Last Cut Conversations with Samantha Paige

Samantha Paige and inspiring guests.
Last Cut Conversations with Samantha Paige Podcast

Ever felt like a stranger in your own life? Artist Samantha Paige, the creator of Last Cut, did for far too long. It wasn't until she began deep, vulnerable self-inquiry and actively listened to the answers that her life began to change. A young adult cancer survivor and BRCA previvor, who suffered from PTSD and debilitating panic attacks, she finally started making the significant decisions, or last cuts, that made her feel as if her life were her own again. With this new way of being, she began to experience more wellness, happiness and freedom than ever before. Last cut conversations is a series of real talk with others about what they believe in most and how they too have created a life that feels like their own. Freedom, as a word and concept, is still very much on the table for so many and the question of what it means to each of us is the theme of Season 2. This season features engaging dialogue with artists, activists, nature lovers, survivors, change makers and other brave and bold human beings, sharing the ways we each create a life that feels like our own (what we move towards and what we let go of in the process) and the (inner/outer) freedom found along the way. Every Monday, Samantha will share a new episode with an inspirational guest, bravely sharing their last cut stories.

  1. 30/10/2018

    S02.20: Eliza Hope Duran & Juno Ishida: Dismantling the Gender Binary

    Last May, Juno Ishida and Eliza Hope Duran joined Samantha Paige for an honest conversation about living beyond the construct of a gender binary. In this special episode, Juno, a trans male university student, and Eliza, a gender fluid prize-winning poet, share their views about the boxes that society places us in around our bodies, gender and sexuality. They highlight what it means to navigate life beyond the gender binary and add insight and perspective to the experience of expressing one’s identity in a manner that lines up who we are on the inside with who we are out in the world. This powerful discussion touches upon what it means to lead an authentic life, how we take care of ourselves and ask for needed support in the face of judgement and how we find inner strength and connection when external, societal beliefs can make us internalize doubt and unworthiness.   In light of the recent leak of President Trump’s memo regarding his administration’s plans to narrowly define gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the time is now to be discussing the historical and current violence that trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary individuals have and continue to endure on a daily basis.   Thank you to Juno and Eliza for bravely and boldly opening up with their own stories. Thank you to the Get Lit team for hosting the recording of this podcast at their Los Angeles studio. For more information on Get Lit, please visit getlit.org.   N.B.: During the recording, we refer to Eliza as Erika, which was the name they were using at the time. They have since adopted Eliza.    Please visit our website, lastcutproject.com, for more information on this interview and ways to support the trans, non-conforming and non-binary communities.

    1h 5m
  2. 20/11/2017

    S02.17: Pidgeon Pagonis: Unraveling the lies, myths and trauma around growing up Intersex

    Samantha Paige first heard of Pidgeon Pagonis’ powerful story of growing up Intersex through a video clip produced by Human Rights Watch. Paige wanted to learn more about Pagonis’ experience of discovering they were Intersex at age 19 and the subsequent deconstruction of a believed identity, gender and (false) cancer diagnosis. In this raw, vulnerable episode, Pagonis discusses a childhood defined by a struggle to conform to a familial and societal definition of “normal.” They had been told a believed, yet constructed story of a childhood cancer diagnosis, built around the notable differences in their body and development as well as the scars on their body. It was not until Pagonis attended an advanced psychology class in college where Intersex was outlined that they discovered they had actually been born with the very condition being taught. Pagonis underwent three medically unnecessary surgeries at age 1, 4 and 11, as well as years of traumatizing interactions with the medical world. They share here about their rediscovery of self as a nonbinary, queer activist and filmmaker in the context of reality over protective lies. Pagonis speaks beautifully to the universal experience of living with trauma and creating a life that feels like one’s own. To connect with Pidgeon and learn more about their work, please visit their website at http://www.pidgeonismy.name or their Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pidgeo_n. To view Pidgeon’s powerful documentary film, “The Son I Never Had: Growing Up Intersex,” please contact them directly through their website.

    1h 10m
  3. 13/11/2017

    S02.16: Kyle Knight: Exposing Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Children in the US

    Kyle Knight is a researcher in the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch in New York City. A former media journalist who chose to do reporting work with more policy follow through and impact, Kyle is a brilliant motivator for change. Samantha Paige sat down with Knight to discuss the details of his most recent Human Rights Watch report entitled, “I Want to be Like Nature Made Me: Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Children in the US.” Written in partnership with interACT, an organization that advocates for the human rights of children born with intersex traits, this detailed report documents the medically unnecessary surgeries done on many intersex children, who make up close to 2% of the US population. Intersex people are born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals. Knight eloquently outlines the unethical treatment of many intersex patients, the lasting psychological and physical effects of these unnecessary surgeries and the proposed policy change to create a kinder, safer environment for intersex patients in the medical system and beyond. This episode touches upon important issues related to gender, nonbinary identity, parenting, health advocacy and societal biases and norms. Prior to joining the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch, Knight was a fellow at the Williams Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles and a Fulbright scholar in Nepal. As a journalist he has worked for Agence France-Presse in Nepal and for IRIN, the UN’s humanitarian news service, reporting from Burma, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. For more information on the Human Rights Watch and interACT Intersex report, please visit https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/07/25/i-want-be-nature-made-me/medically-unnecessary-surgeries-intersex-children-us. For more information on interACT, please visit https://interactadvocates.org.

    1h 0m

About

Ever felt like a stranger in your own life? Artist Samantha Paige, the creator of Last Cut, did for far too long. It wasn't until she began deep, vulnerable self-inquiry and actively listened to the answers that her life began to change. A young adult cancer survivor and BRCA previvor, who suffered from PTSD and debilitating panic attacks, she finally started making the significant decisions, or last cuts, that made her feel as if her life were her own again. With this new way of being, she began to experience more wellness, happiness and freedom than ever before. Last cut conversations is a series of real talk with others about what they believe in most and how they too have created a life that feels like their own. Freedom, as a word and concept, is still very much on the table for so many and the question of what it means to each of us is the theme of Season 2. This season features engaging dialogue with artists, activists, nature lovers, survivors, change makers and other brave and bold human beings, sharing the ways we each create a life that feels like our own (what we move towards and what we let go of in the process) and the (inner/outer) freedom found along the way. Every Monday, Samantha will share a new episode with an inspirational guest, bravely sharing their last cut stories.

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