For no other reason than I felt like it, here’s a bonus episode. This is an audio version of the essay “Burning Out” that I published in 2020, in the Hair issue of Room Magazine. Content warning for discussion of weight loss and disordered eating, suicide and death, and racism and settler colonialism. The podcast theme song is “Mesh Shirt” by Mom Jeans off their album “Chub Rub.” Listen to the whole album here or learn more about them here. Follow me @hkpmcgregor and tweet about the podcast using #SecretFeministAgenda. The additional music in this episode came from blue d ..read more

In this, the final episode of Secret Feminist Agenda, I sat down with Eugenia Zuroski to talk about hope, planifestos, collectivity, mentorship, and where we know from. As far as final conversations go, this one felt absolutely perfect. Here are some links! Learn more about Gena’s work on her website, by following her on Twitter, and by checking out her Mixcloud! The Grace Lavery comments I referenced were shared on Twitter and her book is called Quaint, Exquisite: Victorian Aesthetics and the Idea of Japan. For more on hope and its appropriation by liberal discourses, you might want to revi ..read more

This is my resting “no” face. It’s here! The final minisode of season four (and frankly, probably, all?) of Secret Feminist Agenda! Ending this podcast series, in its current form at least, is a way of saying no to one thing so that other things will be possible. So join me for one last exploration of the feminist power of refusal. Also: links! You can find all three season of peer review, including Cheryl Ball’s point about projects needing to end, here. If you haven’t already, check out the Amplify Podcast Network. While this podcast might be wrapping up, I’m still making Witch, Please an ..read more

Photo credit: Erin Flegg, https://www.erinfleggphotography.com/ Brace yourself for the lively energy of an interviewer who has been pandemic-isolated for too long and an interviewee who really just wants to talk about reality television. I sat down with author and person-I-want-to-trick-into-being-my-IRL-friend andrea bennett to talk about their new book, Like a Boy but Not a Boy, out now with Arsenal Pulp Press. We also talked about mental health in a pandemic, Great British Bake Off, patterns of abuse and harm in CanLit, boomer men’s bad opinions about parenting and libraries, and why w ..read more

My face when I’m thinking about asking for help. This week we’re revisiting one of my all-time favourite conversations: asking for help! I’m asking some of the Big Questions(TM) that have been keeping me awake lately, such as: why do I find it so much harder to ask a colleague for help than a friend? What is the relationship between asking for help and being a mentor? How does our willingness to rely on one another make us stronger, rather than weaker? I don’t have any links this week, just a verse from one of my favourite poems, “Questions to Ask Yourself Before Giving Up“: Know that your ..read more

In this episode I sat down (virtually, of course) with Lily Cho to talk about feminist mentorship, the importance of boundaries, and trying to make change from within institutions. What if mentorship wasn’t based on intimacy but on clear boundaries and structures? What if the best way to transform the university is to really understand how it works? What if you clicked on these links? You can read Lily’s Hook&Eye posts here. I particularly recommend “Inside a State of Emergency, the University Edition.” Lily recommended Intimacies by Leo Bersani and Adam Phillips. I recommended Xine Yao ..read more

Thinkin’ mentory thoughts… Are you ready to talk about mentorship? Because that’s what we’re doing for (checks watch) about 18 minutes. While we’re at it, here are a few articles on feminist mentoring: “Feminist Co-Mentoring: A Model for Academic Professional Development” by Gail M. McGuire and Jo Reger “‘Will you be my mentor?’ Feminist mentoring at mid-career for institutional change” by Winifred Curran and Trina Hamilton “Feminist Mentors” by Awino Okech “Collectors, Nightlights, and Allies, Oh My! White Mentors in the Academy” by Marisela Martinez-Cola Read Transcript The podcast them ..read more

I’m back from a much-needed hiatus and ready to jump into the final half-dozen episodes of season four, starting with a doozy. I talked to Vivek Shraya and Cicely Belle Blain about Vivek’s imprint VS Books, Cicely’s new book Burning Sugar, and the importance of mentorship. Also, dinosaurs. Also, links: You can read Audre Lorde’s “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” here; Jessica Johns’ chapbook is called How Not to Spill; Here’s a quick read on Langston Hughes reporting on the Spanish Civil War; And here’s Vivek’s article on the selling of marginalized people’s trauma. Read Transcript The podcast th ..read more

This is my resting demon bitch face. This week I’m announcing a wee hiatus as I regather my resources to finish up season four. I’m also talking about what it might look like for us to collectively reject civility and instead become a hoard of demon bitches for justice. Also here are some links: For the millionth time I’m recommending the Sandy and Nora Talk Politics podcast, but also recommending that you keep on eye out for Alicia’s Elliott‘s new podcast Why Tho? The title of this episode comes from a line in Lindy West’s book The Witches Are Coming Here’s some context on Jagmeet Singh b ..read more

Michelle Peek Photography, courtesy of Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology & Access to Life, Re•Vision: The Centre for Art & Social Justice at the University of Guelph This week I sat down virtually with Sean Lee, Director of Programming at Tangled Art + Disability, to talk about radically accessible curation, the transformative possibilities of disability as disruption, and the exciting work of Tangled and Bodies in Translation. So many links! To learn more about Tangled Art + Disability, check out recent exhibits like “Body Farm” and “HIDDEN” You can read the Canadian A ..read more