What the Folk

We've missed you, What the Folk fam! On this episode, instead of having a guest, we decided to take the chance to catch up with each other on life, the universe, and everything. We discuss dealing with personal disappointment and tragedy, and keeping a healthy perspective in the face of the ongoing climate apocalypse. And of course, new music! This one features a fun and timely tune by Ned and Wen...

On this episode of What the Folk, our guest is Michael McPhearson, the executive director of online news publication the South Seattle Emerald, the former executive director of Veterans for Peace, and a longtime activist for racial and social justice within and outside of the US. This interview covers empathy as a radical act, the challenges of fostering solidarity across differences, and the nece...

On this episode, our guest is Stephanie Atkinson, an Army veteran and war resister who now works with nonprofits Veterans for Peace and Courage to Resist to bring the truth about military recruitment to heavily-recruited high school students. Besides sharing her inspiring personal story, we discuss everything from military “feminism” to our favorite dystopian fashion (spoiler alert: Blade Runner f...

We've missed you, What the Folk fam! We took a hiatus to get our respective and collective shit together, and now here we are, back and weirder than ever. In this, our 42nd episode, we cover – well, Life, the Universe, and Everything. Since it led us to discuss relationships, political corruption, the patriarchy, and cats – just to name a few hot topics – Joy's theory is that the Ultimate Question...

Hello, What the Folk fam, we’ve missed you! We’ve had a lot of reasons we’ve been away but one majorly exciting reason is that JOY WROTE A BOOK! What’s also exciting is that friend of the pod Samantha Hart is joining us again for this episode to help illuminate the 14-year writing journey behind If You Ain’t Cheatin’ You Ain’t Trying – as well as Sarah’s English major-y opinionating on art, politi...

Russian history scholar and political scientist Michael Iasilli joins us to discuss, what else, the war in Ukraine. Besides giving us a fascinating tour through Russian and Ukrainian history, Iasilli also has a lot to say about avoiding xenophobia against Russians during this time. Naturally, your hosts and Michael got along swimmingly because we all agree that we have much more in common with the...

The fabulous Lauren Flynn returns to the pod! We talk about the inspiration for her awesome new band, Buried Blonde, trust and intuition in the creative process, why artists are essential workers and grappling with death at the Cheesecake Factory. Afterwards, Joy and Sarah discuss the lessons they have learned during the pandemic, Colonel Bruce Hampton, and how to have a non-monogamous relationshi...

We’re baaaack! Again! Thank you, dear listeners, for being understanding about our (sometimes variable) apocalypse release schedule. We are rewarding your patience with a fantastic episode featuring Nicole Foerster, an advocate for psilocybin mushrooms as a treatment for cluster headaches, a mental health professional, and a proponent for the full decriminalization of entheogenic plants and fungi....

How do we enter into dialogue across differences, especially in a world where we are actively discouraged to do so by the powers that be? That question is not only at the heart of Corey Nathan’s work on his podcast Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other, but also a principle we put into practice during this episode. Corey and your folking hosts come from different (at times, vastly...

Happy holidays What the Folk Fam! Our gift to you – not sure you asked for it, but you shall receive – is a whole hour of Sarah and Joy’s stoney shenanigans! Joy has a new single and accompanying video, “It’s All Right to Not Be Okay,” dropping on December 21st. We dive into the therapeutic and combat-sport inspirations for the song and vid, as well as the challenges of trying to get your work not...

The power of vulnerability and going with the flow are at the top of the conversation menu with guest Samantha Hart, author of a new memoir, Blind Pony: As True A Story As I Can Tell, about her unconventional journey from traumatized teenage runaway to creative force in the Hollywood music and film industry. Sam shares her thoughts on independent marketing, self-publishing, and disrupting the book...

As part of our extended Veteran’s Day of Our Discontent celebration (er, we’ll call it that, sure), Joy sits down with fellow writer, musician, and veteran Rosa del Duca to discuss the various strategies they have both undertaken to unfuck their minds from the Army’s fuckery. As a conscientious objector, Rosa’s journey through the star spangled unlearning is an especially enlightening and inspirin...

This episode features the incredible, and incredibly real, Jenny Pacanowski, founder/director of Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving, in a conversation that explores moving beyond organizations that serve as trauma-swaps, the challenge of incorporating ritual into collective spaces, and much more. After singing the praises of Jenny’s ever-evolving, holistic approach to community-building, Joy an...

The fabulous Lola Jean Darling returns for this episode! We go on a journey through the NOLA mutual aid response post-Hurricane Ida, discuss why adaptability is better than planning, consider how to turn anxiety into art — and even find time to casually side-eye René Descartes. Extra laughs and extra realness abound in this one. Afterward, Joy and Sarah dive into their shared fed-up-ness with the...

For this joint, we're joined by anthropologist and filmmaker Marty Otañez to dive into under-discussed labor issues in cannabis, using digital storytelling to disrupt academia, and how anthropology can inform public policy. There’s a lot of hope in this episode, as well as lots of drug discourse, which is truly our favorite type of discourse. Afterward, Joy and Sarah discuss the shouldn’t-be-that-...

We’re baaaaack! Our couple weeks off turned into three months but what is time during the apocalypse anyway? For our triumphant return to your earholes we are joined by Crash Barbosa, a recording artist and activist based out of L.A. We dive into his horrifying, politically motivated arrest story, mental health activism, unlearning systematic oppression from the inside, and why you should always c...

carla bergman, co-author, with Nick Montgomery, of Joyful Militancy, joins us for this episode. We dive into the writing process of this inspiring, must-read book, as well as how we resist our own radically rigid tendencies, why joy and melancholy often skip hand-in-hand, and why we should let the youth lead us. We hope you leave this convo with a full cup since we certainly did! Afterward, Joy an...

Why do all the research and rhetoric around drug use focus on the small percentage of problematic users, leaving the vast majority of drug users out of the conversation? Why are we so shitty at talking about pleasure in America? Why don’t more people take their cats camping? Dr. Ingrid Walker is here to help us tackle these questions, as we explore drugs, pleasure, trauma, menopause, and bad portr...

Tarot! Cats! Comedy! Material vs cultural approaches to politics! Horror stories of the weirdest Warren stans! This conversation with the fabulous Kate Willett has it all. High witch vibes all around. Afterward, Sarah and Joy touch on Terence McKenna, white feminism, Palestine, and BDSM as they go down the leftist stoner chick rabbit holes you’ve come to know and love from this podcast. FOLLOW KAT...

Our guest on this episode is the well-traveled, well-spoken, and unapologetically outspoken musician Mark Rubin. From co-founding the influential Americana trickster band The Bad Livers to being a leader in the contemporary klezmer scene, Mark’s storied career strands weave together perfectly in this latest release, The Triumph of Assimilation. We talk about the new album, his experiences as a Sou...

We’re back to the folking interviews with this joyful frolic featuring Katy Frame and Marie Cecile Anderson, aka musical comedy duo Reformed Whores! We talk about our respective pandemic life changes, how to lean into fear, visions for a future artistic utopia, and the intensely triggering power of poop. Afterwards, Sarah and Joy reflect further on more metaphorical shit, such as cyclical time and...

Part deux of our monster M*A*S*H-athon conversation starts by tackling gender issues in the show and ends up with an imagined future for Hawkeye that involves hanging out with Timothy Leary and becoming an anti-war activist. In between, we cover sexism in the military, Freudian psychology, and nerd out about the show’s groundbreaking use of creative narrative devices. Don’t worry, there’s plenty o...

Attention all personnel, we’re doing something a little different for the next two episodes. In early January, Sarah was sucked into the antiwar brilliance of ‘70s T.V. comedy M*A*S*H -- and inspired Joy to come along for the binge-watching ride. Fresh off being emotionally devastated by the famous final episode, Sarah and Joy sit down to tackle the big questions: How, in the ever-living fuck, was...

The endearingly profane anti-folk pioneer and artistic rabble-rouser Ed Hamell, aka Hamell on Trial, joins us for this one, and helps us make a large announcement that we’re excited to share with you! We were able to squeeze in almost two hours of his tour stories (featuring the likes of fellow anti-folk legends Ani DiFranco and Kimya Dawson), shared Syracuse roots, and good-natured political deba...

We’re joined by Carla Gover, a musician, dancer and activist whose work is informed by her deep Appalachian roots. We talk about breaking regional stereotypes, building connections across different communities, the wealth extraction that underlies Eastern Kentucky’s problems, and the importance of learning “granny skills,” especially during the pandemic. Afterwards, Sarah and the artist-soon-to-be...