Ep # 95: Queer History Is Everywhere: Dr. Kate Henry on Archives, Rhetoric & Lisa Ben

Summary of the episode

Hey its Stephanie here! In this episode of noseyAF, we get into queer history, archives, and public scholarship with Dr. Kate Henry — writer, scholar, poet, and creator of Lisa Benography, a public scholarship project documenting Lisa Ben, the woman behind the first known lesbian magazine in the U.S. Kate and I talk about the magic and messiness of archives, what feminist historiography actually is, and how queer stories survive even when institutions try to erase them.

We also get into creative writing, rhetoric, butch/femme histories, and what it means to consider your own life an archive. It’s tender, nerdy, funny, and honestly one of my favorite conversations.

What we talk about

• How Dr. Kate first stumbled into queer history and feminist historiography
• The wild, brilliant, and deeply influential life of Lisa Ben
• Why archives matter — and how everyday people create them
• The difference between academic scholarship and public scholarship (and how to make knowledge accessible)
• Creative writing, rhetoric, and the “moves” queer creators make under censorship
• A juicy tangent on personal archives, family keepsakes, and documenting our own lives
• How queer histories survive through scraps, letters, love, and community care

Things We Mentioned

• Lisa Benography website (Kate’s public scholarship project)
• ONE Archives at the USC Libraries (where Lisa Ben’s papers live)
• “Vice Versa” — the first known lesbian magazine in the U.S.
• The book Overlooked by The New York Times (Kate is cited in the Lisa Ben entry)
• Patrick Kelly biography project by Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard
• Magazine of Horror / sci-fi fanzines (Lisa Ben’s “Tigrina” work)

Chapters:

• 00:09 - Exploring Queer History: The Legacy of Lisa Ben
• 09:06 - Public Scholarship and Queer Histories
• 24:11 - The Impact of Lisa Ben and Queer Archives
• 34:53 - The Legacy of Lisa Ben: Documenting Queer Histories
• 47:01 - The Evolution of Personal and Public Scholarship

All about Dr. Kate Henry

Dr. Kate Henry is a Productivity Coach who specializes in sustainable and well-being-oriented productivity for folks working on academic writing projects. Kate holds an MFA in Creative Writing and a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition, and she researches and publishes as a public scholar. She's the author of the newsletter "Tending," the host of the podcast "Honing In," and she lives in Boston, MA, with her spouse, two cats, and a 7-pound chihuahua.

Connect with Dr. Kate Henry

Instagram: @thetendingyear

Website: https://katehenry.com/

Newsletter: Tending with Dr. Kate Henry

Podcast: Honing In

🚨 Also, as I mentioned in the episode, Dr. Kate is a productivity coach. If you need your life together, hit her up in December. She will open her books for new Success & Accountability Coaching Clients who want to work together in 2026.

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Episode Credits

Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Me, Stephanie (teaching myself audio editing!)

Lyrics: Queen Lex

Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam

Mentioned in this episode:

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