Shows
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireRaven Maragh-Lloyd on Black Networked ResistanceHow can communities creatively adapt and reshape online practices to forge resilient digital publics? In episode 162 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews media studies scholar Raven Maragh-Lloyd about the historical contours of Black digital resistance. The Ideas on Fire team was honored to work with Raven on her new book Black Networked Resistance: Strategic Rearticulations in the Digital Age, which is an insightful analysis of how Black technology users adapt and reshape resistance strategies and forge Black publics in the digital age. The book is out now from the University of California Press.
2024-08-2319 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireTamara Kneese on Death in the Digital Platform AgeIn episode 157 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews media scholar and Ideas on Fire author Tamara Kneese about the complex relationship between Big Tech and mortality, specifically how digital media platforms mediate our experiences of death. Tamara is a senior researcher and project director of Data & Society’s AIMLab, and her new book Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond was recently published by Yale University Press. In their conversation, Tamara and Cathy chat about how platform economies built around planned obsolescence shape our experiences of life and death, as we...
2023-11-1421 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireNicosia Shakes on Black Women's Activist TheaterIn episode 156 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews scholar and artist Nicosia Shakes, whose creative and scholarly work celebrates the intertwining of political activism and performance across the African diaspora. Nicosia's play Afiba and Her Daughters, which offers an intergenerational narrative of Jamaican herstory, premiered at the Rites and Reason Theatre in Providence. Nicosia’s new book Women’s Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa: Gender, Race, and Performance Space analyzes the work of four contemporary women-led theater groups and projects with a focus on how their activist productions take on gender injustice, raci...
2023-10-0426 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMeryl Alper on Autistic Kids’ Digital MediaIn episode 155 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews disability media studies scholar Meryl Alper. Meryl is the author of 3 books about how kids with disabilities use digital technologies, including her most recent book, Kids Across the Spectrums: Growing Up Autistic in the Digital Age. Kids Across the Spectrums is out now from MIT Press and it is the first book-length ethnography of the digital lives of diverse young people on the autism spectrum. In their conversation, Cathy and Meryl chat about how autistic and neurodivergent youth and their families resist popular assumptions abou...
2023-09-2023 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireKristie Soares on Joy in Latinx MediaIn episode 154 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews performance artist and gender studies scholar Kristie Soares about the political power of pleasure, laughter, and joy in Latinx media. Kristie’s new book Playful Protest: The Political Work of Joy in Latin Media has chapters about gozando in salsa music, precise joy among the New Young Lords Party, choteo in the comedy ¿Qué Pasa U.S.A.?, azúcar in the life and death of Celia Cruz, dale as Pitbull’s signature affect, and silliness in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s interventions into political violence. In the episode...
2023-09-0716 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireCynthia Franklin on Narrative and Activist PoliticsHost Cathy Hannabach interviews literature professor Cynthia Franklin about the politics of life writing. Cynthia’s new book Narrating Humanity: Life Writing and Movement Politics from Palestine to Mauna Kea traces the complex ways activists, artists, cultural producers, and scholars engage genres like memoir and autobiography to resist racial capitalism, imperialism, heteropatriarchy, and climate change. In their conversation, Cynthia and Cathy chat about why narrative plays such a large role in defining who gets to count as human and how that narrative definition shapes everything from economic policy and medical care to police violence and env...
2023-08-1022 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMagdalena Barrera and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales on The Latinx Guide to Graduate SchoolIn episode 152 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews education scholars and leaders Magdalena L. Barrera and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales about their new book The Latinx Guide to Graduate School. Magdalena and Genevieve teamed up to write this guide after many years of advising Latinx graduate students struggling to navigate the hidden curriculum of academia—a curriculum built around norms of whiteness, wealth, and settler heteronormativity. Demonstrating the brilliance, scholarly rigor, and leadership these graduate students bring to academia, they created this guide to center the worldviews and lives of Latinx communities in graduate education....
2023-07-1224 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJasmine Nichole Cobb on Haptic BlacknessHost Cathy Hannabach interviews Black visual studies scholar Jasmine Nichole Cobb about haptic blackness and the cultural politics of Black hair in US visual culture. Jasmine is a professor of African and African American studies and of art, art history, and visual studies at Duke University. Her recent book New Growth: The Art and Texture of Black Hair traces the history of Black hair in visual culture across documentary films, portrait photography, advertising, sculpture, and television. In the episode, Jasmine shares how haptics—or the mixing of touch and vision—has been central to how blac...
2023-03-0817 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMairead Sullivan on Lesbian Feminist World-buildingHost Cathy Hannabach interviews women’s and gender studies professor Mairead Sullivan about the histories and futures of lesbian feminism. Mairead is the author of the new book Lesbian Death: Desire and Danger between Feminist and Queer, which offers a love letter to lesbian feminist world building while also refuting the weaponization of lesbian identity against trans lives and trans communities. In their conversation, Mairead and Cathy explore how the political and economic project of lesbian feminism has evolved over time and how different generations of queer and trans folks have remade what the identity of...
2023-02-2228 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJosen Masangkay Diaz on Postcolonial ConfigurationsHost Cathy Hannabach interviews ethnic studies and women and gender studies professor Josen Masangkay Diaz about US–Philippine relations during the Cold War and how that history shapes Filipino America today. In their conversation, Josen and Cathy explore the role of race, nation, and gender during the Cold War, particularly how they were renegotiated in the wake of decolonization and the postcolonial nation-building projects that followed. They discuss Josen’s research into how postcolonial projects undertaken during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship as well as during various US presidencies transformed relations in the Transpacific. These projects boun...
2023-02-0816 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireErin Durban on the Sexual Politics of EmpireHost Cathy Hannabach interviews anthropologist Erin Durban about the past and present relationship between the United States and Haiti as it shapes the lives of queer and trans Haitians. In their conversation, Erin and Cathy talk about the history of US occupation and imperialism in Haiti and how it shapes the work international LGBTQ organizations began doing there in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake. Erin also shares how their approach to ethnographic research has shifted over their career, particularly in terms of challenging colonial unknowing even when it appears in one’s own family na...
2023-01-2525 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJennifer Lynn Kelly on Anticolonial Solidarity TourismHost Cathy Hannabach interviews feminist studies and ethnic studies professor Jennifer Lynn Kelly about her new book Invited to Witness. In their conversation, Cathy and Jennifer talk about the temporality and pace of doing ethnographic research for this book while also navigating state visa politics, job search demands, and family commitments can pull in multiple directions. Jennifer also shares the importance of letting a writing project change itself and change its writer over time, and why slowing down and listening to where our research wants to go makes for richer scholarship. They close...
2023-01-1117 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAnima Adjepong on Interdisciplinary IntuitionThe massive changes we’ve collectively experienced over the past two years of a global pandemic have caused many of us to ask some big questions about who we are and what we want to be doing. It’s also pushed us to embrace our embodied capacity and make conscious changes to nourish our spirit as well as our creative, professional, and communal goals for the future. It seems only fitting that we close out 2021 with an episode about intuition, or how we learn to listen for and heed that internal voice, that internal sensation, that...
2021-12-1821 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireNitasha Tamar Sharma on Recalibration and BalanceWe’re reaching that time of year when the days shorten and we start to wonder if we’ll get everything done we wanted to this year. In this season, many of us yearn for more balance in our daily routines and the second year of an ongoing global pandemic has made that feeling even more intense. What does balance even mean in this context and how can we cultivate it in ways that feed our collective desires for justice? In episode 143 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Nitasha Tamar Sharma, whose scholarly, pedagogical, and...
2021-11-1015 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireCatherine Knight Steele on Black Feminist Extensions of GraceHost Cathy Hannabach interviews digital studies scholar and professor Catherine Knight Steele, whose work reveals the central role Black women and Black feminists have played in developing, challenging, and transforming our digital technologies. Approaching Black digital studies holistically, Catherine shows how marginalized groups build lasting community through online, in-person, and hybrid practices, including sustainable models for mentorship and mutual support. In their conversation, Catherine and Cathy chat about why extensions of grace and collaboration are so crucial to building the future of Black digital studies as well as a supportive world more broadly. ...
2021-10-1323 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireChristopher Ali on Building a More Connected WorldEven before the global COVID-19 pandemic, access to reliable, high-performance broadband internet was a necessity for many of us to be able to meaningfully participate in our workplaces, schools, and communities. The pandemic has made this even more apparent. The digital divide separating those with access from those without is hardly a new issue but what is less often discussed is how that digital divide looks different in rural versus urban spaces. In episode 141 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Christopher Ali, who argues that rural broadband access and connectivity is a crucial social...
2021-09-2916 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJessica Bissett Perea on Indigenous Transformations in Academic PublishingPublishing plays a central role in higher education, primarily through the hiring, tenure, and promotion process. Because of this, transforming academic publishing means transforming how scholarly knowledge itself is produced, circulated, and applied. The research process, writing process, and publishing process are all deeply intertwined and all offer opportunities to build the kinds of worlds we want to inhabit. To explore how this process works and the worldmaking possibilities it opens up, in episode 139 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Dena’ina musician-scholar Jessica Bissett Perea. Jessica is the founder of the In...
2021-08-1821 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMark Villegas on Collaborative Abundance in Hip-Hop CulturesHost Cathy Hannabach interviews filmmaker and hip-hop scholar Mark Villegas, who has built his career foregrounding the power of collective abundance. Highlighting the strength, inspiration, and generosity that emerges from collaboration, Mark’s endeavors illustrate the transformations that take place when diverse ideas and cultural traditions are brought together. In the conversation, Mark and Cathy chat about why multiracial, transnational, and cross-generational hip-hop cultures have been such a vibrant model of political and artistic abundance. Mark explains how his new book Manifest Technique traces these genealogies as well as how Filipino American DJs an...
2021-07-2115 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMaile Arvin on Kuleana and Indigenous Feminist CommunityCommunity building is a cornerstone of progressive social and intellectual movements. Resisting capitalist individualism, we know how vital social bonds are in sustaining our identities, our dreams, and even our very lives. But it’s easy to romanticize community and forget the work involved in forging and tending those social bonds—labor that often reflects the very power dynamics that we seek to dismantle. In episode 136 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Kānaka Maoli feminist scholar Maile Arvin, who explains why she approaches community building through the Native Hawaiian concept of kuleana, or a rec...
2021-06-2314 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireChristen A. Smith, Dána-Ain Davis, and Sameena Mulla on Cite Black WomenCenturies of Black feminist intellectuals have demonstrated how knowledge production is always deeply political, revealing whose labor and lives we value. Publicly citing and generously engaging with the contributions that others have made to our thinking is a crucial way we remake the world. In episode 135 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Christen A. Smith, Dána-Ain Davis, and Sameena Mulla, the three co-editors of the recent ground-breaking special issue of Feminist Anthropology, which focuses on the Cite Black Women movement that honors Black women’s transnational intellectual production. The Ideas on Fire team has...
2021-06-0921 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireLiat Ben-Moshe on Community beyond the Carceral StateMovements organized around disability justice, prison and police abolition, queer and trans feminism, and economic justice have long shown how intersecting systems of oppression require intersectional frameworks for resistance. On episode 134 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Liat Ben-Moshe, who has spent her career tracing what she calls carceral ableism, or the ways the prison industrial complex and anti-disability logics shape one another in our daily lives and our political institutions. Liat’s research and activism illustrate the vital need to foreground disability justice in our efforts to end violence. Liat points out that th...
2021-05-2619 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMecca Jamilah Sullivan on Cultivating Joy through Queer Black Feminist ArtOver the past few years, we’ve seen more and more vibrant intersectional and interdisciplinary cultural production get the attention it so richly deserves. This work builds on a long history of refusing to separate the personal from the political in Third World and women of color feminism, radical Black and queer activism, and movements for economic, disability, and environmental justice. All of these traditions have valued the role of art in sparking social change, as the creative and the revolutionary are never far apart. In episode 133 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews creative writer, scholar, an...
2021-05-1221 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJ. Faith Almiron on Abolitionist Pedagogy within and beyond InstitutionsBuilding an abolitionist university or museum requires more than just updating some policies. It requires rethinking from the ground up what we want out of our cultural institutions and renewing our commitment to bringing that abolitionist vision to fruition. In episode 132 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews scholar, performance artist, and Prince-enthusiast J. Faith Almiron, whose interdisciplinary crisscrossing of academic, artistic, and activist spaces demonstrates the power of such renewal in all its forms. In the conversation, Cathy and J. Faith chat about what it means to renew our commitment to social justice amidst...
2021-04-3014 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireHiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart on Transgenerational InspirationSpring is normally a time of emergence and inspiration but many scholars, artists, and organizers are struggling after a year spent inside and a pandemic that is still far from over. In episode 130 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Kānaka Maoli food studies scholar Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart. Hi‘ilei’s approach to scholarly and activist inspiration brings the rich histories and futures of Indigenous community building to bear on her daily practices of writing and living during the pandemic. In the interview, Hiʻilei and Cathy chat about using scholarly research to do j...
2021-03-3120 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireBadia Ahad-Legardy on Black Historical Joy and InspirationHow can looking to the past enliven the present and inspire the future? And how can we foment that inspiration in our daily practices and habits? In episode 129 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Badia Ahad-Legardy, whose most recent book Afro-Nostalgia is a brilliant and energizing archive of Black historical joy. Badia’s work demonstrates the powerful role pleasure plays in motivating social change and forging communal ties across time and space. In the conversation, Badia and Cathy discuss the daily practices she uses to encourage intellectual and political inspiration, including the role of wh...
2021-03-1721 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireGwen D’Arcangelis on Inspiration for Scholar-ActivistsFor those of us in the social justice-oriented interdisciplines like gender studies, ethnic studies, and disability studies, our desire to make real people’s lives better is often the reason we became scholars to begin with. But it can be difficult to sustain that inspiration over the long term, especially as the daily grind of academic life, activist burnout, and current events threaten to extinguish the motivating spark that brought us to this vital work in the first place. So how can we cultivate the inspiration we need to nourish ourselves and our communities as we...
2021-03-0327 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireDolores Inés Casillas on Flexible Planning with Bullet JournalsOur systems for tracking and making progress on our goals are often deeply personal and idiosyncratic. How we organize our days to find motivation changes over time as well, as our lives and our worlds shift in ways we don’t always get to control. In episode 127 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach talks to Chicanx media studies scholar Dolores Inés Casillas about the creative planning and project management systems that scholars use to get their writing done while navigating the rest of life’s adventures. Inés shares how years of parenting taught her a...
2021-02-1717 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMeredith D. Clark on Adapting Plans to Where You’re AtEven our best-laid plans go awry sometimes and require us to adjust on the fly. Whether it’s throwing out our timeline for publication or experimenting with a new teaching technique, adapting our plans to meet the changing world is a crucial part of any interdisciplinary project. But how can we make sure our plan adjustments serve our collective political and ethical goals? To help us think through this question, in episode 126 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews journalist, media scholar, and fellow planning enthusiast Meredith D. Clark, whose research examines the role Black Twitter plays in...
2021-02-0327 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireChris Barcelos on Beginning from Educated HopeIt’s the beginning of a new year and normally that would mean a flurry of ambitious new projects, goals, and plans to achieve them both. But ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are hesitant to begin new things right now, given the degree of uncertainty shaping our world and our daily lives. In episode 125, host Cathy Hannabach interviews sexuality studies and public health scholar Chris Barcelos. Chris uses José Esteban Muñoz’s concept of educated hope to illustrate how we can begin activist, artistic, and academic projects now that feed our long-term vision...
2021-01-2723 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSiobhan Brooks on Reckoning with ViolenceDespite the cliché, 2020 really is one for the history books. Between a global pandemic disproportionately harming communities of color, racist and ableist police shootings, and legal and personal attacks on queer and trans populations, we have a lot to reckon with as this year comes to a close. In episode 124, host Cathy Hannabach interviews sociologist Siobhan Brooks about how these events emerge from long histories of racially gendered violence and why our reckoning must contend with these histories to build better futures. Siobhan’s research across her career demonstrates how critical reflection on structures of inequality is cru...
2020-12-0919 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJillian Hernandez on the Politics of Confidence and CreativityWomen and girls are constantly bombarded with messages to be more confident. Although such advice might be useful for some, it doesn’t account for how race and class shape the politics of confidence to begin with, much less center the perspectives of women, girls, and femmes of color in determining the goals of such confidence. In episode 122 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews curator, community arts educator, and professor Jillian Hernandez, whose interdisciplinary research examines how Black and Latinx women and girls negotiate gender, sexuality, race, and class through cultural production and bodily pr...
2020-11-1123 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSasha Engelmann on Art and Activism in the AirWhat do politics, community, and artistic resistance look like beyond the terrestrial? What would happen if we took them to the sky? In episode 119 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews feminist geographical researcher and practitioner Sasha Engelmann, whose work radically transforms our cultural imaginaries of atmosphere and environment. Foregrounding creative-critical approaches to environmental sensing, Sasha examines the role of art in crafting new narratives of atmospheric politics and aerial life. In the interview, Sasha and Cathy chat about the transnational politics of atmosphere and breathing in an era of climate devastation, how to creatively...
2020-09-3031 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireChristopher Persaud on Creating Balance to Avoid BurnoutFor those of us who thrive on doing all the things, it is incredibly easy to put off rest and self-care—at least until we hit burnout. Scholars, artists, activists, and other creatives are particularly prone to burnout under even normal circumstances but the pandemic has made this even more acute as we juggle new tasks and emotions. As today’s guest emphasizes, building rest and recovery into our schedules is more important than ever and it requires realistically managing projects with balance in mind. In episode 118 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Christopher Pers...
2020-09-1623 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireKoritha Mitchell on Homemade CitizenshipHow might the history of Black women’s creative homemaking and citizenship practices help us navigate our current political and cultural moment? What might this history reveal about the racially gendered roots of blurred work and home boundaries? In episode 117 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews cultural critic, professor, and scholar Koritha Mitchell, whose new book From Slave Cabins to the White House traces the creative ways African American women have forged homemade versions of citizenship and redefined success in the face of racist and misogynist oppression. In the conversation, Koritha and Cathy talk ab...
2020-09-0233 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireKishonna Gray on Teaching and Parenting in a PandemicOne of the biggest concerns right now for academics who are also parents is figuring out how to juggle education for both their students and their children. Many K–12 and higher education institutions have moved to remote instruction for the fall while racialized patriarchy and heteronormativity shape domestic duties in the home space that is now many peoples’ work space as well. Episode 116 of Imagine Otherwise addresses how academic parents are navigating this terrain and developing a social justice framework for digital learning. In the episode, host Cathy Hannabach interviews digital media professor Kishonna Gray, who uses femi...
2020-08-1933 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAdrienne Shaw on Accessible Online Teaching by DesignHow can we build accessible online courses in the middle of a pandemic? More than just a call to reproduce in-person teaching in digital environments, this pivot to online education has a powerful potential to help us reshape higher education for the better, to ensure it embodies the racial, gender, and disability justice principles those of us in the interdisciplines have long championed. But that takes rethinking some of our most basic assumptions about what education means and who it is for. In episode 115 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Temple University media studies p...
2020-08-0550 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireDorinne Kondo on Reparative Creativity What role can performance play in racial justice struggles? How can theater help us remake the world? The past several months have made even more urgent the centuries-long fight to dismantle the antiblackness and Orientalism that are baked into our social institutions. Such transformations are at the heart of the pedagogy, scholarship, and dramaturgy produced by today’s guest, playwright Dorinne Kondo. Dorinne’s work traces what she calls “reparative creativity,” or the ways artists make, unmake and remake race through their creative work. In episode 114 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cat...
2020-06-2432 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAni Maitra on Media and Identity in the Public SphereThe mediated politics of identity have animated movements as diverse as anticolonial nationalisms, multiple forms of feminism, transgender and disability rights struggles, and Indigenous protests for environmental justice. In all of these examples, media has been a primary and deeply public means through which such identity politics battles are fought, often in unpredictable ways. The guest for today's episode is media studies scholar Ani Maitra, who has a new book out that offers a fresh take on identity politics. Ani’s work highlights the vital need for critical media analysis and scholarly public engagement in our contemporary mo...
2020-06-1130 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireZakiyyah Iman Jackson on Black Feminist InterdisciplinarityWhat would happen if we threw out the boundaries between academic disciplines? How would our collective histories, conflicts, and corporealities change if we stopped assuming that art, science, and politics have ever been separate projects? Today's guest, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, argues that the complexity of blackness and gender reveal the deep imbrications of all of these projects at the bedrock of what it means to be human. In episode 112 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews feminist scholar Zakiyyah Iman Jackson about her new book and the role of blackness in defining the...
2020-05-2723 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FirePorchia Moore on Cultural Heritage and Collective FreedomHow does cultural heritage provide us with the tools to shape what collective freedom looks, sounds, and feels like? This question and its political stakes has guided the life’s work of our guest today, Porchia Moore. In episode 111 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews museum visionary and activist-scholar Porchia Moore about the radical librarians and museum workers who are making information and art institutions newly accessible in our new social distancing world, how race and class structure who feels at home in cultural institutions, and how reclaiming African Americans’ relationship to nature and gree...
2020-05-1325 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJuana María Rodríguez and Emma Pérez on Writing Partnerships Given everything that’s going on in the world right now, writing is the last thing on many people’s minds. Amidst the uncertainty, anxiety, and grief, many of our writing projects have taken a back seat to other more pressing demands. But what if we approach writing not as a solitary distraction or a productivity demand but rather as a vital source of social support? How might the bonds forged through collaboratively writing with another sustain us through this incredibly difficult time? Our guests for today’s episode, Juana...
2020-04-2944 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireHunter Vaughan on the Ecological Impact of Media TechnologiesAmong the many effects of the recent pandemic and social distancing practices is that most of us find ourselves spending more and more time with screens and smart devices as our daily lives move even further online. The stories we consume through these screens and the material production of our devices have complex, interwoven histories that reveal the limits of global capitalism as well as the ethical, ecological, and political importance of thinking critically about media technologies. If the relationship between media, science, and tech ever seemed abstract, our current moment has revealed how deeply corporeal and concrete it...
2020-04-1529 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMiriam Zoila Pérez on Reproductive Justice and Community in Precarious TimesHow does a reproductive justice approach to healthcare change the way we understand childbirth and pregnancy? How can we draw on our holistic, embodied selves to build community in a time of heightened anxiety and precarity? The guest for today's episode, Miriam Zoila Pérez, has a diverse body of work that shows why intersectionality is the answer to both of these questions. In episode 108 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with writer, podcaster, and reproductive justice activist Miriam Zoila Pérez about the racially gendered politics of reproductive health, the intimacy of...
2020-04-0123 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMeghnaa Tallapragada on Science in the Public SphereIt’s commonplace to hear claims that in our current historical moment science has become politicized, as climate crises, vaccines, and genetic modification get hotly debated in rapid-fire news cycles. But as today’s guest Meghnaa Tallapragada reminds us, science has always been inherently political, reflecting shifting racial, gender, and national ideologies and serving diverse interests. In episode 107 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with science communication studies professor Meghnaa Tallapragada about how interdisciplinarity is crucial to effective public engagement, how colorism shapes public marketing discourses on a transnational scale, how we can use less...
2020-03-1831 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireRebecca Wanzo on Visibility and African American ComicsWhat role have Black cartoonists played in the history of superheroes, weekend newspaper funnies, and graphic biographies? How have they harnessed the visual power of the comic form to speak back to racist stereotypes and claim space for themselves and their communities? This episode's guest, Rebecca Wanzo, argues that Black cartoonists in both mainstream and underground comics have tackled these questions since the very beginning of the medium. She also suggests that they’ve done so by reworking some of the most troubling visual tropes shaping Black representation in the United States. In episode 106 of Im...
2020-03-0420 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSasha Costanza-Chock on Design JusticeHow can putting marginalized people at the very center of design and technology change the world for the better? This is the question that has motivated Sasha Costanza-Chock's work for the past two-and-a-half decades. In episode 105 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach and design justice advocate Sasha Costanza-Chock discuss the world-changing effect of putting marginalized people at the center of design and technology practices; how the design justice movement reveals the way social movements have been erased from mainstream storytelling about innovations like Twitter; how researchers, media makers, and community activists can develop mutually beneficial project frameworks...
2020-02-1930 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireElizabeth Wayne and Christine "Xine" Yao on Podcasting Across the STEM/Humanities DivideWhat happens when a biomedical engineer and a literary studies scholar set out to produce a podcast about academia, culture, and social justice across the STEM/humanities divide? That’s exactly what the guests on this episode—Elizabeth Wayne and Christine "Xine" Yao—have been doing for the past four and a half years with PhDivas. In episode 104 of Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Elizabeth Wayne and Christine "Xine" Yao about what it’s like to produce an academic podcast as a form of public scholarship, the transnational and discipline-specific ecology of activism, why the future of acade...
2020-02-0537 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireChristopher B. Patterson on Writing as Resistance and RefusalWhat is at stake when we choose to write in one genre over another? Why does our name shape how our work is taken up in the world? How might we harness the power of refusal as means for collective liberation? In episode 103 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with speculative fiction author, podcaster, and scholar Christopher B. Patterson about why Chris prefers writing novels and scholarly books in pairs and how they inform one another, how we can approach all of our work as passion projects and why we might want to do...
2020-01-2227 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAmy Lam on Feminist Travel WritingHost Cathy Hannabach interviews podcaster, travel writer, and journalist Amy Lam about the power of feminist podcasting, how histories of race and colonialism shape the ways different women of color approach leisure travel, how to write travel stories that ditch the cis white guy tropes for more political and accessible forms, and why drawing inspiration from her childhood dreams of a more just future is how Amy imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/102-amy-lam
2020-01-0822 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMalinda Maynor Lowery on Lumbee StorytellingWhy are interdisciplinary methodologies so important for telling American Indian histories? How does Indigenous documentary filmmaking and television bring scholarly research to broad and diverse audiences? What might Native foodways teach Native and Non-Native folks about political sovereignty? In episode 101 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Lumbee historian and documentary filmmaker Malinda Maynor Lowery about how she weaves together family stories with official documents to tell a new history of the Lumbee Nation, using film documentary to expand definitions of what counts as Southern cuisine, the role of food in Indigenous sovereignty movements, and...
2019-12-1129 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireCathy Hannabach on 3 Years of Imagine OtherwiseThis is the 100th episode of Imagine Otherwise! Host Cathy Hannabach reflects on the past 3 years of interviewing artists, filmmakers, chefs, dancers, authors, poets, teachers, scholars, and movement leaders about how they combine art, activism, and academia to build more just worlds. The episode highlights some of our fans' most talked about and popular episodes. If you’re new to the show and this is your first episode, welcome and this is a good overview to get you started. Whether you’ve been with us from the beginning, the middle, or just started listening, this episode is for...
2019-11-2034 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireKiki Petrosino on Writing from the BodyHow are both our bodies and our creative work haunted by history's ghosts? How does place and historical geography transform the work we do in the classroom? How might poetry and other public intellectual work transform cultural diplomacy? In episode 99 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Pushcart Prize–winning poet Kiki Petrosino about the role of the racialized and gendered body in her newest book Witch Wife, how Kiki teaches her students to wrestle with the histories buried in the land they’re on, why culture and art are such powerful ways to do publ...
2019-11-0619 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireFobazi Ettarh on the Limits of Vocational AweHow can radical librarianship forge solidarity across the university's faculty, students, librarians, and greater community? How does “vocational awe” forestall important critiques about libraries as institutions? What role do frameworks such as critical race theory play in building radical librarian projects that center marginalized voices? In episode 98 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews librarian Fobazi Ettarh about what it means to be a radical librarian, how vocational awe limits solidarity options in libraries and academia, how progressive archivists and librarians of color are stitching critical race and feminist theory into the very fabric of know...
2019-10-2326 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMelody Jue on Thinking Through SeawaterHow can thinking with the sea shifting the foundations of humanities research? How does the ocean challenge terrestrial bias in standpoint epistemologies? What can we learn from the performative and creative possibilities of ocean-based work? In episode 97 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews professor and scuba diver Melody Jue about how she uses scuba diving as a humanities research methodology and method of interpretation, how scuba offers a less terrestrially biased model of feminist standpoint epistemology, and why Melody turns to kelp and other seaweeds for radical models of hope and climate justice.
2019-10-0930 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSarah Stefana Smith on a Poetics and Politics of BafflementHow are Black women artists harnessing texture, transparency, and bafflement to forge forms of belonging beyond the nation? How might the vulnerability of collaboration provide a model for teaching as well as scholarship? How does the concept of amending allow us to reconfigure citizenship and affiliation? In episode 96 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with artist and scholar Sarah Stefana Smith about how Sarah uses a poetics and politics of bafflement to trace how Black art takes shape across national borders, the pleasures and challenges of artistic collaborations in both the short and the...
2019-09-2527 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAnthony Romero on Sound and Socially Engaged ArtHow can we bring socially engaged art into the classroom without losing its community focus? What are the possibilities and limitations of building art spaces beyond traditional institutions? How do the colonial histories of sonic criminalization shape the neighborhoods and lives of contemporary communities of color? In episode 95 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews artist, writer, and educator Anthony Romero about bringing socially engaged art into the classroom, the politics of building Latinx artist retreats within and beyond institutions, and why intervening in the sonic color line is a key part of how Anthony...
2019-08-1419 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireEmilly Prado on Making Space for CreativityHow can writers better translate their work for varied genres and audiences? How are Black and Brown artists challenging the presumed whiteness of particular cities and spaces? What kind of world would be possible if everyone had the time and resources to pursue creative projects? In episode 94 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews journalist and educator Emilly Prado about the complicated politics of assimilation, how to shift your voice when writing across genres and formats, the ways Latinx DJs are cultivating new music spaces, and why documenting the vibrant Black and Brown arts and...
2019-07-3115 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAmber Jamilla Musser on Valuing Embodied KnowledgeHow might the abstraction of aesthetics help us think through the fleshy materiality of race and gender? How would valuing bodily knowledge transform our political, cultural, and economic institutions? How might co-authoring provide a model for ethics in the world? In episode 93 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews feminist scholar Amber Jamilla Musser about how abstraction and materiality work together in the context of racialized sexuality; why the art/activism/academia braid for Amber really comes down to the politics of embodiment; how to navigate credit, voice, and schedules when co-authoring with another writer...
2019-07-1716 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSandra Ruiz on Resetting the Colonial ClockHow are artists, activists, and communities resetting the colonial clock? What does it mean to reinterpret political actions as insurgent performances? How might we transform the collaborative possibilities of scholarly work? In episode 92 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews curator, performer, and scholar Sandra Ruiz about the radical ways that Puerto Rican artists, performers and activists are resetting the colonial clock, what it means to use language to restage historical performances in the present, how Sandra mobilizes everyday absurdity in her theater and gallery curatorial work, and why imagining otherwise is one of the...
2019-07-0327 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireTania Lizarazo on Listening and Learning TogetherWhat does it mean to value storytelling as a form of knowledge production? How can we develop collaborative research projects with the communities to which we are accountable? What transformative avenues emerge when we ask what people need rather than making assumptions? In episode 91 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with professor Tania Lizarazo about how digital storytelling lets her build transnational community and accountability in deeply local spaces, the very different process of doing collaborative research that actively enriches the lives of everyone involved (not just the lives of scholars in the academy...
2019-06-1917 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAlix Olson on Transitioning from Performer to ProfessorWhy did so many feminist performers and artists of a certain generation transition into academic careers? How can scholars and activists mobilize beyond neoliberal forms of resilience? How might humor and solidarity provide the tools we need to build worlds beyond the here and now? In episode 90 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews poet, performer, and professor Alix Olson about how and why Alix made the transition from internationally touring spoken word poet to gender studies professor and scholar, the limits of resilience as an organizing strategy and what we might mobilize around instead...
2019-06-0519 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireEbony Elizabeth Thomas on Leaving No One BehindHow can children's literature help us make sense of an ever-changing world? Why is speculative fiction having such a moment in contemporary popular culture? How might theorizing and creating cultural production increase our capacity for hope? In episode 89 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews education professor and young adult novelist Ebony Elizabeth Thomas about why young adult fantasy and speculative fiction is so popular with adults and media companies alike in our current moment, Ebony’s recommendations for recent and awesome speculative fiction by and about people of color, how writing in creative genres li...
2019-05-2230 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireDenne Michele Norris on QTPOC Literary WorldsHow might difference be reframed as avenue toward sharing collective power instead of a source of conflict? How can the literary world better encourage and sustain writers from marginalized identities? What does it mean to make art that doesn't shy away from the politics of context? In episode 88 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with author, editor, and podcast co-host Denne Michele Norris about how the writing process differs for novels versus short fiction, why sending authors acceptance letters is the highlight of her day as a fiction editor, how the literary world can...
2019-05-0829 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJenn M. Jackson on Black Feminist Love and Community BuildingHow are Black feminists challenging tired savior narratives in favor of robust and fully human forms of admiration? How can scholars unlearn some of the academy's lessons to produce truly great public scholarship? What does it actually look like on a daily basis to embody justice as love in public? In episode 87 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with podcaster, Teen Vogue columnist, and political scientist Jenn. M. Jackson about what its like cohosting a podcast about Black millennial life with her partner, how Black feminists are challenging popular savior narratives, why scholars need...
2019-04-2431 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireLarisa Kingston Mann on DJ Dreams and Radical PublicsHow do radical music cultures help us rethink differently copyright and global cultural production? What does it mean to put theory and creative practice in conversation with one another? How can we create socially, politically, and ethically engaged scholarship that is accountable to and supportive of marginalized communities? In episode 86 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with DJ and media studies professor and DJ Larisa Kingston Mann about how radical music communities navigate copyright law and colonial legacies; how Larisa’s work as a DJ and music event organizer taught her how to improvise an...
2019-04-1021 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireNadine Hubbs on Listening QueerlyHow might we interrogate the sociocultural dimensions of music through queer, class-conscious, and anti-racist frameworks? How can teachers of all subjects use music to tackle challenging topics like race and class politics in the classroom? How can incorporating a creative practice improve scholarly research? In episode 85 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with musician and scholar Nadine Hubbs about why American classical music owes its existence to gay social networks; how Latinx millennials are showing that American country music is also Mexican; how dedicating serious time to a creative practice can actually help you...
2019-03-2720 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMarisol LeBrón on an Anti-Colonial Abolitionist PraxisHow do punitive governance like policing and natural disasters like Hurricane Maria reveal the ongoing colonial relationship between the US and Puerto Rico? What do you do when your research plans are thrown into disarray by unforeseen events? How might we work together to imagine an abolitionist future? In episode 84 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with Latinx studies scholar Marisol LeBrón about how police violence and Hurricane Maria reveal the fraught colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the US government, how scholars can roll with the punches when natural disasters and other m...
2019-03-1318 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJade S. Sasser on Reproductive Justice and Climate ChangeHow do the racist and misogynist histories of population control shape current debates over climate change? How is the reproductive justice movement shifting our understandings of environmentalism and public health? How are feminist public health scholars harnessing photography, poetry, and creative writing to bring their research to diverse audiences? In episode 83 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews gender and health studies scholar Jade S. Sasser about how the long racist and sexist histories of population control shape current-day climate change debates and global health policy, how to approach scholarship from a position of social j...
2019-02-2720 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJessica Nydia Pabón-Colón on Women Graffiti ArtistsHow 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...
2019-02-1322 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAlyshia Gálvez on NAFTA and Transnational Food JusticeWhat 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 t...
2019-01-3020 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJ. Kēhaulani Kauanui on Hawaiian SovereigntyHow 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.
2019-01-1625 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJenny L. Davis on Indigenous Language RevitalizationWhat 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...
2019-01-0217 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireJian Neo Chen on Trans of Color Art and ActivismHow 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...
2018-12-1914 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAimee Bahng on Speculating from the UndercommonsHow 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...
2018-12-0519 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireCraig Santos Perez on a Decolonial and Demilitarized PacificHow 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...
2018-11-2114 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireMacarena Gómez-Barris on Fighting Extractive CapitalismWhat 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...
2018-11-0725 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireVeronica Corzo-Duchardt on Art Between WorldsHow 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, an...
2018-10-2416 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireImani Perry on Love as an EthicWhat 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 wi...
2018-10-1018 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireManuela Lavinas Picq on Indigenous FuturesHow do Indigenous forms of governance provide models for organizing beyond the state? How might scholars better work alongside of and in the best interests of the people that they study? How does Indigenous artistic production reimagine the very nature of politics? In episode 72 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews professor Manuela Lavinas Picq about the powerful ways Indigenous Ecuadorian women are forging new models for international politics; the personal, professional, and political stakes of being a scholar in the Global South; why it is so important for academics to work with and for c...
2018-09-2620 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireFrancesca T. Royster on Writing CourageouslyHow does music enable us to dream up a different world? What does respecting your audience look like as a writer? How can we empower young people access to tell stories that matter to them? In episode 71 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with professor and writer Francesca T. Royster about the queer afterlives of soul music, Francesca’s powerful family histories of women forging intellectual and familial bonds in untraditional ways, and why giving young people the tools to tell their own stories in their own ways is how Francesca imagines otherwise. ...
2018-09-1227 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireStacie Williams on Radical LibrarianshipWhat politics shape information management and access to knowledge? What are the social and environmental implications of ubiquitous digital preservation? How are librarians and archivists at the forefront of radical social justice projects? In episode 70 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews librarian and archivist Stacie Williams about how knowledge and information gathering has always been deeply racialized and gendered, the radical work librarians and archivists are doing to end sexual violence and the carceral state, why digitizing everything is actually a terrible idea with big environmental consequences, and how love is key to how S...
2018-08-2926 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireGayatri Gopinath on Queer Diasporic AestheticsHow might a queer lens unearth different conceptions of space and place? How do queer diasporic artists use aesthetics to forge transnational connections? How might radical relationality provide a model for queer ethics and politics? In episode 69 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with queer diaspora studies scholar Gayatri Gopinath about how visual culture allows us to draw alternative cartographies and see things queerly, how diasporic communities are using art to challenge national governments and transnational capitalism, the radical possibilities of region-to-region connections across the Global South, and why mentoring queer scholars of color...
2018-08-1515 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireHeath Fogg Davis on Gender's AdministrationDo we really need sex classification in our education system, our public restrooms, or our government IDs? How can we alleviate some of the harm that trans and gender-nonconforming people who don't fit into a binary face? How might gender studies scholars best work with community members on these issues? Episode 68 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast is the final episode in a three-part miniseries that was recorded live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a recent gathering of interdisciplinary cultural studies scholars. The three authors featured in this miniseries—Sami Schalk, Aimi Hamraie, and Heath Fogg Davis—have recently publ...
2018-08-0134 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAimi Hamraie on the Politics of Disability and Design How has the concept of Universal Design and its application to architectural practice changed over the years? Who is left out of design practices that are meant for “everyone”? What if the design industry actually employed the people with disabilities who have been designing adaptable and accessible products for decades? Episode 67 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast is the second in a three-part miniseries that was recorded live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a recent gathering of interdisciplinary cultural studies scholars. The three authors featured in this miniseries—Sami Schalk, Aimi Hamraie, and Heath Fogg Davis—have recently published cultural...
2018-07-1827 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSami Schalk on Disability and Black Women's Speculative FictionHow does speculative fiction provide us models for more queer, just, and creative futures? How are Black women novelists helping us reimagine what (dis)ability and embodiment mean? What is missing from our conversations in popular representation, disability studies, and Black studies? Episode 66 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast is the first in a three part miniseries that was recorded live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a recent gathering of interdisciplinary cultural studies scholars. The three authors featured in this miniseries—Sami Schalk, Aimi Hamraie, and Heath Fogg Davis—have recently published cultural studies books that have made big splash...
2018-07-0420 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireBianca Laureano on Feminist Afro-Latinx Sex EducationHow might we create a world where intersectional feminist, sex-positive sex education is the norm? What new avenues of liberation are opened up when we move past a theory vs. practice dichotomy in sexuality education? How can we center accountability and community responsibility in imagining a safer and more pleasurable future? In episode 65 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews educator and sexologist Bianca Laureano about how women of color sexual health communities are challenging white supremacy and sex negativity; how a hippie Puerto Rican family shaped Bianca’s journey into the sex education field; th...
2018-06-2026 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireTavia Nyong'o on Revolutionary Queer ImaginariesWhat is the negative capacity of art and how does it let us imagine otherwise? What tools does queer of color critique offer for building new worlds? What revolutionary futures become visible when we bring a critical scrutiny to our lives and our work? In episode 64 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with professor Tavia Nyong’o about the ongoing project of Black abolition, repurposing social media platforms to create monthly political salons and counterpublics, how to live the contradictions inherent in public scholarship, and why centering queer of color joy and pleasure is ke...
2018-06-0619 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireTina Campt on Listening to ImagesWhat does it mean to listen to images? Why do images seem to be haunted by their contexts of production? How are marginalized communities using the intimacy of images to build new ways of relating to each other and the world? In episode 63 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with professor Tina Campt about how listening to images reveals their multisensory and embodied nature, the haptic connections we have to photos, why the art/activism/academia braid holds such power for Black communities, and why putting intimacy at the center of all she does...
2018-05-1627 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha on Disability JusticeWhat is the difference between disability justice and disability rights? How can we make our social justice movement spaces accessible to and led by people with disabilities of all kinds? What kind of world could we create if we valued and centered the experiences of our most marginalized community members? In episode 62 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews writer and cultural worker Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about the past successes and current challenges of the disability justice movement, how to create truly accessible performance and art spaces, and why helping survivors remake the world is...
2018-05-0231 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireLeah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha on Radical MemoirHow have marginalized people harnessed the genre of memoir to write themselves into history? What might queer crip time teach us about the writing process? What happens when writers allow themselves the time and space to sit with their work? In episode 61 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews writer and cultural worker Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about her transformative justice memoir Dirty River, how queer brown and disabled people write themselves into history, how you can bring ritual into your writing practice, and the value of letting your writing develop slooooowly—like a sourdough starter....
2018-04-1832 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireManuel Cuellar on Dancing as Community BuildingWhat complexities arise when dance becomes a site of national identity? What kind of cultural knowledges do we carry in our bodies and perform onstage? What can scholars do to better support interdisciplinarity in their students’ work? In episode 60 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews dancer and professor Manuel Cuellar about how queering Mexican folkloric dance lets him create the communities he wants to inhabit, how Indigenous knowledge production provides a vital alternative to traditional universities, and why embodied vulnerability and the generative power of wounds is how Manuel imagines otherwise. Transcript an...
2018-04-0418 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireLynn Comella on Finding Your Voice and Knowing Your AudienceWhat tensions arise when sex-positive feminists and queer folk get into the sex toy business? How can scholars get their institutions to recognize their public writing as scholarship? What ethical commitments do ethnographers have to their communities and research subjects? In episode 59 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews writer and professor Lynn Comella about the fierce women and queers who jump started the feminist sex toy revolution, how scholars can up their public engagement game (not to mention why they need to), pragmatic advice for writing a crossover or trade book, and how feminist...
2018-03-2123 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireSara Tatyana Bernstein on Critical Public ScholarshipHow can we dismantle hierarchies between students and professors in higher education? What does critically engaged public scholarship look like? Why is fashion such a provocative and generative site for thinking about complex sociocultural issues? In episode 58 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with cultural studies scholar and writer Sara Tatyana Bernstein about why she started a digital magazine focused on fashion and politics, why public engagement and community projects are the future of education, and how becoming a public scholar is allowing Sara to imagine otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://i...
2018-03-0716 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireAlice Y. Hom on Queer Public HistoryHow can we make queer histories accessible beyond the academy? What might those histories teach us about how social justice organizations can sustain themselves over the long haul, despite hostile political conditions? In episode 57 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with Alice Y. Hom about the political and personal process of starting a history podcast about queer and trans people of color, what nonprofits and community organizations face in the coming years, and how self-care and community care are at the core of how Alice imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://i...
2018-02-2115 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireElizabeth J. Chin on Dancing Beyond WhitenessHow can we imagine and create speculative futures beyond whiteness? What can anthropology teach us about design and technology? And how might autoethnography and dance allow us to imagine otherwise? In episode 56 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with dancer and ethnographer Elizabeth J. Chin about the simultaneous freedom, fun, and vulnerability inherent in writing about oneself, how dance is fantastic preparation for academic work, how she makes space for her whole self amidst a busy academic career, and how teaching kids how to make stuff is how she imagines otherwise. Transcript...
2018-01-3126 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireShaka McGlotten on the Passion of InquiryWhat are the emotional and political stakes of knowledge production? How can queer and trans communities of color reject transparency to better protect themselves and their cultural production? What might drag and voguing teach us about entanglement of performance, politics, and performance? In episode 55 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with professor and artist Shaka McGlotten about the passionate relationship we often have to the things that we study as well as how that always necessitates both desire and loss, how students can harness the power of Afrofuturism and speculation to combat white supremacy...
2018-01-1029 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireYaba Blay on Everyday Black Girl MagicWhat racial and gender norms are baked into our concepts of professionalism? How can we push ourselves to expand our definition of what “counts” as knowledge production? What does it mean to honor blackness in all its possible forms? In Episode 54 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with cultural producer Yaba Blay about how beauty culture and colorism shape her publicly engaged approach to scholarship, how being an insider/outsider in the academy allows one to enact broad social change, the importance of meeting students where they’re at, and how her celebration of everyd...
2017-12-1320 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireElicia Gonzales on Latinx Reproductive JusticeHow can we put reproductive justice in conversation with racial and economic justice? How are queer Latinx communities and other queers of color leading the field in comprehensive, queer-positive sex education? What can we do to make space for multiply marginalized people within ALL advocacy organizations? In episode 53 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews Elicia Gonzales about how reproductive justice organizations can better incorporate intersectionality (and why they should), the role of Latinx and other queer of color movements in Philadelphia’s radical history, why pleasure is a right not a privilege, and why El...
2017-11-2920 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireKaren Tongson on the Pleasures of Pop CultureWhat can popular music teach us about migration and cultural change? How can pleasure and joy help us redefine what it means to be a “serious” intellectual? What might be stimulating or even transformative about the sprawl of Southern California? In episode 52 of the Imagine Otherwise Podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews podcaster and professor Karen Tongson about music and its relationship to place, the migratory and melodic flows between Manila and Los Angeles, how the Spice Girls can help us understand Adorno and Horkheimer, and the queer and transnational inspiration that Karen draws from her namesake, Karen Carpe...
2017-11-1522 min
Imagine Otherwise by Ideas on FireCathy Hannabach Introduces the Imagine Otherwise PodcastIn the pilot episode, host Cathy Hannabach introduces the Imagine Otherwise podcast, which showcases the people and projects bridging art, activism, and academia to build better worlds. Episodes offer in-depth interviews with creators who use culture for social justice, and explore the nitty-gritty work of imagining and creating more just worlds. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/0-cathy-hannabach
2016-01-1102 min