Best Lena Mattheis Podcasts (2024)

1
“Queering French Fairy Tales” with Mélie Boltz Nasr 31:36

8d ago31:36

31:36

Get ready, queer language enthusiasts and trans literature francophiles! In another spontaneous recording from Lesvos, Mélie Boltz Nasr aka May tells us all about their genderbending fairy tale collection for adult readers. We also speak about feminist fonts, French grammar and how queering language is not just an activist aim but also a beautiful …

1
“Lifting Off in Lesvos” with Karen McLeod 22:26

16d ago22:26

22:26

Guess who I ran into on the beautiful island of Lesvos: Karen McLeod, author of the amazing memoir Lifting Off. Karen sat down with me at Ohana Saloon, a queer-owned beach bar in Skala Eressos, and told me about her performance art, about working as aircrew as a queer woman, experiences with addiction, and about a new Lesvos-related book she is jus…

1
“Before We Were Trans” with Kit Heyam 36:40

24d ago36:40

36:40

Kit Heyam’s amazing history of gender nonconformity across the globe is a dazzling journey into the intricacies of trans history and if it’s not your favourite book already, it will be after listening to this episode. Learn why Kit particularly enjoyed writing about Edo Japan, what they discovered about intersex history and who their favourite pers…

1
“The Queer Arab Glossary” with Marwan Kaabour 38:57

1M ago38:57

38:57

Graphic designer Marwan Kaabour has created a stunning book that is so much more than your average glossary. Join me and Marwan to talk about what makes The Queer Arab Glossary so special: from the illustrations that powerfully reclaim slurs to the essays that explore the queer methodology of the book. It was an absolute pleasure chatting to Marwan…

1
“Bluestockings” with Raquel Espasande 20:34

2M ago20:34

20:34

Let’s go on a field trip! New York City is an amazing city for book shopping and LGBTQIA2S+ activism. Bluestockings Cooperative offers both. This amazing bookstore and community space almost feels too good to be true: nestled into the Lower East Side, Bluestockings has provided dyke dating, community support and all kinds of activism for well over …

1
“Queer Television and Bad Objects” with Hollis Griffin 34:33

2M ago34:33

34:33

Queer television is clearly having a moment and I got to learn more about this from my new favourite LGBTQ TV expert: Hollis Griffin. From the problematic categorisation of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ representation to watching telly at the gay bar, we talk about what queer TV can and can’t do and why it’s so enjoyable even when it’s bad. Hollis shares expert…

1
“Bellies” with Nicola Dinan 29:46

3M ago29:46

29:46

If I hadn’t already been a massive fan of Nicola Dinan, I would have become one after this! I was beyond excited to get to speak to Nicola at Surrey New Writers Festival and was extremely grateful that she was able to take some time after our panel to tell me more about her incredible debut novel Bellies (2023), about capitalism and queerness, abou…

1
“Theoryish” with Paola Medina-Gonzalez and Hannah Ayres 47:18

3M ago47:18

47:18

Meet your new favourite theory podcast! Theoryish is a brilliant audio journey that may just meet all your academic needs. Paola and Hannah are an amazing team and bring you everything from an introduction to queer studies to a deep dive into a critique of #girlboss. If you’re looking for a fun and relatable entry point to that particular theory yo…

1
“Queer Podcasting and Knowledge Production” with Hannah McGregor 48:01

4M ago48:01

48:01

Combine the age-old art of conversation with easy access to digital dissemination and you get: podcasting! Hannah McGregor is THE expert on scholarly podcasting, new approaches to peer review and (although we only mention this briefly) feminist lesbian dinosaurs. In this episode, we chat about how Hannah approaches podcasting, what it can and can’t…

1
“Narrating Palestine” with Nora Parr 41:31

4M ago41:31

41:31

Narratives can help us make sense of trauma – but what if these trauma narratives do not fit into preconceived structures of storytelling? Nora Parr joins me to speak about the role of narrative in trauma, in mental health and in understanding national, cultural and individual identity construction. Nora talks about how Palestinian literature forge…

1
“Lesbian Fashion History” with Eleanor Medhurst 50:16

5M ago50:16

50:16

Did you know that lesbians sporting sportswear is a queer tradition dating back centuries? Or that 1910s Japanese lesbians liked to don a yukata to send subtle signals about their gender identity and sexual orientation? My favourite foremost expert in lesbian fashion history, Eleanor Medhurst, is gracing the podcast with a return performance, shari…

1
100 Episodes! 24:42

5M ago24:42

24:42

Can you believe this is our 100th episode? Listen now to hear about some listeners’ favourite episodes, about future plans for the podcast and about how the cats are feeling these days. References: https://ko-fi.com/queerlit Karen Tongson Normporn Susan Stryker Cate Sandilands Kew Gardens Elizabeth Freeman Diane Watt Briona Simone Jones Yesterqueer…

1
“Normporn and Queer Imaginaries” with Karen Tongson 54:15

5M ago54:15

54:15

What could be more soothing than escaping your beautiful but complex queer life by watching a bunch of straight people remodel their suburban home in a new shade of beige? Karen Tongson joins me to explain why mainstream television can be so comforting and why admitting to having watched Gilmore Girls for the fourth time can feel a bit like sharing…

1
“Trans in Translation” with Alberto Poza 17:52

6M ago17:52

17:52

Have you read the iconic Taiwanese novel The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei? If so, in which language? Alberto has crafted the fabulous Spanish translation of this beautifully genderweird text and joins me to speak about the opportunities and challenges the highly gendered structures of Spanish offer for this. If you have ever wondered which pronoun or ge…

1
“Knight as a Gender” with Mabel Mundy 14:43

6M ago14:43

14:43

If you could pick a gender, any gender, which one would that be, and why would it 1000% be knight? In this special minisode, I get to answer that question with Mabel Mundy, who shares fascinating insights into the genderfuckery of chivalric romance and crossdressing knights. Tune in now, to learn more about why gender ambiguity clearly is, and has …

1
“Gendered Bodies and Narrative Form” with Chiara Pellegrini 45:15

7M ago45:15

45:15

How does a queer, trans or intersex body take shape in a narrative? Dr Chiara Pellegrini is here to help us better understand how narrative form, point of view, and embodiment interact in contemporary storytelling – whether that be in novels, short stories or reality TV. We speak about problematic narrative tropes of trans narration, such as the ‘g…

1
Humanities under Threat 27:15

7M ago27:15

27:15

https://surrey-ucu.org.uk/category/news/ https://www.instagram.com/supportsurreysll/?hl=en https://www.change.org/p/support-our-surrey-campaign? This is not an isolated issue! See this list of current large-scale UK HE redundancies: https://qmucu.org/qmul-transformation/uk-he-shrinking/ IG: @supportsurreysll Twitter/x: @SaveSurreySLL https://univer…

1
“Feeling Bad” with Hil Malatino 50:13

7M ago50:13

50:13

Despite the title, this episode contains a generous amount of laughter, because it is just that enjoyable to talk to Hil Malatino, brilliant author of Side Affects: On Being Trans and Feeling Bad (2022). Hil has published groundbreaking work on trans and intersex stories and histories and, in this most recent monograph, draws our attention to the c…

1
“Hijab Butch Blues” with Lamya H. 39:03

8M ago39:03

39:03

How often do you get to chat with the author of your major literary obsession and learn something about queer storytelling at the same time? I cannot believe I actually got to sit down with @lamyaisangry to talk about their brilliant novel Hijab Butch Blues, their essay writing and the queer future, which, according to Lamya, will be weird AF. List…

1
“Nonbinary History and Queer Kinship” with Mo Moulton 45:23

8M ago45:23

45:23

This episode is all about both/and: both trans and queer history, both kinship and relationships, both the past and the present. Mo Moulton, our illustrious guest this fortnight, is an expert in all of them. Mo is a historian of community, who is particularly interested in nonbinary methods to approach gender nonconforming figures of the past. In t…

1
“The Shape of Sex” with Leah DeVun 41:15

9M ago41:15

41:15

Nonbinary Jesus. Did that get your attention? If so, this episode is for you. Historian extraordinaire Leah DeVun joins me to talk about the pre-modern history of nonbinary gender, about intersex brides, transitioning saints and what terms such as androgyne and hermaphrodite might tell us about conceptions of sex, gender and sexuality. Leah explain…

1
“Trans Future Fiction” with Kit Schuster 39:26

9M ago39:26

39:26

How can we imagine a trans future? Kit Schuster joins me to talk about how transgression in fiction can help us think new futures. We speak about trans, nonbinary and gendernonconforming characters, norms and settings in science fiction, but Kit also stresses that their definition of trans is not limited to gender. Instead, Kit invites us to have o…

1
The queerest thing you did in 2023: Part Two 24:25

10M ago24:25

24:25

The queerest thing you did in 2023: Part Two Are you ready for 2024? I absolutely am not but to prepare for another queer year, I listen to more of your voice notes and I give you what you probably have not been waiting for: the queerest thing I did this year. References: ListenQueer https://listenqueer.wordpress.com/ Kit Schuster Jack Jen Giesekin…

1
Yesterqueer's Holigays 20:20

10M ago20:20

20:20

We're revisiting a holigay chat from two years ago, talking to a wonderful friend about how hard the festive season can be for queer and trans people. CW: grief, death, trauma, religion, violence, antiqueerness, antitransness, family traumaBy Lena Mattheis

1
The queerest thing you did in 2023: Part One 30:38

10M ago30:38

30:38

It’s here! It’s here! The Queer Lit end-of-year special has arrived and it comes in two parts. One you’ll get now and the other we’ll save for Christmas Eve. Tune in to hear me gush about all the lovely messages I received and listen to this year’s Queer Lit guests talk about their supergay highlights of 2023. References: Maria Sulimma Queer Persev…

1
Queer Space Special: “Gay’s The Word” with Erica Gillingham 23:31

10M ago23:31

23:31

This extraordinary queer space special makes all my dreams come true: I get to hang out with Erica Gillingham in the basement of Gay’s The Word! Sitting between towering stacks of books and boxes of GTW archival material that goes back all the way to the birth of this magnificent LGBTQ+ bookshop in January 1979, Erica shares some highlights of the …

1
“Two-Spirit Kinship” with Kai Minosh Pyle 39:25

11M ago39:25

39:25

What can you do when the language for who you are doesn’t exist yet? Kai Minosh Pyle’s answer: write gorgeous poetry about it! In this episode, Kai reads one of their multilingual pieces, but they also talk about the benefits of using words that ‘kind of’ fit, and about finding trans*temporal kinship with Two-Spirit ancestors in creative writing an…

1
“Second Wave Trans Feminism” with Emily Cousens 42:33

11M ago42:33

42:33

You may think that second wave feminism and trans activism are mutually exclusive but guess what: there is actually a whole lot of diversity in second wave feminist theory, writing, activism and print culture. Emily Cousens has done lots of archival research to highlight trans thinking and the way it has informed and shaped second wave feminism. Li…

1
How queer was your year? 1:54

11M ago1:54

1:54

If you would like to be a part of the Queer Lit winter tradition, let me know about the queerest thing you did this year and/or any queer winter/holiday traditions and reading recommendations by the end of November. Can't wait to hear from you at queerlitpodcast@gmail.com!By Lena Mattheis

1
Spooky Special: "Trans-fixing Media” with Cáel Keegan 44:33

12M ago44:33

44:33

We’re so done with scary trans villains and monsters – or are we? Cáel Keegan explains why we might be able to learn lessons about trans liberation from Buffalo Bill and why The Silence of the Lambs, upon its release, was actually protested for homophobia. Cáel speaks about transfixing and spellbinding media, from The Matrix to Buffy to video games…

1
VINTAGE Fear Lit: “Queerness and Race in Gothic and Horror” with Maisha Wester 47:48

12M ago47:48

47:48

Get the garlic, sprinkle the holy water, but please, leave the antiqueer racism out of my Gothic romance! Dr Maisha Wester (Sheffield/Indiana University) explains why Horror films are so interesting to study, what Brexit has to do with Zombies, why King Kong film posters reveal blatant racism, and why ghosts are not always gay but most definitely q…

1
“Realness, Loss and Underdogs” with Heather Love 46:32

12M ago46:32

46:32

It’s time to be real. In this episode with queer studies luminary Heather Love, it’s all about what you find, what you feel, what you knooooow(-ah) to be real. We talk about feeling and looking backward while shifting paradigms, about the semiprivate space of the queer classrooms, about the entanglements of queer, trans and disability studies and s…

1
“The Coast is Queer” with Sarah Boira and Vedrana Velickovic 23:43

1y ago23:43

23:43

Have you asked yourself lately: What could I do to make my October really super extra queer? Sarah Boira and Vedrana Velickovic have THE festival for you. Listen to this episode to learn all about The Coast is Queer, the UK’s first LGBTQIA+ literary festival that celebrates all texts queer. Some of the events to get excited about: a panel on queer …

1
“Black Feminist Lessons” with Alexis Pauline Gumbs 50:30

1y ago50:30

50:30

This episode takes us deep, deep into the queer ocean. Alexis Pauline Gumbs submerges us in Black feminist thought, takes us on a deep dive into queer creativity, and, most importantly, allows us to rethink our breathing through gills, lungs, mouths, and bills. Listen now to learn about how Audre Lorde, June Jordan and M. Jacqui Alexander have infl…

1
"Queer Ecologies and Mulberries" with Cate Sandilands 43:17

1y ago43:17

43:17

Did you know that yew trees can (and do) change sex? And that many trees are nonbinary? Genderqueer greenery is only one of the fascinating (tree) topics this conversation branches off into. If you want to em-bark on a journey into queer ecologies, this is the sapisode for you. Cate talks about leafing through the herbal archives at Kew Gardens, th…

1
“Queerness in the USSR” with Rustam Alexander 48:44

1y ago48:44

48:44

What did queer life look like in Soviet Russia? Rustam Alexander has written two whole books about gay oppression in Russian history and is here to share what they learned in the archives, from diaries, and from doctors’ records. From the revolution to the ‘gay propaganda’ law of 2013, Rustam talks about the state and the history of Russian queerne…

1
“Queer Second Cities and Serial Bisexuality” with Maria Sulimma 49:13

1y ago49:13

49:13

A dog walks into a lesbian bar. I am not sure there is a punchline but there is definitely a podcast episode here. Listen to this chat with my lovely friend and colleague Maria to hear about the conference we will be hosting together, about queerness and/in the city, about seriality and sexuality, and about Maria’s fascinating take on TV and identi…

1
“The Queer Middle Ages” with Diane Watt 35:26

1y ago35:26

35:26

We know that queer and trans people have always been around, but how do you go about finding them? Diane Watt is here to show us how it’s done: all you need is lesbian methodology, queer philology, and tiny curtains. Intrigued? Tune in to learn more and to listen to Diane and I discuss shared butch lesbian and transmasculine histories, lesbian nuns…

1
“Out and Wild” with Elizabeth Chakrabarty 15:28

1+ y ago15:28

15:28

Join @DrNChakrabarty and I in the magic teapot at @OutandWildlgbtq to talk about reading in queer spaces, writing about race hate crimes, and community at queer events. We also reflect on academic structures and queer encounters, critical race theory and cultural differences in talking about race. It was such a pleasure running into Elizabeth again…

1
Revisiting "Lesbian Literature" with Terry Castle 56:57

1+ y ago56:57

56:57

In this trip to the Queer Lit archives, (the) Prof Terry Castle (Stanford University) joins me to discuss a corpus I don’t usually think about: lesbian content produced by cis-male authors. We talk about what’s great and not so great about these texts, which moments in literary history opened new doors for queer representation and why literature is…

1
“The Common Press” with Alfonzo Sieveking 20:11

1+ y ago20:11

20:11

If you haven’t been to the Common Press yet, you’re missing out! But not to worry, Alfonzo and I will transport you there. The Common Press is an intersectional bookshop and event space at the end of Brick Lane and I wish I could live there because the curation of events and books is amazing and the chai latte is fabulous and I found all of my favo…

1
Revisiting "Black Trans Narratives" with LaVelle Ridley 49:19

1+ y ago49:19

49:19

In one of the first Queer Lit episodes ever, I got to chat with LaVelle Ridley (University of Michigan) about her doctoral research on black trans life narratives in this one and I must say, she’s a tonic. From important observations on the role of storytelling in political and community activism to the deeply personal process of healing that appro…

1
"Gay Voice Stereotype" with Fabio Fasoli 33:59

1+ y ago33:59

33:59

Do you think you can tell someone is queer by listening to their voice? Dr Fabio Fasoli is here to tell us all about gay voice stereotypes, auditory gaydar, and voice-based bias. We talk about gay voice acting in 90s sitcoms, learn surprising facts about lesbian voices and employability, and discuss the intersection of foreign accents and gender-no…

1
Revisiting "Trans Now" with Susan Stryker 1:03:21

1+ y ago1:03:21

1:03:21

Hold on to your pussyhats! The incredible Prof Susan Stryker joins me for this whirlwind through trans histories, nows, and futures, in which we talk about the power of narrative and affect in research and media and about what transness might teach us about possible ways of existing in the world. Susan shares rather entertaining insights from her g…

1
“Queer Lit UK” with Matthew Cornford 17:36

1+ y ago17:36

17:36

Seeing double? This here podcast just so happens to share its name with a brilliant LGBTQIA+ bookshop, located in the heart of one of the queer places to be in the UK: Manchester. I met Matthew, the owner, and Jasper, the beagle, in the shop for a chat about their origin story, their book clubs and their exciting next move… Don’t delay, listen (and…

1
"Queer Time" with Elizabeth Freeman 48:59

1+ y ago48:59

48:59

Queer time flies! Especially when talking to Elizabeth Freeman, who is here, now, to talk about her ground-breaking work on queer temporality, kink, care and kinship. In this momentous episode, Beth minutely lays out her thoughts on temporal drag, deep lez, erotohistoriography and chrononormativity, while also commenting on the relevance of feminis…

1
"Feminist Killjoys" with Sara Ahmed 52:13

1+ y ago52:13

52:13

Dreams really do come true! In this episode, I get to chat to the legendary originator of the feminist killjoy herself: Sara Ahmed. We talk about who the killjoy is, what she can do for us and why it is important that you can both be her and have her as your companion. Sara talks about the people who inspired her in her work on complaint, happiness…

1
"Trans Materialism" with Kadji Amin 53:45

1+ y ago53:45

53:45

‘Cause we are living in a material world, Kadji Amin is here to talk about trans materialism! Kadji’s work is all about exploring what being trans means beyond gender identity. What are material reasons to transition or transgress gender expectations? How did our trancestors live as their chosen gender? And why does the history of trans women look …

1
“Queer Spaces and D*ke Bars” with Jack Gieseking 44:20

1+ y ago44:20

44:20

A whole entire episode about thriving queer spaces? I know I’ve been waiting for it. Come follow Jack Gieseking and I down the queerness hole, through the d*king glass, right into C+ntoland. The extraordinarily lovely Jack and I chat about transdisciplinarity, queer geographies, Eve Sedgwick, accessibility, hot water bottles and lesbian poetry. Jac…

1
"Queer Running" with Lindsey Freeman 41:32

1+ y ago41:32

41:32

Run, don’t walk! Lindsey Freeman (Simon Fraser University) joins me for a sprint through their most recent book on running. We talk about running while queer, running while female-bodied, running while gender-nonconforming… and we discuss all the wonderful things that a little jog can do. If you’re in for the long run, follow @lindseyafreeman on Tw…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Lena Mattheis Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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