Denne Michele Norris! Mattie Lubchansky! Mateo Guerrero!

Hey friends,

Hope you’re all hanging in there. This week is one of those “six 12-hour day” podcast work weeks (possibly should be seven but also my girlfriend is allegedly visiting and I simply refuse?) so I’m running low on brain juice (GROSS) to write this newsletter but I will try my best.

(Six 12-hour days WITH Jules. Remember life without Producer Jules, a hero and an icon??? I simply cannot imagine!!!!!!)

This week on the show, I’m so excited to finally share last month’s Brooklyn live show, which featured not one, not two, but three hot geniuses I mean guests.

We started out by talking with writer / Electric Lit editor-in-chief / Food For Thot co-host Denne Michele Norris about carving out spaces for trans writers, recalibrating her relationship to the word “trans” (as she shifted from nonbinary to trans woman), being too feminine for figure skating somehow, going to an all-boys school, and reckoning with maybe being straight now????? Oh, and gender being a bookshelf at Sarah Lawrence College, which I love!

Then, we spoke with Mateo Guerrero, an organizer with Make the Road NY, about all of the incredible work he’s involved with. It was great to hear the inside scoop on the successful repeal of the Walking While Trans Ban, and to learn more about tactics & mission of the movement to decriminalize sex work in New York. Mateo and his team are phenomenal people and I can’t wait to see what they do next, and how we can help. (We also talk about why so many trans people are into rock climbing?!?!)

Photo ID: Tuck and Mateo talk onstage at the NYC live event. They are sitting in folding chairs with mics in their hands. 

Last but incredibly not least, Mattie Lubchansky returns to the pod to update us briefly on their ~gender journey~ and then answer a bunch of listener advice episodes about three broad topics: 1) what am I? 2) how do I talk to people? and 3) where can I pee? (Sorry that I left the Doppler part in but people told me to when I asked.)

I also think it’s important for you to know that this was the pose that Mattie did when they said “no” to the last question. (All of these photos are taken from Felix Cosmo because I did not take any and do not have any oops.)

Photo ID: a screenshot of an instagram story post by @zella_makes. It includes a photo of the NYC live show. Mattie is dangling the microphone by the cord so that it hangs straight down towards their mouth. Felix wrote "thanks for a great night!" and underneath, Tuck has written "PUT THIS IN THE LOUVRE"

OK I’m tired, is this the whole newsletter? Listen to the episode, it is good!!!!!! (I haven't seen anyone post about it yet so maybe that's a controversial opinion but IMO it's a fun one.)

And also here is a fun reveal of next week’s guest, whose book is out this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you recognize them??? If not, I bet you'll recognize their extremely good work when we talk about it on Monday. (Or you can click through to the link but then u legally have to buy their book sorry!) 

Photo ID: A white person with bright, dyed-red hair, wearing a green t-shirt and ripped jeans and big pink heart earrings that say "QUEER". 

There’s probably more to say but I simply will not be saying it. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb, courtesy of my roommate.

Photo ID: Ruby glaring from within the folds of a purple micro fleece blanket. 

Xo,
Yr resident gender detective

PS: I think the merch store is working again, at least temporarily, so lmk what designs you want to see back in the store for the Holiday Season ™ !!!!