Imagine Otherwise

April Lynn James addresses how storytelling can help trauma survivors heal, the role of poetry in racial justice struggles, crafting an altac career that fits your unique skills and desires, and the political and personal importance of whimsy and laughter. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/20-april-lynn-james

How are gender and sexuality implicated in the immigration process? Are there concrete steps that academics can take to engage with the broader community? What are the benefits of sound-based media (like this podcast)? In episode 19 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews guest Karma Chávez about the intersectional politics of migration, how grassroots activism is essential to make change, and how her work integrates art, activism, and academia. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/19-karma-chavez

How can publishers promote voices from the margins, and how can writers do their part in insisting that their voices are heard? For authors who write in multiple genres, what's the best way to choose the style that best matches your content? In episode 18 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews poet, publisher, and writing coach Minal Hajratwala about her genre-bending writing style, the joy of coaching other writers, and how publishing can be a form of activism. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/18-minal-hajratwala

Elizabeth Walker and Maria Novotny discuss popular representations of infertility, the common misogynist refrain that tells women they need to “fix” infertility by becoming mothers, the childfree movement, and merging oral history and art with academic scholarship. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/17-elizabeth-walker-and-maria-novotny

Katie Manthey talks about feminist fat fashion blogging, running a website about body positivity, and the racially gendered politics of what counts as “professional dress” in the academy. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/16-katie-manthey

Vicko Alvarez chats about using comics in the K-12 classroom and how she drew on her life to create her two comic series—ScholaR Comics and CholActivist—which use lighthearted, sometimes humorous events to tell otherwise tough stories of growing up Latina in a low-income neighborhood. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/15-vicko-alvarez

How can artists engage with the academy to share cultural work and activism? How is education a form of activism? In episode 14 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews filmmaker and cultural producer Aishah Shahidah Simmons about her award-winning film NO!: The Rape Documentary, collaboration as key to feminist work, and how every one of us can play a part in ending violence in our communities. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/14-aishah-shahidah-simmons

What role do art museums and exhibition institutions play in creating political dialogue? How is highlighting work by and about marginalized populations a form of social justice activism? On episode 13 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, Cathy Hannabach chats with curator and director of the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art Amy Sadao about the role of art in social change, how ethnic studies informs Amy's AIDS activism and curating practice, why we need more radical art and curators of color, and creating diverse community in Philadelphia. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/13-amy-sadao

Editor and food writer Sarah Grey talks about using food to create community, editing for social justice, socialist feminist approaches to child care, the tastiness and challenges of food writing, and her weekly radical dinner party Friday Night Meatballs. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/12-sarah-grey

What happens when we reimagine the uses of science and technology in the name of marginalized groups? Can social justice goals be at once theoretical and practical? How does collaboration vary by culture? In episode 11 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews digital artist and scholar micha cárdenas about using digital media and technology in the service of social justice, how art can enable survival, and how queer and trans communities of color are imagining and creating more just worlds. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/11-micha-cardenas

Nikiko Masumoto shares how women of color feminism informs how she runs the Masumoto Family Farm, the rich history of Japanese American farmers in California’s Central Valley, writing and directing her play about WWII Internment, and how rural artists like her are forging new directions in creative entrepreneurship. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/10-nikiko-masumoto

How is the history of slavery tied to modern-day surveillance systems? Is surveillance always a negative term? How can a gendered lens change the way we perceive privacy rights and policies? In episode 9 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach chats with feminist scholar Simone Browne about how Black communities have resisted and interfered with the surveillance practices that target them, the multiple lenses through which to consider privacy, and the joys of collaborating with academics, artists, and activists. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/9-simone-browne

How can media producers address the varied ways people with diverse disabilities use media and technology? In episode 8 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews disability media scholar Elizabeth Ellcessor on why media accessibility is a social justice issue, how disability activists have harnessed technology in unexpected ways, and how producers can create media for the widest range of audiences. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/8-elizabeth-ellcessor

What role does race play in imaginative literary genres like science fiction and fantasy? Can we broaden the confines of what we consider political and academic? How do Black creatives and intellectuals engage in the work of imagining otherwise? In episode 7 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews African American studies scholar andré carrington about how bringing Black representation to academia is a form of activism, why we should complicate our current understanding of popular culture and race, and what sustains him in doing his social justice work. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/7-andre-carrington

What can we learn about structural oppression through the analysis of one person's story? How can collaboration transform the way we make decisions about our work? How can empowering others to imagine otherwise liberate us all? In episode 6 of the Imagine Otherwise, host Cathy Hannabach interviews activist-scholar Eric Tang about why the US state resettled Cambodian refugees in historically Black neighborhoods in the 1980s and 1990s, how urban spaces are shaped by slavery’s aftermath, and why scholars should join the vital movement for welfare rights. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/6-eric-tang

Trapeze artist, archivist, and poet Lauren Rile Smith shares her experience directing the feminist and queer circus arts troupe Tangle Movement Arts, how disability and chronic pain shape her relationship to her dancing body, and the politics of a life onstage. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/5-lauren-rile-smith

Poet and gender studies scholar Margaret Rhee talks about the magic that can happen when one brings art, activism, and academia together; her new poetry book Radio Heart: or, How Robots Fall Out of Love; and what teaching new media classes in prisons taught her about intersectionality. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/4-margaret-rhee

What are the benefits of indie television production for women, queers, and trans people of color? How is the slow speed of collaborative work actually an advantage? In episode 3 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach interviews television producer and professor Aymar Jean Christian about his television platform Open TV; independent web series by queers, women, and trans people people of color; how his scholarship has informed his television production; and what it means to imagine otherwise. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/3-aymar-jean-christian

Host Cathy Hannabach interviews zine author and memoirist Sawyer Lovett, who shares his experience writing memoirs about “growing up poor, queer, and lonely in a conservative small town in Virginia”; the power of zines in queer and trans youth cultures; and how he's produced his two podcasts, Queering the Shelves and Book Jawn. Show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/2-sawyer-lovett

How can interdisciplinary scholars decolonize the fashion industry? How does digital fashion labor build on older forms of racially gendered immigrant labor? And is it possible to critically study and teach an industry you love but also know is deeply flawed and in desperate need of an overhaul? In episode 1 of the Imagine Otherwise podcast, host Cathy Hannabach talks with feminist fashion studies scholar Minh-Ha T. Pham about her new book on elite Asian fashion bloggers and racialized (unpaid) blogging labor, the politics and pleasure of fashion, why researchers shouldn't be afraid to study what they love, and how academics can use blogs to create engaged scholarship and develop their public intellectual voice. Transcript and show notes: https://ideasonfire.net/1-minh-ha-t-pham