Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on Fire

Building an abolitionist university or museum requires more than just updating some policies. It requires rethinking from the ground up what we want out of our cultural institutions and renewing our commitment to bringing that abolitionist vision to fruition.

In episode 132 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews scholar, performance artist, and Prince-enthusiast J. Faith Almiron, whose interdisciplinary crisscrossing of academic, artistic, and activist spaces demonstrates the power of such renewal in all its forms.

In the conversation, Cathy and J. Faith chat about what it means to renew our commitment to social justice amidst ongoing state violence, why interdisciplinarity is the future of both art and education, how cultural institutions can diversify beyond tokenism, and why harnessing the radical imagination is how J. Faith imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/132-j-faith-almiron

As scholars, we often like to think we have everything under control. We work hard to meet deadlines, fulfill our responsibilities, and get everything done.

So what happens when global and personal events throw all of that out the window?

In episode 131 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews La Marr Bruce, whose La new book How to Go Mad without Losing Your Mind: Madness and Black Radical Creativity, ended up on a much windier publication path than expected due to both the global COVID-19 pandemic and La Marr's devastating loss of his partner David this past August.

As La Marr explains in the conversation, this is a book about destabilization and derailment that also became the vehicle through which he traversed that journey, ultimately renewing his commitment to Black and mad studies, mutual care, and collective liberation.

A content note: this episode discusses some difficult topics, including the death of La Marr's partner David. If this is a topic you need to not hear about right now, for any reason, we recommend exploring some of our other recent episodes.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/131-la-marr-bruce

Spring is normally a time of emergence and inspiration but many scholars, artists, and organizers are struggling after a year spent inside and a pandemic that is still far from over.

In episode 130 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Kānaka Maoli food studies scholar Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart. Hi'ilei's approach to scholarly and activist inspiration brings the rich histories and futures of Indigenous community building to bear on her daily practices of writing and living during the pandemic.

In the interview, Hiʻilei and Cathy chat about using scholarly research to do justice to ancestors and communities, the future of Indigenous food sovereignty activism, and why connecting individual healing practices like gardening to collective movements for decolonization is key to how Hiʻilei imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/130-hiilei-julia-kawehipuaakahaopulani-hobart

How can looking to the past enliven the present and inspire the future? And how can we foment that inspiration in our daily practices and habits?

In episode 129 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Badia Ahad-Legardy, whose most recent book Afro-Nostalgia is a brilliant and energizing archive of Black historical joy. Badia's work demonstrates the powerful role pleasure plays in motivating social change and forging communal ties across time and space.

In the conversation, Badia and Cathy discuss the daily practices she uses to encourage intellectual and political inspiration, including the role of white space and refusals. They also discuss building momentum across large writing projects like a book, and why actively cultivating joy for herself and for others is how Badia imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/129-badia-ahad-legardy

For those of us in the social justice-oriented interdisciplines like gender studies, ethnic studies, and disability studies, our desire to make real people's lives better is often the reason we became scholars to begin with.

But it can be difficult to sustain that inspiration over the long term, especially as the daily grind of academic life, activist burnout, and current events threaten to extinguish the motivating spark that brought us to this vital work in the first place.

So how can we cultivate the inspiration we need to nourish ourselves and our communities as we collectively build the worlds we want?

To help us figure this out, in episode 128 of Imagine Otherwise host Cathy Hannabach interviews scholar-activist Gwen D'Arcangelis, whose work focuses on the transnational feminist politics of science, environmental justice, and anti-racist praxis.

In the conversation, Gwen and Cathy chat about actively cultivating inspiration in our daily lives and staying motivated when writing about challenging topics like war and violence.

They also discuss why an intersectional feminist perspective on the current COVID-19 pandemic is so crucial and why making sure scholarship is accountable to activist communities is a key way that Gwen imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/128-gwen-darcangelis

Our systems for tracking and making progress on our goals are often deeply personal and idiosyncratic. How we organize our days to find motivation changes over time as well, as our lives and our worlds shift in ways we don't always get to control.

In episode 127 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach talks to Chicanx media studies scholar Dolores Inés Casillas about the creative planning and project management systems that scholars use to get their writing done while navigating the rest of life's adventures.

Inés shares how years of parenting taught her a method of flexible planning that has come in handy during the pandemic as well as how she uses bullet journaling to create her publishing pipeline and academic diary.

Cathy and Inés also discuss how Inés links her goal of telling the stories of immigrant communities to her writing practice by prioritizing morning pages and calling on a robust support network of editors, colleagues, and friends.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/127-dolores-ines-casillas

Even our best-laid plans go awry sometimes and require us to adjust on the fly. Whether it's throwing out our timeline for publication or experimenting with a new teaching technique, adapting our plans to meet the changing world is a crucial part of any interdisciplinary project. But how can we make sure our plan adjustments serve our collective political and ethical goals?

To help us think through this question, in episode 126 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews journalist, media scholar, and fellow planning enthusiast Meredith D. Clark, whose research examines the role Black Twitter plays in social and political resistance.

In the conversation, Meredith and Cathy discuss how she developed a new way of planning during the pandemic and the tools that she uses to create consistency and support mental health. They also dive into why being open to failure and experimentation is crucial to a successful career shift and why building a world in which everyone has enough is how Meredith imagine otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/126-meredith-d-clark

It's the beginning of a new year and normally that would mean a flurry of ambitious new projects, goals, and plans to achieve them both. But ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are hesitant to begin new things right now, given the degree of uncertainty shaping our world and our daily lives.

In episode 125, host Cathy Hannabach interviews sexuality studies and public health scholar Chris Barcelos. Chris uses José Esteban Muñoz's concept of educated hope to illustrate how we can begin activist, artistic, and academic projects now that feed our long-term vision for a better world—even in the middle of a pandemic.

In the conversation, Chris and Cathy chat about pivoting socially engaged research to fit new circumstances, creative ways to launch a book during a pandemic, the reason it's so important to foreground reproductive justice in public health campaigns, and why beginning with access intimacy and critical messiness is how Chris imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/125-chris-barcelos

Despite the cliché, 2020 really is one for the history books. Between a global pandemic disproportionately harming communities of color, racist and ableist police shootings, and legal and personal attacks on queer and trans populations, we have a lot to reckon with as this year comes to a close.

In episode 124, host Cathy Hannabach interviews sociologist Siobhan Brooks about how these events emerge from long histories of racially gendered violence and why our reckoning must contend with these histories to build better futures. Siobhan's research across her career demonstrates how critical reflection on structures of inequality is crucial to creating alternatives in which life can thrive.

In the conversation, Siobhan and Cathy discuss what it means to reckon with violent histories and presents without losing hope for the future, how critique and creation intertwine in social justice scholarship, what interdisciplinary research looks like in the context of COVID-19 and its aftermath, and why building a world free of violence is how Siobhan imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/124-siobhan-brooks

The collaborative art of curation is one that takes a complex mixture of confidence and humility. Curators need confidence in their choices and artistic voice but the humility to stay open to learning from others and being surprised by the process.

The career of today's guest, Bakirathi Mani, demonstrates how this dance of confidence and humility enables postcolonial artists, scholars, and curators to challenge imperial visualities while building transnational community.

In episode 123 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Bakirathi about her journey into art curation and what it offers to her work in the classroom, how postcolonial artists and viewers navigate the colonial history of photography in art exhibitions, and why collectively building a world of representations that are no longer haunted by empire is how Bakirathi imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/123-bakirathi-mani