Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on Fire

How can cultural texts help us make sense of race and (trans)gender together? What role does fashion play in culture, resistance, and academia? How can we build our classrooms into places where we collectively imagine otherwise?

In episode 32 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guest Francisco Galarte about the racialized politics of style for Chicanx queer and transgender subjects, the classroom as a social justice space, and how trans faculty of color can queer the academy.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/32-francisco-galarte

What does truly diverse media representation look like, and how can transmedia help folks contribute? How can scholars, artists, and academics use this political moment to foster dialogue? How does travel and transnationalism expand our artistic vision?

In episode 31 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guest Felami Burgess about queer of color media representation, Felami's multimedia and transnational trajectory, how any class on any topic can be an opportunity to create, and why now more than ever we need to braid art, activism, and academia to build better worlds.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/31-felami-burgess

How have US imperialism and nationalism informed perceptions of racial identity? What can we gain from strengthening the relationship between scholarship and public engagement? How can we let our political and ethical commitments guide our professional endeavors?

In episode 30 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with guest Vince Schleitwiler about liberatory coalitions between Black and Asian communities, how the public humanities have shifted in the context of neoliberalism, and how contemporary activists draw inspiration from what he calls "the geography of the lost Afro-Asian century."

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/30-vince-schleitwiler

How have colonialism and empire contributed to modern-day science and medicine? How can work from women of color feminisms and healing justice movements inform how we practice wellness in our daily lives? Is there room for a holistic approach to productivity within academia?

In episode 29 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with guest Tala Khanmalek about how academics can incorporate healing justice and disability justice into academic workflows, how a holistic approach to graduate school enabled Tala to create social justice projects, and what a healing justice and disability justice-based world would look like.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/29-tala-khanmalek

How is the digital landscape changing, and what does this mean for academia? How can digital technologies transform how we teach and how we think about sharing the information we produce?

In episode 28 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with guest Zach McDowell about the relationship between the open access movement and other social justice movements, how decreasing the "digital divide" isn't the only thing needed for true media justice, and what it really means when people say "information wants to be free."

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/28-zach-mcdowell

How are digital technologies, including open access publishing, transforming higher education?

In episode 27 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guests Jessie Daniels and Polly Thistlethwaite, founders of JustPublics@365 project about the impact of digital technologies in higher education, why so many scholars who are interested in open access publishing are also social justice activists, and how those scholars and activists can expand public access to scholarship.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/27-jessie-daniels-polly-thistlethwaite

What does wellness and unwellness look like in the context of Asian America? In the context of academia? How can we transform our spaces to allow for more interpretations of healing practices? What role can students play in reforming how we discuss mental health in the academy?

In episode 26 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guests Mimi Khúc and Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis about how academia can better address parenting, mental health, and wellness, as well as the forthcoming special issue of the Asian American Literary Review.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/26-mimi-khuc-lawrence-minh-bui-davis

What strings are attached to the "gift of freedom" that the United States grants refugees? How can zines, punk, and tarot serve as methods and mediums for social justice work? And what do movie stars and Buddhist nuns have in common?

In episode 25 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with Mimi Nguyen about the imperialist US discourse of debt and freedom repeatedly attached to refugees, how Mimi is drawing unexpected artistic encounters between actor Keanu Reeves and Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön, and why communities of color are turning to tarot for activist inspiration and to imagine other ways of being in the world.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/25-mimi-nguyen

How can digital media transform the way we organize, teach, and relate to our bodies and the world?

In episode 24 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guest Amanda Phillips about the politics of video game realism in an era of increasingly visible police violence, why so many marginalized communities have turned to digital media for organizing, how hashtag syllabi have transformed what it means to teach about current events, and how teachers and students can together use the classroom as a space in which we teach each other how to imagine and create the kind of worlds we want.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/24-amanda-phillips

How can trans people of color own their own stories? What's the right balance between depicting the systemic violence a community faces and representing the joy, pleasure, hope, and love that community produces?

In episode 23 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with guest André Pérez about his approach to multimedia projects, why he focuses on work that empowers marginalized communities, and how storytelling helps us imagine otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/23-andre-perez