Content warning for discussions of rape and sexual assault as well as a reference to torture. This week I sat down to talk with Emma Cooper, creator of the comedy show Rape is Real & Everywhere, which highlights the comedy and storytelling of rape and sexual assault survivors. I had a chance to see the show … Continue reading Episode 4.6 Rape is Real & Everywhere with Emma Cooper...
This is a slightly unusual episode, inspired by an email I got from Plan International Canada about International Day of the Girl which is, in fact, today! October 11! They shared with me some data they’ve gathered about how girls picture themselves (or don’t picture themselves) in leadership positions, and guess what, I’ve got some … Continue reading Episode 4.5 International Day of the Girl
Content warning for discussions of sexual abuse, child abuse, child pornography, racism and ableism. This episode was actually recorded in early May, and here it is over four months later, FINALLY seeing the light of day, and I’m so delighted because Okka–poet, writer, and artist–is a goddamn delight. But don’t just take my word for … Continue reading Episode 4.4 Off-Mic Conversations with Khairani Barokka...
Here are some things to look forward to in this minisode: the sound of my voice with a pretty bad head cold; a characteristic quantity of grappling; and the announcement of the new minisode segment [fanfare sound effect]. And while we’re at it, here are some links: My favourite piece on the culture of academic … Continue reading Episode 4.3 ENTHUSED!!!
With apologies for its tardiness, I present to you the first interview of season four, and this one’s a doozy. I’m talking to rad queer fat genius, sex & relationship coach, and pleasure advocate Dawn Serra about shame, vulnerability, pleasure, boundaries, joy, imagining radical futures, and so much more. This conversation broke open my brain, … Continue reading Episode 4.2 Dreaming Big Wild Worlds with Dawn Serra...
HOLY SHIT IT’S SEASON FOUR! Can you believe it’s season four already? This season there are going to be a few changes. Kaarina won’t be joining us for Self-Care Corner, meaning I’m on the lookout for new segment ideas, plus I’m moving to a fortnightly release schedule. It’s all about sustainability, baby! Plus this season … Continue reading Episode 4.1 Growing Roots
It’s here! The final episode of season three! This episode responds explicitly to Carla Rice’s peer review of season two, specifically this sentence: “Follow-up episodes featuring panels of feminist scholars, educators and activists could have opened space to reflect on ethical processes of speaking out and listening to criticism—on how critique might engender difficult emotions … Continue reading Episode 3.30 Brilliant and Disgusting with Brenna Clarke Gray, Lucia Lorenzi, and Erin Wunker...
It’s the last minisode of season three, and I’m doing some very specific responding to Anna Poletti’s peer review of season two. Specifically, I’m taking up the genre of the anecdote, and the kind of work it does in Secret Feminist Agenda. I’m thinking about anecdotes as teaching tools and as central to feminist knowledge … Continue reading Episode 3.29 Feminist Anecdotes
Content warning for discussions of cancer and death. This episode is an absolute dream come true: I spent a full hour talking to Sara Ahmed about feminism. Can you believe it??? Our conversation focused on Sara’s most recent book, Living a Feminist Life (pictured in this photo!). We talked about public scholarship, practical versus theoretical approaches to feminism, finding … Continue reading Episode 3.28 Living a Feminist Life with Sara Ahmed...
This week’s episode continues our mini-cluster on feminist public scholarship by talking about a feminist genre of knowledge-creation that’s new to me: the killjoy survival kit. Want to know what a killjoy survival kit is? Then you should probably listen to this episode. Also, here’s an unusually short list of links! You can read Sara Ahmed’s … Continue reading Episode 3.27 Killjoy Survival Kits
This week we’re continuing the mini-arc on feminists who use podcasting for public scholarship, with the brilliant and delightful Ames Hawkins, scholar and artist and podcaster behind Masters of Text (that name tho). This episode seriously pushed forward my thinking on podcasting as creative-critical practice and conversation as the feminist co-creation of knowledge, and I … Continue reading Episode 3.26 Masters of Text with Ames Hawkins...
Collectively, Kaarina and I are bringing you some ~extremely chill vibes~ today. I’m talking about why we need to embrace the radical potential of podcasting as a medium that has yet to be fully absorbed into the mainstream, but I’m lying on my couch while I do it. And Kaarina’s self-care corner features a very … Continue reading Episode 3.25 Keep Podcasting Weird
This episode is the beginning of a mini-cluster or mini-arc that will conclude season three of Secret Feminist Agenda. The coming episodes will focus on other feminist podcasters and/or public scholars, starting with this week’s incredible guest, Jimanekia Eborn, creator and host of the podcast Trauma Queen. We talk about podcasting, sex education, respecting your guests, … Continue reading Episode 3.24 Trauma Queen with Jimanekia Eborn...
Content warning for discussions of chronic pain and illness, drug addiction, and cancer. I jokingly tweeted a screenshot of the audio file for this episode with the caption “The telltale shape of a hard-to-record minisode.” I was referring to the long, conspicuous gaps that betray how hard I find it to talk about some topics. … Continue reading Episode 3.23 Pain
Hold onto your hats it’s a LIVE EPISODE! This one was recorded at the University of Alberta, as part of the Canadian Literature Centre’s Brown Bag Lunch series. I’m talking to the brilliant Chelsea Vowel, aka âpihtawikosisân. The ostensible topic of the conversation is Refuse: CanLit in Ruins (which I co-edited and to which Chelsea contributed), … Continue reading Episode 3.22 Interfering with the Legitimacy of the Settler State with Chelsea Vowel...
This minisode topic is very close to my heart, not just because part of my job is teaching students how to properly cite their sources, but also because I think sound citational politics are both the cornerstone of what’s good about academia and the potential site of massive transformations in how we do our work. … Continue reading Episode 3.21 Citing Your Sources
For this episode I sat down with the brilliant and luminous Zena Sharman to talk about her work as an LGBTQ+ health advocate (seriously click on that link and look at that website, it is a testimony to femme web design and I am in love). We talk about thinking strategically, changing systems, editing anthologies, … Continue reading Episode 3.20 A Trojan Horse of Radical Values with Zena Sharman...
Oof! This week Kaarina and I are bringing you a minisode with many feelings in it, as we both process difficult aspects of being a human in the world: I’m talking about dealing with criticism, and Kaarina is talking about holding friends accountable when they’ve hurt you. Hopefully these experiences will resonate with some of … Continue reading Episode 3.19 Dealing With Criticism
Content warning for discussions of police violence. This week I’m talking to journalist and totally-not-a-bot Taylor Crumpton. We talk about how Taylor went from grad student to freelance journalist, how Twitter is a platform for both highlighting marginalized voices and exploiting Black women’s labour, and why it might not be a good idea to burn … Continue reading Episode 3.18 The Monáe Test with Taylor Crumpton...
Content warning for a brief discussion of disordered and restrictive eating. In this week’s minisode I’m tackling a topic that I’ve been putting off for approximately two and a half seasons of this podcast: veganism. I talk about why I chose to be a vegan fourteen-and-a-half years ago, why it still brings me joy, and … Continue reading Episode 3.17 On Veganism
Two and a half years ago, at a Witch, Please meet-up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I met a rad artist and Harry Potter nerd who offered to tour Marcelle and me around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter if we ever made it down to Florida. A year ago we took her up on it. And this … Continue reading Episode 3.16 Being That Bitch Sometimes with Julie Frances
It’s minisode time, and this week I’m picking up some of the threads from last week’s episode plus the peer review for season two plus conversations from my own classroom and pulling them together in either a beautiful tapestry or a tangled knot. Either way, I’m talking about teaching and the politics of the classroom. … Continue reading Episode 3.15 Doing Feminism in the Classroom
In this long overdue (and also slightly late) episode, I talk to brilliant musician, writer, artist, and teacher Vivek Shraya about touring difficult books, finding more equitable ways to run your classroom, and the enduring power of the shit sandwich. And here are some links! Vivek’s newest book is I‘m Afraid of Men, which Vanity Fair … Continue reading Episode 3.14 Getting Shit Sandwiched with Vivek Shraya...
Content warning for discussions of racial violence. Happy 2019, you gorgeous humans. I hope everyone got a chance to take some time off and refresh before the calendar reset. I don’t really believe in resolutions, but I do like the way significant dates give us a chance to pause and refocus on what counts. And … Continue reading Episode 3.13 Understanding White Supremacy
CW for discussions of transphobia and violence. In this, the final episode of 2018, I got to talk to weightlifting pal and femme genius Tara Robertson about her work on diversity and inclusion at Mozilla — and like a million other things, including why we want an open Internet, whether libraries are neutral (hint: they’re not), … Continue reading Episode 3.12 Not Nice, Not White, and Not a Lady with Tara Robertson...
IIIIIII’MMMMM SIIIIIICCCKKKKK and hoo boy can you ever hear it in this episode. Sorry for the garbage voice this weeks folks, and also for the very short episode, but for all my whining and rasping, I’m actually delighted to be sharing with you the new theme for all of our winters: make baby cozy. Coined by former guest … Continue reading Episode 3.11 Make Baby Cozy
Look at this straight up celebrity who totally agreed to talk to me! Amber Nash, the voice of Pam Poovey on Archer and a renowned improviser, joined me to talk about improv and gender, learning how to be body positive from fictional characters, and exactly what time of the day you should take your baths. Other … Continue reading Episode 3.10 A Trickle of Ladies with Amber Nash
FUN FACT November is my least favourite month of the year for all kinds of reasons, and by the end of this month I’m usually pretty worn down and exhausted (this year being no exception, as the quality of my vocal production in this episode demonstrates). But in this episode, instead of telling you how … Continue reading Episode 3.9 Dungeons & Dragons & Feminism
This week’s episode is the first ever live Secret Feminist Agenda, recorded at the VPL as part of the Vancouver Podcast Festival. Don’t worry though, we all sound great and the sound of laughter/applause really adds something special. I’m considering having an audience at all future recordings. Anyway, I sat down in front of sixty of my … Continue reading Episode 3.8 There’s Secret Feminism Under Everything (including lawyering) with Gloria Ng and Colleen Elden...
Okay I obviously don’t normally use this podcast to promote my side hustles but I want very badly to tell you about this project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half, and which launched just yesterday! Refuse: CanLit in Ruins is a collection of essays and poems and dialogues and stories that tackle the … Continue reading Episode 3.7 Refuse: CanLit in Ruins
