Gay Iranian author Abdi Nazemian joins Nia to drop some intergenerational wisdom. We dive deep into his queer young adult novels: Desert Echoes, about addiction and grief; Only This Beautiful Moment, about three generations (two queer) of an Iranian family; and Like A Love Story, about coming of age at the height of the AIDS epidemic. In the process, he explains what it was like growing up in the '80s, why he's grateful to an ex for forcing him out of the closet, and how Madonna saved his life. Transcript available <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/842471447/Abdi-Nazemian-We-Want-the-Airwaves-123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Gay Iranian author Abdi Nazemian joins Nia to drop some intergenerational wisdom. We dive deep into his queer young adult novels: &lt;em&gt;Desert Echoes,&lt;/em&gt; about addiction and grief; &lt;em&gt;Only This Beautiful Moment,&lt;/em&gt; about three generations (two queer) of an Iranian family; and &lt;em&gt;Like A Love Story,&lt;/em&gt; about coming of age at the height of the AIDS epidemic. In the process, he explains what it was like growing up in the '80s, why he's grateful to an ex for forcing him out of the closet, and how Madonna saved his life. Transcript available &lt;a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/842471447/Abdi-Nazemian-We-Want-the-Airwaves-123" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Gay Iranian author Abdi Nazemian joins Nia to drop some intergenerational wisdom. We dive deep into his queer young adult novels: Desert Echoes, about addiction and grief; Only This Beautiful Moment, about three generations (two queer) of an Iranian...

123: Abdi Nazemian

Lamya H., the author of Hijab Butch Blues (she/they) is a bit of an enigma. In the memoir (and this interview), she never reveals which South Asian country she was born in or which Middle Eastern country she grew up in, and Lamya H. is a pen name. However, the book is not sparse on details when it comes to their experiences of racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia, or in chronicling their attempts to find and/or build progressive queer Muslim community in the U.S. after moving here for college. In this interview, we discuss her love of sports, the power of interracial Muslim friendships, and passages from the Quran around which she structured her story. Read the transcript at <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/831826393/Lamya-H-We-Want-the-Airwaves-122"> scribd.com/artactivistnia</a>. Support the podcast at <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/artactivistnia">patreon.com/artactivistnia</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Lamya H., the author of &lt;em&gt;Hijab Butch Blues&lt;/em&gt; (she/they) is a bit of an enigma. In the memoir (and this interview), she never reveals which South Asian country she was born in or which Middle Eastern country she grew up in, and Lamya H. is a pen name. However, the book is not sparse on details when it comes to their experiences of racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia, or in chronicling their attempts to find and/or build progressive queer Muslim community in the U.S. after moving here for college. In this interview, we discuss her love of sports, the power of interracial Muslim friendships, and passages from the Quran around which she structured her story.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Read the transcript at &lt;a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/831826393/Lamya-H-We-Want-the-Airwaves-122"&gt; scribd.com/artactivistnia&lt;/a&gt;. Support the podcast at &lt;a href= "https://www.patreon.com/artactivistnia"&gt;patreon.com/artactivistnia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Lamya H., the author of Hijab Butch Blues (she/they) is a bit of an enigma. In the memoir (and this interview), she never reveals which South Asian country she was born in or which Middle Eastern country she grew up in, and Lamya H. is a pen name....

122: Lamya H.

Comedian <a href="https://www.instagram.com/youknowtan/">Tan Hoang</a> discusses moving from Vietnam to the Philly suburbs at age 9, transitioning at acting school, and how training as an actor made her a better stand-up. She also tells stories of hosting Pride events in small towns, being recognized when she's out with her mom, and being a "peacocky-ass kid" and an aspiring rock star in a dying genre. If you live near Philly, catch her at <a href= "https://www.tattooedmomphilly.com/events/">Tattooed Momedy</a> on the last Tuesday of every month! Photo by Casey O'Donnell. Transcript available at <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/810100474/We-Want-the-Airwaves-121-Tan-Hoang">scribd.com/artactivistnia</a> thanks to transcriber Amirah Mizrahi!

<description>&lt;p&gt;Comedian &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/youknowtan/"&gt;Tan Hoang&lt;/a&gt; discusses moving from Vietnam to the Philly suburbs at age 9, transitioning at acting school, and how training as an actor made her a better stand-up. She also tells stories of hosting Pride events in small towns, being recognized when she's out with her mom, and being a "peacocky-ass kid" and an aspiring rock star in a dying genre. If you live near Philly, catch her at &lt;a href= "https://www.tattooedmomphilly.com/events/"&gt;Tattooed Momedy&lt;/a&gt; on the last Tuesday of every month!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Photo by Casey O'Donnell. Transcript available at &lt;a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/810100474/We-Want-the-Airwaves-121-Tan-Hoang"&gt;scribd.com/artactivistnia&lt;/a&gt; thanks to transcriber Amirah Mizrahi!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Comedian  discusses moving from Vietnam to the Philly suburbs at age 9, transitioning at acting school, and how training as an actor made her a better stand-up. She also tells stories of hosting Pride events in small towns, being recognized when she's...

121: Tan Hoang

Jonny Garza Villa (they/them), author of three young adult novels, discusses growing up queer and Mexican in a small Texas town, how getting into astrology helped them develop characters, and how pettiness can serve as inspiration. This is a deep dive into their books Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun (2021), Ander + Santi Were Here (2023), and Canto Contigo (2024), with a teaser for their forthcoming adult novel Futbolista at the end. Transcript available at <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/798638726/Jonny-Garza-Villa-We-Want-the-Airwaves-120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scribd.com/artactivistnia</a> thanks to transcriber Amirah Mizrahi!

<description>&lt;p class="p1"&gt;Jonny Garza Villa (they/them), author of three young adult novels, discusses growing up queer and Mexican in a small Texas town, how getting into astrology helped them develop characters, and how pettiness can serve as inspiration. This is a deep dive into their books &lt;em&gt;Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun&lt;/em&gt; (2021), &lt;em&gt;Ander + Santi Were Here&lt;/em&gt; (2023), and &lt;em&gt;Canto Contigo&lt;/em&gt; (2024), with a teaser for their forthcoming adult novel &lt;em&gt;Futbolista&lt;/em&gt; at the end.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;Transcript available at &lt;a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/798638726/Jonny-Garza-Villa-We-Want-the-Airwaves-120" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;scribd.com/artactivistnia&lt;/a&gt; thanks to transcriber Amirah Mizrahi!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Jonny Garza Villa (they/them), author of three young adult novels, discusses growing up queer and Mexican in a small Texas town, how getting into astrology helped them develop characters, and how pettiness can serve as inspiration. This is a deep dive...

120: Jonny Garza Villa

Growing up, reading and writing were things that made Sonora Reyes feel "dumb" in school. So how did they get from there to writing the Lamba Literary Award-winning, National Book Award-nominated Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School? In this interview, Sonora discusses healing their relationship to writing through fanfiction, growing up with a combination of brown pride and gay shame, and receiving an autism diagnosis later in life. Listen to the interview at qtpocart.libsyn.com. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia. Read the transcript <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/754679962/We-Want-the-Airwaves-119-Sonora-Reyes"> here</a>. Support the podcast <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/artactivistnia">here</a>.

<description>&lt;p&gt;Growing up, reading and writing were things that made Sonora Reyes feel "dumb" in school. So how did they get from there to writing the Lamba Literary Award-winning, National Book Award-nominated &lt;em&gt;Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School&lt;/em&gt;? In this interview, Sonora discusses healing their relationship to writing through fanfiction, growing up with a combination of brown pride and gay shame, and receiving an autism diagnosis later in life. Listen to the interview at qtpocart.libsyn.com. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Read the transcript &lt;a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/754679962/We-Want-the-Airwaves-119-Sonora-Reyes"&gt; here&lt;/a&gt;. Support the podcast &lt;a href= "https://www.patreon.com/artactivistnia"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Growing up, reading and writing were things that made Sonora Reyes feel "dumb" in school. So how did they get from there to writing the Lamba Literary Award-winning, National Book Award-nominated Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School? In this interview,...

119: Sonora Reyes

Is it possible to make art and make rent without compromising your values? Since 2013, Nia King has been interviewing queer and trans artists of color to find out. Here's what she learned.

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We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise

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