Life Harvester Radio Colin Hagendorf

WHATS GOOD INTERNET this month's guest is the delightful and charming Raquel Namuche who I met because she yelled at me on the street and we've been friends ever since. We talked about her childhood in Lima and Queens, getting into punk at ABC No Rio, finding other immigrant punk kids in the Migra Punk scene, becoming involved with activism as a teen at Charas/El Bohio, and how that ultimately led to her work today with Ridgewood Tenants Union.

This is the article about nazis in Ridgewood that we talked about.
You can listen to the Huasipungo discography that I mentioned in the outro here.

Heavy hitter alert. This month I talked to artist, activist, scholar, illustrious zine maker, and my very old friend Mimi Thi Nguyen about coming to the US as a refugee as a child; getting into punk through Maximum Rocknroll; falling out of love with punk because of a bunch of shitty men involved with MRR; falling back in love with punk through Evolution of a Race Riot, a zine project she made in response; connecting the dots between her refugee experience and the legacies of US imperialism informing her work as a scholar; the statement she wrote about the massacre in Atlanta. Plus I talk a bunch of shit about pop punk and threaten to break a 50 year old's glasses. We didn't talk about the Legend of Billie Jean, and that's my fault, but you should read Mimi's old Punk Planet column about it.

Erin Yanke f****n rules. I asked her on the show to talk about her incredible podcast, It Did Happen Here, but we also touched on her band Noxeema, the film she worked on, Arresting Power, growing up in Humbolt and the Bay, interning at NPR, and I somehow forgot to ask about the f*****g DEAD MOON BOOK!!! This is why you gotta keep your notes in front of you when doing interviews and not wander around your house like a toddler. This is a good one so please listen, and remember to rate review subscribe whatever in all the places you can do that I need affirmation.

This month I talked to Elizabeth Whitney, my dear friend in New York who is an empowerment, sex, and wellness coach and the only person I've ever seen wear a Supreme fanny pack on her waist. Imagine the freedom! We talked about being born into a Christian cult, the Footloose soundtrack, her seemingly innate interest in fashion, getting into cigarettes and punk in the psyche ward at 14, her struggles with disordered eating, running away to live in the Bay at 16, finding community while living in a punk house for 20 years, getting over shyness through waitressing, how moving across the country can be alienating but shift your outlook, training to be a sex coach. There's too much to mention it all but it's an incredible conversation. There was another issue with the audio syncing incorrectly, so about halfway through it starts to sound like Elizabeth is interrupting me all the time, but she isn't! She's very considerate. It's just the internet f*****g up.

Talked on the phone with my cool friend Marissa Chavez from Austin, TX, about her wild childhood, her outlaw family, dropping out of high school to sell weed, oogling around the American West trying to find the best heroin, getting sober, staying connected to the streets through photography , her handmade t-shirt label Official Bootleg, and so much more. Marissa is a magnetic personality and her kindness, generosity of spirit, and willingness to connect and share with others are center stage in this interview. The animals you hear in order of appearance: Marissa's cat Alice purring, my cat Growler screaming, my dog Rubi barking. There were some unexpected issues with the phone recording software, and so for a time at the beginning our conversation is slightly out of sync and it seems like we're talking over each other. I did my best to get rid of the worst of it, but try to bear with it, because it goes away eventually and this convo is too good to miss.

Me and my best friend in Pittsburgh talked about pervy cassingles, finding a sense of safety from dysfunction in punk, the growth of the harm reduction movement from illegally distributing narcan to now, her cool and political statement jewelry. We crack each other up a ton, and at one point I say the word "pussy" 6 times in like 2 minutes 😳 Check visceraljewelry.com for updates on when she's reopening the shop and for now look at her instagram to see the goods!