Our guest today is Nico Lang, a nonbinary journalist with over a decade of experience covering the transgender community’s fight for equality. Their work has appeared in major publications, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, The New York Times, Vox, The Wall Street Journal, Salon, Harper’s Bazaar, Time, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
We will discuss Nico's upcoming book AMERICAN TEENAGER: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era. In the book, Nico tells the stories of Wyatt, Rhydian, Mykah, Ruby, Clint, Kylie, Augie and Jack -- all Americans, all teens, and all transgender & nonbinary. The teens hail from all corners of the country from California to Florida, from South Dakota to Texas. Each of their stories is almost a mini-book in itself. To write the book, Nico spent a year shadowing the seven families of these trans and gender non-confirming teens. They did hundreds of hours of interviews which included the young people themselves, their families, and the members of their diverse communities, While presenting poignant portraits of what it means to be a trans kid in the US today, Nico makes them visible and known to people who don't yet understand them, as well as a lifeline to other similar teens with the message that they are not alone.
Nico has won a GLAAD Media Award,10 awards from the National Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA), and three awards from the Los Angeles Press Club, including the 2023 Online Journalist of the Year. They are also the first-ever recipient of the Visibility Award from the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.
With co-host Brody Levesque
