Queers

On a trip to Port Moresby, Benjamin interviews an advocate with Papua New Guinea’s only queer community organisation, Kapul Champions, to discuss the political priorities for queers in the country, and the impact of LGBTIQ political discourses in Australia.

For more information about Kapul Champions, visit: https://rainbowpng.wordpress.com/2016/10/23/group-kapul-champions/

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Benjamin and Simon close out 2018 with a look back at its pop culture—what they liked, what they didn’t, and some of their most significant queer touchstones, from Roseanne to Queer Eye to Janelle Monáe.

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Queers has made it to 50 episodes! Looking back at almost three years of podcasting, Benjamin and Simon reflect on what the show has meant to them, the combination of events and thinking that has shaped the discussions, and what it means to strive for complexity in queer debates.

Subscribe to us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/queerspodcast

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While traveling in the United Kingdom Simon interviewed the PhD student Annie Kelly. Annie is studying at the University of East Anglia, researching the online anti-feminist groups Return of Kings, A Voice for Men and the Reddit forum Kotaku in Action.

Simon and Annie talk about the ideologies and ideas of these groups, their differences and similarities with each other, and the connections between anti-feminist groups and the broader far right. They also discuss Annie’s article in the New York times on ‘tradwives’, a community of women in the United States who advocate for a return to traditional gender roles.

The Housewives of White Supremacy (New York Times Article): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/opinion/sunday/tradwives-women-alt-right.html

The Alt-Right: Reactionary Rehabilitation for White Maculinity (Soundings article): https://www.eurozine.com/the-alt-right-reactionary-rehabilitation-for-white-masculinity/

A GamerGate explainer: http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2014/10/28/4116140.htm

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Diving back into the thorny issue of consent, Benjamin and Simon turn this time to the concept of ‘enthusiastic consent’, and wonder whether it really is an effective framework for addressing a problem as widespread—and as complex—as sexual assault.

‘Tea Consent’, by Blue Seat Studios

Interview with Tanya Serisier, by Living the Dream Podcast

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Benjamin and Simon finally get around to watching Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette, and it sparks a discussion about the role of stories in queer activism. Can we really change the world just by telling our individual stories? Or do we need to connect to something bigger in order to effect change?

The Queerstories speaker we mentioned was from author and academic Sara Knox, who hasn’t been featured on the podcast, but you can find out more about her academic work here.

The academic working on storytelling and domestic workers in the United States is Sujatha Fernandes, whose work you can see on her website.

The academic work on crowdfunding for medical expenses is done by Matthew Wade. You can find out more about his work here. 

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Benjamin interviews disability and LGBTIQ activist Jax Jacki Brown about the intersections between queer and disability activism. Their discussion touches on the limits of discourse in both spaces, what it means to actively queer bodies, and how sex can become a site for practising liberation.

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A politics that says we should respect and celebrate difference is all well and good, but what does that mean for belonging? Benjamin and Simon discuss the importance of finding a place to belong, and wonder whether our need for belonging is at odds with a politics of liberation.

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What starts out as an in-depth look at the explosive reunion episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 10 leads Benjamin and Simon into a discussion of respectability politics and civility politics in queer communities and beyond, and what it means for queers to support each other when things get tough.

‘The Vixen Speaks on Season 10 Reunion and How RuPaul and ‘Drag Race’ Fail Black Queens’, by Mathew Rodriguez

 

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Simon sits down with comedian Jordan Raskopoulos about coming out as trans in a very public way, what it means to be a comedian who cares about being funny at the same time as she cares about queer communities, and being encouraged to embrace her body through roller derby.

Jordan's website: https://www.jordanrasko.com/

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