In July of last year, Nicole made an Instagram post announcing the adoption of her new puppy, Lily, named for Harry's mother in the Harry Potter series. Kai Katschthaler (they/them), a longtime fan of Nicole's who identifies as trans non-binary, was surprised that Nicole would pick this name due to the J. K. Rowling of it all, and commented something to this effect. Since this was all happening on social media...you can probably guess what ensued. The twist, though, is that Nicole and Kai decided to take things offline and actually talk face-to-face over Zoom, which ultimately led to Nicole inviting Kai onto the podcast! Kai starts by sharing their coming out story, and from there we tackle the *incredibly* sticky and nuanced topic of how (or even if) we can still incorporate the art we love into our lives when the people behind that art...suck. We talk TRAUMA! We talk INTENT! But above all, we talk compassion and empathy. We're so grateful to Kai for having this conversation with us, and we can't wait to hear what you all think!

Follow Kai on Twitter and drop them a request on Instagram at @thegrumpyenby! Also, check out their Linktree at https://linktr.ee/thegrumpyenby, and explore Taboola Rasa at https://taboolarasa.org/ and @taboolarasaproj everywhere.