Gender Spiral with Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas

Activist and writer Raquel Willis tells us why we can't lose focus on intersectionality in the gender liberation movement. Plus, she talks about recording her experience of growing up Black and trans in a Catholic southern family in a memoir at the ripe age of 33. TRIGGER WARNINGS: death of a parent, suicide, grief Learn more about Raquel and her work at raquelwillis.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and YouTube. Get a copy  of her memoir The Risk it Takes to Bloom. Stay connected and get involved with Gender Liberation Movement on their website and on Instagram. Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Listen to this episode ad-free, watch the video version, and access other perks on our Patreon: patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Thank you for supporting us! Find transcripts, merch and more at genderspiralpod.com. Follow us on Instagram @genderspiral.

From their all-girls school growing up in Jamaica, to the international customs kiosk, to their Carribean neighborhood in NYC, DJ TYGAPAW (aka Dion) examines moving through the world now passing as a man versus their former experience of Black womanhood. Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. This episode features music from TYGAPAW's new album "Together You Gather All Power Applied Worldwide," which you can purchase on Bandcamp and stream on all music platforms. Listen to this episode ad-free, watch the video version, and access other perks on our Patreon: patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Thank you for supporting us! Find transcripts, merch and more at genderspiralpod.com. Follow us on Instagram @genderspiral.

Poet and novelist Cuthwulf Eileen Myles (Chelsea Girls, An American Poem, Working Life) debuts a new name - and haircut - in a conversation about transitioning in their 70s, their "butch straight" mother and "definitely queer" father, and the influence of death, sobriety and a working class childhood on their writing.  Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Listen to this episode ad-free, watch the video version, and access other perks on our Patreon: patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Thank you for supporting us! Find transcripts, merch and more at genderspiralpod.com. Follow us on Instagram @genderspiral.

Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas are kicking of another season of spiraling featuring all new interviews with trans and queer people from across the gender spectrum. Hear from poet Eileen Myles, activist Raquel Willis, electronic musician Tyga Paw, critic Andrea Long Chu, performance artist Jibz Cameron, writer and theorist Da'Shaun L. Harrison, and many more as we continue on our quest to explore gender in all its forms! New episodes out biweekly wherever you get your podcasts. And check out our Patreon for ad-free listening, videos, and bonus content!

In March, we got to close out UPitt's Pride week with a special live show! It was a blast talking to students, answering their questions, and reflecting on how Gender Spiral has grown over the past 3 seasons. You might say we were on fire- so much so that there may have been an incident involving a fire alarm about halfway through... Stay tuned- season 4 begins very soon! Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Listen to this episode ad-free, watch the video version, and access other perks on our Patreon: patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Thank you for supporting us! Instagram: @genderspiral Find transcripts, merch and more at genderspiralpod.com.

It's been a month since season 3 ended, so we decided to catch up and reflect! Here are some of our favorite moments from this season, plus an update on what's going on in our own lives. Here are the clips you heard in this episode (in order): Ericka Hart & Ebony Donnelly, "Parenting on Purpose" Kamra Hakim, "Community Care in the Catskills" Cass Adair, "A Baby? In This Economy?" Judith Butler, "Judith Butler Talks About Their Gender" J Wortham, "There is No Solo Future" River Nice, "Money Sucks -And- You Can Do It" Judith Butler (again), "Judith Butler Talks About Their Gender" Make sure to go back and re-listen to these and all of our other episodes from season 3 during our hiatus! And sign up for our Patreon for bonus content including video interviews and more. Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow/rate/review us to help us out. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with all things Gender Spiral. Find transcripts at genderspiralpod.com/episodes, and check out our merch store at genderspiralpod.com/merch!

Happy New Year! We took some time to catch up with each other, look back on season 3, and discuss Sandra Bullock's secret lesbian club (and Heated Rivalry, ofc). We also responded to some listener voicemails! Thanks for spiraling with us in 2025! Season 3 was our biggest season yet, but we've got so much more spiraling to do in 2026. Stay tuned! Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow/rate/review us to help us out, and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with all things Gender Spiral. Find transcripts at genderspiralpod.com/episodes, and check out our merch store at genderspiralpod.com/merch!

The legendary gender philosopher and scholar Judith Butler tells us about their personal relationship to non-binary identity. They also provide insight on the global rise of anti-trans ideology, the subject of their 2024 book "Who's Afraid of Gender?" Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow/rate/review us to help us out, and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with all things Gender Spiral. Find transcripts at genderspiralpod.com/episodes, and check out our merch store at genderspiralpod.com/merch!

What are the practical skills you need to survive the apocalypse? Writer, podcast host, culture afficionado, and reiki practioner J Wortham has done the research (and watched a lot of Survivor). J shares what they learned during their survivalism crash-course on a remote island in Mexico, tells us about their reiki and breathwork practices, and examines why dissasociation might not always be a bad thing. Keep up with J Wortham on Instagram @jennydeluxe, and on Substack. Check out their first book "Black Futures," their article "My 10-Day Crash Course on Surviving the Apocalypse," and their podcast "Still Processing." Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow/rate/review us to help us out, and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with all things Gender Spiral. Find transcripts at genderspiralpod.com/episodes, and check out our merch store at genderspiralpod.com/merch!

Artist Zander Schlacter and his lawyer Carl Charles from Lambda Legal explain the effects of the Tr*mp administration's executive order barring trans folks from obtaining passports with their correct gender markers, and why Zander is suing the US State Department about it. For more information about Zander's case, visit lambdalegal.org. Find Zander on Instagram @zanderschlacter, and check out the reel he posted when his case was filed. Hosted by Ally Beardsley and Babette Thomas, Gender Spiral is a quest to explore the modern experience of being a human in our gendered world. Subscribe/follow/rate/review us to help us out, and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/GenderSpiralPodcast. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with all things Gender Spiral. Find transcripts at genderspiralpod.com/episodes, and check out our merch store at genderspiralpod.com/merch!