Intimate Interactions

Latest Episodes:

Alternative Communities, Racism and Representation (Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti) Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

Gloria’s back to finish talking about anti-blackness and racism like the way the police raise guns towards children more often when they’re Black in the US. Gloria and I talk about hard shit today. As a content warning - though let’s be honest, my introductions have turned into giant content warnings - near the end, we talk about Gloria’s breast cancer diagnosis - don’t worry, she’s in remission - and how it led to a renewed lease on life, too short to be ashamed of being who she is. Autism, non-monogamy, Blackness, femmeness, and aging - these are things to be celebrated and embraced. But I’ll let you hear about it from Gloria, here on Intimate Interactions.

Orcas Are Dolphins (Billie) Mar 13, 2021

Show notes

This session, we talk about Orcas in the Pacific Northwest. Billie tells us anecdotes about the largest dolphin and we talk about different kinds. It’s a much needed and appreciated break for me from all the super heavy content I’ve been recording with Billie that’ll be coming out over the coming few months. Expect more sessions about chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, and ableism. Throughout all of it, Billie maintains her kind, positive, and intensely empathetic spirit. You’ll get a dose of that today just listening to her talk passionately about orcas.

We briefly get into pen and paper role playing games and video games towards the end of the session. I did say this one was less heavy than my other sessions with Billie, right? We very briefly talk about Enjoy!

Coping and Strategies for ADHD (Yana Skorstengaard) Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

How is ADHD a positive? Provided you have strategies and can compensate for thinking differently than others expect, ADHD can actually be quite a positive. Today I talk with Yana Skorstengaard, a graduate student with ADHD, about how she and I have worked with our brains to become academically accomplished. For me, that was achieving two full time science semesters on the Dean’s List (more than an A average); while Yana is taking a graduate degree in a subject she passionately cares about. While academic success isn’t really a measure of life success, achieving one’s goals when one is constantly told they get distracted and won’t achieve or can’t amount to anything, it’s refreshing to have another perspective to remind folks that ADHD can be an advantage and can give you the ability to deep dive and hyperfocus and achieve where more normative thinkers who don’t have ADHD would not be able to maintain the attention as long as an ADHD thinker could. But I’ll let Yana tell you more about that here on Intimate Interactions.

Talking about Anti-Blackness (Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti) Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

From Gloria’s history in Portland in the 70s to Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver, we talk about anti-Blackness and how it has shaped the world we live in. Gloria once joined a cult, and she opens up about this experience today. Despite everything different about the cult, spoilers: it was also racist and prohibited miscegenation or interracial relationships.

I really appreciate my friendship with Gloria and the way we can laugh about things that are just horrific. It helps me get through it and hopefully she feels the same. Somehow despite the ickiness and gravity of the things she brings up, her light and funny personality always seems to find a way to shine through it all. This session was pulled out of a longer recording so it may end abruptly. Don’t worry, Gloria will be back in a couple of weeks to finish out the conversation.

Accessing Healthcare when Chronically Ill (Billie) Feb 20, 2021

Show notes

Billie, an EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) veteran of ten years with other conditions like POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) talks about her chronic illnesses and the challenges she’s had having her pain or condition taken seriously. Content warning: this might get graphic.

Billie brings a refreshing and positive perspective around not diminishing your experience or comparing yourself to people harder hit by life or circumstance. I’m excited to share that perspective with you here on Intimate Interactions.

What are some examples of chronic illness making it hard to access healthcare?
What strategies have you used to work with doctors or be more successful?
What are some hidden services you didn’t know Canada offered free?

Talking about ADHD without a Script (Yana Skorstengaard) Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

Today I talk with someone else who has a formal diagnosis for ADHD. Mine was as a child and hers was as an adult. We chat about the experience of having ADHD and how it impacts us. While today we focus on the experience of it, there’s an upcoming session where we talk about strategies and coping.

Bullying at School, An Autistic Black Femme Speaks (Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti) Feb 06, 2021

Show notes

Shame Expert Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti calls in to talk about her life as a black femme with undiagnosed autistism growing up. Gloria somehow continues to be her usual charming self sharing very personal anecdotes about anti-blackness as it affected her in school and as a younger person.

Serial Monogamy and Polyamory (Jet Noir) Jan 30, 2021

Show notes

Today, two POC folks discuss monogamy, polyamory, autonomy, and agency. Jet Noir shares a story of his parents’ and how they dealt with extramarital adventures. I discuss relationship anarchy and how it relates to Jet’s identity within non monogamy. Enjoy!

https://linktr.ee/JetNoir

What flavour of polyamory do you identify with?
How did you get into polyamory? (Story about my parents and their DADT brand of non-monogamy.)
What sorts of monogamy hangups did you unlearn?
Could you fill in folks on what the relationship escalator is?
What realizations or values did you arrive at that helped process through that?
How has polyamory changed your relationship to yourself?
How has polyamory affected communication in your relationships?

Fetishization and Race (Jet Noir) Jan 23, 2021

Show notes

Jet Noir is back to talk about racial fetishization. We talk about dating, conventions, and other stuff in how it relates to race. As a former fitness coach, Jet has some experience as, what he calls, a body image coach. We talk a bit about tea to ease into the conversation as well as how we met before diving into the topic.

I mention “Love is Not Colorblind,” a book written by Kevin Patterson about non-monogamy as experienced by a person of colour. That book is useful in my opinion for any folks wanting to see more representation by people of colour in their currently mostly white space. Let’s hear from Jet himself on Intimate Interactions.

https://linktr.ee/JetNoir

https://www.kcnerdfest.com/

Freedom Fiction (SB Divya, M Lafferty, A Stuart) Jan 16, 2021

Show notes

Happy two days after Canada day or the day before the 4th of July. Former British North America week? Ugh colonialism is gross. While everyone is talking about the concept of being free from restrictions, I’m interviewing veteran podcasters about their flagship projects that produce free short fiction for me and for you. From the horror stories of Pseudopod to the science fiction of Escape Pod to fantasy stories of Podcastle - there’s an Escape Artists’ podcast for that. Check them out at https://escapeartists.net/

Today, the inimitable SB Divya, Mur Lafferty, and Alasdair Stuart chat about what they’re passionate about in podcasting, how they got into podcasting, and how they’ve built community.

SB Divya

Former engineer specializing in machine learning with an education in computational neuroscience and signal processing
Writer https://www.eff-words.com/
- New Book: Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse and Other Possible Situations (2019)

Mur Lafferty

Many accolades including winning two parsec awards in the same year in 2008, won the 2018 Best Fancast Hugo Award for Ditch Diggers
Writer http://murverse.com

Alasdair Stuart

Co-owns Escape Artist Podcasts
Writer https://alasdairstuart.com/ (as seen in the Guardian, Sci Fi Now, How it Works, The Fortean Times, Neo, SFX, Bleeding Cool)

Escape Artists (https://escapeartists.net/)

Podcastle, The Fantasy Fiction Podcast
Pseudopod, The Sound of Horror
Escape Pod, The Original Science Fiction Podcast
576 - Karma among the Cloud Kings
Cast of Wonders, The Young Adult Speculative Fiction Podcast
Support them at https://www.patreon.com/EAPodcasts

Check out Escape Pod: http://escapepod.org/feed/podcast

I mention: 697 - The Last Stellar Death Metal Opera

I also really liked: 701/700, 692/691, 672, 661, 660, 636, 633/632, 624, 619, 617, 613,

1) What themes in science fiction excite or fill you with passion?

2) Why did you decide to get involved hosting Escape Pod?

3) How has podcasting built meaningful relationships for you among other show contributors?

4) How has Escape Pod built community for itself over the years?

5) I've noticed since 2014, Escape Pod has become significantly more representative of women, people of colour, and queerness in story choice. Was this a conscious choice and how did it happen?

6) Have you ever felt exposed or surprised by information the community had about you that you published years ago?

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