Saki and Kirby reflect on how it was to record and release the second season of Hybridia. They discuss becoming more comfortable in their roles as hosts and also how they're continuing to engage with their cultural heritages. Kirby's new dog, Kiwi, makes a special guest appearance. They also mull on ideas for next season, like exploring Hybridia through food culture, or even experimental sound.

Credits:

Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Our guest today is traci kato-kiriyama, and we were fortunate enough to speak with such a self-professed hybrid as we close out our second season. tkk is a transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, and community organizer based in the Los Angeles Area. We came across them when listening to a panel linking Japanese Incarceration to ICE raids today, but their work spans playwriting, performing, and writing. We specifically discuss their show “TALES OF CLAMOR,” which interweaves personal autobiographical moments with the testimonies of Japanese Americans about their incarceration, and their book “Navigating With(out) Instruments,” a true hybrid work comprised of poetry, micro-essays and notes to self.

Guest Bio

traci kato-kiriyama (they+she), author of Navigating With(out) Instruments--based on unceded Tongva land in the south bay of Los Angeles-- is an award-winning multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, and community organizer. As a storyteller and Artivist, tkk is grounded in collaborative process, collective self-determination, and art+community as intrinsically tied and a critical means toward connection and healing. She is a performer & principal writer for PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 finalist for their show TALES OF CLAMOR. Full bio here.

Show Notes

tkk’s work:

• Tales of Clamor – a theater work developed by PULLproject, traci’s collaboration with PULLproject aerial artist/actor Kennedy Kabasares

• Navigating With(out) Instruments – traci’s second book.

• traci’s reading at Beyond Baroque

tkk’s activism and other projects:

• Nikkei Progressives

• Tuesday Night Project

Japanese American Incarceration references & resources:

• Densho – an organization that documents the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II

• “The Alien Enemies Act of 1798: Understanding 1941 and 2025” – panel at the USC Ito Center that traci appeared on.

• Loyalty Questionnaire

• Tule Lake

• National Council for Japanese American Redress

• Full transcripts of testimonies are available at the National Archives

• This article contains links to various sources where video footage exists

• Japanese American National Museum

• The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, Edited by Frank Abe and Floyd Cheung

• ZAJA, a New York City-based informal group of Japanese, Japanese Americans and anyone interested in Japanese/JA culture.

• “One Fighting Irishman” by Sharon Yamato, a 30-minute documentary narrated by actor George Takei focusing on the little-known story of civil rights attorney Wayne M. Collins who filed lawsuits on behalf of more than 5,500 detainees who renounced their U.S. citizenship while incarcerated at the embattled Tule Lake Segregation Center, considered the worst of the ten WWII detention centers.

Other references:

• Beverly Hills 902010 (90’s TV show)

• “Why We Can’t Wait” campaign for African-American reparations

• “Model minority” was coined by sociologist William Petersen in his article, “Success Story, Japanese American Style,” in New York Times Magazine (1966). Summary here.

• Asian American Arts Alliance, a New York City-based organization supporting Asian American artists and cultural organizations

Credits

• Edited by Amanda Dee and mastered by Cedric Wilson.

• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits

• Bells Windchime.wav by Benboncan -- https://freesound.org/s/56929/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

• New York Jazz Loop by FoolBoyMedia -- https://freesound.org/s/347848/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

• Rhodes 4.wav by HenKonen -- https://freesound.org/s/682259/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• Harp Arpeggio - fairy tunes.wav by gertraut_hecher -- https://freesound.org/s/559838/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Our guest today is Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai. They were born in Thailand and are now based in St Paul, MN, but they’re a true citizen of the world, having lived and studied in many places in between. We discuss their path to performance art, from their upbringing in England to their study at the Sorbonne in Paris, and their eventual move to the U.S., landing first in Chicago, but really coming into their own in Tucson, AZ, after a year of living expansively in the desert.

After a career in more traditional forms of art like sculpture, Prima now works in multimedia and performance, and we discuss some of their more recent works, especially their performative lecture Chloropsis Aurifrons Pridii and their sound piece 174 / Neung Jed Si – A Short History of Thailand. Both works mix the historical with the personal and we discuss documentary, embodied history, and what really is the definition of a place one calls “home.”

Guest Bio:

Born in 1989, Bangkok, Thailand. Currently lives and works in St Paul, MN.
Prima earned a Visual Arts Degree (Diplome National des Arts Plastiques) from the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Nantes Metropole, a License in Film Studies (Licence en Cinema et Audiovisuelle) at the Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3. They completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, in 2013 and obtained a Master of Fine Arts at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA in 2017.

Show Notes

Note: The audio excerpt included in this episode included part of the composition Seine / San Saep / Voice of Water (2025) by Louis Fontenot. Vocalists: Ilse Griffin, Michael Llyod and Molly O’Connor

Prima’s work mentioned in the show:

• The Invisible Archive: Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai by Lara Salmon
• Chloropsis Aurifrons Pridi
• 174 / Neung Jed Si – A Short History of Thailand

People:

• Pridi Banomyong – Thai revolutionary and former Prime Minister, Prima’s great-grand uncle
• Chris Marker – filmmaker
• François Niney – philosopher, film critic, documentarian 

Media:

• Sibylline Screen – Kirby’s curatorial cave project
• Route One/USA – a film Prima mentions as inspiration to move to the US
• Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald 
• Khruangbin – band from Texas Saki mentions
• Lucky Luke & Woody – two cartoon cowboys Prima mentions
• Brokeback Mountain
• Pridi by Pridi – A collection of Pridi’s writing
• The Sea of Fertility tetralogy by Yukio Mishima
• Rocky & Hudson: The Gay Cowboys

Credits:

• Edited by Amanda Dee and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• River boat with outboard engine (at changing speeds) by nomadas – https://freesound.org/people/nomadas/sounds/690160/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Flock of seagulls.wav by juskiddink – https://freesound.org/people/juskiddink/sounds/98479/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• S29-19 Bell buoy.wav by craigsmith – https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/675693/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Amb/Sfx_Ext_Day_People Argue & Talking_Boat Engine_Sea_Portuguese_Kapossoca Pier_Luanda to Mussulo Island_Angola (11.08.2024) by SolySombraRecordings – https://freesound.org/people/SolySombraRecordings/sounds/756767/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• JRPG Guitar Desert loop by Destructo20 – https://freesound.org/people/Destructo20/sounds/659223/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• sound-alien7.wav by zippi1 – https://freesound.org/people/zippi1/sounds/18870/ – License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0
• D302 Boat Engine Cuts.wav by billcutbill – https://freesound.org/people/billcutbill/sounds/669393/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• Desert Night Air With Bird Call by kangaroovindaloo – https://freesound.org/people/kangaroovindaloo/sounds/147264/ – License: Attribution 4.0

Our guest today is paparouna. They are a queer non-binary disabled storyweaver, worldbuilder, writer, translator, and educator, born and raised in Athens, Greece and currently living in Colorado, USA. They are a soon-to-be graduate of Antioch University’s MFA in Creative Writing, with a dual concentration in translation and fiction. They’re the current lead editor of translation for antioch’s journal, lunch ticket, and their own writing and translations have been published in a variety of journals, including Asymptote, Denver Quarterly, and World Literature Today.

In this episode we discuss paparouna’s later-in-life foray into literary translation, their concentration on queer Greek literature and what it means to translate queerly, the fluidity of language, the origin of their chosen name, and the ecotone as a metaphor for how hybrids exist as not one or the other, but as endemic entities.

Guest Bio:

Born and raised in Athens, Greece, ⁠paparouna⁠ [pavlos stavropoulos] currently resides in occupied Arapahoe and Cheyenne territory in so-called Colorado, USA. They are a social and environmental justice educator, work in website management, write queer speculative prose, translate mostly queer Greek literature into English, and daydream about life as a marine mammal. An MFA Candidate in Translation and Fiction at Antioch—Los Angeles, paparouna was accepted into the 2018 Princeton Hellenic Translation Workshop, the 2018-2020 Lighthouse Book Project, the 2025 Bread Loaf Translators Conference, and the 2025 British Center for Literary Translation Summer School. They have been a guest fiction editor for beestung, were the web editor for The Thought Erotic, and are the Lead Translation Editor for Lunch Ticket. Their writing has been published in Progenitor, Asymptote, Exchanges, New Poetry in Translation (now World Poetry Review), Denver Quarterly, Timber, The Thought Erotic, Lunch Ticket, World Literature Today, and Κουίρ 2024: Βίωμα, τέχνη, θεωρία [Queer 2024: Lived experience, art, theory].

Show notes:

Work by paparouna:

• We reference their essay ⁠“The Queer Beauty of Unfaithful Translations”⁠

• Their work is also included in ⁠Κουίρ 2024: Βίωμα, τέχνη, θεωρία⁠ (Queer 2024: Lived experience, art, theory)

Translation work by paparouna:

• paparouna is the Translation Editor at ⁠Lunch Ticket⁠, Antioch University’s literary magazine

• The Whale, by ⁠Ursula Foskolou⁠, whose website includes some excerpts

• paparouna has also translated ⁠Giota Tempridou⁠’s work

Other references:

• ⁠Lawrence Venuti⁠

• ⁠Judith Butler⁠

• ⁠Antonio de Nebrija ⁠

• ⁠Pippi Longstocking⁠

• ⁠Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa⁠

Credits:

• Edited by⁠ Amanda Dee⁠ and mastered by ⁠Cedric Wilson⁠.

• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Hiking03_Mt Lemmon AZ_Day_Slight Wind_Trekking Poles_Birds_051020 by Triad330670 – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/Triad330670/sounds/736942/⁠ – License: Attribution 4.0

• Nature sounds, bells, goats, cow, birds - Kardzhali, Bulgaria by vonfleisch – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/vonfleisch/sounds/272458/⁠ – License: Creative Commons 0

• coldwater_stream_01.wav by tim.kahn – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/tim.kahn/sounds/92818/⁠ – License: Attribution 4.0

• Ocean Crete .wav by norwayjohn – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/norwayjohn/sounds/404684/⁠ – License: Creative Commons 0

• Leaves Rustling by JandreLombaard – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/JandreLombaard/sounds/707877/⁠ – License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

• Eating a cracker (Mouth closed) by Rudmer_Rotteveel – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/Rudmer_Rotteveel/sounds/364924/⁠ – License: Creative Commons 0

• WATRSplsh_Water Splash, Big, Dive Into Water, Person or Animal_Nicholas Judy_TDC by designerschoice – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/designerschoice/sounds/811439/⁠ – License: Creative Commons 0

• humpback whale song by MBARI_MARS – ⁠https://freesound.org/people/MBARI_MARS/sounds/448984/⁠ – License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Our guest today is Tiffany Smith. Tiffany is an interdisciplinary artist from the Caribbean diaspora working in photography, video, installation, and assemblage. In this episode we talk about Tiffany’s upbringing in the Bahamas and Miami, her long and winding journey to photography, how to advocate for yourself, how to escape the hustle and find a place that is right for you, and the complex dynamics of Black Caribbean identity in the U.S.

Guest Bio:

Tiffany Smith (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist from the Caribbean diaspora working in photography, video, installation, assemblage, and design to define spaces and experiences that examine the roles of visitor and native and parse the definition of home. Using plant matter, design elements, pattern, and costume as cultural signifiers, Smith creates environments that are informed by the histories of representation, diasporic identity, and liminality. 

Smith’s work examines individual narratives pulled from an array of multi-cultural influences and derived from her upbringing in Miami, Nassau, and Jamaica. Searching for new perspectives on dominant historical narratives, she studies how communities of people of color are formed and defined; in particular, how they are identified and represented, and how they persist. 

Smith earned her B.F.A. in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and her M.FA. in Photo/Video from School of Visual Arts. Her work lives in various private and public collections, and has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at The Bronx Museum of Arts, NY; The Wassaic Project, NY; Recess Assembly, Brooklyn, NY; and Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA. She has also exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, MassArt, and the National Gallery of Jamaica. Smith is a former NYSCA/NYFA Interdisciplinary Artist Fellow, a Bronx A.I.M. Fellow, an EnFoco Photography Fellowship Awardee, a Cameron Visiting Artist at Middlebury College, and a resident artist at TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image in Philadelphia. She currently resides in New Orleans, LA.

Show Notes:

Tiffany’s Work:

• Earthseed solo exhibition at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
• For Tropical Girls… exhibition at The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY
• Album photos for collaboration with Lollise
• A Woman, Phenomenally

Other References:

• Paradice Palase artist network
• Julia Tuttle, the “Mother of Miami”
• Moonlight film (2016)
• Tiffany’s professor Keren Moscovich
• Underground System band
• Lollise’s “Iron Woman” music video
• Mickalene Thomas’ photos of Cardi B

Credits:

• Cover photo of Tiffany by Fela Raymond.
• Edited by Amanda Dee and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Medium-heavy spaceship fly-by by Anoesj – https://freesound.org/people/Anoesj/sounds/345794/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• Jorge R Alien Hover by jorgereq – https://freesound.org/people/jorgereq/sounds/592722/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Dreamy Ambient Atmosphere for Relaxation by Matio888 – https://freesound.org/people/Matio888/sounds/797771/ – License: Attribution 4.0
• peep2.WAV by phantastonia – https://freesound.org/people/phantastonia/sounds/337439/ – License: Creative Commons 0
• Dreamy bells.wav by danyourmaster – https://freesound.org/people/danyourmaster/sounds/433654/ – License: Creative Commons 0

Our guest today is Shyaporn Theerakulstit, a Thai-American born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and based in New York City. He is a man of many labels: actor, writer, director, new media creator, martial artist, cosplayer and fake science lecturer. We tried to tell him we think he is cool, but he prefers to call himself “relentlessly interesting.”

We talk about his various acting roles, especially his work in Star Trek productions, and how casting in Hollywood has changed (or hasn’t) over the years. We also discuss his early success on YouTube with his character videos, such as his “fake scientist” persona. And we discover that we all share a love of martial arts and think everyone should get out and “touch grass” or rather, “touch gloves.”

Guest Bio:

Shyaporn Theerakulstit is a Thai-American actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, based in New York City. He is also a writer, director, new media creator, martial artist, cosplayer and fake science lecturer. He has given talks on Godzilla biology and the technology of Star Trek vs Star Wars at TEDx, Nerd Nite, C2E2 and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. He is the host of Atlas Obscura’s “REAL/fake Science” lecture series. His Youtube channel has over 5 million video views and has been featured on Huffington Post and Comedy Central. He is a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and a degree holder in traditional Shaolin kung fu with Alan Lee’s Chinese Kung Fu Wu Su Association, one of the oldest martial arts schools in New York City.

Show Notes:

Shyaporn’s Acting Work:

• Star Trek New Voyages fan series (appearing as Sulu):
• Appeared as Kirk in Khan!! The Musical
• Upcoming role in the film Song Sung Blue

Comedy Performances/Events:

• Peer Review (PowerPoint karaoke show) – next show Oct. 16, 2025
• Storyoke (storytelling & karaoke)
• Godzilla: History, Biology and Behavior of Hyper-Evolved Theropod Kaiju (PowerPoint comedy lecture)

Shyaporn’s YouTube channel:

• Toy Phaser
• 500 Impressions in 2 minutes
• Halloween Characters

Other references:

• Nerd Nite
• Shyaporn appears on the Star Trek Trek Time podcast
• Prelude to Axanar Star Trek fan film
• Allen Lee’s Wu Su Kung Fu School
• Dancing as an Intervention Tool for People with Dementia

Credits:

• Edited by Tucker Bennett and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• hologram.wav by Sergenious — https://freesound.org/s/55833/ — License: Attribution 4.0
• intro_spring.wav by levelclearer — https://freesound.org/s/233351/ — License: Attribution 4.0
• up5.wav by bumpelsnake — https://freesound.org/s/456576/ — License: Attribution 4.0
• Kung Fu Scream by vero.marengere — https://freesound.org/s/482227/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• Katana sword.wav by [email protected] — https://freesound.org/s/403235/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• Tap Dancer FF002.aif by martinimeniscus — https://freesound.org/s/199481/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• female-voice-xiao-guqin-concert.wav by xserra — https://freesound.org/s/162024/ — License: Attribution 4.0

When we spoke to Bela she was on a summer break from teaching at the University of Iowa, and was visiting family in the Chicagoland suburbs. She had just returned from an epic trip to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the Greek island of Gavdos.

In this episode, we talk about the perks and perils of illegibility within a dominant culture–both as an artist and as a Soviet Jewish immigrant, the diversity Bela witnessed in Kazakhstan, teaching in Iowa, and how the naked body can be its own site of acculturation.

Guest Bio:

Bela Shayevich is a Soviet-American writer, translator, and visual artist. She is best known for her translation of 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s Secondhand Time. Her latest book is a translation of Elena Kostyuchenko’s I Love Russia, with Ilona Chavasse Yabzhin. She lives in Iowa City. 

Show Notes:

• “Bela’s Pilgrim” by Bela Shayevich 
• Failures of the avant-garde INTERVIEW // bela shayevich
•  “Egypt to Japan without flying” series by Omar Nok

• Hard Nips

Fictional Characters:

• Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
• Balki Bartokomous from Perfect Strangers
• Latka Gravas from Taxi
• Borat Sagdiyev

Credits:

• Edited by Tucker Bennett and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Walking in flip flops by nomerodin1 -- https://freesound.org/s/474663/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0
• Soothing Ambient Music for Yoga & Meditation by Matio888 -- https://freesound.org/s/796500/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• Changing Room.wav by GlenCurtisAdams -- https://freesound.org/s/326920/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0
• Sauna2.mp3 by Ciuas -- https://freesound.org/s/400624/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• Hissi - Elevator by YleArkisto -- https://freesound.org/s/410079/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• Bathroom water leak 02.wav by Daphne_in_Wonderland -- https://freesound.org/s/383472/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• Shower_Studio21Mävers.wav by Soundscape_Leuphana -- https://freesound.org/s/210390/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• Splashing water in bathtub by thaighaudio -- https://freesound.org/s/351412/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• [remix] Hot Tub Loop by AnLorenzo -- https://freesound.org/s/339514/ -- License: Attribution 3.0
• Gentle Landscapes by ViraMiller -- https://freesound.org/s/743842/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

In this episode we talk to Bonnie Han Jones, a Korean-American improvising musician, poet, and educator working primarily with electronic sound and text. Her work explores noise, sonic identity, listening, and sound as knowledge.

We talked to Bonnie in spring 2025 when she was finishing up her PhD at Brown University. She has since moved to Chicago where she is now Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Art & Technology/Sound Practices Department. 

In our conversation, we discuss Bonnie’s experiences as a Korean adoptee, her formative trip to Korea as a Fulbright Scholar, her relationship to sound and language as mediums of self-abstraction, and the generative (and often collaborative) art practices that can emerge from the space in-between.

Guest Bio:

Bonnie Han Jones is a Korean-American improvising musician, poet, and performer working with electronic sound and text. She performs solo and in numerous collaborative music, film, and visual art projects. Bonnie was a founding member of the Transmodern Festival and CHELA Gallery and is currently a member of the High Zero Festival collective. In 2010, along with Suzanne Thorpe she co-founded TECHNE, an organization that develops anti-racist, feminist workshops that center on technology-focused art making, improvisation, and community collaboration. She has received commissions from the London ICA and Walters Art Museum and has presented her work extensively at institutions in the US, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Bonnie was a 2018 recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. Born in South Korea she was raised on a dairy farm in New Jersey, and currently resides in Chicago, IL.

Show Notes:

Listen to/buy Bonnie’s music at Catalytic Sound and Bandcamp

Upcoming Shows in Chicago, IL:

• October 18, 2025 @ 8:00PM | Lou Mallozi Record Release Concert with guests Hal Rammel, Bonnie Han Jones, Michael Zerang at Constellation

• October 24, 2025 at 2 PM | lisa cameron / alex cunningham / mark shippy + bonnie han jones at Torn Light Records
• December 5-6, 2025 | Catalytic Sound Festival at Hungry Brain

Works by Bonnie we reference:

• do you wanna know something about something?– conversations on Korean-ness, a book by Bonnie Han Jones and Ryoko Akama

• we’ve all we’ve done: sounding a korean adoptee archive, a multichannel sound installation
• Courtyards: Pansori Loop, a multidisciplinary work by Bonnie Han Jones and Mary Kim Arnold

Other references:

• Welcome House adoption program founded by Pearl S. Buck
• Friendster, an early social networking site
• Books by Cathy Park Hong: Minor Feelings and Dance Dance Revolution
• More info about Korean name chop stamps
• Korean pansori music and West African griot singers
• Homi K. Bhabha and his writing on hybridity

Credits:

• Edited by Alie Kilts and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Birds in hotel courtyard by arnaud coutancier -- https://freesound.org/s/449022/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0
• cooking_02.wav by aesqe -- https://freesound.org/s/140453/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• Restaurant outside by the river atmosphere with people talking by Garuda1982 -- https://freesound.org/s/735593/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• Dog claws on wooden flooring .wav by jacko4526 -- https://freesound.org/s/656013/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• Making Dinner in Thailand by Veridiansunrise -- https://freesound.org/s/350718/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• 20090425.elderly.wav by dobroide -- https://freesound.org/s/71864/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
• August night on Countryside - Zlatibor, Serbia by Tomlija -- https://freesound.org/s/198404/ -- License: Attribution 3.0

In this episode we spoke with Joseph M. Pierce, a writer and professor at Stony Brook University, where he is the founding director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative. We talk about his new book, Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair. Joseph is a citizen of the Cherokee nation and he shares his personal journey in relating to his heritage, from discovering his Cherokee roots later in life, to remembering Cherokee myths and teachings as tools to process some of the violence and dispossession his family has experienced.

Guest Bio:

Joseph M. Pierce is Associate Professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature and the Founding Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Stony Brook University. He is the author of two books, Argentine Intimacies: Queer Kinship in an Age of Splendor, 1890-1910 (SUNY Press, 2019) and Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair (Duke University Press, 2025). He co-edited Políticas del amor: Derechos sexuales y escrituras disidentes en el Cono Sur (Cuarto Propio, 2018) as well as the 2021 special issue of Gay and Lesbian Studies Quarterly, “Queer/Cuir Américas: Translation, Decoloniality, and the Incommensurable,” and has published work in Revista Hispánica Moderna, Critical Ethnic Studies, Latin American Research Review, and Art Journal, as well as in popular outlets such as Hyperallergic, TruthOut, and Indian Country Today. Along with S.J. Norman (Wiradjuri) he is co-curator of the performance series Knowledge of Wounds, and in 2024-2025 he was a Ford Foundation Scholar in Residence at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). He is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Show Notes:

Buy your copy of Speculative Relations from Duke University Press

RSVP to the “Imagining Indigenous Futures” talk at MoMA, taking place on October 7th, 2025. This panel will also feature Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer Leanne Simpson and curator Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation).

Indigenous collaborators Joseph mentions:

• SJ Norman
• Kai Recollet
• Emily Johnson

Critical black studies/critical fabulation connections Joseph mentions:

• Saidiya Hartman
• Christina Sharpe
• Tavia Nyong'o

Pictures we talk about from the book:

• The photo of four women is Figure 2.2 in the book on page 64
• The photo of Julius Popper is Figure 2.3 on page 76

Other references:

• Read more about the Dayunisi creation myth here
• Eve Tuck’s writing about “damage-centered research” vs. “desire-based research” in her open letter "Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities"
• Joseph mentions Turtle Island, the name for “earth” used by some Indigenous peoples
• Saki mentions P.E. Moskowitz’s article “We Must Refuse a Forced Grieving”
• We talk about a Billy-Ray Belcourt poem, “Regarding Death, I Turn to the Photon” from his book NDN Coping Mechanisms

Credits:

• Edited by Alie Kilts and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• synth rotating speaker.flac by Timbre -- https://freesound.org/s/201551/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0
• Wind Chimes.wav by MrCisum -- https://freesound.org/s/336664/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• Mechanical Sea Monster_1 by MichaelMalong -- https://freesound.org/s/360429/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
• 20131202_plate rotating on the floor_ZoomH4nXY.wav by Soundscape_Leuphana -- https://freesound.org/s/210444/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Saki and Kirby reflect on what it feels like to release the first season of Hybridia. They also discuss future dreams for the show and make a humble plea to Keanu Reeves to become Hybridia's producer.

Credits:

Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.