Note: The first part of this episode has some clicks because of a connection issue. We tried to clean the sound up as best as we could. Bare with it because we really think it’s worth listening to! This one’s a long one, but one of our most amazing conversations.

Drew and I spoke with Julie Cho and Erin Segal about their collaborative publishing project Thick Press. The two friends who met when they were 15 have been working together as graphic designer and social worker, asking hard questions about the value of work, juggling life and professions and sticking with relationships.

We recorded this episode on November 8, 2024, two days after the US Presidential election. Despite the disappointment of the time, Julie and Erin showed up for our conversation in a way that can only be described as generous and present. Drew and I always joke that the podcast is “our therapy” and this episode couldn’t be more validating of our motivations. We got to share about how we’ve struggled to keep Graphic Support Group going, the evolution of our friendship and admit to each other that we’re still here and making the project happen. Julie and Erin took such care to hear us and opened up their stories for us to learn and reflect together. We are so appreciative of their time and words.

Thick Press officially published “An Encyclopedia of Radical Healing” shortly after we recorded. They share the details about the massive project in the episode, so please check out their Instagram for more information and support their work with an order.

They’ve also been super busy since we spoke! Here is a listing of some of their upcoming activities and recent publications:

* Thick Press will be at the LA Printed Matter Art Book Fair at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena on May 15-18.

* They have published Change the World: A Research Book for Children and Adults by Sibylle Peters, is based on 20 years of performance-based research at the Fundus Theatre in Hamburg.

* The second, may we dream and design felt futures: where our creative being and practice can feel the sensations of care, intimacy, and liberation, by Denise Shanté Brown, is both a memoir and a guide to creative social practices.

* The third, It’s Too Late. Do It Anyway! A Book about Being a Cultural Worker in the Apocalypse + a Hologram Starter Kit edited by Cassie Thornton and Magdalena Jadwiga Härtelova, is about a mutual aid protocol called The Hologram.

Growth and collaboration!

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