Episode 203: M. K. Thekkumkattil

Tuck and Ozzy chat with writer and nurse M. K. Thekkumkattil (they/them). Topics include: Envisioning a future without hospitals  Do medical kinks hit differently as a nurse? Bringing your book tour to the salmon :) When yr doctor realizes that you're medically transitioning before you do… Plus: We return to Drew's Giving Poppers to Cis Women, M. K. explains why sepsis is femme, and Tuck does a pronouns crime to Ms. Blood Submit a piece of Theymail: Today's messages were from Recovery Demystified and Bruno George. Find M. K. at thekkumkattilmk.com, on Patreon, and @thekkumkattilmk on IG. The Sexuality of Care is available now, as is their chapbook Weaving Liberation and the collection In The Future There Are No Hospitals.  Join our Patreon to access our weekly newsletter and monthly Gender Conceal episodes, including our chat with Jeanne Thornton, M. K.'s editor! Find transcripts and starter packs at genderpodcast.com. We're also on Instagram @gendereveal. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional music: Blue Dot Sessions Sponsors: Max Burns UX (mention Rhubarb) & DeleteMe (code: TUCK20) 

Tuck chats with Katherine Packert Burke about All Us Saints and the cis gaze; why Narrow Rooms is more affirming than coming-out stories; and whether Tehching Hsieh is the only true artist.  Listen to the full episode on Patreon for discussions of competitive bisexual erasure, ghosts, Colombo, Vegeta, "Sapphic new releases for May," KPB's book list, and a special message for our 11 or 12 cisgender listeners.  All Us Saints is available in bookstores now. Find Katherine at katherinepackertburke.com, @katpburke on twitter, and ofc @vegetasackvillewest on IG. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional Music: Blue Dot Sessions

Ozzy chats with piercer Lynn Loheide (they/them). Topics include: How horny leather queers launched the modern US piercing industry Genuinely surprising ways that a genital piercing can be gender-affirming Using matching nipple rings as thruple wedding bands :) What to know before splitting your tongue(!!!)  Plus: the "gay ear," HRT's effects on piercings, and inventing a trans shibboleth?  This Week in Gender: Take the Gender Census and explore the Nonbinary Name Survey Results (and send Tuck yr cool name!) Submit a piece of Theymail: Today's message was from Kay Pickering.  Find Lynn at LynnLoheide.com, @lynnloheide (IG) and @Lynn_Loheide (YT). Join our Patreon to access our weekly newsletter and monthly Gender Conceal episodes. Find transcripts and starter packs at genderpodcast.com. We're also on Instagram @gendereveal. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional music: "On Three Legs" by Blue Dot Sessions Sponsors: Max Burns UX (mention Rhubarb) & DeleteMe (code: TUCK20) 

In this bonus episode, Tuck chats with poet Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch (they/them) about what's going on over at Metonymy Press. Topics include: Metonymy's role in launching the careers of trans writers  Advice for trans people considering their own small press What Metonymy is looking for in its current open submissions How Tuck keeps messing up on dating apps :) :) :) Plus: Teaching Hanif Abdurraqib & summoning Elliot Page?? Support Metonymy via their GoFundMe and shop their existing titles at MetonymyPress.com. Eli Tareq's newsletter is at slowsyrup.substack.com; Knot Body and The Good Arabs are available now. Take the 2026 Gender Census here. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster Cylinder

Tuck chats with physicist and writer Karmela Padavic-Callaghan (they/them) about science writing, quantum hacking, union organizing, and why quantum physics is sooooo queer.  Listen to the full episode on Patreon to hear about Tuck being hospitalized in the multiverse, vegan restaurant hot takes, how Tumblr impacted our college experience, and more.  Send questions for Karmela via our advice/AMA form. Find Karmela karmelapadaviccallaghan.com and sign up for their newsletter, Ultracold. Entangled States is available in bookstores now. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional Music: Blue Dot Sessions

Tuck chats with author Julián Delgado Lopera (he/him). Topics include: Why Julián chose to focus on a closeted travesti in his new novel  Creating intergenerational trans friendships and navigating inevitable conflict  Protesting in Bogotá and navigating Colombian gender bureaucracy  Untranslatable Spanglish, transsexual grammar, travesti poetics, and the beautiful transfemme tradition of lying-i-mean-myth-making :) Plus: Alison Bechdel vs Carson Kressley in Provincetown?!  This Week in Gender: We hear from a friend and supporter of Amber Kim. Submit a piece of Theymail: Today's message was from Jaman Dunn-Danger. Find Julián at juliandlopera.com and @juliandlopera. Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You is available now (and on sale on Bookshop!) Join our Patreon to access our weekly newsletter and monthly Gender Conceal episodes. Find transcripts and starter packs at genderpodcast.com. We're also on Instagram @gendereveal. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional music: Blue Dot Sessions Sponsors: Max Burns UX (mention Rhubarb) & DeleteMe (code: TUCK20) 

Last chance to save 50% off Gender Reveal patreon subscriptions and Girl Dad Press books with code "PRIDE" (!!!) Tuck tackles more advice questions with BFF of the show Mckenzee Griffler. Topics include why becoming a beautiful woman is like riding a motorcycle, how to handle intrusive questions from other trans people, and how we can support our friends when they make decisions we hate. Listen to the full episode on Patreon to hear discussions of immaculate conception mpreg Mario, ovo-lacto parkour, unappreciated Mulan jokes, and why it's so important to make a transphobic group chat. (Plus: Will trans solidarity save Tuck when he lies to the dermatologist??) Submit advice questions or AMA prompts via our new form for a future episode like this one. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional Music: Blue Dot Sessions

Tuck and Ozzy chat with I Saw the TV Glow actor Jack Haven (they/them). Topics include: Wearing an A/C unit on your head, both literally (in Camp Miasma) and figuratively (at Cannes and elsewhere)   Chasing shame and embarrassment as the most intense and therefore realest emotions  Filming an improvised movie guerrilla-style with friends & family Jack's grandmother falling in love with another nun and living an amazing life :) Plus: Little Death, actual death, Leatherface, Kate Berlant, Paul Preciado, bouillon chunks, a tour of Jack's tattoos, and a surprising amount about Nuts4Nuts  Submit a piece of Theymail: Today's message was from Zap Daddy Electrolysis. Find Jack on YouTube @JackHaven42. Read Waif Magazine at iswaif.com, and watch October Crow on Vimeo.  Get 50% off Gender Reveal patreon subscriptions and Girl Dad Press books with code "PRIDE" all June!  Find transcripts and starter packs at genderpodcast.com. We're also on Instagram @gendereveal. Special thanks this week to Lola and to Frankie Ferrari! Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional music: Blue Dot Sessions Sponsors: DeleteMe (code: TUCK20) 

Every 100 episodes, we demand that Lola Pellegrino—a nurse practitioner who specializes in gender-affirming care and gynecology, mostly for trans people—answers our medical questions. Topics include: Exciting new developments in PrEP!  Will crossfading hormones werewolf a doll? How important is freezing your eggs/sperm prior to HRT?  How does testosterone affect menopause? Plus: "Weird/bad vagina things," AOL, and the Mucinex guy jerking it? This Week in Gender: Nicole Kelly highlights Trans Florida Resources, one of the 2025 Gender Reveal grant recipients.  Submit a piece of Theymail: Today's message was from Jaman Dunn-Danger. Get 50% off Gender Reveal patreon subscriptions and Girl Dad Press books with code "PRIDE" all June!  Submit advice questions or AMA prompts for Mckenzee (and other future guests) via this form. Here is Lola's important meme. Find transcripts and starter packs at genderpodcast.com. We're also on Instagram @gendereveal. Senior Producer: Ozzy Llinas Goodman Logo: Ira M. LeighMusic: Breakmaster CylinderAdditional music: Blue Dot Sessions Sponsors: Max Burns UX (mention Rhubarb!)

Save 50% off Gender Reveal patreon subscriptions and Girl Dad Press books with code "PRIDE" all June!  Tuck challenges Sabs (How Far the Light Reaches), Calvin (Several People Are Typing), and Alma (Picnic Magazine) to draft the best bookshelf of trans literature. Along the way, we become cool bus perverts, travel to the Swiss Alps, and discover which recently published books are about Calvin :) Patrons can listen to the full, 8-round draft and then vote on the winner of the episode! Wow!  Find Alma's work at linktr.ee/PicnicMagazine, Sabrina's work at defector.com, and Calvin's work at Kasulke.co.