SEASON TWO
Episode 12: "The Long Journey," featuring Ryder Avalon
Meet Ryder Avalon – model, songwriter, ink enthusiast, and self-described “LA sewer ninja." In this episode, Ryder talks about her experiences interacting with health care professionals along her journey as a woman who identifies as “transsexual” and biracial. She explains why she prefers the word “transsexual” to the word “transgender” to describe herself, and she talks about how concerns about possible mistreatment may make trans-identified patients anxious or hesitant to be forthcoming during interactions with healthcare professionals. You can follow Ryder on Twitter at @RyderAvalon.
Episode 13: "Queer & Cripple," featuring Andrew Gurza
Meet Andrew Gurza, self-described “disabled man” and “queer cripple.” Andrew shares his experiences interacting with healthcare professionals around issues related to mobility, autonomy, and sexuality. He talks about what it feels like to be moved without his consent and treated by healthcare professionals in ways that distance him from his body, pleasure, and human connection. We explore the idea that persons with disabilities aren’t like everyone else and the power that he feels reclaiming words like “queer” and “cripple.” Finally, we discuss his recent musings on Twitter and Facebook about possibly doing porn and the reactions he’s received from friends who worry about that “fetishizing” his disability. You can follow Andrew on Twitter at @andrewgurza.
Episode 14: "Shits & Giggles," featuring Andrew Gurza
Earlier this season you met Andrew Gurza, self-described “disabled man” and “queer cripple.” In this episode, Andrew returns to the show to talk about his experiences with healthcare providers during his most recent hospitalization. We talk about C. Diff, diapers, nurses, doctors, hospitals, and tangentially, Grey’s Anatomy. You can follow Andrew on Twitter at @andrewgurza.
Episode 15: "The Addiction Nobody Will Talk About," featuring Joshua Shea
Meet Joshua Shea, a journalist, publisher, film festival founder, and local politician from Central Maine. Arrested and convicted for possession of child pornography after a long struggle with alcoholism and porn addiction, Joshua served six months in jail. He’s written a memoir, The Addiction Nobody Will Talk About: How I Let My Pornography Addiction Hurt People and Destroy Relationships, published in January 2018. In this episode, we talk about Joshua’s addiction and his path to recovery.
Episode 16: "The Gift of Sight," featuring Rachel Reimer
Meet Rachel Reimer, a self-described "Medical Intuitive, senior in college, and Millenial." According to her website, she "provide[s] spiritual insight to health care or mental health professionals on clients that want to know more about their health and/or are 'stuck'....Messages that [she] receive[s] can come in the form of images, sounds, or feelings.." In this episode, Rachel and I talk about her experiences as a patient as well as about her experiences as a "medical intuitive" who interacts with healthcare professionals. You can follow Rachel on Twitter at @intuitiverae.
Episode 17: "Expert Patient, Impatient Expert," featuring Cavanaugh Quick
Photo credit: Simone Riddle and Mars Sallustio
Meet Cavanaugh Quick, a self-described "queer, fat, AFAB transgender, femme, Afrolatinx, poly, kinky person with chronic pain" who’s also a graduate social work student at the University of Albany. In this episode, Cavanaugh and I talk about sexual health, kink, PrEP, gonorrhea, and the weird tendency for health care professionals to assume that AFAB transgender persons loathe their genitals and want to have phalloplasty so that they can morph into some sort of “beautiful man-butterfly.” You can follow them on Twitter at @heyawkwardology
Episode 18: "Uncovered," featuring Sara Quin
Meet Sara Quin, a self-described queer woman and activist who also happens to be a musician. (I’m loathe to write that she’s “one half of the duo, Tegan and Sara” because as a twin, Sara’s not 50% of a pair – she’s 100% Sara, and she has a sister who’s 100% Tegan, and they’re in a band together). In this free-flowing episode, Sara and I talk about what it’s like to seek healthcare as someone in the public eye. We both utter the phrase “super-famous vagina,” which in context, will make total and complete sense when you listen to the episode. We talk about how it feels to not have the comforting cloak of anonymity during intensely private moments like sitting at the bedside of a dying loved one or flying on an airplane while grieving a loss. Along the way, Sara and I chat about body image, breasts, Instagram, cats, family, vulnerability, and Sara’s work with The Tegan and Sara Foundation and Queer Health Access. You can follow Sara on Twitter at @teganandsara
Photo credit: Pamela Littky
Episode 19: "Turtles," featuring Andrew Gurza
In previous episodes you met Andrew Gurza, self-described “disabled man” and “queer cripple.” In this episode, Andrew returns to the show to talk about "straw bans," ableism, and turtles. If you're one of the many people who think that banning straws in restaurants is a good idea, pour yourself a drink and listen to Andrew explain why privilege and ableism may be making it hard for you to understand the perspective of persons with disabilities. Andrew is the host of Disability After Dark, a podcast that "shines a bright light on sex and disability." You can learn more about Andrew's podcast and disability awareness consulting services on his website, http://www.andrewgurza.com. You can follow Andrew on Twitter at @andrewgurza .