Listen up, glitterati, we have some eco-friendly scholarship coming your way: Prof Nicole Seymour (California State University, Fullerton) shares her thoughts on queer ecologies, trans ecologies, petrol masculinities, trashy environmentalism and, most importantly, glitter. In a sparkling synopsis of all things queer environmentalism, Nicole explains why the doom-and-gloom narrative of climate justice is so passé and encouragement and future-oriented thinking are on the rise. Nicole even shares her favourite ecowarrior drag queens.

The future is… still pretty bleak! To make learning about positive change more fun, follow @nseymourPHD and @queerlitpodcast on Twitter. @queerlitpodcast is also on Instagram.

Work by Nicole mentioned:

Strange Natures: Futurity, Empathy, and the Queer Ecological Imagination
Bad Environmentalism: Affect and Dissent in the Ecological Age @UMinnPress
Glitter @BloomsburyAcad
Seymour, Nicole. "’Good animals’: The past, present, and futures of trans ecology." Transecology. Routledge, 2020. 190-204.

Other texts and people mentioned:

Simon Amstell
Adrienne Maree Brown
Earth Overshoot Day
Petrol cultures
Daggett, Cara. "Petro-masculinity: Fossil fuels and authoritarian desire." Millennium 47.1 (2018): 25-44.
Madeleine Bavley
Reich, Nicholas Tyler. "Truck Sluts, Petrosexual Countrysides, and Trashy Environmentalisms." Transgender Studies Quarterly 9.1 (2022): 65-83.
Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island
The Bearded Ladies Cabaret @beardedladiescabaret (Insta) @KnowYourBeards (Twitter)
CAConrad @caconrad88
The Trolls
Timothy Morton
“Queering Nothing” with Lee Edelman
Bruce Bagemihl
Callum Angus’ A Natural History of Transition
Oliver Baez Bendorf @oliverbaezbendorf (Insta) @queerpoetics (Twitter)
“Drag and Panto” with Nick Cherryman
Pattie Gonia @pattiegonia
Shiloh Krupar’s Hot Spotter’s Report
Tammie Brown
RuPaul’s Drag Race
#plasticfreepride
Carson McCuller’s The Member of the Wedding and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Jen Shapland’s My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
Maria Sulimma

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1.What is queer ecology or what can it be? What is trans ecology?
2.What are petrol cultures or petrol masculinities?
3.How does drag relate to environmentalism?
4.Nicole talks about modes to convey environmentalism. Which modes or narrative patterns do we discuss? Can you think of others?
5.What does glitter mean to you?