Romanian cats? Teachers & organizers? Angel radio? SOC8????

Hey friends,

First off, we are not interviewing Laverne Cox, I just needed you to see her outfit from the Emmys. Ok, anyway:

Hope you’re all hanging in there. SOC8 is out today and I have not dived into the Takes yet but if you’re interested in that, good luck and godspeed and let me know if you find anything good!!!

My exciting podcast update is that Ozzy and I are having an IRL meeting on Monday to finalize(ish) next season’s proposed lineup! We’d typically have figured this out like a month ago, but I decided to take some actual time off for once, and I really really appreciate y’all vocally supporting me in sometimes not working.

My only other work update is that our September merch is still merching along. If you’re heading back to school (as a teacher or a student), why not grab a Gender is a Shitty Group Project sticker? Or, buy your cool gender-sparkly kid a Nonbinary People Can Look However They Want kid’s tee? (Also available for adults, of course.)

Oh wait, actually, speaking of teachers! We’re on the hunt for trans teachers (especially people teaching in places with trans healthcare bans, queer book bans, don’t say gay laws, etc.) and trans union organizers (especially Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Amazon, or similar) who would be interested in being interviewed on the show. As always, we’d especially love to hear from people of color, but accept any and all suggestions. We can offer anonymity as needed.

OK, that’s enough for now. Here’s this week’s Links & Stuff:

• I heard that Omar Apollo’s Tiny Desk Concert rules and it does, in fact, rule.
• Podcasting is weirdly secretive and I loved how transparent Alex and Kelsey were about making (the very good podcast) Normal Gossip in this interview.
• If you have NYT access, this multimedia article about translating Hamilton into German is imo very interesting regardless of your feelings on Hamilton.
• To be honest I haven’t read this yet but the headline makes me feel very reassured lol.

Taking a dark turn for a moment:

• New gender-affirming surgery just dropped.
• I am not a true crime person but I somehow got sucked into this rollercoaster of an article from last year and got haunted by, of all things, the phrase “He liked Frank Sinatra and praise music, which he sometimes put on when he left the house, for angels to enjoy.” idk, it’s not the important part, but like… are angels just waiting around for us to turn on the radio?? I have questions.

Back to cute stuff:

• Tom Hardy snuck a stray cat into a hotel on 9/11 in Romania(???) in 2005 and wrote about it on MySpace and it’s somehow even more iconic than it sounds.
• Love this Ghibli-ass scene.
• An icon, a legend, and he is the moment!!!!!!!

That’s it for this week. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb.

Photo ID: Ruby popping out the top of a backpack-style cat carrier and looking around curiously. 

xo,
Yr resident gender detective