We Want the Airwaves
92 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsNia 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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Episodes
117: Ten Year Anniversary Episode, pt. 1
April 02, 2023 22:35 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBWe Want the Airwaves celebrates 10 years with a panel featuring six of the artists from Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume Three: Anthony J. Williams, Kamal Al-Soylaylee, Joamette Gil, Venus Kii Thomas, Qwo-Li Driskill, and Osa Atoe! (This is the first part of a two-part episode, so you will only hear Ant, Kamal, and Jo on it.) This panel is co-hosted by Maliha Ahmed, co-editor of Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume Three, and sponsored by the Aydelotte Foundation, Black Studies, Film...
116: No Hay Tos
November 25, 2021 08:00 - 50 minutes - 68.9 MBIn this very special CROSSOVER episode, I interview the hosts of the Mexican podcast No Hay Tos (in English after they interviewed me for their own show in Spanish). Beto and Héctor, both long-time Spanish teachers, discuss their own language-learning journey, what they love about podcasting, and some of the challenges of teaching. Check out their podcast at nohaytospodcast.com. Read the transcript of this interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivist...
115: Simi Kadirgamar
March 08, 2021 03:50 - 42 minutes - 57.7 MBSri Lankan-American Tamil trans woman reporter and martial artist Simi Kadirgamar is the guest on this month's podcast episode. In it, we discuss her reported/illustrated zine on the Indian and Pakistani occupation of Kashmir, a family that peddles Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training to police all over the world, and why she chose hate groups and the far-right as her beat. Shout out to my BFF Amirah for introducing me to this amazing woman! Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support ...
114: Briyana D. Clarel
March 01, 2021 03:01 - 39 minutes - 53.6 MBSinger, dancer, actor: Briyana Clarel is a triple threat! In this episode, the Black, nonbinary theater artist discusses growing up in South Jersey, racism at Princeton, and learning to love musical theater, sketch comedy, and a capella. Read the transcripts at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
113: Princess Harmony
October 18, 2020 23:00 - 24 minutes - 33.4 MBAfro-Latina trans woman essayist Princess Harmony stops by the podcast to discuss her writing for Black Girl Dangerous, Wear Your Voice and Workers World. We also discuss what's missing in reporting about the opioid pandemic, the different types of medication-assisted treatment available and whether rehab is a scam. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
112: Gabriela Watson-Burkett, pt 2
September 21, 2020 00:30 - 41 minutes - 56.3 MBIn part two of my interview with Afro-Peruvian Brazilian filmmaker Gabriela Watson-Burkett, we discuss her second film, Baobab Flowers and her new organization, Presente! Media. Baobab Flowers follows the parallel lives of two Black women educators, one who lives and teaches in São Paulo, Brazil and another who lives and teaches in Philly. At the end, we discuss the new media org Gabriela co-founded with two other Latina media-makers. We also talk about anti-Blackness and colonial legacies i...
111: Gabriela Watson-Burkett
September 06, 2020 23:30 - 34 minutes - 47.8 MBFilmmaker and producer Gabriela Watson-Burkett makes work to connect people across the African diaspora. Her first film, Nosotros Afroperuanos, discusses Black history in Peru and its erasure. Her second film, Baobab Flowers, draws parallels between a Black woman educator in São Paulo, Brazil and a Black woman educator in Philadelphia. Her most recent project, ¡Presente! Media, is an activist media organization she co-founded with two other Latinas. In part one of this two-part interview, we...
110: Mike Watkins and Teresa Ellis
August 17, 2020 01:00 - 56 minutes - 78.1 MBHow has coronavirus impacted the fitness industry? In this episode Nia chats with two queer Black business owners, athletic trainer Mike Watkins and Pilates instructor Teresa Ellis, to find out. They also discuss creating fat-positive fitness spaces, working with disabled clients, and ways they try to make their services accessible to low-income folks who want to work out. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
109: Fèini Yĭn
August 02, 2020 19:27 - 1 hour - 88.3 MBAt the intersection of political art and environmental science, queer nonbinary Chinese-American Fèini Yĭn is a celestial presence in a static world. Their work ranges from enthralling pieces in The New York Times, to art processions designed to shake up science communities, to short stop-motion films about the natural world — a praxis that challenges the status quo and engages the people, cuts out the traumatic edges of displacement and reanimates them for a new world. Nia chatted with Fèin...
108: Anna Vo
June 01, 2020 07:00 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBTo say that Vo, a nonbinary trans masc Vietnamese immigant, is an artist is to dance to the arrhythmic tune of understatement: they are a traveler, social worker, and wizened anarchist soul who not only dabbles in various artistic media, but transforms each discipline they encounter. Their galvanizing work in the zine underground with the international BIPOC [Black/Indigenous/People of Color] zine "Fix My Head" and the political perzine "The Swan, the Vulture," in comics, contemporary visual...
107: Ignacio Rivera
May 10, 2020 21:00 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBBlack Boricua Taíno queer and trans artist Ignacio Rivera is a poet, performer and activist working to end child sexual abuse, or CSA. They are also a grandparent. In this interview, featuring their baby grandson, Ignacio discusses growing up in Brooklyn, becoming politicized in Massachusetts, and the connections between sexual liberation and ending CSA. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
106: Suzy X
April 19, 2020 13:38 - 1 hour - 98.7 MBBisexual Latina writer, comics artist and musician Suzy X has gone from making zines to drawing comics for Rookie Mag to writing for MTV Iggy (RIP) to being the Latin music editor at Rolling Stone in the short time (approx. 7 years) I've known her, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this success. In this interview we discuss her zines Malcriada and Chronicles of an 8th Grade Mallgoth, illustrating her first graphic novel, and the challenges of working in media as a young woman of...
105: Rahul Mehta
March 09, 2020 02:00 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MBQueer Indian-American author Rahul Mehta discusses his award-winning collection of short stories, Quarantine; growing up Asian in Appalachia; and how LGBTQ audiences in India have received his work. We also try to sort out why he's so drawn to unlikeable protagonists. Photo by Matthew Hamilton. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
104: Alex Smith
February 03, 2020 03:00 - 54 minutes - 75.5 MBAlex Smith is a queer, Black sci-fi writer, musician and visual artist. In this interview, we discuss his collection of short stories, ARKDUST, as well as his many influences, ranging from Public Enemy to Nirvana and Marvel Comics to the Black Panther Party. Photo by Shane Jenkins. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at Patreon.com/artactivistnia.
103: BL Shirelle
December 16, 2019 00:26 - 1 hour - 86.9 MBBL Shirelle of Die Jim Crow Records discusses the challenges of recording and releasing music by incarcerated artists. She also shares stories of dealing drugs, doing time and raising kids with her wife. (Photo by Verse.) Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia. Transcript coming soon.
102: Oliver Spencer / St. Sol
November 03, 2019 23:00 - 44 minutes - 61.1 MBBlack queer Philadelphia-based musician and visual artist Oliver Spencer (known musically as St. Sol) discusses growing up between North Carolina and Okinawa, how their dad's military service impacted their life, and finding the space to be weird in (an arts) high school. We also talk about the whiteness of art school(s), not letting perfectionism hold you back, and using music to assert your humanity. Photo by Georgia Wescott. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support th...
101: Joyce Hatton
October 13, 2019 17:10 - 53 minutes - 73.6 MBBlack asexual zinester and cartoonist Joyce Hatton discusses their comic Locks and their zines Trust the Knife and Grief. Joyce is a survivor of breast cancer, homelessness, and a suicide attempt, so this episode gets pretty heavy. We also talk about the concept of "trauma porn" (which is not actual porn), when illustrations come easier than words, and their love of birds. Here is a link to the Vivek Shraya article I reference in this episode. Buy Joyce's work here. You can support the pod...
August 2019 announcements
August 05, 2019 01:57 - 1 minute - 2.69 MB1.) I'm taking a break from the podcast. I'll be back in October. 2.) I'm moving to Philly. Please hit my up if you have leads on any jobs! 3.) The book launch for Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume 3 is October 19th at East Bay Booksellers in Oakland, featuring Anthony J. Williams, Luna Merbruja and Paradise Khanmalek. PLEASE DONATE so we can hire ASL interpreters for the event. Thank you! <3 <3 <3 Launch party GoFundMe: https://bit.ly/2NMcsFK
100: Mey Rude
July 05, 2019 00:52 - 48 minutes - 66.2 MBBisexual trans Latina writer Mey Rude discusses growing up in Idaho, getting kicked out of her church family, and how comics helped her find her queer- and trans-ness. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
99: Aja Archuleta
June 10, 2019 04:00 - 1 hour - 89.8 MBTwo-Spirit mestiza musician Aja Archuleta discusses growing up in a big Mexican family with deep Denver roots, discovering her Indigenous identity, and why "Two-Spirit" now fits her better than "trans". She also shares how her love of music evolved: from playing piano in Catholic school to discovering the how much fun noise-punk could be to making massage music. Photo by Kristin Cofer. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
98: Kyle Casey Chu
May 06, 2019 02:38 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBQueer Chinese-American drag queen, filmmaker, and musician, Kyle Casey Chu talks growing up in SF, touring the South in a punk band, and changing media representations of Asian-American men. Photo by Vincent Flores. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
97: 6 Year Anniversary Episode!
April 08, 2019 02:00 - 54 minutes - 75.1 MBAcclaimed author and artist Luna Merbruja interviews me (Nia King) about my pre-podcast life as zinester and cartoonist, turning the podcast into a book, and how the QTPOC art world has changed since We Want the Airwaves began six years ago.
96: The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins
March 04, 2019 01:08 - 57 minutes - 79.3 MBBlack queer femme Southerner The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins may be best known as a burlesque performer, but she's also a stand-up comic, filmmaker, and taxidermist. In this interview, she discusses growing up working-class in the country, starting sex work after finishing college, and moving to the Bay (nearly ten years ago) to pursue greater artistic opportunities. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
95: Breena Nuñez and Lawrence Lindell
February 14, 2019 16:38 - 1 hour - 123 MBQueer Black and brown punk weirdos in love! In this episode, Breena Nuñez and Lawrence Lindell, both cartoonists, musicians, and educators, tell the story of how they met and how the places they grew up shaped them. They also discuss getting what you need out of art school DESPITE the faculty and administration, making a living off of art (but pursuing higher education to make a living as teachers), and their "gateway" comics and punk bands. To see some of Breena’s comics about their Afr...
94: Jocquese Whitfield
January 08, 2019 07:11 - 58 minutes - 80.2 MBBlack queer SF native and dancer Jocquese Whitfield discusses discovering vogue in college, his first ball in Oakland, performing with MIA and Azealia Banks, taking corporate money and giving back to the community. (Photo by Ejects Collection) Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
93: Arielle Twist
November 05, 2018 03:00 - 49 minutes - 67.6 MBIndigenous trans woman poet Arielle Twist discusses her upcoming book DISNTEGRATE/DISSOCIATE, growing up Cree on a M'ikmaq reservation, and the mentorship she's received from other trans women of color poets. This conversation also covers the importance queer sex education, the problems of performative allyship, and the meaning of the phrase “all trans girls are ghosts.” Photo by Laurence Philomene. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/ar...
92: Malcolm Lasalle
September 30, 2018 07:00 - 1 hour - 94.2 MBIs visibility ultimately a good thing for the artist with revolutionary intentions? For most artists, seeking to be visible to the mainstream mass media is key to economic survival. However that visibility and the surveillance that comes with it can be detrimental to the intent of subversive art. What if we accept that anything we get paid to do can never be truly revolutionary, and that anything truly revolutionary cannot be done in public? Malcolm Lasalle explored these and other questions...
91: Jackie Wang, pt 2
September 18, 2018 03:58 - 59 minutes - 81.8 MBJackie Wang's book Carceral Capitalism helps draw a direct line between the Recession of 2008, the following calls for austerity, and the visible uptick in anti-Black police violence. Indebted cities are trying to cut costs and raise funds, and they are doing it by having machines and algorithms make decisions that cops and judges would usually make. In places like Ferguson, MO, they're also charging exorbitant fees and fines for the most minor infractions, making poor Black residents' lives...
90: Jackie Wang
September 03, 2018 17:49 - 58 minutes - 80.8 MBQueer mixed-race writer Jackie Wang and I lived parallel lives in different parts of the country. In this first half of the interview, we reminisce about our teen years, spent listening to punk, reading/writing zines, and volunteering at Food Not Bombs. We also discuss her trajectory from zinester to blogger to published author and from dropping out of a poetry MFA program in the desert to becoming a PhD candidate at Harvard. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the p...
89: Chief Esparza
August 06, 2018 02:30 - 1 hour - 94.6 MBChief Esparza is the founder and editor-in-chief of EFNIKS.com, an online magazine for queer and trans people of color. In this episode, we discuss the environmental racism issue (EARTH), why they went on hiatus after Pulse, and how they hope to nurture young writers of color in the future. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
88: Rabih Alameddine
July 05, 2018 02:00 - 1 hour - 84.8 MBGay Lebanese-American novelist Rabih Alameddine authored the California Book Award-winning book An Unnecessary Woman and the Lambda Literary Award-winning book The Angel of History. In this interview we discuss (questionable) reasons some Lebanese don't identify as Arab, and the commodification of gay struggle, and writing against empire. TW for use of the word "sand n****r". This episode was recorded at Women's Audio Mission in SF. Photo by Oliver Wascow. Listen to the interview at rea...
87: Venus Di'Khadijah Selenite
June 04, 2018 02:30 - 48 minutes - 66.4 MBBlack trans dyke poet Venus Di'Khadijah Selenite discusses finding her voice in the Baton Rouge slam poetry scene, moving to DC to transition, and performing at the White House. STAY TUNED UNTIL THE VERY END to hear her perform two of her poems. Photo by Pink & White Productions. Read the transcript at scribd.com. Support the podcast at http://kck.st/2LaHzVi.
86: Joamette Gil, pt 2
May 22, 2018 17:45 - 57 minutes - 79.4 MBIn part two of my interview with queer Afro-Cuban comics artist, editor, and publisher Joamette Gil, we get into the nuts and bolts of surviving off your creative labor. Jo gives us an exact breakdown of how much she made last year and how she made it. She also discusses the process of putting together Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology. Plus, find out what she's working on next! Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivist...
85: Joamette Gil, pt 1
May 07, 2018 02:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBQueer Afro-Cuban illustrator Joamette Gil and I discuss some of the many racial categories that exist in Cuban society and how they correlate (or don't) to US understandings of Blackness. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
84: André Pérez, pt 2
April 23, 2018 02:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBMixed-race Puerto Rican filmmaker and oral historian André Pérez discusses how he came to identify as a person of color, founding the Trans Oral History Project, and his upcoming documentary series America in Transition. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
83: André Pérez, pt 1
April 09, 2018 02:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBMixed-race filmmaker Andre Perez discusses growing up queer and trans in the South, being raised by a white mom (in mostly Black environments), and moving to Chicago to have Puerto Rican community. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
82: Teresa Ellis, pt 2
March 26, 2018 02:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBIn part two of my interview with Teresa Ellis, proprietor of PB&J: Pilates, Barre & Jams, we discuss sounding white, buying Black, and whether working out can actually help with chronic pain. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
81: Teresa Ellis, pt 1
March 12, 2018 03:21 - 39 minutes - 36 MBBlack queer cis femme Teresa Ellis worked as a stripper at the Lusty Lady for 13 years (before and after it was unionized), founded one of the first Black burlesque troupes (Harlem Shake), raised a kid, and now teaches fat-positive Pilates classes out of her Oakland home. She's also also had a slew of other jobs, from phone sex operator to real estate agent. Hear about them all in this episode. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivis...
80: DJ YNG GMA
February 04, 2018 19:21 - 1 hour - 55.1 MBBiracial genderqueer DJ YNG GMA and I discuss how grandmas inspire their party philosophy, why they're not on social media, and the increasingly political hip-hop that's been coming out since the election. Read the interview at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
79: Samar Habib
December 03, 2017 03:22 - 43 minutes - 40 MBPalestinian scholar Samar Habib is the author of Female Homosexuality in the Middle East, Islam and Homosexuality, A Tree Like Rain, and Rughum and Najda. In this interview, we discuss the sexual curiosity and diversity of 9th-century Baghdad, her secular Christian upbringing in Lebanon during the civil war, and how her parents got tricked into baptizing her before the family moved to Australia. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactiv...
78: Gabby Rivera, pt 2
November 20, 2017 06:07 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBQueer Puerto Rican novelist and writer of Marvel Comics "America" series Gabby Rivera and I discuss white feminism, cis feminism, writing for X-Men's Storm and making a living off of writing and speaking (by learning how to budget and save money)! Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.
77: Gabby Rivera, pt 1
November 05, 2017 22:05 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBQueer 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 comic-writing career. Photo by Julieta Salgado. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia...
76: Paradise Khanmalek
October 02, 2017 04:33 - 41 minutes - 38.5 MBParadise 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.
75: Sarah Burke
September 03, 2017 15:06 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBFormer 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.
74: Anthony J. Williams, pt 2
August 15, 2017 02:30 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBIn 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/artactivistnia.
73: Anthony J. Williams, pt 1
August 08, 2017 03:18 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBQueer 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.
72: jia qing wilson-yang
July 04, 2017 20:03 - 42 minutes - 39 MBMixed-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: patreon.com/artactivistnia
71: Farzana Doctor
June 11, 2017 19:17 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBIndian-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.
70: Kai Cheng Thom
May 01, 2017 07:00 - 1 hour - 64.6 MBChinese-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.
69: Qwo-Li Driskill
April 03, 2017 02:31 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBCherokee 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 transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.