Episode 37 - Scott Calonico & Sandy Wieding - “C’est Si Bon”
Photo Credit: Scott Calonico
[Image Description: Scott, a bald white man, is pictured from the torso. He wears a white t-shirt, a blue and white patterned shirt, and a black jacket with an upturned color. He holds a pair of black glasses in his hand as they rest against his chin. He looks to the left.]
In this episode, I speak with film director Scott Calonico and archival researcher and producer Sandy Weeding. During our conversation, we chat about our first meeting at the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, Sandy’s experiences of Berlin before the wall came down, unique German archives, and their latest documentary short, Catwoman vs. the White House. The film which will screen on The New Yorker website for Black History Month celebrates a little-known moment in history when Eartha Kitt confronts Lyndon Baynes and Lady Bird Johnson with their performative initiatives for Black folks in the inner city and the problems of the Vietnam War. Soon after this encounter Earth Kitt was unofficially blacklisted in the U.S. She was fortunately embraced by Europe and the people of Franc specifically, so this week’s song is her rendition of the classic, “C’est si Bon.” Our conversation was recorded in February 2022.
Episode 22 - Steven Eastwood & Elhum Shakerifar - “Cactus”
Photo Credit: Elhum Shakerifar
[image Description: Elhum is pictured from the neck up. She wears a teal blouse, a gold necklace, and glasses. She smiles at the camera. She is turned slightly to the side and black hair is swooped to the side.]
Photo Credit: Steven Eastwood
[Image Description: Steven is pictured from the chest up. He wears a teal flowered t-shirt. His head is turned slightly to the side.]
In this episode, I speak with UK-based artist-filmmaker Steven Eastwood and producer, Elhum Shakerifar about their collaborative work on the film ISLAND and how that work has shaped their thoughts on the exploration of death and dying in the time of COViD. We also chat about their current film and multiscreen installation the Neurocultures Project which not only centers on the neurodiverse experience but is being co-created with autistic artists. Because Steven, Elhum and the artists with whom they work center the diversity and complexity of the human experience, this week’s song is “Cactus” from the London-based neurodiverse funk band the Fish Police.
Episode 19 - Lindsey Dryden & Day Al-Mohamed - “Say My Name”
Photo Credit: Rachel Ellis
[Image Description: B&W photo. Day is pictured from the torso up. She sits on the ground with her dog, a light-colored Labrador retriever named Veni. Day has a pair of sunglasses on top of her head and wears a denim-like jacket over a dark-colored top. She wears a metal necklace as she looks at the camera.]
Photo Credit: Jo Irvine
[B&W photo. Lindsey is pictured from the chest up smiling with her body turned slightly as she faces the camera. She stands in an open field, her hair blowing in the wind. She wears a dark velvet-like top.]
In this episode, I speak with filmmaker Lindsey Dryden and filmmaker, novelist, and podcaster, Day Al-Mohamed. In our conversation, we chat about Day’s advocacy work in Washington, D.C., Lindsey’s work as a producer of the film Unrest, and the organization they co-founded with the Oscar-nominated director of Crip Camp, Jim Lebrecht and Alysa Nahmias, FWD-Doc. FWD-Doc is committed to empowering filmmakers with disabilities and part of that advocacy is being bold saying the words “disability” and “disabled.” With that said and the spirit of naming what is, is, this week’s song is Destiny Child’s “Say My Name.”
Episode 17 - Rüzgâr Buşki - “İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir/Consistent Fantasy is Reality”
Photo Credit: Sibel Özen
[image Description: Rüzgâr stands by a large rosebush and leans their head into a large flower. Behind them is a high fence with flowering vines. The wear a multicolored shirt beneath a red jacket.]
In this episode, I speak with artist and filmmaker Rüzgâr Buşki. In our conversation, we talk about immigrating from Instanbul, where to get great Turkish food in Berlin, discrimination in Germany, and their current project, I’ve Got the Power. Because I’ve Got the Power explores how imagination and fantasy can be used as tool to process and heal grief and be basis for creating a new reality, this episode’s song is Gaye Su Akyol’s “İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir/Consistent Fantasy is Reality.”
Episode 10 - Jamie Starboisky - “Live Your Life Be Free”
Photo Credit: Jamie Starboisky [Image Description: Jaime stands against a red brick wall. He has a beard and wears a black sleeveless sweater with white heats, spades, diamonds and a red button shirt.]
In this episode, I speak with director, creative producer, writer Jaime Starboisky about the Queer Media Film Festival and his virtual reality project, Therese & Peta: A Tale of Two-Spirits. In 1991, the two protagonists of the project, Therese & Peta, did a road trip back to Peta’s home on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Because in conversations with Jaime, Peta described that time as a moment they felt free, this week’s song is Belinda Carlisle’s “Live Your Life Be Free.”