Transcripts Transcripts Podcast

Hi, and welcome back to Transcripts. We’ve taken a brief hiatus-- ok, a LONG hiatus-- and now we’re back with a new model. We’re excited to be changing up the format and hopefully making this space an accessible and creative feed for trans creators in audio!

But first, we’re bringing you a special piece from our friends at KCRW’s Bodies podcast. It’s a piece that’s both powerful and informative, and it does this thing that I really love: it’s reporting about a trans person, but it doesn’t do all sorts of unnecessary explaining about pronouns or identity. Instead, it focuses on what the person does, and their impact on the wider community. 

"Do Less Harm" is about a person named Lill, who lives in Appalachian West Virginia — it’s coal country, and it’s also the overdose capital of the United States. An increasingly dangerous drug supply and a lack of safe supplies like clean syringes leave people who use drugs vulnerable to disease and death. Lill is trying to fill that gap, providing safe supplies and care all over West Virginia — even as the government tries to stop them.

And as for the next Transcripts episode, well-- it might be made by YOU! We’re soliciting audio from both new and experienced audio-makers, stuff made in ProTools and stuff made with an iPhone, whatever, as long as it’s unique and trans. We have a little budget to pay for some new pieces, too, which is cool! Full details will be up on our twitter account @transcriptspod and you can vote for the first season’s “theme” starting on October 25th. So go over and follow us if you don’t already, and get thinking about what story YOU could tell.

Learn more about Lill, and the science behind harm reduction:


Episode Transcript
Resources for Safer Drug Use
CDC Recommendations to fight HIV in West Virginia
Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction
Drug Use for Grown-Ups by Carl Hart

We dropped a shortened version of this audio a few weeks ago. We're thrilled to announce that we can now present an extended version of this episode, which features all the original voices plus a new interview with Kayla Gore, Co-Founder of the Memphis-based organization My Sistah's House. 

We hope you take this opportunity to listen to the whole show again! But if you just want the new content-- which is amazing-- feel free to start at 29:14. 

More from us soon! Thanks for listening, and we're especially grateful for all who have shared their voices with us. 

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Donate to My Sistah's House here.

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This episode was supported by a grant from Virginia Humanities. We're part of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, a program of the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

All over the South, trans people are fighting to make their homes welcome for all. Even when finding home, or even finding a place to stay, hasn’t always been easy.

With Aurora Higgs (Richmond, VA), Jay Corprew (Virginia Beach, VA), Toni-Michelle Williams (Atlanta, GA), Kya Concepcion (Marietta, GA), and Mariah Moore (New Orleans, LA).



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Cassius Adair is the lead producer. Myrl Beam is the senior project scholar and producer. Rachel Mattson is the managing producer. Myra Billund-Phibbs is the production assistant. Lars Mackenzie is our digital designer. Eliza Edwards did additional transcription for the show.

Sound design is by Sam Leeds with Ariana Martinez. Musical direction is by Homoground. You heard music by Brand New Key, Delish Da Goddess, Special Interest, khx05, Mama Duke, and data data data. You also heard protest tape from Richmond-based radio reporter Mallory Noe-Payne of RADIO IQ.

And go check out the artist féi hernandez, who designed our podcast logo; they have a great new book of poetry out called hood criatura.

Special thanks to LaVelle Ridley, Kai Minosh Pyle, one anonymous reviewer, and Tuck Woodstock. Thanks also to Mara Lazer and Cookie Woolner for additional scene tape. And finally, thank you to everyone who supported us over the last few months; we really appreciate your feedback and generosity.

The Transcripts podcast is a project of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, which is based at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Major funding for this episode came from Virginia Humanities.

Hi listeners, a quick update from us. We'll be back in your feeds tomorrow. 

Hi everyone, this episode I’m turning the mic over to Leo Valdes, a PhD student from Rutgers University. They’ve been working with the Voces Oral History Project at UT Austin and the Latino New Jersey Oral History Project, and recently have been conducting interviews w trans Latinx people about their experiences with Covid-19.

This interview is in Spanish, with short interludes narrated in English. Even if you are a monolingual English speaker, I encourage you to listen the best you can, and hear the emotion and clarity in Viviana's voice. Also, Leo's a great writer and their interludes are beautiful. 

Additional music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions, and from Thalía's song "A Quien Le Importa."

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Transcripts is a project of Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, a project of the University of Minnesota Libraries. And we have a BRAND NEW TWITTER ACCOUNT at @transcriptspod, please go give us a follow and spread the word. Thanks again for being on this journey with us, and talk to you soon.

Hi! I got some logistical wires crossed on my end and I'm gonna release this week's planned episode next week instead. Stay tuned-- it'll be worth the wait. 

Also, shh, later this week we're soft-launching our new social media stuff, so expect to hear more about that soon. Maybe I'll even drop a little note in the feed about that. 

xo