Nia King
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Best of 2013 Episode

12/15/2013

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It’s been an amazing year, and I’m so grateful I’ve gotten to talk to so many incredible queer and trans artists of color. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the podcast this year (in no particular order). Thank you Terra Mikalson and Jessica Glennon-Zukoff for helping me pick the quotes!

I’m currently trying to raise funds so I can keep podcasting in 2014. Donate here if you can!

Track list:
  1. Ryka Aoki on the master’s tools
  2. Virgie Tovar on grad school
  3. Micia Mosely on social justice comedy
  4. Magnoliah Black on popular media
  5. Julio Salgado on dating a gay Latino Republican
  6. Yosimar Reyes on almost getting deported
  7. Tyler Holmes of Daddie$ Plastik on “drag”
  8. Love Corazon on why she wrote Trauma Queen
  9. Fabian Romero on how art aids survival
  10. Miss Persia on colorism
  11. Van Binfa on loving his trans* body
  12. Nick Mwaluko on growing up gay in East Africa
  13. Kiam Marcelo Junio on Asian invisibility
  14. Toasted Marshmallows on having biracial butts
  15. J Mase III on growing up gay in a Muslim/Christian household
  16. Karinda Dobbins on race and politics in stand-up comedy
  17. Juba Kalamka on racism in the queer community
  18. Kim Tillman on being a starving artist



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Constantly Coming Out: An Interview with Juba Kalamka

12/1/2013

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Juba Kalamka is perhaps most well-known as a rapper and former member of the queer hip-hop group Deep Dickollective, however he's also an incredible writer and performance artist. This week I sat down with him to discuss the politics of coming out as a black polyamorous bisexual who is married with two kids, transphobia in gay hip-hop, and the ascension of Big Freedia. Highlights include:
  • when white people calling out appropriation goes wrong,
  • how biphobia plays out in Bay Area queer communities,
  • and why assimilation is a fruitless pursuit.
photo by David Findlay (2012)
Transcription here.
Check out Juba's music in progress here.

(Still figuring out this new microphone and editing software. Please excuse the sound quality.)
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Cool Breeze: An Interview with Karinda Dobbins

11/17/2013

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Karinda Dobbins is a breath of fresh air in the world of predominantly white, male comedy. This week, she and I sat down to discuss hecklers, black radicals with corporate jobs, and SNL's diversity problem. Highlights include:
  • how she navigates the comedy scene as a black lesbian mom,
  • why open mics are not for the weak, and
  • who she admires in the burgeoning social justice comedy "scene."
Download here.
Transcript here.
(I'm working on a new mic and new editing software this week, so please excuse the audio quality.)

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Aren't We All Mixed?: An Interview with the makers of Toasted Marshmallows

11/3/2013

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Toasted Marshmallows is a forthcoming documentary on the experiences of mixed-race women. This summer I sat down with producer Anoushka Ratnarajah (left) and director Marcelitte Failla (right) to find out:
  • how much power the myth of the "tragic mulatto" still has,
  • how stereotypes affect women differently than men,
  • and how body image gets tied to race when you're growing up biracial.

Download here.
Transcript here.
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Holy Queers: An Interview with J Mase III

10/17/2013

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Let's be honest. Relationships between queer communities and communities of faith are often icy at best, and outright antagonistic at worst. So where does that leave queer people of faith?

This week, We Want the Airwaves' new East Coast correspondent Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes interviewed transgender poet J Mase III to find out how being raised by a Baptist mom and a father in the Nation of Islam shaped his art and his activism. Highlights include:
  • Getting exorcised (twice!)
  • Which biblical characters were definitely some kind of queer,
  • and, how to help parents of faith accept their queer kids.
Download here. Transcript here.
photo credit: Heidi Andrea Restrepo Rhodes
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Bodies in Space: An Interview with Kiam Marcelo Junio

10/1/2013

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Veteran. Fashion Designer. Yoga Instructor. This interview investigates the many lives of Kiam Marcelo Junio, world-traveler and former resident of the Philippines, Japan, and Spain. I sat down with him in Chicago to find out how he explores themes of colonialism, assimilation, and nostalgia through performance, queer "drag", and fashion. Highlights include:
- how his experience in the US Navy informs his critique of US imperialism,
- why being Filipino on stage is a political act, and
- when to intentionally shut out your audience.
Stay tuned until the end to hear Kiam's attempts to explain the role of jockstraps in gay male sexual culture to me (to no avail).

Photo by Kiam Marcelo Junio.
Download here.
Transcript here.
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Special Anniversary Episode!

9/14/2013

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My partner Myles and I are celebrating our four year anniversary today! To celebrate, I am posting a conversation we had a little while ago about our relationship. I recorded it in the car, so I apologize in advance for the audio quality. We talk about his transition, the differences between assimilation and passing, and how we explain what a queer man and a queer woman might be doing together. Enjoy!

Download here.
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Still Black: An Interview with Dr. Kortney Ryan Zeigler

9/1/2013

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Documentarian. Businessman. Fashionist-o? This week on the podcast I sat down with Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler, creator of the groundbreaking film Still Black: A Portrait of Black Trans Men to  discuss his upcoming Hackathon for Transgender Empowerment, his vintage store Halmoni, and his organization Who We Know, which helps transgender entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses. Highlights include:
  • dos and don'ts of promoting yourself as an artist on social media,
  • how he got his gig blogging for the Huffington Post, and
  • WTF is academic hazing?
Download here. Transcript here.


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It's Expensive to Live in Boystown!: An Interview with Van Binfa

8/18/2013

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Cartoonist. Nationally-recognized activist. Bookseller. This week I sat down with Van Binfa, co-founder of the Soy Quien Soy Trans Empowerment Collective to talk about learning to put himself before the movement, working full-time while homeless, and which nonprofits to watch out for. Highlights include:
  • why he prefers retail to non-profit work,
  • how you can make money writing fan fiction, and
  • how racial segregation and gentrification have shaped Chicago’s queer communities.
Download here. Transcript here.


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Mulatto Talk: A Debate with SAFE

8/11/2013

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I say potato. You say po-tah-toe. I prefer "mixed race." He likes "mulatto." This week, I sat down with singer SAFE to talk semantics. Both of us have black fathers and Sephardic Jewish mothers, but that doesn't mean we see eye-to-eye. Tune in to find out:
  • why he likes the word "mulatto,"
  • why I hate it, and
  • how being descended from slaves shaped our identities.
Download here.



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    We Want the Airwaves:  QPOC Artists on the Rise

    Nia King's trying to figure out if her dream of making a living as an art activist is beyond reach. In this podcast, she seeks advice from other political queer artists, trans artists, and artists of color who seem to have figured out how to make art and make rent without compromising their values.

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