In the front half of the show, Jonny interviews Junara, Grace, M, and Shelby--the director and some of the devising cast from "At a Crossroads," a performance in the Kleinau Theatre opening this Thursday. They discuss the crossroads metaphor and how the show leans into LGBTQ+ themes. In the back half of the show, Jonny and Heather discuss the crossroads we are currently at, following last week's off-term elections, SCOTUS decisions, and the apparent possible ending of the government shutdown. They also pause to celebrate Veterans Day, noting that LGBTQ+ people have always served in the military and always will. See our Facebook and Webpage for a link to a schedule of events for Trans Aawreness Week leading up to the Trans Day of Remembrance.

Jonny and Heather hike into the landscape of major media stories dropped in just the last week. We know President Trump saturates the airwaves in order to both benefit from the attention economy and distract from his administration's more nefarious moves. Using Heather's background in Army Intelligence, they look for patterns across the stories, and they find evidence of severe vulnerabilities. In the back half of the show they examine the two main competing strategies in the opposition and which they think is likely to be more successful and better for the LGBTQ+ community.

Jonny interviews Rosie in the first half of the show, a co-director of a local presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a shadow cast leading audience participation at The Varisty Center (https://thevarsitycenter.org//). In the back half of the show, Heather and Jonny use one of the show's songs to frame some of our current anti-LGBTQ+ issues as conflict between reality and perception.

Jonny and Heather start out the show reveling in some new media that shows representations of queer and trans identities are still prevalent in popular culture. Even where books and professors have been silenced, there are signs of successful resistance. In the back half of the show they discuss the recent No Kings protest and how the Trump Administration's and GOP's responses to it reveal how weak they really are. 

Jonny and Heather examine what appear to be cracks forming in and between the GOP and the Trump Administration. Although the authoritarian state still continues to form, it is hitting some serious snags. They discuss a wide range of responses to trans rights across a wide political spectrum. The look into military airplanes from Qatar and Texas taking up Florida's obsession with rainbow crosswalks. In the back half of the show they do a quick review of some SCOTUS questioning about conversion therapy. They also lament the power position lesbian TERF Bari Weiss will have over CBS News. They shift to good news, including a history of ice cream in LGBTQ+ protests, and end with some announcements of upcoming events in Southern Illinois. 

Jonny relies on Heather's military background to explain just how awful the Secretary Hegseth and President Trump addresses to the military flag officers was. Heather corrects Pete on what a real "warrior ehtic" is. Despite the abuse of military power, especially in attempts to turn it on the so-called "enemy within" in US cities like Chicago and Portland, the real message is one of weakness. In the back half of the show, they discuss the comedy of errors that is the government shutdown and how it, too, is a sign of growing weakness in the Trump Administration. They then turn to some stories about actual commedians before ending with a revised schedule of upcoming LGBTQ+ History Month events in the Carbondale, IL area.

Heather and Jonny briefly check in on recent assaults on LGBTQIA+ rights, particularly Trans Rights. They quickly move to a celebration of upcoming events this weekend kicking off LGBTQIA+ History Month and other Southern Illinois Pride festivities. In the back half of the show, Jonny interviews Dr. Desiree Rowe about her guest artist visit to the SIU, including her presentation of "Wave 01.12.22"--a performance about grief in the wake of CoVid 19 and the persistence of anti-vax practices within the on-going pandemic.  Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center LGBTQIA+ History Month event schedule: https://smrc.siu.edu/lgbtq/programming/ Rainbow Space Magic free online conference:https://www.eventbookings.com/b/event/rainbow-space-magic-2025?occurrence=3b31c1

Jonny interviews Billy of Golden Rainbows of Illinois South (GRIS) and Juniper, the coordinator of the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center--Southern Illinois University's LGBTQIA+ resource center. They discuss the upcoming events for LGBTQIA+ History Month in October. In the Back half of the show, Jonny talks with nomadic co-host Heather from the RV about disturbing developments for the trans community in the last week.  At the time of posting, the calendar of October events is not yet up. Please connect with the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center (https://smrc.siu.edu/lgbtq/ or the Isn't it Queer website https://isntitqueerwdbxsoil.blogspot.com/) for details and dates about October's MANY events!

Jonny and Heather are joined by Rey and Dan who are visiting Carbondale from Central Texas where they listen to the show. They join the team while they are on vacation to dive back into news they have otherwise successfully avoided for a week. Together, the foursome parse the consequences of Charlie Kirk's assassination last week. In the back half of the show they turn to victories, however small, for the LGBTQ+ community in this increasing hotile environment.. 

Jonny and Heather celebrate Heather's birthday by diving into the rights being taken from trans folks, from right to possess firearms to the right to use the bathroom. They also discuss the current threats to Marriage Equality and some of the ludicrous positions for its dismantlement. In the back half of the show, the move to a recounting of successful protests and challenges to the increasingly threatening choices of the current administration. They also offer resources on enhancing queer independent media. 

Jonny and Heather discuss the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School last week and the attemps on the Right to make the tragedy about the "mental illness" of transgender identity. In the back half of the show, in the spirit of Labor Day when the show was recorded, they lean into the impacts the current administration is having on labor in the nation. They also consider the consequences of loss of expertise in the CDC and the sciences in general all while rumors of President Trump's death circulate on the internet.

Jonny and Heather review some of the recent developments in the US's devolution into authoritarianism, with a focus on impacts to LGBTQ+ communities. It's dire af, y'all! In the back half of the show, they examine some queer heroes or "queeroes" stepping up to the plate. Some of them may be anti-queeroes and none of them are pure queer angels (well, almost none), but the battle is real and how we fight and defend ourselves is what matters most. 

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Jonny and Heather review some recent stories about the impact of AI on the LGBTQ+ community. While some of that is chatbot horror stories, much of it also shows possibilities for building stronger communities. In that latter vein, in the back half of the show Jonny interviews Jaron Soh, co-creator of Voda, a mental health app for the LGBTQIA+ community. They discuss what Voda provides, how AI ethically assists with that, and how the app came to be. You can find more information about Voda here: https://www.voda.co/

Jonny and Heather adapt to warming conditions and the failure of AC in their ecording studio, bringing an episode made in the virtual space of a Zoom meeting. They assess some particularly aggregious new assaults on trans rights, including the failure to honor the retirement benefits of Air Force members forced into early retirement for being trans. They also weigh in on Pete Buttigieg's mixed messages on trans support and the need for clearer, unambiguous support for trans rights in the resistance. In the back half of the show, they turn to the threats posed to other LGBTQ rights, including a full court press on overturning Marriage Equality and members of the administration's connections to platforms proud of their misogyny, transphobia, and homophobia. Unfortunately, the only real solace in all of this is the infighting and incompetence among the fascists and haters.

Jonny and Heather are back from their different trips. They pick up stories they missed while away and tie a common thread through them of the problem with manipulating data when you don't agree with the findings. While this has been common practice when justifying homophobic and transphobic legislation, it is now increasingly becoming the borader practice of an emerging authoritarian state.

Jonny and Heather ponder the many unsuccessful attempts by the Trump Administration to distract the public from the persistent scandal of the Epstein Files. In the process, they ponder what other important stories the current fascination with that conspiracy might be eclipsing. They look at recent disturbing developments in military and athletic trans-bans. In the back half of the show, they update on stories about eroding gender affirming care and impacts of hasty deportation and immigration control. While these are NOT the kinds of stories Trump would use as distractions, and they deserve our vigilant attention, we also acknowledge: TRUMP IS ON THE LIST!

Jonny is joined by Craig to discuss recent developments that suggest reality is starting to beat attempts to shape it through rhetoric, albeit all while relying on narrative. They look at the pushback against Alligator Alcatraz, the persistence of the Epstein Lists conspiracy, and the pushback on an Indianapolis pastor calling for the execution of LGBTQ+ people as evidence that ideologues can go too far. In the back half of the show, they discuss examples of how a desire for compassion and empathy can erode ideologies of oppression, with some specific attention paid to why conservatives seem threatened by the new Superman movie.

Jonny and Heather begin with a thesis that the weather is transphobic. This not-entirely-serious claim is used as a foil to discuss disinformation and misinformation campaigns. They examine several current event stories impacted by such spin, including: the Texas floods, the Everglades detention center, myths about undocumented immigration, and trans ban legislation.In the back half of the show, Jonny picks up the thread of AI's role in producing deep fakes and contributing to disinformation campaigns, but then offeres a more queer/nonbnary take on AI that examines ethical possibilities and recurrent fantasies about the nonnormative potential of robots. 

Jonny and Heather celebrate the end of a very busy and very good Pride Month while also taking stock of a lot of bad news for the LGBTQ+ community this past weekend. After reviewing SCOTUS decisions and developments in the BBB, in the back half of the show they turn to why visibility matters, especially at a time when people are trying to erase us.

Jonny and Heather process their weekend, which included domestic packing, Pride celebrations, and the threat of WWIII starting in the Middle East. They turn from this big bomb to the bombshell the SCOTUS dropped in its US v. Skrmetti decision. There is quite a lot of fallout already from that explosive ruling. In the back half of the show they explore queer and trans joy as activists' strategy and tactic, starting with an empowering gift from a fan of the show. The fight isn't over, folks, and we will prevail!

Jonny and  Heather are joined by local queer and trans artist, Brooke Yandle, creator of Hawthorne Art. Together, they discuss the challenges of making a living as an artist in a small town before turning their attention to assessing this past weekend's Pride on the Strip events, No Kings protest rally, and Trump's Washington DC parade ostensibly honoring the 250th birthday of the US Military. Veteran and aesthetic critiques proves very insightful and revealing.

Jonny and Heather start off with a little reflection on the street actions during Pride Month so far. This includes various offcial Pride maches and activities as well as unrelated yet akin protests in LA. And then, well, the big Pride Month break up of a same sex marriage at the federal level. Shade! They eschew the drama on the streets for drama on the page, reviewing and recommending some trans authored novels, starting with Heather's own Goodbye, Hello.Several other authors' recent works are also examined, proving to be as genre fluid as they are gender fluid. The show ends with a rundown of Pride events planned in Carbondale this coming Saturday (6/14)

Jonny digs into the archive pulling an episode about queer ecology from Earth Day (April 22) 2024. Jonny and Heather are on the road and unable to make a new episode this week.

YouTube video by IsntIt Queer