana Doctor and I discuss her three novels, achieving diversity without sacrificing quality, and being divinely inspired. Photo by Vivek Shraya. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia . Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia .

Chinese-Canadian trans poet and author Kai Cheng Thom and I discuss her new book, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir, her fear of loving violence too much, and using lies to tell emotional truths. Transcribed by Joyce Hatton. Photo by Jackson Ezra. Read the transcription at scribd.com/artactivistnia . Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia .

Cherokee Two-Spirit artist, activist, and scholar Qwo-Li Driskill knows more about the history of indigenous people in the US than anyone I know. In this episode we discuss the complicated relationships between Black and Cherokee people in US history, identity policing in indigenous communities, and how sometimes your ancestors' culture gets passed down to you without you even knowing it. Read the...

Gay Muslim Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir asked himself, "What would my life be like if I had never left Iraq?" He imagines the answer in his Lambda Award-winning novel, God in Pink . In this interview we discuss the double-lives of gay men in the Middle East, ISIS being on Grindr, and whether things were better for gays in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Read the transcription at scribd.com/artacti...

Gay Muslim Yemeni-Canadian journalist Kamal Al-Solaylee traveled to ten different countries to report Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone) , his magnum opus on race, color(ism), labor, migration, and economics. We discuss his definitions of brown: as not Black and not white, and as cheap (immigrant/migrant) labor. We also discuss the history of colonial powers using of br...

Usually on We Want the Airwaves I interview queer and trans artists of color about their lives and their work, but sometimes I get to interview an artist I really admire who is not queer or trans. Hari Kondabolu is one of those people. In this interview we discuss being on @midnight, his friendship with W. Kamau Bell , and why he loves Oakland and recorded his album Waiting for 2042 there. Intro m...

In this talk-show style live podcast recording, Nia interviews Elena Rose about how Sojourner Truth NEVER said "Ain't I a woman?", Juba Kalamka about meeting Kanye when he was fifteen, Lexi Adsit about running an all trans women of color comedy program, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about the perks of making it "big time". Read the transcription at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the pod...

Black trans woman musician and performance artist Star Amerasu discusses the ups and downs of her last few years, from sex working and living in a transitional housing program/SRO to touring Europe and North America and getting paid "coins" to perform her music for international audiences. She credits her success to cheap rent, good friends, and a job with flexible hours. Read the transcript at sc...

Star Amerasu is a queer Black trans woman in a binary art world. In this interview, she discusses overcoming trauma through performance art, growing up in six different states, and the politics choosing to live or die. She makes art to remind herself, in the words of Miss Major, that she's "still fucking here!" Read the transcription at scribd.com/artactivistnia . Support the podcast at patreon.co...

Hani and Uzma are the co-hosts of my FAVORITE podcast, The Bollywood Project . In this interview, we discuss our favorite women in Indian cinema, from actresses to directors to screenwriters and even fictional characters. We also discuss queerbaiting, colorism, and movies with missed opportunities for feminist endings. (We spoil a bunch of movies, including two of my faves: Gunday and Ishaqzaade ....

Mixed-race Arab trans woman poet, educator, and activist Trish Salah has a lot of work to be proud of. In this talk, she maps out her trajectory, from being part of a militant labor union in graduate school to protesting pinkwashing at the World Out Games, to becoming politicized around trans issues in a Toronto activist community that was led by sex workers and poor folks. Read the transcript at...

East Bay Express-turned-Guardian reporter Sam Levin doesn't consider himself an artist or an activist, but in this interview I try to convince him otherwise, while also trying to get him to teach me everything he knows about journalism. We debate whether "the truth has a liberal bias," discuss the differences between covering the local news for an alt weekly and covering the Western US for an inte...

Sam Levin didn't chose crime. Crime chose him. The baby-faced Daily News intern-turned-Guardian reporter talks what makes a good reporter and his own journey to becoming one: talking to people on the worst day of their lives, dodging lawsuits, and running into people he's reported on at parties. Oh yeah, and that one time he chased Lindsay Lohan around a bowling alley. Read the transcript here . S...

Multiracial, multigender, multimedia artist Neve Be(ast) discusses sex work, #branding, and being the disabled Black punk Lana Del Rey. Read the interview here . Support the podcast here .

Sri Lankan/Irish queer disabled femme writer Leah Lakshmi and I discuss her new memoir, Dirty River , racism in the publishing industry, and whether it's better to fight your way into the mainstream or just do your own thing on the outside. Photo by Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes. Read the interview here . Support the podcast here .

Queer Black zinester and punk musician Osa Atoe discusses writing a Black punk zine (Shotgun Seamstress), touring with an all girl band (The New Bloods), and growing up Nigerian-American in D.C. in the 90s. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

Queer Chicano/Native filmmaker Rob Fatal and I discuss how we come to understand who we are when parts of our history are denied us. We also take an in-depth look at his film Mi Familia, about the Ute/Apache side of his family, and discuss why post-apocalyptic cinema appeals to him as a Chicano/Native filmmaker. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/a...

Cuban-American lesbian novelist and journalist Achy Obejas discusses growing up in the Midwest with her dad in a mental hospital, her racially-mixed mom trying to pass as white, and Confederate flag-sporting neighbors. We also discuss racism in the arts, corruption in Chicago, and the decline of print journalism. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia . Support the podcast at patreon.com...

Comedian W. Kamau Bell discusses his past FX show ( Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell ), his upcoming CNN show ( United Shades of America ), moving his family back to the Bay Area, and teaching his daughters "in this family, we stand up". Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.