In Episode Eleven, I talk with cyborg aficionado Richard MacKinnon. Richard is the founder of Borgfest, a festival and expo that celebrates and supports people interested in human augmentation, enhancement, body modification, and wearable technology. In graduate school, Richard studied political theory and identity in cyberspace, which led him to his interest in all things cyborg. We talk about how his personal experience as a queer Asian American affected his conception of the term; how the cyborg label could be used to define many aspects of the marriage of the human and the technological; how the film Ex Machina fulfills certain sci-fi tropes and applies to Richard’s conception of the cyborg; and how the sex industry could be affected by the evolution of technology. A provocative and insightful talk!
Author: The BodPod
Episode Ten: Dr. Neville Hoad
In this tenth episode of The BodPod, I talk with Professor Neville Hoad. Neville is an associate professor of English and affiliated faculty with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the Center for African and African American Studies, and the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas at Austin. He authored African Intimacies: Race, Homosexuality and Globalization (Minnesota, 2007) and co-edits (with Karen Martin and Graeme Reid) Sex & Politics in South Africa (Double Storey, 2005). Areas of research include African and Victorian literature, queer theory, and the history of sexuality.
We talk: growing up in apartheid South Africa, sexuality, gender, drag, exercise, the “truth” of the body, the aging body, the “butchiness” of Texas women.
Episode Nine: Stacy Zoern
In Episode Nine, I talk to Stacy Zoern. We discuss bodily insecurities, accessibility, dependence upon other people, how the institutional model fails people with disabilities, losing all modesty, and how her company, Kenguru, seeks to change the way wheelchair-bound people get around by starting production of its wheelchair-friendly, autonomy-supporting electric cars sometime this year.
Here is her short bio:
Stacy has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a form of Muscular Dystrophy, and has never walked.
She graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in philosophy and psychology with highest honors and went on to attend the University of Texas School of Law.
Stacy practiced patent litigation at Daffer McDaniel for six years and also had the privilege of clerking for a federal judge in Austin, The Honorable Robert Pitman.
A published author, at the age of twenty years she wrote a memoir entitled “I Like to Run Too: Two Decades of Sitting.” She is also a public speaker and is well connected to the disability community.
In 2010, Stacy founded Kenguru, Inc. and currently works full-time for Kenguru as President. Kenguru designs, markets, and sells a 100% electric vehicle that is purpose built for people in wheelchairs. With the KENGURU, a wheelchair user is no longer trapped on his street or dependent on others. He can now travel up to 60 miles a day at 25 mph, accessing his community independently. The KENGURU is also popular for its ease of use, allowing drivers to enter by the push of a button, and to drive while seated in their own wheelchair. The KENGURU is a game changer for the wheelchair community.
Episode Eight: Amy Gentry
For the eighth episode of The BodPod, Amy Gentry and I conducted a mutual interview. Amy writes The Good Eye, a column on style, culture, and feminism that appears every week in the Austin Chronicle. The BodPod was featured in her January 9th column. Amy holds a PhD in English from the University of Chicago and reviews fiction for the Chicago Tribune. She writes her own fiction as well, and is currently working on a novel that she describes as a “Houston mother-daughter noir.” We covered a lot of ground in Part One: parental body policing; exercise in high school and beyond; changing fashion creating new insecurities, mainly for women; dance. In Part Two, Amy discusses her experience as an advocate for SafePlace, an organization that provides safety for individuals and families affected by sexual and domestic violence. We also discussed other issues, including Amy’s horror fiction inspired by her SafePlace experience, and our feelings about Texas and post-Wendy Davis filibuster. Both parts are solid!
The BodPod featured in The Austin Chronicle
The BodPod and its host (me!) are honored and humbled to be featured in the latest issue of The Austin Chronicle for Amy Gentry’s column, The Good Eye. You can read the web version of the article here. Episode Eight will feature our mutual (very long!) interview.
Episode Seven: Feliks Garcia
In this episode, I talk with my good friend Feliks about growing up with his sister and mother, fat bodies, body positivity, and masculinity. We laughed a lot – for instance, I was very tickled with the idea of teenage abdominal six-packs. Enjoy!
Episode Six: Susan Elizabeth Shepard
In this episode, I talk to journalist and sex worker, Susan Shepard. We discuss many topics, including: writing about sex, strip club audiences, the nature of performance in the sex work context, body image, boobs, and vaginas. Fun talk with lots of interesting tidbits.
Episode Five: Dr. Ann Cvetkovich
For the 5th episode, I interviewed Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at UT Austin, Ann Cvetkovich. Many topics are discussed: Ann’s research, including her book, “Depression: A Public Feeling;” conceptions of embodiment, including bridging the gap between academia and real world experience; and reconciling the idea of depression as something both private and public.
Ann’s book, Depression: A Public Feeling
Episode Four: Katelena Hernandez
In this fourth episode, I interviewed Austin-based performance artist Katelena Hernandez. We talk about masochism, sexuality, hypnobirthing, and desirability. To learn more about Katelena’s work, visit her website: katelenahernandez.squarespace.com/
You can read my feature of her performance piece, Treat Suit, in CAP Magazine here.
Episode Three: Dr. Snehal Shingavi
In this episode, I talked with Dr. Snehal Shingavi, an activist and professor of literature at UT Austin. We discuss various topics, including weight fluctuations, Islamophobia, Gandhi, and teaching.