Shows
The Gaymazing RaceUltimatum: Queer Love S2E2 - "They F****** 'Til The Room Stank"Creator of the Ultimatum Fantasy League Dani Wassel, and raconteur, writer and performer Amanda-Faye Jimenez join Karen and Nicole to process everything from "The Choice" to "Ultimatum Day." We discuss a range of topics from trial spouse criteria, to dommy mommy issues, to sexual loopholes and "good old fashioned tribadism." Happy 4th of July!2025-07-041h 36The Gaymazing RaceUltimatum: Queer Love S2E1 - Butterflies and CockroachesSurprise! TGR returns with 3 special bonus episodes on season 2 of THE ULTIMATUM: QUEER LOVE. Karen and Nicole gather queer experts, friends of the pod and Ultimatum enthusiasts to join them in astute, if also sometimes raw and raunchy assessments of the couplings, uncouplings and potential throuplings of Netflix's messiest queer dating show. This week: Greta La Fleur and Poulomi Saha join us to introduce all the couples, haircuts, trial spouses and more leading up to "The Choice." 2025-06-281h 10The Gaymazing RaceEp. 53: Gaycation and Domination in BaliNicole and Karen get into the gayest episode of The Amazing Race this season, as Cirque du So Gay (Mark and Brett), and The Gaymers (Jack and Carson) both wind up on top–but who tops whom between them? Meanwhile, the tragedy of heterosexuality plays out as two of the remaining three straight couples face the dreaded double U-Turn. Karen, who is based in NY until the end of the season made her way to the Gaymers’ weekly watch party at Berry Park in Brooklyn, where she hung out and got some awesome vox pop commentary from pere...2025-04-071h 25The Gaymazing RaceEP. 52: Taxicab Tingles & Gay Choreo in BaliThe Amazing Race heads to Bali, and our special guest co-hosts Ricky & César, the winners of season 36, join Karen to process the first ever “Driver’s Seat” aka “Knee Deep in the Passenger Seat” challenge. Our Gaymers Carson and Jack bring multiple gaymazing moments in taxicabs and on their ATVs this episode. Meanwhile, Team Cirque du so Gay, Mark and Brett hustle hard while telling us about their skin care routine and the importance of Zen. Our last sapphic-coded duo, Team Cardigan (Bernie and Carrigain) are in the back of the pack and we are on pins and ne...2025-03-311h 18The Gaymazing RaceEp. 51: Knee Deep in the Passenger Seat in KyotoBoth Karen and Nicole are recording on the road after their own planes, trains and automobiles, so their Amazing Race recap is a little more “gestalt” than precise for S37, E4, as the teams travel to Kyoto on the bullet train. Ironically, both our sapphic fanfic team, Bernie and Carrigain and our actual sapphic team, Courney and Jasmin are in trouble on this leg after being confronted by a sporty challenge. Soccer opens our eyes to the bisexual potential of a couple of the other teams. While all the teams struggle with being ninjas, including our gaymers, Mark...2025-03-241h 03The Gaymazing RaceEp. 50: Gays Know How to Drape in OsakaThe Amazing Race continues onto Osaka, Japan, and some of our gaymazing suspicions are confirmed, as we learn about the gamers (aka “gaymers”) cute back-story of coming out to each other as young gays who weren’t gay for each other. We’ve rechristened Carrigain with the sapphic Gaylor nickname, “Cardigan,” and Nicole has pointed out that Bernie’s tongue is pierced and looks good with her hoodie. Meanwhile, the teams drum, wrestle sumos and make mochi, while Karen insists on adding “making mochi” to the gay lexicon. We sit down with Bubblegum, aka Bridget and her rappin’ dad Ernest...2025-03-1759 min
The Art of GriefHoliday FeelingsKaren and Megan record their first holiday special, and themselves get caught off-guard by some of their own holiday feelings, including the confluence of grief and joy. Karen opens up about the difficulty of Christmas this year, as well as in years past because it was her grandmother's favorite holiday. Megan talks about seeing the holidays anew through the eyes of her two young children. They also offer words of advice about what's worked for them in the past to calm the holiday overload.2024-12-2336 minThe Art of GriefFinding the Words with Colin CampbellIn June 2019, Colin Campbell and his wife Gail Lerner lost both of their children, Ruby and Hart when a drunk driver hit their car and changed a pleasant family outing into the worst day imaginable. Megan and Karen invite Colin to discuss the book he wrote in the wake of that tragedy, Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose, which offers an honest account of his journey, while providing guidance and practical tools for others going through similar experiences. 2024-11-1856 minThe Art of GriefPost-Election SpecialMegan and Karen check in with each other after the 2024 election, and discuss their own range of emotional responses, including grief, anger, and even a sense of tragicomedy. They also offer some thoughts around how to take care of yourselves and others during this intense, confrontational and difficult time. 2024-11-0827 minThe Art of GriefThe Thin Line Between Laughter & Tears with Jenny YangComedian, writer, actor and Self Help Me-guru Jenny Yang joins us this week to talk about the thin line between laughter and tears, and the global, cumulative griefs she–and we–have experienced over the last five years. Jenny offers an emotionally honest account of her fertility challenges, and how she confronted that grief with a healing, satirical photo project using the aesthetics of “birth announcements.” Karen and Jenny compare notes about Filipino vs. Taiwanese expressions of grief, while Megan and Jenny discuss a range of therapeutic journeys, their benefits and their drawbacks. “Birth Announcements” Photo Project: https://www.i...2024-09-2346 minThe Art of GriefPremiere Episode Welcome to The Art of Grief, a podcast featuring conversations between artists, creators, mental health professionals, and spiritual guides to explore the many forms of loss and grief, and the different ways we use art to cope with those feelings. In our premiere episode, you meet hosts Karen Tongson and Megan Auster-Rosen and hear about their shared histories of grief as they cut across their friendship, and their own creative and professional practices. 2024-09-0447 min
New Books in FilmKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1856 min
New Books in Popular CultureKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
New Books in SociologyKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
New Books in LGBTQ+ StudiesKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1856 min
New Books in CommunicationsKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
New Books in GenderKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
New Books in American StudiesKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
From the Square: An NYU Press PodcastKaren Tongson, "Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us" (NYU Press, 2023)In Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (NYU Press, 2023), Karen Tongson presents an irreverent look at the love-hate relationship between queer viewers and mainstream family TV shows like Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. After personal loss, political upheaval, and the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us craved a return to business as usual, the mundane, the middlebrow. We turned to TV to find these things. For nearly forty years, network television has produced a constant stream of “cry-along” sentimental-realist dramedies designed to appeal to liberal, heterosexual, white America. But what makes us keep watching, e...2024-08-1858 min
Queer Lit“Normporn and Queer Imaginaries” with Karen TongsonWhat could be more soothing than escaping your beautiful but complex queer life by watching a bunch of straight people remodel their suburban home in a new shade of beige? Karen Tongson joins me to explain why mainstream television can be so comforting and why admitting to having watched Gilmore Girls for the fourth time can feel a bit like sharing your browser history… In this curious entanglement of norms, shame, and self-soothing, Karen also shares insights into the shifting views of what is normal and what this means for queer life – televisually as well as geographically and sociopolitically.2024-05-1454 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 43: I Lost My Nut! (S36, E5)Sorry for the delay in getting this episode out! Nicole recorded this mere hours before her own amazing race to a meditation retreat, and our production assistant Corky (Karen's cat) kept pausing the recording to give notes. He's very picky. 2024-04-161h 10The Gaymazing RaceEp. 39: Girls Who Like Girls Who Like the Amazing Race (S36, E1)We are BACK, and both Karen and Nicole have a lot of annoying Puerto Vallarta expertise to share, as they marvel at this season’s gaymazing cast. Which butch daddy are both hosts enamored with in between their distracted chatter about The Traitors US, UK, Australia and New Zealand? And what do they make of this season’s LGBTQ+ abundance? Maya and Rohan, siblings and Amazing Race superfans from birth join us in this week’s elimination station. 2024-03-191h 13
Material GirlsGilmore Girls x Normporn with Karen TongsonFor this episode, we're joined by the incredible Karen Tongson, Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies, English, and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Why Karen Carpenter Matters and Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries. Her newest book, normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us provides theory for this episode about the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. We begin with a discussion of the early 2000s postfeminist Bush era that defined the early days of Gilmore Girls. Karen then offers some insight into the viewing practices of queer adults...2024-03-051h 07The Gaymazing RaceEp. 37: A Cold Plunge into GaietyThe Amazing Race teams arrive in Dublin for the penultimate leg, and despite everyone having to Riverdance at the Gaiety theater, Karen and Nicole think this is among the straightest episodes yet. Corey falls in love with his pretty dance instructor, the lady Swayze to his Baby, while John from Team BLERD is lithe and light in his (heeled) dancing shoes. Beardback Mountain duke it out with Steve and Anna Leigh, aka Team “Daddy/Daughter Dance” for the last spot in the finals. Despite some initial reservations, Nicole is ALL-IN on Steve conquering his cardio-challenges, while Karen pulls...2023-12-0859 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 36: Midsommar Daydreams and Lesbian RecyclingThings get tense as the final 5 teams on The Amazing Race winnow down to 4 in Sweden’s Stockholm archipelago. Everyone skydives their way to Nordic bliss before the slimmest of margins separate all the teams. This week’s detour is decidedly a choice between a lesbian task–recycling–and a gay task: expediting a gourmet French menu. Nicole makes a case for reimagining team Beardback Mountain as “pansexual,” while Karen bonds with our elimination station guests, Todd and Ashlie who are also from the I.E. (Inland Empire) 2023-12-0158 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 35: Gorgeous Caves and Sacks of ShellfishAfter a long prelude in which Nicole and Karen discuss the new Todd Haynes film, May December, with some notes on which Amazing Race contestants they would cast in the lead roles, they get into how painfully straight the show has become. Slovenia feels very “Covid lockdown” season to our team, despite all the hype. Karen talks a little too much about caves, and Nicole thinks the greeters at the end of this leg are lesbian nuns. We are of course devastated that our brash fanfiction team is KNOCKED OUT (farewell Robbin and Chelsea), and we wonder if there’s any...2023-11-301h 06The Gaymazing RaceEp. 34: Fisting Hay and Pansexual BeekepersThe Amazing Race visits Llubjana, Slovenia for the first time ever in its history, and Karen tells us about how Llubjana became a gaycation destination in the late aughts and early-2010s. Nicole softens to Steve, the daddy of team Daddy/Daughter dance, especially after Anna Leigh makes him run up a long ski lift for an express pass that was already claimed. Despite the gayness of Llubjana, we were hard-pressed to find gaymazing content beyond the detour where the judges of both sides offered the slightest glimmer of queer potential. Morgan and Lena join us in...2023-11-171h 03The Gaymazing RaceEp. 33: “Yes! I wanted sausage so bad!” in KölnThe Amazing Racers take a 15 hour flight from Jaipur to Frankfurt where the season’s first self-driving leg awaits them. As they make their way along the Rhine, we find out who can’t find the right ferry. Are all the teams secretly laughing at the German word “Fährt”? Karen declares she would “slay in Köln,” one of her favorite cities in the world, and a place she knows well. Nicole feels like the wayward teams have captured her true TAR spirit. Plus, experience the Kölner carnival challenge that makes EVERYONE a little bit gay. 2023-11-101h 15
Feminist Frequency RadioFFR 244: normporn featuring Karen Tongson and A.C. LambertyKat’s “Machos: Fully Loaded” guest co-host, A. C. Lamberty, returns to Feminist Frequency Radio for a special interview with returning guest Karen Tongson to discuss her brand-new book normporn: queer viewers and the tv that soothes us.Links Mentioned:Get your own copy of normporn: https://bookshop.org/p/books/normporn-queer-pleasures-in-sentimental-television-karen-tongson/19916162https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-30-guyliner-tears-and-octopusses-with-kat-spada/id1549053649?i=1000632054909Find Karen:twitter.com/inlandemperorkarentongson.orgFind A.C.:Website: https://www.aclamberty.com/On Instagram and Letterboxd at @aclambertyFind Kat:twitter.com/kat_ex_machinaFind U...2023-11-081h 04The Gaymazing RaceEp. 29: Side-eye Pups, Smokin’ Hot Vinyl and the Queens of RiceNicole and Karen ‘s powers of projection are more powerful than ever as they comb through the details of TAR’s leg 3 in Vietnam for the subtlest of queer content. How are our fanfic Gaymazing teams (the tatted-up GenX moms, and “Beardback Mountain”) faring against the ACTUAL gays competing this season, Joe and Ian? How hot does it get in the vinyl challenge? And who can roll the rice right to slide into the pit-stop first? This, and disturbing new sound effects on this week’s TGR!2023-10-1351 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 27 + 28: Welcome to A Gaymazing Mega-LegNicole and Karen are back to give you all their spicy, gaymazing commentary on not one, but the first TWO episodes of season 35 of The Amazing Race. What teams have each of them cathected onto for their gay fan-fiction? Who are their favorites otherwise? Is this season’s gay team evil enough? Plus interviews with the eliminated contestants.2023-10-102h 24
Screen Drafts1998 mini-MEGA with (Karen Tongson, Helen Shang, Thomas Grabinski, Bryan Cogman, & Clay)It's Screen Drafts' 2nd annual 25th anniversary celebration! Guest commissioner Bryan Cogman takes over the show as Clay joins an illustrious GM panel, including author Karen Tongson, screenwriter Helen Shang, and development exec Thomas Grabinski, to rank the 13 best films released in the year 1998!2023-09-264h 33
Time To Say GoodbyeOlivia Rodrigo + Pinay pop, with Karen TongsonHello from karaoke! This week, we bring you more Olivia Rodrigo content–with Karen Tongson, USC professor, podcast co-host, and lover of all singable musics! [28:50] Jay and Tammy* go deep with Karen on her childhood with musician parents, AzNs in California’s Inland Empire, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), transpacific music circuits, and why it’s racist to pile on a twenty-year-old Pinay pop star. [3:25] But first, some takes on Hasan Minhaj’s “emotionally true” standup act. (*Sorry for Tammy’s absence partway, then fully halfway, through the ep… and all the water noise, lol. NY apartment life, what can you do...2023-09-201h 21
Sagittarian MattersEpisode #275-KAREN TONGSON!!! ULTIMATUM QUEER LOVE Special Pride Crossover Episode.Today on a Super Special Pride Edition Crossover Episode, noted Virgo Karen Tongson of the Gaymazing Race & Waiting to X-hale joins me to talk about THE ULTIMATUM- QUEER LOVE. Stay tuned.
Karen Tongson is the author of Normporn: Television and the Spectacle of Normalcy (forthcoming 2023), Why Karen Carpenter Matters (2019), and Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries (2011). Her current book-in-progress is titled, Empty Orchestra: Karaoke, Queer Performance, Queer Theory (Duke University Press). She received Lambda Literary’s Jeanne Córdova Award for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction for her body of writing in 2019. Tongson currently chairs the department of gender and sexuality studies...2023-06-111h 25
Feminist Frequency RadioFFR 223 Triange of Sadness with Karen TongsonThe first course of this "Eat the Rich" mini-season is served! Kat and Anita are joined by professor, podcaster, and author Karen Tongson to sink our teeth into Ruben Östlund's Oscar-nominated 2022 saga Triangle of Sadness. Tune in to find out how we think the movie's satirical look at class dynamics may (or may not) have been successful.
2023-02-081h 04The Gaymazing RaceEp. 26: “Shortest, Oldest, Most Femalest,” vs. The Most Bisexualest Winner of The Amazing RaceIt’s the Amazing Race Season 34 finale, and Nicole and Karen not only interview the top 3 teams, but they also bring back Aastha and Nina, the lesbian team woefully eliminated at the very start of the race, for a S34 post-mortem. Will Derek and Claire have it out with our hosts for not only erasing Claire’s bisexuality, but also rooting against them most of the time? What will Emily and Molly reveal about the extent of Emily’s injuries? And what makes Michelle, of Luis and Michelle, so fearless about heights? All this and so much more o...2022-12-132h 09The Gaymazing RaceEp. 25 - David with the Good Hair and Lesbian Carabiners in IcelandThere’s a schism in this week’s gay scores doled out by Karen and Nicole, as Karen thinks “all of Iceland is lesbionic,” while Nicole is a little more skeptical as we confront three out of four “straight-facing couples” in the final four. David with the Good Hair touches us with his bravery as he confronts his difficulties swimming this week. We digress into educational riffs about spectrums of racialized masculinity, plus there are several important reveals in our Elimination Station with David and Aubrey, our favorite straight-couple team on The Amazing Race! 2022-12-0559 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 24: Bend Over for CastanetsDespite the prevailing heterosexuality (and one lone bisexual) amongst our remaining contestants, episode 10 of The Amazing Race offers the most gaymazing detours yet, from dressing a flamenco dancer, to a challenge dubbed “Bend Over Backwards,” testing how much a brick arch can, in Phil’s words, “take a load.” Marcus of Michael and Marcus joins us in our elimination station to break down exactly how far behind they were from other teams. Plus, digressions on vegan gravy, the queerness of aesthetics, and other gaymazing topics.2022-12-0154 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 23: Bisexual Veganism in MalagaThe Amazing Race serves up another Mega Leg, so we have no elimination station this week: just teams racing around Malaga, Spain recreating art, riding bicycles, and pumping up paddleboards. We get into some of the racers’ squeamishness while undertaking a sardine-grilling challenge, and Nicole makes her case for why our hypothetical team might want to choose the other side of the detour. Karen sees Derek’s homage to Salt Bae and is not amused.2022-11-2244 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 22: The Lorde Gayeth, and the Lorde Taketh AwayThe Amazing Race teams head due south from Domme to Toulouse, and Karen and Nicole are tantalized by the Road Block which involves running drills with an entire French women’s rugby team. BUT FIRST, our hosts atone for their bisexual erasure of one of the remaining contestants. Even amidst this gay plentitude, deprivation looms on the horizon as our last officially GAYmazing team, the co-ed cheerleaders Quinton and Mattie, find themselves in our Elimination Station. PLUS: why French horns evoke homo-panic memories, and the poetic local who looks like Karen’s grad school ex.2022-11-151h 06The Gaymazing RaceEp. 21: Women w/ Tractors & Border Collies in the South of FranceNicole and Karen get into a discussion about reclaiming pejoratives like “dyke” and “queer” while recapping The Amazing Race’s return to Europe and the Dordogne region in the South of France. Is the lady-Knight at the genealogy challenge actually Nicole’s “lesbian” doctor in L.A.? Are the short-haired women who used their tractor to rescue the team who drove into the ditch family? Plus, we welcome Glenda and Lumumba into our Elimination Station with a most heavy heart.2022-11-081h 05The Gaymazing RaceEp. 20: Flirt Dances and Quarantine w/ Will and Abby (S34, E6)The Amazing Race manages another first during its visit to the Kingdom of Jordan: the first team ever to be eliminated for testing positive for Covid is cut from the race within this episode’s opening minutes. Is it just us, or are we starting to see Quentin and Mattie (our official Gaymazing team) beginning to make strides in the competition, including limber stretches to grab tinfulls of nails? We also speculate on whether or not we’d run into gender trouble if a same-sex team elected to do the “flirt dance” during the detour. Plus, we pump Will and Abby...2022-10-3159 min
You're Making It WorseThe Gaymazing Race (Karen Tongson and Nicole Georges)Gaymazing Race hosts Karen Tongson and Nicole Georges join the guys to break down how they watch their favorite show through a queer lens. Also, an LGBTQ+ museum: who wants it? And the guys dish on their ideal salads. And if you don't think Outback gets a shoutout, you're sorely mistaken! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2022-10-2755 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 19: Context Clues and Queer Truths with Linton and Sharik (S34, E5)The Amazing Race makes its first visit ever to the Kingdom of Jordan, and Karen and Nicole are excited to welcome camel caravans and cute puppies into the show’s environments.. Despite some Gaymazing references to Lawrence of Arabia and the like, this episode scores low on our Gaymazing-meter until we have a chance to meet with Linton & Sharik in our Elimination Station, and hear about Sharik’s queer-of-color storyline that didn’t make its way into the main edit. Listen in for a truly moving visit with the father-daughter team, and our fan-fiction explorations of gay storylines we’d like t...2022-10-251h 05The Gaymazing RaceEp. 18: Chiseled Bods and Charcuterie (S34, E4)The first MEGA-LEG reaches its conclusion this week in Florence, Italy, or as Quinton reminds us, “Firenze in Italian.” Nicole beams in from NYC where she just accepted an Edward R. Murrow award for her other pod series Relative Fiction–HOORAY!--and Karen does her best to up episode 4’s Gaymazing score with a couple of gay flourishes, and a mini-rant about exposing kids to straightness. Plus, we “ask for a friend” if teams would be penalized for eating a pinch of mortadella from the charcuterie boards they have to collect from Florence’s bubonic plague windows, and we welcome motiva...2022-10-181h 02The Gaymazing RaceEp. 17: The Head of The Cheese ft. Katy Davidson (S34, E3)Leg 3 kicks off the first MEGA LEG of Season 34 - but almost certainly won't be the last. This to-be-continued episode has everything from lectures, wheels of cheese, socket wrenches, and of course, driving (or failing to drive) stick shift. Since there was no elimination station, Karen and Nicole are joined by a Gaymazing-Amazing-Race Superfan, Katy Davidson! 2022-10-1153 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 16: Leather, Bells and Butt-Slaps (S34, E2)Leg 2 S34 departs from Munich and lands in Innsbruck, Austria and its Alpine environs for some yodeling, cowbells and a leather-clad butt-slapping dancing in the square. Karen speculates whether or not she would be allowed to select her gender-affirming version of the lederhosen/dirndl attire the contestants had to wear throughout the entire leg. Nicole tells us what both incontinence and Jesus have to do with her viewing this week’s episode, and the two welcome team T-Rex to the “Elimination Station.”2022-10-0452 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 15 Sufferin’ Sapphos, The Amazing Race is Back! (S34, E1)Season 34 of The Amazing Race has returned, and so have we! Join Nicole & Karen as they recap the new season from an LGBTQ POV. How do we feel about “the scramble” replacing our old familiar road blocks, detours and route info? How much do we love the engaged lesbian couple, Aastha and Nina from L.A., and who else triggers our gaydar and queer admiration? Plus, Elimination Station returns–we’lll interview this season’s eliminated teams each week right after they get the boot. New episodes drop every Monday with bonus ambient cat and dog noises in the bac...2022-09-261h 01
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureThe Arts of Racial Reckoning: Dr. Elizabeth AlexanderIn the aftermath of the 1992 LA Uprisings, Anna Deavere Smith crafted TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, a play based on Smith’s interviews with over 200 Los Angeles residents. 30 years later, through the lens of TWILIGHT, we ask: how can the arts advance social justice? Can they help us understand structural racism, as more than individual prejudice? Can they provide models for working through conflict? Can they show us both possibilities and limits to our strategies for social change? Today we are in conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, distinguished poet and President of the Mellon Foundation. Dr. Alexander was...2022-09-0947 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureThe Arts of Racial Reckoning: Oskar Eustis & Héctor TobarIn the aftermath of the 1992 LA Uprisings, Anna Deavere Smith crafted TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, a play based on Smith’s interviews with over 200 Los Angeles residents. 30 years later, through the lens of TWILIGHT, we ask: how can the arts advance social justice? Can they help us understand structural racism, as more than individual prejudice? Can they provide models for working through conflict? Can they show us both possibilities and limits to our strategies for social change? Today we speak with two other dramaturgs who are prominent figures in their respective fields of theater, journalism, and lit...2022-09-0959 min
Feminist Frequency RadioFFR 212: Total Recall with Karen TongsonSpecial guest, professor, podcaster, and prolific author Karen Tongson joins Anita and Kat for episode five of our “Cyberpunk Summer” series, where we are discussing the 1990 sci-fi action film Total Recall, from director Paul Verhoeven. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” the movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a construction worker who receives implanted memories of his time working as a spy on Mars—or is he a Martian spy whose memories of life as a construction worker were implanted?Note: Enjoy this episode of the podcast as a video at pat...2022-08-241h 03
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureThe Arts of Racial Reckoning: Anna Deavere SmithIn the aftermath of the 1992 LA Uprisings, Anna Deavere Smith crafted TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, a play based on Smith’s interviews with over 200 Los Angeles residents. 30 years later, through the lens of TWILIGHT, we ask: how can the arts advance social justice? Can they help us understand structural racism, as more than individual prejudice? Can they provide models for working through conflict? Can they show us both possibilities and limits to our strategies for social change? The Arts of Racial Reckoning is executive produced by Dorinne Kondo. This episode was produced and edited by...2022-04-2549 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 14: Season 33 Bonus Interviews!To wrap up the season, we're bringing you post-finale interviews with Raquel and Cayla, Dusty, and Arun and Natalia. 2022-03-1554 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 13: Los Angeles, City of Champions: An Interview w the Winners of The Amazing Race S33!In this supersized episode of TGR, Nicole and Karen recap the final two legs of the race in Lisboa and Los Angeles. Cayla and Raquel continue to inflame all the fanfic we’ve been weaving about them by calling each other “babe” all over Portugal and Los Angeles. Dusty talks-up Ryan’s upper-body strength in a rowing challenge. Arun and Natalia demonstrate what can be accomplished without ever working out, and Kim and Penn dork out doing foley sound effects after enacting serious piñata carnage in El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Plus: WE INTERVIEW THE WINNERS OF S33, which Nic...2022-03-0850 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 12: Oracles, Thespians and (Rock) Bottoms in GreeceCould leg 9 of season 33 be the gayest episode of The Amazing Race yet? Nicole and Karen have such rich Hellenistic content to explore, from all the Thespians featured throughout this leg in Thessalonaki to the Oracle of Delphi giving us endurance-oriented experimental theater vibes. Through it all, Cayla offers Raquel a back massage, Ryan won’t do the same for Dusty, and at least 3 cats show up, along with a dog who races to the pit stop with a trailing team.2022-03-0148 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 11: Iconic WrappersIn this food-centric leg 8 of The Amazing Race, we witness more kitchen hubris from the guys, ladies climbing ladderless, some dumpster diving, and add to our TGR Dogs & Cats tally. Plus, Lulu and Lala join us for an elmination station interview to talk about their touching goodbyes to Phil and give the inside scoop on some...digestive realities of the race. 2022-02-2159 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureMuslims As Seen on TV Ep. 3: Muslim Women Firsts with Belquis Elhadi Evelyn Alsultany interviews Belquis Elhadi Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan on “Muslims Firsts,” particularly Muslim women who wear the hijab and are celebrated for being “the first” to do something. We talk about Noor Tagouri, the first Muslim woman to pose in Playboy magazine, what it means to be a first, and how it works in the market. Editor: Esteban Ramirez Producer: Allyson M. Holley The Muslims as Seen on TV podcast is produced and distributed by the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture, a faculty-led i...2022-02-1533 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 10: The Worms Jump InsideToday Nicole is joined by noted Amazing Race superfan Poulomi Saha to discuss Amazing Race 33 Episode 7 (Gently Down the Stream) , while our faithful host and executive producer Karen Tongson recuperates from Covid. We watch the teams try Casu Marzu in Corsica, count metal fish together under the water, fake-almost-drown thanks to editing, and MORE. Tune in! Poulomi Saha (@poulomiqsaha) is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches courses in postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality theory, and ethnic American literature. She is also the author of the award-winning book...2022-02-1545 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 9: Strapping it On in CorsicaLeg 6 of The Amazing Race is not for the lactose intolerant, as our contestants take cheesin’ to a whole other level. We get a clear picture of which teams know how to manipulate strips of leather and metal loops round an ass to properly strap on giant metal milk containers. Is sisterhood powerful? Or is it all lip service between the all girl teams whose actions don’t always match their feminist rhetoric? Plus, Akbar and Sheri join us in our very own elimination station to process how they went from masterful fromage making, to spelunking into last place. 2022-02-0851 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureMuslims As Seen on TV Ep. 2: Black Muslim Representations with Kam Copeland Evelyn Alsultany interviews Kam Copeland, Ph.D. Candidate in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California on representations of Black Muslims in the US media. The focus is on how images of Black Muslims have changed over time, from the 1959 documentary “The Hate That Hate Produced,” the 1977 TV miniseries, “Roots,” the 1993 feature film “Menace II Society,” to the 2005 TV drama “Sleeper Cell.” Editor: Esteban Ramirez Producer: Allyson M. Holley The Muslims as Seen on TV podcast is produced and distributed by the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture, a faculty-led initiati...2022-02-0446 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 8: Sausages and Chestnuts - We DO give a DamNicole and Karen experience actual physical distress when they see this week’s Amazing Race Road Block: the second highest bungee jump in the world. Would our resident vegan Nicole be able to stomach the sausage-making challenge that Karen thought was a “no-brainer” choice at the Detour? And which of the teams visits our elimination station?!? Plus, find out more about the three teams who couldn’t return to the race when it resumed in September 2021.2022-01-3135 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 7: Ready, Reset, Go: Alpine Highjinks, Hand Me My LeatherNicole and Karen rejoin the race as it resumes in St. Gallen Switzerland after a 19 month suspension. The contestants confront dizzying Alpine heights, some fast-moving clouds that Sils Maria would be proud of, and a leather challenge that our hosts feel confident they could master. PLUS: Starting this week, Nicole and Karen will be welcoming TAR 33’s eliminated teams for a special exit segment! Tune in as we chat w/ Michael and Moe about karaoke, the race’s Covid protocols, and their experiences at “elimination station.” 2022-01-2455 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 6: Bagpipes, Barrels and KiltsNicole & Karen recap S33 EP3 in Glasgow, Scotland: what they’re calling the last “pre-pan” or “pre-lapserian” episode of The Amazing Race before production was halted on 2/28/2020. How do our hosts feel about the “if it ain’t Scottish, it’s crrrrraaap” aspects of this leg, which features contestants donning kilts, fondling bagpipes and risking tetanus to refurbish whiskey barrels? The hosts also apply their gaymazing lens to some of the robust masculinity on display throughout the episode, while giving an honest assessment of gaymazing team Isaiah and Taylor’s Scottish folk singing. Plus a close read of the Ep. 4 trailer, and b...2022-01-1854 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 5: The World Waited…and Waited for Season 33!Nicole and Karen reunite to recap the long-awaited 33rd season of The Amazing Race, which began filming in early 2020 before…(well, you know), and didn’t resume until 18 months later. We’ll introduce you to all 11 teams and who we’re currently vibing with. What changes in the first two episodes of S33 (filmed in London), already seemed Covid-aware? Or were they merely refreshing the format? Plus, some info on the modifications made once TAR resumed production in fall 2021. 2022-01-1459 min
The American VandalA Chair On The Chair with Karen TongsonThe new Netflix original series, The Chair, focus on the first woman of color to Chair the English Department at fictional Pembroke University. Dr. Karen Tongson (University of Southern California) can empathize with this character, played by Sandra Oh, but she is also an exceptional media critic. She talks with Matt Seybold about the reception of The Chair, its representation of literary studies, and where it fits in the history of the U.S. sitcom.
For more about this episode, visit MarkTwainStudies.com/TheChair2021-08-2844 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureCritical Conversations: Tanya Saracho & Elda María Román on the 'Messiness' of Latinx Representation Playwright and Vida showrunner Tanya Saracho joins USC professor Elda María Román to talk about how Latinx representation on the stage, page and screen (both big and small) are never an easy task. Instead they invite writers to think and work through all sorts of nuance, "messiness," and breadth. Their discussion affirms how and why our identities can never be seen as monolithic. Produced and distributed by The Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Popular Culture, a faculty-led initiative at USC Dornsife. 2021-06-0738 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureUSC SAGE presents: A Conversation with Chanel Miller: Storytelling, Healing, and Survivor EmpowermentListen to this special event for a limited time (30 days). Hosted by USC SAGE for their Take Back the Night programming, author and activist Chanel Miller will be discussing her healing journey as a survivor, while reading from her memoir, Know My Name. Through a moderated conversation led by Professor Christina Belcher, this space will serve as a learning and healing experience for those who wish to reclaim their stories through survivor empowerment during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Edited and distributed by The Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Popular Culture, a faculty-led initiative at USC...2021-04-2254 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureDance Hubs Ep. 2: If You Build It, They Will Play Julien and Sofia, the founders of “the Loft,” find their first flatmates, and transform their messy rental into a dream space for all sorts of creative endeavors. Also, we ask the “Loft Kids” how 7-14 street dancing strangers coming from all over the world, speaking different languages, with different cultures, racial backgrounds and sexual orientations, how they all got along together in a space with no locks on doors, one bathroom, and a stranger on every couch. How did the Loft Kids create a way of surviving and thriving across their differences and how did the experience impact their professi...2021-04-0656 minThe Gaymazing RaceEp. 4: The Amazing Race Fantasy League w/ Poulomi Saha & Greta LaFleurOn the heels of our last episode which touched upon the lack of lesbian representation on The Amazing Race, Nicole and Karen take matters into their own hands to form a lesbian TAR fantasy league. We invite authors, scholars, and queer BFFs Poulomi Saha & Greta LaFleur to talk about what would make them a great Amazing Race team. We hear about how Poulomi groomed an unwitting Greta to be a TAR teammate by posing challenges in their everyday lives. Which one of the two actually submitted a TAR audition tape in the early 2000s? And whose student competed in...2021-02-261h 17The Gaymazing RaceEp. 3: Catching up with Married Ministers, Kate & PatKaren and Nicole spend some quality time with the first ever lesbian couple and team to compete on The Amazing Race, the “married ministers,” Kate and Pat. Though their run on the race lasted only a couple of legs, they also had some spirited drama on the web series Elimination Station. Which of the two earned a lifetime supply of Hooters?! You’ll also find out which of them was fired from their job after appearing as an out lesbian on TV for “peddling the gay agenda,” and learn about their spiritual and activist journeys both before and after the race. T...2021-02-121h 34The Gaymazing RaceEp. 2: Flights of Fabulousness w/ Oswald MendezOne of the most lovable and legendary LGBTQ competitors ever to have graced the Amazing Race mat, Oswald Mendez of “Team Cha Cha Cha” (Oswald & Danny, S2/S11) join Karen and Nicole for a scintillating chat about all things gaymazing. Find out about how watching Pedro Zamora influenced Oswald’s sense of self before his own entry into reality TV as a gay Cuban. On which leg did Oswald & Danny take a break from the race for some drinks and dancing w/ the local gays? What TAR rules had to be written or modified because of Oswald and Danny’s innova...2021-02-051h 35
The X-Rae Podcast with Iris Bahr & Rae LynnX - RAE WITH GENDER & SEXUALITY STUDIES PROFESSOR KAREN TONGSONRae Lynn asks brilliant scholar Professor Karen Tongson all the burning questions in her mind about gender, pronouns, sexuality, representation and a lot of other important stuff.2021-02-041h 08The Gaymazing RaceEp. 1: Beyond Gay Villainy with Team GuidoNicole and Karen welcome Bill Bartek and Joe Baldassare, aka “Team Guido,” the very first gay team to compete on Season 1 of The Amazing Race, and the first gay couple to appear as series regulars on network reality TV. In a revealing and candid interview, Bill and Joe help Karen and Nicole break down the recurring trope of “the gay villain”--a reality competition stereotype they were shoehorned into after their first appearance on TAR--by going behind the scenes of not only the show, but also their relationship. Plus, our “Road Block” revisits Mika vs. the Leap of Faith waterslide i...2021-01-291h 33
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureDance Hubs Ep. 1: Origin Stories and Scenes of ArrivalIt’s summer 2010. Julien and Sofia, two street dancers, one from France the other from Italy, find themselves in desperate need of a space to live, move, and breathe in New York City. That’s when Julien decided to look into some lofts available in the old industrial Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn. Hosted by Edwin Hill. Dance Hubs is produced and distributed by The Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Popular Culture, a faculty-led initiative at USC Dornsife. 2021-01-1552 minThe Gaymazing RaceThe Gaymazing Race - PilotAuthors, professors, and professional queers, Nicole J. Georges and Karen Tongson introduce you to their new limited podcast series on The Amazing Race from an LGBTQ point-of-view. What makes the race so “gaymazing” beyond some of the storied LGBTQ teams who have competed, and in some instances even won, the race? How does TAR touch upon a queer aptitude for travel, adventure, cracking codes, and reading signs? How has the show grappled with the thorny issue of “diversity” in TV representation? Our hosts introduce you to some of the themes and recurring segments you’ll be hearing all series long while...2021-01-1455 min
Sagittarian MattersEpisode #224-KAREN TONGSON!!! Butch Hair Quarantine, Gaymazing Race, Advice, Karaoke & MORE.We are over the moon to have author, podcaster, and Butch Hair Quarantine co-founder KAREN TONGSON on the show!
Karen joins us to answer your advice questions, and to talk about Butch Hair Quarantine, karaoke, the Amazing Race, and our limited series podcast The GAYMAZING RACE.
Karen Tongson is Professor of English, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and American Studies & Ethnicity at USC.
You know her as the the Lambda award winning author of Why Karen Carpenter Matters, An originator of Butch Hair Quarantine, and as one half of the po...2021-01-1152 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureDance Hubs: Season 1 TrailerWelcome to Dance Hubs, an audio series about spaces of creative movement where dancers assemble and exchange, dwell and get down, and pass through, as they navigate the national borders and global intersections of culture. Hosted by Edwin Hill. Dance Hubs is produced and distributed by The Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Popular Culture, a faculty-led initiative at USC Dornsife. 2020-12-2103 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureMuslims as Seen on TV #1: The Obeidi-Alsultany Test Evelyn Alsultany, Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC and author of Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11 interviews Sue Obeidi, Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Bureau about the Obeidi-Alsultany Test, criteria they co-authored to assess representations of Muslims in Hollywood. The Muslims as Seen on TV podcast is produced and distributed by the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Popular Culture, a faculty-led initiative spearheaded by Professor Karen Tongson at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College that brings together researchers exploring shifts in gender, race, and s...2020-12-0151 min
Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public CultureLGBTQ+ Community & Connections - GSS Undergrad CouncilWelcome to USC. This special podcast from our GSS Undergrad Council offers resources, advice and honest conversation about building LGBTQ+ community on campus. Hosted by Estephanie Garcia & Mariana Kramer de Luna, with guests Nico Fife & Alexia Sambrano2020-10-161h 11
Attack of the Queerwolf“Pale Boy Booty” (w/ Karen Tongson and Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh!)This week the Queerwolves (minus Michael, who’s out making his dreams come true) are joined by Wynter-Mitchell Roghbaugh and Karen Tongson of the Waiting to X-Hale podcast to talk the 1981 horror-comedy classic AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON!Plus in Tea Time, we sip on SCHITT’S CREEK, LIVING WITH MYSELF, WATCHMEN, ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP, MODERN LOVE, and PEDRO PÁRAMO!Find Karen Tongson on Twitter @inlandemperor and Instagram @tongsonatorFind Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh on Twitter @wyntermitchellFind Waiting to X-Hale on Twitter @waiting2xhalepd and Instagram @waitingtoxhalepodFind us on Tw...2020-01-301h 20
Don’t Miss The Full Audiobook That Keeps Curious Minds Hooked.Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen TongsonPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/2/audible/85257to listen full audiobooks.
Title: Why Karen Carpenter Matters
Series: Music Matters
Author: Karen Tongson
Narrator: Karen Tongson
Format: mp3
Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 11-26-19
Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars, 46 ratings
Genres: History & Criticism
Publisher's Summary:
In the '60s and '70s, America's music scene was marked by raucous excess, reflected in the tragic overdoses of young superstars such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. At the same time, the uplifting harmonies and sunny lyrics that propelled Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, to international fame belied a different sort of...2019-11-263h 18
Skylight Books Podcast SeriesRoshanak Kheshti,"WENDY CARLOS'S SWITCHED-ON BACH" w/ Karen TongsonSo much, popular and scholarly, has been written about the synthesizer, Bob Moog and his brand-name instrument, and even Wendy Carlos, the musician who made this instrument famous. No one, however, has examined the importance of spy technology, the Cold War and Carlos's gender to this critically important innovation.
Through a postcolonial lens of feminist science and technology studies, Roshanak Kheshti engages in a reading of Carlos's music within this gendered context. By focusing on Switched-On Bach (the highest selling classical music recording of all time), this book explores the significance of gender to the album's--and, as a re...2019-11-0842 min
Who Cares About the Rock Hall?Carpenters w/ Karen TongsonWriter and podcaster Karen Tongson joins Joe and Kristen to talk about the Carpenters and their Rock Hall merits. A lot of the great Carpenters stories and information from this episode are written about in further detail with insightful analysis in Karen's new book, Why Karen Carpenter Matters.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2019-07-261h 22
Waiting to X-halePilotIt's the debut episode of Waiting to X-hale, a Gen X-themed show with podcast veterans Wynter Mitchell-Rohrbaugh and Karen Tongson. W2X revisits the pop culture & social issues that defined Generation X from a (queer) woman-of-color perspective in a way that sheds new light on the pop culture from both then, and now. In our first episode, Wynter & Karen welcome you to their world, and debate who'd come out on top in a head-to-head showdown between SINGLES vs. REALITY BITES. We discuss whether or not each of us "belongs" in Gen X, at the same time that we consult the...2019-07-1057 min
LGBTQ&AKaren Tongson: Why Queer People Love Karen Carpenter"Are you a boy or a girl?" It's the question Karen Tongson's been asked more than any other throughout her life. When she was in grad school, following in the footsteps of countless butches before her, she finally cut her hair short, leaving behind the performative version of femininity. "I finally just shed that last bit of gender trouble." "Gender is something that is fun and fluid," she asserts. The performance of it all, the reluctance to conform to historical gender norms, is just one of the many qualities that drew Karen Tongson to Karen Carpenter, the n...2019-07-1032 min
Sagittarian MattersEpisode #158-KAREN TONGSON!!! Karen Carpenter, queerness, Amazing Race, karaoke & MORE!!!Today on the show we are delighted to have Professor Karen Tongson with us to discuss karaoke, queerness, representation, and her new book, “Why Karen Carpenter Matters”.
PLUS, in a bonus clip, we talk about our mutual obsession with the Amazing Race.
Tune in.
2019-05-1854 min
HomophiliaKaren TongsonAuthor, professor and cultural critic Karen Tongson joins Dave and Matt this week to talk about "Why Karen Carpenter Matters", norm porn and eating burgers naked on a beach in the South of France. Plus, meeting her wife in an Angelina fashion, being too tired to blow up your life and Dave downloads Matt on Jacob Wohl's hilarious scandal attempt.
This episode is sponsored by ModCloth (www.modcloth.com code: HOMO).2019-05-1058 min
Heat RocksKaren Tongson on The Carpenters' "A Song For You" (1972)The Album: The Carpenters' A Song For You (1972) dulcet (adjective) used to describe a sound that is soothing and soft, like the dulcet harmonies in a 70s pop song or the dulcet tones of a harp. It seems like Karen Carpenter invented dulcet tones. Her velvet buttery vocals floated and soared on songs like "We've Only Just Begun", "Top Of The World", "Close To You". Alongside her brother Richard, she created a signature sound built around layered arrangements and harmonies. Our guest, Pop Rocket's own Karen Tongson, sat with us on Heat Rocks to deep...2019-04-2551 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
Pop RocketThe Crown with Karen Tongson and Chris SchleicherThis episode, Guy and Margaret are joined by two very special guests to talk about Netflix’s most expensive series to date, The Crown. They talk about Queen Elizabeth II, her sister Margaret, whether Prince Phillip is hot or not, and who has played the best Elizabeth on screen. And as always, the panel discuss what they’re all about this week and what their latest jams are. That’s My Jam: Margaret Wappler - Playing Elevator Guy Branum - Am I The Same Girl Chris Schleicher - Camelot Finale Karen To...2016-12-0800 min
The Blaze with Lizzie and Kat! The Original Beverly Hills 90210 Podcast094 Karen Tongson - Greek to MeSince we didn’t even go to a school with a Greek system, we recruited USC Gender Studies professor and pop culture expert Karen Tongson to join us on the show to discuss the Beverly Hills, 90210 episode where Andrea meets an anti-Semitic sorority president! Karen’s cultural study of Los Angeles’ sprawl, Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries, is available on Amazon. She can also be heard as a guest host of the Pop Rocket podcast, and has contributed to the latest issue of the food magazine Lucky Peach. What we were drinking: Coke Zero What we were eating...2016-11-281h 37
The Blaze with Lizzie and Kat! The Original Beverly Hills 90210 Podcast094 Karen Tongson - Greek to MeSince we didn’t even go to a school with a Greek system, we recruited USC Gender Studies professor and pop culture expert Karen Tongson to join us on the show to discuss the Beverly Hills, 90210 episode where Andrea meets an anti-Semitic sorority president! Karen’s cultural study of Los Angeles’ sprawl, Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries, is available on Amazon. She can also be heard as a guest host of the Pop Rocket podcast, and has contributed to the latest issue of the food magazine Lucky Peach. What we were drinking: Coke Zero What we were eating...2016-11-281h 37Pop RocketCelebrity Pets with Karen TongsonOliver takes over hosting duties and is joined by Margaret and the always lovely Karen Tongson to talk about celebrity pets! Does that mean pets of celebrities or pets that are themselves celebrities? Well, why not both? Cats from Outer Space, Bubbles, talking dog movies, YouTube cat conventions…it’s all here. Plus, Margaret adores Dolly Parton, Karen has a few thoughts on Pitch, and Oliver tells us why baseball is one the most fascinating sports on TV right now. With Oliver Wang, Margaret Wappler, and guest Karen Tongson Produced by Christian Dueñas and Kara...2016-10-1900 minPop RocketThe 2000's in Pop Culture with Karen TongsonGuy, Wynter, and Oliver are joined by Fifth Beatle and all around lovely person Karen Tongson to talk about the 2000’s in pop culture! What movies, trends and music will live on through the ages? How in the world did Crash win Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain? Plus, Wynter professes her love for Ludacris, Karen gives her thoughts on Hey Ya, Guy talks about his experience at an anime convention, and Oliver is touched by Allen Iverson’s Hall of Fame speech. With Guy Branum, Wynter Mitchell, Oliver Wang, and guest Karen Tongson Produced by Chri...2016-09-1400 minPop RocketVacations and Travel with Karen TongsonGuy, Wynter, and Oliver are joined by academic and Pop Rocket’s fifth Beatle, Karen Tongson to talk about vacations in pop culture! The gang has some suggestions on how to pass the time on a plane, train, and/or automobile. What’s the difference between a vacation and travel movie? Why are ABC show families always taking vacations? Karen talks about her trip to the Philippines and Vietnam, Oliver and Wynter aren’t too sure about The Get Down, and Guy is slowly losing hope in finding a truly amazing Jam that is deserving of the Song of the Su...2016-08-1700 minPop RocketGame of Thrones with Karen TongsonGuy, Wynter, and Margaret are joined by academic and Pop Rocket’s official Fifth Beatle, Karen Tongson to discuss all things Game of Thrones. Be warned, GoT spoilers ahead! The gang also talk about the Met Gala, Radiohead’s weird disappearance from social media, and why UnREAL could be the next big thing. With Guy Branum, Wynter Mitchell,Karen Tongson, and Margaret Wappler2016-05-0500 minPop RocketGrammys 2016 with Karen TongsonThe team talk Full Frontal with Sammantha Bee, The People vs. OJ Simpson, Kanye's Epic week of tweets and the Grammys.
With Guy Branum, Wynter Mitchell, Margaret Wappler and Karen Tongson.
Produced by Colin Anderson & Christian Dueñas for MaximumFun.org.2016-02-1900 minPop RocketMusicals, Primaries and Pop Culture with Karen TongsonKaren Tongson joins the team to talk politics in the context of pop culture.
With Wynter Mitchell, Oliver Wang, Karen Tongson and host Guy Branum. Produced by Colin Anderson for MaximumFun.org2015-12-2400 minPop RocketVMAs 2015 with Karen TongsonKaren Tongson joins the group to help discuss the events of the VMAs (Video Music Awards) and the Ashley Madison Hack.
With Karen Tongson, Oliver Wang, Margaret Wappler and host Guy Branum. Produced by Colin Anderson for MaximumFun.org.2015-09-0200 min
The Funambulist PodcastKAREN TONGSON /// Queer Suburban ImaginariesConversation recorded with Karen Tongson in Oakland on May 3, 2014
http://the-archipelago.net/2014/05/12/karen-tongson-queer-suburban-imaginaries/2014-05-1233 min