Xeno

Isabella McDonnell
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Xeno is a podcast and community exploring home, identity, and belonging. Each month, we hold space for conversations on what it means to be culturally complex in a world that challenges those who are perceived as being different or "other". These intimate and complex stories reveal our shared humanity and collective search for belonging.

  1. 11/29/2024

    Rebecca Tamás | on Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman

    About Rebecca Tamás Rebecca Tamás is a poet, nonfiction writer, critic and lecturer at City St Georges University of London. Rebecca’s book of environmental literary and artistic criticism, Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman, was published by Makina Press in October 2020, and longlisted for The Rathbones Folio Prize in 2021. Rebecca's writing has been published in The London Review of Books, Granta and The New Statesman, amongst others. Summary This month I share with you my conversation with Rebecca Tamás, as we discuss Rebecca’s essay collection, Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman. In this episode, we discuss what it means to be intimate and hospitable towards the non-human world. How might we confront our fears and prejudices towards the more-than-human world and embrace a more capacious, interspecies sense of belonging? How do we unlearn our privileging of the human species at the expense of other species flourishing and their biodiversity loss? How does eco-grief shape our sense of home and belonging? Follow Rebecca Twitter/X: @RebTamas Credits Photo of Rebecca by Sophie Davidson Please rate us on Apple Podcasts and subscribe to our monthly newsletter at xenocast.org!

    31 min

  2. 10/30/2024

    Evie Muir | on Radical Rest: Burnout, Healing and Hopeful Futures

    TW: Violence against women and girls, gender-based violence, trauma and abuse About Evie Muir (she/they): Evie is a nature writer and the founder of Peaks of Colour - a Peak District-based nature-for-healing community group, by and for people of colour. Having worked in the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector for over 10 years, specialising in Black and queer survivors' intersectional experiences of gendered and racialised trauma, Evie left the sector when they became burnt out, disenfranchised, and disillusioned. Evie's work now sits at the intersections of gendered, racial, and land justice, and they seek to nurture survivors' joy, rest, hope, and imagination as abolitionist praxis. Advocating for the decolonisation of the outdoors, Evie is interested in the ways nature can forge a landscape of healing and justice outside of carceral feminist models. As a Northern freelance writer, Evie is passionate about the liberating form of writing as healing and resistance. Evie's debut book, Radical Rest, explores Black and Abolitionist Feminist approaches to activist burnout, published by Elliot & Thompson in 2024. Summary: In this episode, we explore Evie's debut book, Radical Rest: Notes on Burnout, Healing and Hopeful Futures, and their grassroots work as Peaks of Colour. We discuss the intersections of joy, rest, and trauma in social justice movements, specifically land justice. Evie emphasizes the importance of prioritizing radical rest and collective care to avoid burnout and ensure sustainability of social justice movements. We discuss the systemic nature of burnout and poor mental health outcomes, and the importance of trauma-informed practice. We explore the liberating, nourishing and resourcing practice of nature writing, nature-based therapies, and gathering in community in the outdoors. Follow Evie: IG: @xeviemuir | @peaksofcolour https://eviemuir.com/about https://www.peaksofcolour.org/ Credits: Photo of Evie by Morgan Barfield Please rate + review us on Apple Podcasts! Follow us on Instagram @xeno_pod and subscribe to our newsletter at xenocast.org.

    1h 2m

  3. 07/28/2024

    Sui Searle | on Decolonising the Garden and Radical Belonging

    About Sui Searle: Sui Searle is a gardener, printmaker, writer, speaker, circle facilitator, and founder of the Radicle newsletter and the Decolonise the Garden platform on Instagram. Summary: In this episode, we delve into nature connection, decolonising the garden, what it means to be radical, the embryonic seed or radicle as a metaphor for activism and community building, intersectional storytelling as an act of reclaiming communal/political space, Sui’s transition into the gardening world from working in the city, gardening as healing disconnection and isolation, the power of asking questions, the multiple truths of belonging, and our own gardens of belonging. References: Weathering by Ruth Allen Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee Follow Sui: IG: @thetemperategardener | @decolonisethegarden Substack: https://radicle.substack.com/ Credits: Episode Cover Art: Sui Searle Our theme music is by Alix Julian Edwards If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts! You can follow us on Instagram at @xeno_pod and subscribe to our monthly newsletter on xenocast.org, for updates on new episodes and further resources on belonging.

    46 min

  4. 06/21/2024

    Aniefiok Ekpoudom | on Rap, Home and Hope in Modern Britain

    About Aniefiok Ekpoudom: Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom is a writer and storyteller from South London whose work documents community and culture in contemporary Britain. His debut book Where We Come From: Rap Home and Hope in Modern Britain is a social history of British Rap. It was released via Faber & Faber in January 2024. As a journalist, he writes long-form essays and profiles for The Guardian, GQ and more. From charting a history of Black Football culture in South London to mapping the forces of migration and music that formed J Hus, his writing weaves social, cultural and narrative history to explore the current, lived realities of peoples across the UK. Summary: In this episode, we discuss the social history of Britain through the lens of British rap with a focus on South London, Wales and the West Midlands; migration, music and belonging through the lens of the Windrush generation; resilience, adversity and hope in the UK rap scene; community through pirate radio; how British rap reshapes and remakes a sense of home and belonging for Black British communities back then and today; vulnerability through music and mental health; the importance of diverse social archives; the importance of creativity in crafting a deeper sense of belonging; and how the music gives us hope. References: 'Where We Come From: Rap, Home and Hope in Modern Britain' by Aniefiok Ekpoudom 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison Follow Aniefiok: Website: https://aniefiokekpoudom.com/ IG: @Aniefiokekp X: @AniefiokEkp Credits: Photo of Aniefiok by Blaow Our theme music is by Alix Julian Edwards Our branding is by Somewhere Off Grid

    34 min

  5. 05/17/2024

    Stephanie Sy-Quia | on Amnion

    About Stephanie Sy-Quia: Stephanie is a writer, teacher, and printmaker. She was born in 1995 in California and currently lives in London. Her debut, Amnion, was published by Granta Poetry in 2021. Her writing has appeared in the FT Weekend, the TLS, the Economist, the Guardian, and TANK. She is a Ledbury Poetry Critic. In 2023, she guest curated Ledbury Poetry Festival. Summary: In this episode, we delve into Amnion, mixed identities, embodied writing, family histories, ambient language, the power of language and resistance against translation, gender, classism and racism, education and privilege, girlhood in boarding school, liberation through writing and relationships as a mixed person, self-exoticization and fetishization, Philippine history, and the amniotic borders and boundaries we must all cross toward self-empowerment, self-knowledge and liberation. References: 'Amnion' by Stephanie Sy-Quia (Granta Poetry 2021) 'Ambient Language' by Stephanie Sy-Quia Follow Stephanie: IG: @c_est_qui77 X: @snsyquia Credits: Image of Stephanie by Alex Sy-Quia Our theme music is by Alix Julian Edwards Our design is by Somewhere Off Grid

    41 min

  6. 03/29/2024

    Sam Johnson-Schlee | on living rooms

    About Sam Johnson-Schlee: Sam is an academic and writer living by the sea in North Essex. Sam is the author of Living Rooms, published by Peninsula Press. He writes non-fiction and memoir about the politics and culture of everyday life. He is interested in how paying attention to familiar objects and practices can open up new perspectives on the world we live in, and he writes a newsletter on Substack called 'Sifting and Sorting': a series about digitising his late father’s collection of over two thousand CDs and an occasional series of personal essays about the music. Summary: In this episode, we discuss the politics of the home and the interior, what it would mean to ‘abolish the family’, the privatisation and atomisation of domestic life, rentier capitalism, nature connection and domestic spaces, radical connection and collective living, the value of public space, how the interior influences public life, what it would mean to re-imagine our domestic lives and more topics. References: 'Living Rooms' by Sam Johnson-Schlee 'Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation' by Sophie Lewis 'They Call It Love: The Politics of Emotional Life' by Alva Gotby 'Strayed Homes: Cultural Histories of the Domestic in Public' by Edwina Attlee Follow Sam: IG: @snfschlee X: @SNFSchlee Substack: @siftingandsorting Credits: Image of Sam by Kenza Barton-Schlee Our theme music is by Alix Julian Edwards Our design is by Somewhere Off Grid

    45 min

  7. 03/18/2024

    Noreen Masud | on a flat place

    About Noreen Masud: Noreen Masud is a lecturer in twentieth-century literature at the University of Bristol, the author of A Flat Place, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker. She grew up in Lahore and Fife. Summary: In this episode, we dive into A Flat Place, the psychogeography of flat landscapes across Britain and Pakistan, kinship with non-human animals, more-than-human ethics, belonging and unbelonging in language, literature as home, C-PTSD and (dis)embodied writing, creativity and mental health, erasure of global majority and diaspora stories, colonialism, imperialism and trauma, among other topics. Resources: A Flat Place by Noreen Masud Connect with Noreen: X/Twitter: @NoreenMasud IG: @Noreen_Masud Website: noreenmasud.com Credits: Our theme music is by Alix Julian Edwards Our brand design is by Somewhere Off Grid

    38 min

  8. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    A Message from Isabella

    Xeno podcast was founded and is hosted by Isabella McDonnell. Isabella shares a short message of gratitude, a peek into what's in store for the upcoming podcast episodes over this next year, and an exciting new community-based venture in the outdoors. Follow us on Instagram @xeno_pod and subscribe to our newsletter at xenocast.org. You can listen to all our episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please rate us and share a review of the podcast! To find out more about Roots of Belonging, follow us on Instagram @rootsofbelonging and subscribe to our Substack and newsletter at rootsofbelonging.org.

    9 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Xeno is a podcast and community exploring home, identity, and belonging. Each month, we hold space for conversations on what it means to be culturally complex in a world that challenges those who are perceived as being different or "other". These intimate and complex stories reveal our shared humanity and collective search for belonging.

Information

  • Creator
    Isabella McDonnell
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    26
  • Show Website
    Xeno