Confessing Animals Frances Story & Vanessa Aricco

Jess Whetsel is a poet, writer, editor, and public speaker based in Toledo, Ohio on Erie, Kickapoo, Seneca, and Odawa land. Her poetry has appeared in many literary journals, including Tulip Tree Review, Discretionary Love, and Sage Cigarettes. Her first collection of poetry, A SOFTER KIND OF AUDACITY, debuts on December 1, 2023. You can learn more about Whetsel and her work on her website, www.jesswhetsel.com, or by following her Instagram, @jesswhetselwrites.
A Softer Kind of Audacity
BOOK RELEASE:  Friday Dec. 1 
www.jesswhetsel.com
https://substack.com/@jesswhetsel
IG @jesswhetselwrites


BOOK DESCRIPTION 
A Softer Kind of Audacity is an unflinching self-examination. Author Jess Whetsel’s poetry debut is “a book is for the little girl with wild curls and a poem in her heart; the teenager who scribbled lyrics in her notebook like her life depended on it; the twenty-something who swallowed her voice and didn’t think she’d ever write again; and the woman who finally came home to her poetry, her voice, herself.” Exploring themes of queerness, mental health, and generational trauma, Whetsel opens the door wide and invites everyone in.
From identity falling in ineffable teenage love to mid-life polyamory, Whetsel does not turn away from the truth.
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Kate Mapother  is the author of two poetry collections, Tell Me You Hear the Riot and carved. She has been published in the lit mag kerning / a space for words, and the book Signs & Symbols of Our Ancestors. She lives in Tucson, in a little adobe at the bottom of a canyon with her dog Riggins.
Books
C A R V E D 
Tell Me You Hear the Riot 
IG/Threads: https://www.instagram.com/brightenuff/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KateMapother 
SubStack: https://katemapother.substack.com


Episode Mentions: Tricia Hersey The Nap Ministry and Rest is Resistance. 
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In 1988, an explosion killed six Kansas City firefighters. Closure Is Not Justice is a public art project drawing attention to the 1988 explosion, and the public campaign that generated false testimony among residents in the Marlborough neighborhood, turning neighbor against neighbor, all for the sake of closure.

Closure Is Not Justice Exhibition Opening - Friday, September 1
 Vulpes Bastille gallery in the Crossroads, KC.

Andrew Johnson is an author, essayist, and artist living in Kansas City, Missouri. His work has appeared in The Sun, Image, Commonweal, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere, and he is the author of two books: The Thread and On Earth As It Is. He is the recipient of a Charlotte Street Foundation residency, a Rocket Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, an ArtsKC Inspiration grant, a Vermont Studio Center residency, and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship.

Closure Is Not Justice https://www.closureisnotjustice.com/

Andrew’s Substack https://thethread.substack.com/p/closure-is-not-justice?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Andrew’s website https://www.andrewmichaeljohnson.com/

FB: andrewjohnsonkc / IG: andrew.johnson.kc


Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. Confessing Animals podcast co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire capitalist society. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?
Intro and music by Ashley Raines https://www.ashleyrainesmusic.com/


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On endings and new beginnings 
On disappearing 
On completely changing your personality, or learning to speak at a lower volume without the word fuck


7 of Cups from Rachel True's True Heart Intuitive Tarot deck
High Vibe, Choice, options, dream states, luxury, intuition, reflection, meditation
https://truehearttarot.com/


Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ram-dass-here-and-now/id518366323
https://open.spotify.com/show/3Dz4DL2ZMvnNQUnDSXqSdm?si=f07d2ea84ab142dc


Intro and all music on previous episodes by Ashley Raines 
https://www.ashleyrainesmusic.com/


Find Jen Harris at the Writing Workshop KC, online and in person
https://www.writingworkshopkc.com/

Vanessa's hanging on Substack at Death Bore Beauty
https://deathborebeauty.substack.com/


Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. Co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire Capitalist society. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?


P.S. I, Vanessa, hate the word "creatives" and I didn't mean to use it so much. Art, artists, writers, people, "creatives" barf, it's a marketing term that doesn't apply to the kind of work we are exploring here. 3
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In light of the impending overturn of Roe v Wade, Vanessa & Jen attended the Planned Parenthood Rally: BANS OFF OUR BODIES on May 14, 2022 at Mill Creek Park in Kansas City, MO. 
– 
But before we did, we interviewed Justice Gatson
Justice Gatson is the Director at Reale Justice Network. An Intimate Partner Violence Advocate and Motivational Speaker. She works with Black Mama’s Bail Out with National Bailout.org to specifically address the needs of incarcerated black mothers. 
IG @reale_justice_network
https://realejusticenetwork.org/


SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
https://sistersong.nationbuilder.com/donate
DONATE NOW!
https://abortionfunds.org/
VOTE NO IN KANSAS AUGUST 2
https://kansansforfreedom.com/

Emily Wales CEO Planned Parenthood Great Plains
Other organizations @ Bans off Our Bodies KC rally 
Sunrise Movement 
Our Revolution KC
Poor People’s Campaign
Barrier Babes KC
Green Party KC


Supreme Court Cases mentioned in Intro:
Dobbs v, Jackson Women’s Health
Roe v. Wade
Planned Parenthood v. Casey 
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Loving v. Virginia is the 1967
Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857


Fuck These Bishes:
Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, an American political organization that seeks to advance anti-abortion women in politics
Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, Missouri District 097 Republican 
Correction:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was Trump Press Secretary (duh, Vanessa misspoke per the usual)

REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE NOW! SHOW UP, DO THE WORK! 


Seasoned and fresh-faced artists (of every genre) discuss how to make creativity work within the complexities and challenges of adult life. Confessing Animals podcast co-hosts Jen Harris + Vanessa Aricco, both working writers, unveil the secrets and struggles of creative living in a rapid fire capitalist society. One guest at a time, Jen + Vanessa ask, How Does Your Life Translate to Art?
Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines www.ashleyrainesmusic.com
Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
Listen, Love & Support Us!
Support the show

Live @ Charlotte Street Foundation w/Vanessa Aricco 
Reading 1: On the Cusp of Air & Water [Full length poetry manuscript, forthcoming]
Read 2: Self Saints of Becoming [WIP]
Vanessa Aricco is a multimedia poet exploring conflict and duality, the precarious nature of life and the anxiety that arises from it. She is the co-host of Confessing Animals podcast. Her work includes two poetry albums, The Midnight Rush and Human Animal, Tin Can Poetics and co-lyricist on the album Gutter Mansions with Ashley Raines & The New West Revue. She is a Charlotte Street Foundation 2019-22 Studio Resident in Kansas City, MO.
Website: vanessaaricco.com
Charlotte Street Foundation Open Studios
https://charlottestreet.org/


Intro & music provided by Ashley Raines www.ashleyrainesmusic.com
Follow us on Instagram @confessinganimalspodcast
Listen, Love & Support Us!
Support the show