Currently Nerdy

Building upon our exploration of gender in Islamic history we dive into the topic of gender bending and how it can help us see gender as socially constructed, historically contingent, and contextual. We explore multiple figures through Islamic history from the ghulamiyya to the the bacha posh, from the khawal and the köçek to finally the mustarjil. Each of these figures troubles

Continuing our exploration of gender and sexuality in Islamic history we turn to the figure of the mukhannathun, a third gender category in early Islam. We trace ideas of gender as a fluid spectrum through the lives of these individuals examining their existence in the life of Muhammad and the nascent Muslim community, the Umayyads, and their eventual status in Abbasid society. We

In this episode we dive into the history of homosexuality, same-sex desire, and gay love in Islamic societies. We examine the realm of religion, scripture, literature, and medicine and what they tell us about same-sex desire. We recount the lives of famous gay and lesbian figures from the early Muslim community through the Abbasid Caliphate, Al Andalus, and the Indo-Persian world.

How did early Muslims define sex? In this episode we examine the role of pleasure and specifically mutual pleasure as a key definition of sex in Islamic society. We trace the role of pleasure from the Qur'anic ethos to the subsequent development of Islamic law, literature, and medicine. We argue Muslims did not define sex as predominantly procreative, but treated pleasure as good i

In our new episode we talk about the recent discussion about Batman's willingness as a lover. Twitter was abuzz with news that DC intervened to cut a scene where Batman performed oral sex on Catwoman. We discuss the rationalization of DC specifically in regards to wanting to sell merchandise and how capitalism shapes cultural productions. We talk about the relationship of American

In this episode we dive into the world of streaming, vlogging, and twitch. We talk about a recent 24 hour livestream and the potential money generated from it. We discuss the emergence of the phenomenon and the potential sociological reasons for why streaming, vlogging, and similar voyeuristic activities have become popular. Diz talks about watching Ludwig's stream. We examine the

In light of the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes we take the time to explore the role of media in perpetuating stereotypes and bigotry towards those of Asian descent. We discuss the failure in understanding the actual diversity of Asia especially as most Americans don't even understand the different between varieties in cultures, languages, and nationalities. We examine ca

Spurred by the weird character arc of Tom Branson from Downton Abbey, we examine other characters who have the opposite of a glow up. We add Bron from Game of Thrones to this lit along with Brita from Community. We distinguish the difference between characters that have the opposite of a glow up and horrible adaptations. In the latter group we put Apocalypse from X-Men arguing that

In our first podcast of 2021 we catch up on all that has happened in the past few weeks. We talk about the failed insurrection, subsequent political quagmire, and the reality that our problems as a nation aren't going away anytime soon. We discuss the surreal experience of living through the insurrection, we analyze how we got that point and how most people saw it coming, and then

We dive into the viral news of possible alien contact. We discuss how in recent years there has been an increased revelation around aliens and UFO's starting with the the Defense Department revealing video and audio of pilots witnessing UFO's. We then talk about the latest revelation by an Israeli government official which claims aliens have been in contact with humans and have eve