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Nia (left) interviews novelist Gabby Rivera (right). Photo by Tecpatl DeSequoia.

We Want the Airwaves

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.

Ways to Access the Podcast

  1. Most episodes are now available here and in iTunes. (free)
  2. Read the transcripts. (free)
  3. Download the mp3s. ($2 each)
  4. Subscribe! ($5 a month. This is the best way to support the podcast!)

New episode

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Episode 103! BL Shirelle is Deputy Director of the nonprofit record label Die Jim Crow, which works exclusively with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists. In this interview, she discusses the impact of her two prison sentences (the first was for shooting a police officer, the second was for selling drugs) on her own life, as well as her wife's and her son's. (Photo by Verse.)

Listen to the interview here or in iTunes. Support the podcast here. Transcript coming soon.

PAST Episodes

Links go to their episodes. Starred episodes are behind a paywall.
  1. Virgie Tovar - Mexican/Iranian writer and fat activist-scholar
  2. Nia King* - queer Black/white podcaster and cartoonist
  3. Kim Tillman* - Black queer pop musician
  4. Micia Mosely* - Black lesbian stand-up comic
  5. Magnoliah Black - fat Black queer burlesque performer
  6. Julia Serano* - (white) writer and trans activist/scholar
  7. Ryka Aoki - Japanese-American transgender writer
  8. Julio Salgado - undocumented queer Mexican-American illustrator
  9. Love Corazón - Mexican/Alaskan Native trans woman of color writer
  10. Yosimar Reyes* - undocumented queer Mexican-American poet
  11. Julia Serano, pt 2* - (white) writer and trans activist-scholar
  12. Fabian Romero - Indigenous Chicano queer trans poet
  13. Day Al-Mohamed* - Bisexual Arab-American writer and senior advisor the US Dept. of Labor
  14. Miss Persia and Daddie$ Plastik, pt 1* - Drag queen and musicians/performance artists
  15. Miss Persia and Daddie$ Plastik, pt 2* - Drag queen and musicians/performance artists
  16. Sapna Kumar* - Indian-American lesbian comedian
  17. Nick Mwaluko* - Tanzanian-American transgender playwright and journalist
  18. Safe* - (straight) Black/white musician SAFE and I debate the word "mulatto"
  19. Van Binfa - Chilean-American transgender cartoonist
  20. Dr. Kortney Ryan Ziegler* - Black transgender documentarian and social entrepreneur
  21. Kiam Marcelo Junio - queer Filipino-American visual and performance artist
  22. J Mase III - Black trans queer poet
  23. Toasted Marshmallows* - mixed-race documentarians (Black/white and Sri Lankan/white)
  24. Karinda Dobbins* - Black lesbian stand-up comic (audio is not super great)
  25. Juba Kalamka* - Black bisexual hip-hop artist (transcript only)
  26. Best of 2013* - excerpt episode
  27. Cherry Galette* - queer Chicana/Moroccan dancer and burlesque performer
  28. Lexi Adsit - trans Latina student organizer
  29. Totally Radical Muslims - South Asian zine editors
  30. Devi - queer South Asian artistic director of Peacock Rebellion
  31. Mimi Thi Nguyen* - queer Vietnamese-American zinester and academic
  32. Miyuki Baker - queer Japanese-white zinester and global traveler
  33. Mattie Brice* - queer Black/white game designer and critic
  34. Amir Rabiyah - Arab/Native queer transgender poet
  35. Book Launch Party*
  36. Mia Mingus* - queer Korean-American writer and disability activist
  37. Nina Malaya* - Filipina/white trans woman of color editor at Biyuti Publishing
  38. Hari Kondabolu - (straight) South Asian stand-up comic
  39. Kiley May* - Native trans woman filmmaker and journalist
  40. Safe, pt 2* - (straight) mulatto musician
  41. Tina Takemoto* - queer Japanese-American performance and video artist
  42. Queer Rebels* - Celeste Chan and Kali Boyce
  43. Indira Allegra - queer Black/Native writer, video artist and weaver
  44. Texta Queen - genderqueer Indian-Australian illustrator
  45. Ajuan Mance - Black trans queer visual artist
  46. Vivek Shraya - genderqueer Indian-Canadian bisexual musician, author and filmmaker
  47. Elena Rose - queer trans mixed Filipina woman performance poet and minister
  48. Aamer Rahman - (straight) Bangladeshi-Australian stand-up comic
  49. Monica Trinidad - Mexican-American queer painter and prison abolitionist
  50. micha cárdenas - Columbian-American trans woman scholar and performance artist
  51. Grace Rosario Perkins - queer Native painter and multimedia artist
  52. Lynn Cyrin - Black trans woman tech activist
  53. Lynn Cyrin, pt 2 - Black trans woman tech activist
  54. W. Kamau Bell - (straight) Black political comedian
  55. Achy Obejas - Cuban-American lesbian writer
  56. Rob Fatal - queer Chicano/Native filmmaker
  57. Osa Atoe - queer Black zinester and punk musician
  58. Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha - queer disabled femme mixed Sri Lankan writer/curator
  59. Lyric Seal - multiracial multigender writer and performer
  60. Sam Levin - queer mixed Chinese reporter
  61. Sam Levin, pt 2 - queer mixed Chinese reporter
  62. Trish Salah - queer mixed Arab trans woman poet, educator, and activist
  63. Hani and Uzma - co-hosts of The Bollywood Project
  64. Star Amerasu - queer Black trans woman artist and musician
  65. Star Amerasu, pt 2 - queer Black trans woman artist and musician
  66. Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume 2 Launch Party!
  67. Kamal Al-Solaylee - gay Yemeni-Canadian journalist and author
  68. Hasan Namir - gay Iraqi-Canadian novelist
  69. Qwo-Li Driskill - Two-Spirit Cherokee poet and scholar
  70. Kai Cheng Thom - Chinese-Canadian trans author and poet
  71. Farzana Doctor - queer Indian-Canadian novelist
  72. jia qing wilson-yang - queer trans mixed Chinese-Canadian novelist and musician
  73. Anthony J. Williams - queer Black non-binary male writer and organizer
  74. Anthony J. Williams, pt 2 - queer Black non-binary male writer and organizer
  75. Sarah Burke - queer mixed Filipina journalist and former managing editor of the East Bay Express
  76. Paradise Khanmalek - queer Iranian-American visual artist and poet
  77. Gabby Rivera - queer Puerto Rican novelist and comic writer
  78. Gabby Rivera, pt 2 - queer Puerto Rican novelist and comic writer
  79. Samar Habib - Palestinian scholar and author
  80. DJ YNG GMA - biracial genderqueer DJ
  81. Teresa Ellis - Black queer femme burlesque performer and fitness instructor
  82. Teresa Ellis, pt 2 - Black queer femme burlesque performer and fitness instructor
  83. Andre Perez - queer trans mixed Puerto-Rican filmmaker and oral historian
  84. Andre Perez, pt 2 - queer trans mixed Puerto-Rican filmmaker and oral historian
  85. Joamette Gil - nonbinary queer Afro-Cuban comics artists, editor, and publisher
  86. Joamette Gil, pt 2 - nonbinary queer Afro-Cuban comics artists, editor, and publisher
  87. Venus Di'Khadijah Selenite - Black trans dyke poet
  88. Rabih Alameddine - gay Lebanese-American novelist/writer
  89. Chief Esparza - gay Chicano editor-in-chief of EFNIKS.com
  90. Jackie Wang - queer mixed Chinese writer and poet
  91. Jackie Wang, pt 2 - queer mixed Chinese writer and poet
  92. Malcolm Lasalle - non-binary queer Black writer
  93. Arielle Twist - Cree Two-Spirit Indigenous trans woman poet
  94. Jocquese Whitfield - Black queer dancer
  95. Breena Nunez and Lawrence Lindell - Black/AfroLatinx cartoonists, musicians, and educators
  96. The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins - queer Black femme burlesque performer, filmmaker, and stand-up comic
  97. Six Year Anniversary Episode - Luna Merbruja interviews me!
  98. Kyle Casey Chu - queer Chinese-American drag queen, musician, and filmmaker
  99. Aja Archuleta - Two-Spirit mestiza musician
  100. Mey Rude - Bisexual trans Latina writer
  101. Joyce Hatton - Black asexual zinester and comics artist
  102. Oliver Spencer / St. Sol - Black queer musician and visual artist
  103. BL Shirelle - Black gay hip-hop artist and record label executive