FemmeCast: Episodes

After a brief hiatus, FemmeCast returns with a minisode all about the sweet stuff (or the not so sweet stuff we turn into a good story)!!

Host Bevin Branlandingham is joined by Femme Shark Correspondent Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, hosting live from a road trip journey earlier this Spring.

Miasia tells her favorite story of street harassment, you can find her website and book her bellydancing at Miasia.org

Bevin relives a drunken adventure in search of an ice cream treat with FemmeCast Sexpert, Rachael, Femme Family NYC Madam of Hospitality Chris and The Gay Dr. Phil.

Bevin and Leah discuss "cotton candy pink sugar pussy brain" and how you can make it so finding love and good sex doesn't mean losing yourself, your friendships and values to a content and cow-like existence.

What we're listening to:

Gravy Train!!!, "All the Sweet Stuff"

Jill Sobule, "San Francisco"


Stay tuned for our next episode, Thinking Big! or A FemmeCast Guide to Courtship, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 8.5!!

2009 is so full of possibility--we're all excited about new and amazing things we just had to share!!

Host Bevin Branlandingham talks about Saturn Return and getting through Unemployment and Housing Crisis 09 and trying to cling to the bright side.

Femme Shark Correspondent Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and her BBFFF and co-founder of the Femme Sharks Zuleikha Mahmood debut their latest addition to the Queer Lexicography, JAM!

Buy the Femme Shark Zines! 1 & 2 now available. Paypal your donation to "thefemmesharks at gmail dot com"

Amir, the Giant Squid Sea Creature Ally joins FemmeCast to talk about the PanJamism movement and getting done as a transmasculine person. Amir is a dreamy looking poet from the East Bay and you can see him perform with Mangos with Chili.


Fatshion Correspondent Tara updates on her dresses only project, wearing red, white and blue, MAC cream color base and trying everything on.

Bevin gives a little pep talk about self-advocacy.

Glenn Marla found a 3 1/2 foot double chin in mid-town Manhattan.

Cultural Correspondent Naima loves porn! Porn she likes includes the Chemistry series, Cafe Flesh, Slide Bi Me, which I can't find to link online. Bevin likes Sugar High, Glitter City, for obvious reasons. (Glitter. Sugar.)

Zuleikha reads from the new Femme Shark Zine!

We debut the Cripping Femme Series with a piece by series curator, Leslie Freeman!



News & Announcements:

Femme ATX! Austin, TX

Femmes Front and Center, Photography by Kristin Kurzawa, Detroit, MI area

The Fat Girl Flea Market!, April 4, 2009, New York, NY
Bevin is pouring her funemployment into Community Organizing and the Fat Girl Flea Market

Femme Family NYC!

Gayety!, April 26, 2009, Brooklyn, NY

Kentucky Fried Woman has a new show series Kentucky Fried Woman Presents in Oakland, CA @ Velvet on the first Friday of the Month!)

Bevin's new blog!

What we're listening to:

Dance Yourself to Death, "We are all Made of Stone"

Athens Boys Choir, "EZ Heeb"

Duffy, "Syrup and Honey"

Stay tuned for our next episode, Thinking Big! or A FemmeCast Guide to Courtship, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 8!!

Asking for help is a skill--how do we learn it?

Kentucky Fried Woman discusses her difficulties with asking for help, and how she has learned to delegate.
(P.S. Go see her new show series Kentucky Fried Woman Presents in Oakland, CA @ Velvet on the first Friday of the Month!)

Substantia Jones of the Adipositivity project identifies as a Steel Magnolia and has a hard time not judging people (and therefore herself) for asking for help.

Our newest Correspondent, Femme Shark Founder Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, talks about being a queer femme with a disability--needing to transform Femme Identity from tough and cool to "You can be a mess and still be a powerful Femme. We're not going to cut down one another when we're vulnerable."



We debut the Femmes of Color Roundtable Series, moderated by our Fatshion and Beauty Correspondent Tara. Participants include Christine De La Rosa, Miasia, Tania. "My experience of how my race, my fat and my femmeness intersect is that I think that people don't expect fat East Asians. I feel like a bodily contradiction, simultaneously desexualized and hypersexualized."



Self-help Correspondent Genne talks about how she was the partner of someone with a bad drug addiction, how she got out of it, and how it taught her the importance of learning to ask for help. "Asking for help takes its own strength and bravery."

Our Sexpert Rachael talks about disclosing STD status and casual sex.

Bevin interviews Jenny Lowery, aka Pidgeon Von Tramp, Queer Fat Femme Burlesque performer with the Von Foxies of Seattle, writer and founding board member of the Bent Writing Institute about her work and asking for help.



News & Announcements:

U People Premiers on Logo!, LOGO TV, February 7, 8 PM.

4th Annual Femme Mafia Masquerade!, January 31, 2009, Atlanta, GA
Bevin is Femmeceeing this show for the third time! Grab a group of friends and make it a femme destination event!

Femme Family NYC!

Gayety!, February 28, 2009, Brooklyn, NY

Re/Dress NYC! Go shopping for fat girl clothes! Mention FemmeCast Discount and you'll get 10% off your purchase through March 31. Brooklyn, NY.

Bevin's new blog!

What we're listening to:

Rae Spoon, "Come on Forest Fire, Burn the Disco Down"

Hanifah Walidah, "Happy"

Lily Allen, "Guess Who Batman"

Stay tuned for our next episode, That's My Jam!!!, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 7!!


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Happy Holidays from FemmeCast!!


Maintaining a relationship with your family of origin can be a stressful and often difficult endeavor for anyone who is different, from sexuality to gender identity and size. FemmeCast contributors discuss their strategies for loving themselves and their families during the holidays and throughout the year.

Host Bevin Branlandingham is joined by Big Gay Agenda Correspondent Brian to cohost this special minisode. Brian discusses his successful methods for creating a loving relationship with a Fundamentalist Christian Southern family.


Sexpert Rachael sets firm boundaries with her family around what she will and won't talk about.



Special Guest Gay Dr. Phil (Rachael's partner) avoids going home for the holidays entirely.

Poet and fabulous creature Grover details her rules for visits home.

Fatshion and Beauty Correspondent Tara discusses what she and her family do to spend time together.

Social Justice Correspondent Zoe talks about methods of managing fat hatred and sexuality queasiness with her family.

Tranny Superstar Glenn Marla talks about loving his family of origin and what he does to put them at ease.

And families are not always hard! We read from Self Help Correspondent Genne's parents' Holiday Wish Lists:


Dad:

* CDs: titles that you think are interesting/music that you love to hear
* Photograph of you in a place that you love
* Pair of socks that will make me think of you every time I put them on
* Your favorite book
* Finally, and I quote “A little dash of extra love”



Mom:

* I want to start a collection of beautifully-illustrated hard cover picture books of favorite classics/fairytales: like Snow White. Maybe this could be a new tradition; one per year maximum.

* I also would like to start a collection of well-written picture books whose themes reflect a commitment to consciously avoiding gender-typing; (same caveat as above).

Lastly I want to start collecting picture books that are inclusive of LGBTQ folks; (ditto with caveats).


News & Announcements:
Mad Femme Pride Reveal 2009 New Year's Eve Party, December 31, 2008, Boston, MA
(you need to join their meet-up group to find out about the event but it is easy and free)
Mr. Philadelphia Drag King 2009! Bevin is hosting this show for the 6th time! January 24, 2009, William Way Community Center, Philadelphia, PA

4th Annual Femme Mafia Masquerade!, January 31, 2009, Atlanta, GA
Bevin is Femmeceeing this show for the third time! Grab a group of friends and make it a femme destination event!

Bevin's new blog!

What we're listening to:

Bevin's favorite album of the year, Amy Ray's Didn't it Feel Kinder.
Bevin's second favorite album of the year, Nervous But Excited's {Home}Spun. Fancy punctuation always does it for her.

Stay tuned for our next episode, How to Ask For Help, coming soon!

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Stream it live in this magic pink widget doohickey or if you have to download it and take it home, right click here and select "save link as".

Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 6.5!!


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Queer Fat Femmes are critically engaged in every aspect of their identity--why not relationship status?

The concept of The Lesbian Footwarming Syndrome, as introduced by Kelli Dunham, is "You're a lesbian, I'm a lesbian, let's keep each others' feet warm." With no further considerations for happiness, sustainability or compatibility.

We have a roundtable discussion on the cultural capital of couplehood, settling and the crazy problems of straight women as oultined in this article, Marry Him!, The Atlantic, March 2008.

Roundtable participants:



Bevin Branlandingham (Host/Producer), Tara (Fatshion Correspondent), Zoe (Consiglierie/Social Justice Correspondent), Genne (Self Help Correspondent), Kelli Dunham (Butch Dyke Comedian In Residence), Tania (Queer Fat Femme), and Kristyn (Butch friend of FemmeCast).

Fatshion Correspondent Tara discusses winterizing dresses as she no longer wants to wear pants in the winter.


Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha returns to discuss eschewing scarcity while single, the way only a Femme Shark can. All after eating an amazing fried chicken dinner.


Naima Lowe, Cultural Correspondent, gives us her take on the movie The Secret.

Bevin interviews writer and activist Gina De Vries, world class bellydancer Miasia, and FemmeCast Technical Editor Anna breaks the veil of silence about different ways of approaching singlehood.

News & Announcements:
Stay tuned for upcoming features on FemmeCast!

A Femmetage called "Cripping Femme" on the experiences of dis/abled Femmes.

The Femmes of Color Roundtable Series (debuting in Episode 7).

What we're listening to:

Erin McKeown, "We are More"
Sleater-Kinney, "Good Things"
Madonna, "Express Yourself" (If you don't listen to me about the need to value yourself above a shitty relationship, maybe you'll listen to Madonna.)

Stay tuned for our next episode, How to Ask For Help, coming soon!

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Stream it live in this magic pink widget doohickey or if you have to download it and take it home, right click here and select "save link as".

Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 6!!


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We're on a Queer Fat Femme road trip with host Bevin Branlandingham and consiglierie Zoe Femmetastica!

We wrap up the leftovers from Episode 5 like a foil swan!

*Zoe talks about coming out as Fat!

*Genne, our self-help correspondent, navel gazes like a pro about Femme community building post-femme conference.

*An identity round-up femmetage with the interviewees from Episode 5.

We touch base with Rachael, our sexpert, about how to get conference booty!

Zoe and Bevin check in from their road trip to IDKE (The International Drag KingCommunity Extravaganza) in Columbus, OH with all of their road trip tips!

We follow up our road trip chatter with a track from Miss Coldheart aka Thunder Thighz Music.

Stay tuned for our next episode, the Lesbian Footwarming Syndrome, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 5.5!!


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The 2008 Femme Conference changed my life. In this episode we revisit the party and magic.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarzinha and Zuleikha Mahmoud, founders of the Femme Shark movement tell us what a Femme Shark is, the history of the movement and read their manifesto. It's amazing.

Check them out on the Mangos with Chili tour, October 10-23rd!!

Genne and Bevin define the term "cisgendered" (based on the keynote by Julia Serrano).

We have conference highlights from various attendees and a round table discussion with allies that were at the conference.

Queer Fat Femme hero Dorothy Allison talks to me about her Queer Fat Femme identity and coding Femme decades ago. Clickie clickie and buy some of her books.


News & Announcements:
Mangos with Chili tour, October 10-23, 2008, Southwestern USA.

The Femme Show, October 10-11, 2008, Cambridge, MA.

Register, update your address, find your polling place, Everywhere, USA.

What we're listening to:

Sgt. Sass
CWA
Bikini Kill

PART TWO of this episode will be out in about a week or so! We discuss our identities, Genne's thoughts for further Femme Dialogue, and Rachael's tips for getting conference booty.

Stay tuned for our next episode, The Lesbian Footwarming Syndrome, coming soon!

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Stream it live in this magic pink widget doohickey or if you have to download it and take it home, right click here and select "save link as".

Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 5!!


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What the heck just happened to the US economy and what does that mean for Queer Fat Femmes?

We veered from our normal reporting to figure out, in lay person terms, what is going on and how it is affecting us. Brian, our Big Gay Agenda Correspondant is very good at breaking things down in a humorous and accessible way.

We follow up our economy talk with a track from Nicole Reynold's new cd, Unordinary Mine.

Stay tuned for our next episode, FEMME SHARKS, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 4.5!!


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How do you take weight loss goals out of diet and exercise?

Tara, our fatshion and beauty expert, combines forces with Zoe's social justice and Bevin's hosting skills for a two part round table--first on the debate of "good fats" versus "bad fats" in the fat activist movement and second on what to do with your "skinny clothes".

We debut a track from Kelli Dunham's new cd Almost Pretty. Buy it, NOW!

Bevin has an impromptu interview with Indie Grass Tranny Rockstars Actor Slash Model and we hear a song from their cd Cheap Date.

Megan reports in from San Francisco about the wonders of Vitamins D and B.

Genne invites Glenn Marla, NYC's hottest fat go go boy and fashion and style icon, to participate in our self-help segment seeking a harm reduction approach to loving your body.

We welcome back Marilyn Wann, author of Fat?So! and a board member of NAAFA regarding weight loss surgery in the fat activist movement.

Zoe, our consigliere and social justice correspondent, weighs in on the matter. She's also a board member of NOLOSE, a conference happening September 26-28.

We also hear from Angela, a Southern Belle, who, when I asked if she identified as a queer fat femme said "It's complicated." We talk about her experience with lap band surgery and her feelings about fatness.

News & Announcements:
Femmes of Power, out now in the UK! Out soon in the US! My interview with Ulrika Dahl, one of the authors, forthcoming!

The Butch-Femme.com Bash!, Oakland, CA. Bevin, our hostess, is performing on Friday night, October 10.

Get involved with your local Femme Group!
Fat Femme Mafia, Toronto, ON, Canada
Femme Mafia ATL, Atlanta, GA
Femme Mafia MKE, Milwaukee, WI
Femme Mafia Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
FAG PDX, Portland, OR
Queer Fat Femme LA, Los Angeles, CA

What we're listening to:

Actor Slash Model
Candye Kane, Queer Fat Femme Superstar! Go buy all of her albums!
Jonny McGovern is Keeping it Faggity. Get it on itunes!

Stay tuned for our next episode, FEMME SHARKS, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 4!!


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A between episodes morsel to whet your femme whistle.

Anna is in the woods and didn't finish editing Episode 4 before she left. We'll have it out mid-August. In the meantime, Bevin uses her limited technical skills to piece together a 15 minute frolic about what it means to be a "Fat Girl on the Inside".

Featuring outtakes from her Celebration of Personhood Party (party in lieu of a wedding and instead of couplehood).

Introducing Bryn, Heather and featuring our Sexpert, Rachael, dressing down a butch for saying something sexist.

We discuss Glenn Marla's movement "That's the fattest thing you've done/said all day."

And a special performance of Fat Bottom Girls on the ukelele by Megan, our Hippie Woo Woo correspondent.

Hope you enjoy this morsel and stay tuned for the next real episode!!

News & Announcements:
Chunky Dunk, Portland, OR, Every Sunday in August except the 17!


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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 3.5!!


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The first ingredient in Queer Fat Femme is self-esteem.

Naima, our cultural correspondent, reviews Mo'Nique's "Fat Chance".

Tara, our fatshion and beauty expert, suggests trying a bikini, avoiding capris and the pompabang.

The Toronto Fat Femme Mafia fat girls in bikinis video, as featured on the Rosie blog!

Kelli Dunham talks about being fired for having too much self-esteem. Buy her new cd, Almost Pretty, or book her on her Almost Pretty, Almost 50 states tour. Clickie.

Christine De La Rosa, a founder of the Femme Conference and one of the co-chairs, talks to me about her aha self-esteem moment and this year's Femme Conference, August 15-17 in Chicago--register now!!

Rachael, our sexpert, gives us a good primer on rejection.

Glenn Marla declares that there is no wrong way to have a body.


News & Announcements:
Spilling Over Anthology, Deadline for Submissions, December, 2008.

The Fat Experience Project.

What we're listening to:

OMG Michelle (Go download their song on itunes!)
Gravy Train
Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion

Stay tuned for our next episode, Health at Any Size, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 3!!


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Bevin discusses her plans for a Scoundrel Seek and Destroy Device with Dan Savage on the Savage LoveCast!

Episode 88

Starting about 18 minutes in, he bills it as "How can a lesbian swirling in lesbian psychodrama develop a bionic bullshit detector?"

His insight to be incorporated into the forthcoming episode on liars and the lies they tell.

Episode 3: Self-Esteem is in the cooker. Anna is putting her final touches on it now!

In our second episode we have a Queer Fat Femme how-to guide to break-ups.

I introduce our first installment from Self-Help correspondent, Genne. She might give you an essay prompt if you ask her for advice (this can be a good thing).

Brian, our Big Gay Agenda Correspondent takes laughing through the pain to a new and useful level.
Brian's Benrik Blog Archive
Clickie here and buy a Benrik book

Tara, our fatshion and beauty expert, is opinionated about hair cuts.

Try my stylist, Carla. She will tell you if someone is too crazy to date.

Zoe has 30 tips to get through the first blinding weeks of heartbreak.

Naima suggests the following to help your heartbreak:

Dogfight
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Love and Rockets comics
If Love is a Red Dress (Hang me in Rags)


Axon D'Luxe, queer femme performance artist, breaks her femme cock.

Kelli uses her ex for comedy. (What else are you going to do after someone eats vegan tofu on rice cakes?)

Rachael and I talk about break-up hunting live from her bed.

I discuss "What Would Joan Collins Do?" live from Heavy, Glenn Marla's performance series in NYC.


News & Announcements:
Fat Femme Mafia, Clothing Swap, June 15, 2008, Toronto, ON, Canada

Kelli Dunham's Upcoming Gigs, Mostly in the South.

Rad Fat Philly, email radfatphilly at lists.riseup.net, Philadelphia, PA

Become part of Femme Mafia International!!, Anywhere you've got more than one femme in a room, THE WORLD

What we're listening to:

The Gossip! (We heart Beth Ditto, Queer Fat Femme hero and fashion diva.)
Athens Boys Choir
Basement Jaxx

Stay tuned for our next episode, Self-Esteem: Learning to Love Yourself, coming soon!

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Stream it live right here, scroll down in the widget to find Episode 2!!


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In our premier episode we discuss the myriad Queer Fat Femme identities from goddesses to Deep Lez to faggy femmey masculinity.

I introduce (most of) our regular correspondents.

Tara is excited about cardigans and cautiously optimistic about high waisted bottoms.

Naima reviews Battlestar Galactica and Torchwood.

Zoe discusses why Fat is not the "last socially acceptable oppression" and intersectionality, as discussed here and here by our own Tara.

Rachael and I talk about the 21st century portal to the sexual universe.

Zoe and I interview veteran fat activist Marilyn Wann at the Fat and Queer Conference in New York City.

Her favorite Fat Activist resources for burgeoning rad fatties:

Our podcast! Subscribe here
Her book! Fat?So!: Because You Don't Have to Apologize for Your Size
Shadow on a Tight Rope
Size Queen Zine
Fat Girl Zine
Fatshionista Livejournal Community
Fat news with Big Fat Blog
Make NAAFA suck less


News & Announcements:
Femme Conference, August 15-17, 2008, Chicago, IL

NOLOSE Conference, September 26-28, 2008, Northampton, MA

Femme Mafia Second Saturday Series, May 10, 2008, Atlanta, GA

WTFTM Podcast, FTM news + culture + commentary

What we're listening to:

Scream Club!
Dave End
Nervous But Excited

Stay tuned for our next episode, Break-ups, coming soon!

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The first podcast, on the topic "The Queer Fat Femme", is set to release any day now!!