Once upon a time, our team had a dream to launch a podcast to extend our focus on Midwest queer and trans communities—and, like others, we thought what better time to do that than during a pandemic, when our connections to each other and the nourishing conversations we have in physical space was deeply impacted.
Since August 2021, we’ve released two seasons of Take the Last Bite, featuring guests who are doing incredible work in the region, and we're so motivated to keep unearthing all the Midwest has to offer.
Season two was filled with enthralling conversations with storytellers, artists, educators, healers, dreamers, and schemers.
On episodes one and six, we chatted with queer and trans therapists Coltan Schoenike and Ash Wickell about establishing a strong relationship with a therapist and how to take care of the electrified meat we inhabit.
On episode two, personal development Coach Bastian provided some insight into shifting our mindsets to achieve our goals and the sticky realities of building queer capital.
Episodes three and four were deep reflections on Trans Day of Visibility. TK Morton gave us goosebumps with zir musings on trans joy, and Institute staff—Andy, Danielle, Michelle and R.B.—left no stone unturned as we thought about our own journeys into transness.
We made the personal very political on episode five with Azrin Awal and Oprah Jrenal sharing their experiences running for city council positions. And episode eight kept the momentum going with Stephanie Skora encouraging us to be informed voters with her experience creating the "Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide."
Episode seven resurfaced a stellar conversation from our Queer Policy Series with Katie Barnes, Chris Mosier, and Naomi Goldberg explaining why we’re talking about sports as a major trans policy issue.
In all these chats, we dug into the complexities of doing political, educational and activism work in the Midwest region. Some recurring themes were the barriers of whiteness in Midwest cities for QTIBIPOC folks; the wide array of tools available to us to leverage the change we need; and an appetite for creating more room for possibilities and interrupting all the obstacles (our opposers, anti-trans policies, our self-doubt) that keep us from dreaming big and making the world we desire a reality.
All of that brought us to episode nine—the final of the season—where we had the pleasure of chatting with Cuee, an emerging hip-hop artist, about using music and lyrics to educate, motivate, tell a story, and learn more about oneself in the process.
Season 3 coming later this year
Season three is coming later this year, and we welcome any suggestions you have for who to bring on the show and what work we should highlight as we continue focusing on a Midwest queer space, place, and time. Contact us at lastbite@sgdinstitute.org.
Listen to all episodes now
You can check out all the episodes from both season's one and two wherever you listen to podcasts and we'd love your ratings, reviews and comments to help get this show on other folks' radar.