We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise

Mar 02 2025 97 ep. 49 mins 19
We Want the Airwaves: QPOC Artists on the Rise Podcast artwork

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.

  Society & Culture  Arts
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122: Lamya H.

Mar 02 2025 42 mins  
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 chr

121: Tan Hoang

Jan 05 2025 54 mins  
Comedian Tan Hoang 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

120: Jonny Garza Villa

Dec 01 2024 64 mins  
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

119: Sonora Reyes

Aug 04 2024 55 mins  
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 sham

118: Queer & Trans Comics & Zines

Apr 14 2024 89 mins  
A panel featuring four of Nia King's favorite artists: Sawyer Lovett, Joe Hatton, Vo Vo, and Cristy C. Road. Zines played a crucial role in reducing social isolation for many of us, whether we were one of the only punks of color in our scene (Nia in Boston, Joe in the Dakotas, and Vo in Sydney, Australia), or the only gay in our rural Virginia town (Sawyer). Cristy C. Road discusse

117: Ten Year Anniversary Episode, pt. 1

Apr 02 2023 43 mins  
We Want the Airwaves celebrates 10 years with a panel featuring six of the artists from Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volume Three: Anthony J. Williams, Kamal Al-Soylaylee, Joamette Gil, Venus Kii Thomas, Qwo-Li Driskill, and Osa Atoe! (This is the first part of a two-part episode, so you will only hear Ant, Kamal, and Jo on it.) This panel is co-hosted by Maliha Ahmed, co-editor

116: No Hay Tos

Nov 25 2021 50 mins  
In this very special CROSSOVER episode, I interview the hosts of the Mexican podcast No Hay Tos (in English after they interviewed me for their own show in Spanish). Beto and Héctor, both long-time Spanish teachers, discuss their own language-learning journey, what they love about podcasting, and some of the challenges of teaching. Check out their podcast at nohaytospodcast.com. R

115: Simi Kadirgamar

Mar 07 2021 42 mins  
Sri Lankan-American Tamil trans woman reporter and martial artist Simi Kadirgamar is the guest on this month's podcast episode. In it, we discuss her reported/illustrated zine on the Indian and Pakistani occupation of Kashmir, a family that peddles Brazilian Jiu-jitsu training to police all over the world, and why she chose hate groups and the far-right as her beat. Shout out to my

114: Briyana D. Clarel

Feb 28 2021 39 mins  
Singer, dancer, actor: Briyana Clarel is a triple threat! In this episode, the Black, nonbinary theater artist discusses growing up in South Jersey, racism at Princeton, and learning to love musical theater, sketch comedy, and a capella. Read the transcripts at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

113: Princess Harmony

Oct 18 2020 24 mins  
Afro-Latina trans woman essayist Princess Harmony stops by the podcast to discuss her writing for Black Girl Dangerous, Wear Your Voice and Workers World. We also discuss what's missing in reporting about the opioid pandemic, the different types of medication-assisted treatment available and whether rehab is a scam. Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia. Support the podc