Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on Fire

How are women shaking up the global hip hop graffiti scene? What does social justice curation look like? How does feminist graffiti offer vibrant insights into more creative and just worlds?

In episode 82 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews performance studies scholar and arts activist Jessica Nydia Pabón-Colón about how women graffiti writers perform feminism on the global stage; who is excluded from the "respectable" street art model espoused by large creative cities; what a feminist approach to arts curating looks like on the ground; and why building feminist, queer, and decolonial bonds across the Puerto Rican diaspora is key to how Jessica imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/82-jessica-nydia-pabon-colon/

What is the link between global trade policies and the food on our plates? How can scholars of globalization and migration translate their work so as to shape more just and sustainable policies? Why should scholars bring their whole selves to their work and what impact can that have on broader political, economic, and cultural processes?

In episode 81 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews cultural and medical anthropologist Alyshia Gálvez about how NAFTA has changed the food practices and health outcomes for Mexican and Mexican American populations, advice for scholars seeking to translate their research into documentary films and other formats, why we all need to be public-facing scholars these days, and why dreaming big and bringing her full self to her work is how Alyshia imagines otherwise.

TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/81-alyshia-galvez

This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of the MA in Critical Studies is to produce creative critical thinkers prepared to address pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of cultural production and critical theory. For more information visit pnca.edu/criticalstudies

How can independent media amplify Indigenous politics? What do the politics of land, gender, and sexuality tell us about the paradox of Hawaiian sovereignty? What might a decolonial Indigenous futurity look like?

In episode 80 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with Indigenous studies professor and radio host J. Kēhaulani Kauanui about the histories and futures of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement, why independent media is uniquely suited to telling Indigenous stories, the solidarities between anarchist and Indigenous movements, and how putting consent politics front and center is key to how Kēhaulani imagines otherwise.

TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/80-j-kehaulani-kauanui/

This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of the MA in Critical Studies is to produce creative critical thinkers prepared to address pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of cultural production and critical theory. For more information visit pnca.edu/criticalstudies

What does Indigenous language revitalization look like in our contemporary digital age? How might language learning and capacity building work outside of traditional academic spaces? What would it mean to reframe language revitalization as a process of repairing and reweaving?

In episode 79 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews linguistic anthropologist and Indigenous studies scholar Jenny L. Davis about the vibrant world of Chickasaw language revitalization; how Indigenous language activism is interwoven with documentary film, dance, ethnobotany, and other cultural productions; the importance of transnational skill sharing and capacity sharing; and why building a world where all Indigenous people get to eventually be elders is how Jenny imagines otherwise.

TRANSCRIPT AND SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/79-jenny-l-davis/

This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of the MA in Critical Studies is to produce creative critical thinkers prepared to address pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of cultural production and critical theory. For more information visit pnca.edu/criticalstudies

How can a transnational, trans of color aesthetics remake the world? How has transgender studies changed what academic publishing looks like in the digital age? And what might our social justice movements look like if we prioritized small-scale, emergent strategies as much as large-scale, revolutionary ones?

In episode 78 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews trans studies scholar Jian Neo Chen about why collaborations between artists, activists, and academics are so vital to transgender studies; how academic journals born in the digital age are reimagining what scholarship looks and reads like; and the revolutionary, worldmaking power of small-scale, community-based change for trans of color communities.

Transcript & show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/78-jian-neo-chen/

Big thanks to our episode sponsor: the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Masters in Critical Studies Program.

How might speculative fiction help educators teach gender and ethnic studies to their students? What would it mean to reimagine the Pacific in an anticapitalist, anticolonial, and decolonial way? What kind of world could we have if we thought beyond the normative story?

In episode 77 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, Cathy Hannabach talks with professor Aimee Bahng about how speculative fiction and other geeky genres help us to imagine and create radical, queer of color feminist futures; how professors can link classroom activities to local social justice movements; how Indigenous thought and politics are challenging US colonialism across the Pacific; and why moving away from statistics is such an important part of how Aimee imagines otherwise.

TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/77-aimee-bahng

How might the world be transformed by honoring Pacific experiences? What can communal storytelling teach us about decolonial ways of knowing? How can poetry be a powerful force for social justice activism?

In episode 76 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with Chamoru poet and professor Craig Santos Perez about how creation stories, Spam, and the birth of his daughter inspired his most recent book of poetry; why poetry is such a powerful way into social justice activism; the future of Pacific Islander publishing; and how communal storytelling is one way Craig contributes to a decolonial and demilitarized Pacific.

TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/76-craig-santos-perez

What new pathways emerge when we theorize from the undercurrents? How can art challenge the corrosive logics of racial and extractive capitalism? What kind of world can we build by thinking beyond disciplinary boundaries?

In episode 75 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with scholar Macarena Gómez-Barris about how social movements and art practices throughout the Américas offer models for organizing beyond the state, the politics of translating academic scholarship in a transnational world, the creative East–South solidarities artists and thinkers are creating together to fight extractive capitalism, and why doing, making, and thinking in community is key to how Macarena imagines otherwise.

TRANSCRIPT AND SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/75-macarena-gomez-barris/

How do we organize truly intersectional artistic collaboration across time and space? What might running a small business teach us about the creative process? How might a thoughtful creative practice allow us to think deeply about the intersectionalities of struggles?

In episode 74 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews artist, designer, and art director Veronica Corzo-Duchardt about the personal and collective histories hidden in Cuban architectural surfaces, how current scholarship in diaspora studies and cultural anthropology inspires Veronica's art work, how to make time for your own writing and creative projects amidst other responsibilities, and why intersectional creative collaboration is key to how Veronica imagines otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/74-veronica-corzo-duchardt

What tools does feminism provide for dismantling domination? What might be possible when our work aligns with what nourishes our spirit? How might we build a society where love is at the core of everything that we do?

In episode 73 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews professor Imani Perry about the intimate ways gender, colonialism, and race intertwine in the histories of patriarchy; how Imani draws on the inspiration of both Lorraine Hansberry and Imani's grandmother to build a life full of meaning and justice; how scholars can follow their divergent interests down windy roads without burning out; and how her fierce commitment to personal and social ethics is key to how Imani imagines and creates otherwise.

Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/73-imani-perry