Queer History & Exploring Our World "Outside In"
Sounds Like Impact: A newsletter for audio and action
Welcome to Sounds Like Impact!
This edition we have a guest curation from Jordan Gonsalves, host of But We Loved, and an interview with Nate Hegyi, host of Outside/In.
Today is also Juneteenth, please take some time to learn about this holiday.
ICYMI: Last edition was guest curated by Mila Atmos from Future Hindsight and I interviewed Daniel Alvarenga.
#SLI Community:
From our friends at Third Coast:
#WeNeedThirdCoast is an urgent call to our community to help Third Coast kickstart a year-long effort of financial investment and rebuilding. We really need support right now – late last year, we found out our longtime financial supporter ended their funding of the Competition, despite the fact that we’d just hosted our most successful Call for Entries to date. We need to meet our goal of raising $50,000 in order to start another cycle of the program this summer.
Libertroph Magazine call for submissions about white anti-racist organizing. It’s a project my friend
worked on and you can read more about it here.Jordan Gonsalves, our guest curator, was interviewed by our friends over at Podcast the Newsletter.
A Life Update and Recs:
I had COVID this past week. It was the second time I’ve had it (the first time was around this time last year). Fortunately, I’m doing okay. My vaccines are up to date and I still mask most places, while using a personal air filter in office (I really miss WFH) and using nasal sprays.
I am still going to continue to do all of the above, and only share this as a reminder that COVID is still out there and to encourage everyone to still use precautions—especially during the summer.
For resources on what is happening with COVID, I recommend for updates on variants, vaccines and policies, as well as People's CDC for advocacy and infection monitoring. And for those interested in or affected by Long COVID, The Sick Times produces coverage on this issue.
Okay, all that to say that I also have spent a lot of time—more than my usual—watching TV. At the end of this edition I will share my recommendations, so keep reading!
Reminder: To guest curate, be interviewed, advertise and more, click here.
🎧 #AudioForAction Guest Curation: Jordan Gonsalves
Queer History Like You’ve Never Heard It
I grew up thinking that being gay was the worst thing I could ever be. I grew up Catholic and in the South. I always thought being gay meant being weak and unlovable. But as I started learning queer history — and meeting the queer elders who lived it, I realized queer history is full of courage, perseverance, and love. All of these episodes center queer elders who have defied the stereotypes of being gay. They showcase how powerful and fearless queer people are.
-Jordan Gonsalves, Host of But We Loved
Follow But We Loved on Instagram @butweloved.
But We Loved, That One Night at Stonewall
My podcast! This episode really immerses you in the 1969 night that changed everything for the gay community: the first night of Stonewall Riots. Queer history is often branded as tragic. But this whole show is about re-telling queer history through the lens of courage, perseverance, and love. It’s told through my interviews with queer elders.
Making Gay History, Coming of Age During the AIDS Crisis
What it was like to live through the AIDS crisis from the account of a historian and journalist specializing in gay history. It’s moving and visceral.
Nancy, The Word Queer
I remember when I was a child and would be called queer by my bullies, it was horrible. Sometime between then and now, I began referring to myself as queer — with pride. This episode breaks down how LGBTQ+ began reclaiming the word from a slur to a self-identifier.
Cruising, Mona’s
This episode is about the first lesbian bar in America! It’s told through the lens of young queer people eager to learn more about their own history.
Finding Fire Island, Legends and Lore
Fire Island has historically been a safe haven for queer people in New York for decades. It’s literally an island that is only accessible by boat and is just for queer people. This mini-series podcast dives into the storied history of this magical place.
P.S. from Ayo - Check out the Sounds Like Impact interview with the creators of Cruising podcast! And if you are looking for more shows helmed by members of the LGBTQIA+ community, you may be interested in these interviews with Daniel Alvarenga, H Conley, Aline Laurent-Mayard and Blake Pfeil.
📣 Spotlight
I’m Nate Hegyi (he/him), the host of Outside/In, a podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio that covers science and the outdoors. I’ve been a public radio journalist for almost a decade – mostly covering public lands, rural communities and tribal affairs in the Mountain West. As host of the show, I’ve gone dogsledding in Alaska, chased bats in Montana, and visited the site of the world’s first atomic bomb testing in New Mexico. I love stories with lots of moral quandaries and no perfect answers.
I’m really proud of the impact our episode, Oppenheimer’s Omission, had on the community of radiogenic cancer survivors in New Mexico. They have been fighting for years to get restitution from the federal government after it tested the world’s first atomic bomb back in 1945. I think the coverage they received from multiple media outlets after the film Oppenheimer was released helped amplify their cause in Congress, and I heard a lot of positive things from that community about our episode.
To learn more about the work Nate and the Outside/In team have done, click here.
🌟 Classifieds
Nothing to promote but still want to support? You can donate here.
📺 Ayo Recommends
I am not going to share everything I watched during my recent COVID quarantine, but most of this stuff I’m sharing is because it connects to what we have covered on this newsletter or what is relevant to June.
Documentaries (all on Paramount+—they usually have a free trial!)
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom - Historian and preservationist Brent Leggs was interviewed and I knew I had heard his name before. Sure enough, he was interviewed on Urban Roots Podcast. I interviewed Executive Producer Vanessa Maria Quirk for this newsletter, and I’m happy to share they recently released a new season!
Hitsville: The Making of Motown - It’s Black Music Month so I’ve been watching a lot of music related documentaries. I 🧡 the Motown era.
Pay Or Die - I felt rage watching this. Read my interview with the folks behind National Emergency podcast about further ridiculousness in the U.S. health care system and folks working on solutions.
The One and Only Dick Gregory - I really enjoyed learning about how he used his platform as a comedian to advance civil rights.
Film
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (TUBI - free or Prime Video). I couldn’t help but think of the Spiritual Trauma curation that Simon Kent Fung did, which featured his podcast Dear Alana.
The Watermelon Woman (Criterion Channel). I had heard great things about this movie by Black lesbian filmmaker Cheryl Dunye and it didn’t disappoint.
- has some more queer Black films you can check out.
A Raisin in the Sun (TUBI - free or Criterion Channel or Prime Video). Specifically, the Sidney Poitier original, not the newer one.
Beans (Hulu). While a fictionalized account, the film incorporates archival footage of the Mohawk resistance that happened in 1990 Quebec. If you missed our curation on Indigenous Science, or the recent guest curation on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, please go back to read.
thanks for recommending the episode I made about the word queer, Ayo! It has been six years so I really should investigate making an update