Imagine Otherwise

What 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 their research into documentary films and other formats, why we all need to be public-facing scholars these days, and why dreaming big and bringing her full self to her work is how Alyshia imagines otherwise. TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/81-alyshia-galvez This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of th

How 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. TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/80-j-kehaulani-kauanui/  This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of the MA in Critical Studies is to produce creative critical thinkers prepared to address pressing contemporary issues at the intersection of cultural production and critical t

What 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 where all Indigenous people get to eventually be elders is how Jenny imagines otherwise. TRANSCRIPT AND SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/79-jenny-l-davis/ This episode is sponsored by the MA in Critical Studies Program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. The goal of the MA in Critical Studies is to produce c

How 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 power of small-scale, community-based change for trans of color communities. Transcript & show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/78-jian-neo-chen/ Big thanks to our episode sponsor: the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Masters in Critical Studies Program.

How 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 across the Pacific; and why moving away from statistics is such an important part of how Aimee imagines otherwise. TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/77-aimee-bahng    

How 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 decolonial and demilitarized Pacific. TRANSCRIPT & SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/76-craig-santos-perez

What 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 thinking in community is key to how Macarena imagines otherwise.   TRANSCRIPT AND SHOW NOTES: https://ideasonfire.net/75-macarena-gomez-barris/

How 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, and why intersectional creative collaboration is key to how Veronica imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/74-veronica-corzo-duchardt  

What 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 windy roads without burning out; and how her fierce commitment to personal and social ethics is key to how Imani imagines and creates otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/73-imani-perry

How 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 communities, not just write about them; and how Indigenous communities across the globe are imagining worlds beyond the state. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/72-manuela-lavinas-picq

How 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. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/71-francesca-royster

What 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 Stacie imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/70-stacie-williams

How 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 is such a vital part of how Gayatri imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/69-gayatri-gopinath

Do 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 published cultural studies books that have made big splashes beyond the academy in the areas of speculative fiction, fan cultures, urban planning and design, law, and public policy. These authors’ books show how the intersections of disability, race, gender, and sexuality have shaped everything from sci-fi/fantasy novels to police violence, curb cut activism, urban architecture, and the 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 studies books that have made big splashes beyond the academy in the areas of speculative fiction, fan cultures, urban planning and design, law, and public policy. These authors’ books show how the intersections of disability, race, gender, and sexuality have shaped everything from sci-fi/fantasy novels to police violence, curb cut activism, urban architecture, and

How 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 splashes beyond the academy in the areas of speculative fiction, fan cultures, urban planning and design, law, and public policy. These authors’ books show how the intersections of disability, race, gender, and sexuality have shaped everything from sci-fi/fantasy novels to police violence, curb cut activism, urban architecture, and the design of public restrooms. In this

How 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; the vital support abortion doulas provide to individuals, families, and communities; and why fostering what Bianca calls an intersectional, “collective afterworld” is how she imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/podcast/65-bianca-laureano

What 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 key to how Tavia imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/64-tavia-nyongo

What 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 is how Tina imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/63-tina-campt

What 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 how Leah imagines otherwise. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/62-leah-lakshmi-piepzna-samarasinha-part-2