This episode features the incredible, and incredibly real, Jenny Pacanowski, founder/director of Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving, in a conversation that explores moving beyond organizations that serve as trauma-swaps, the challenge of incorporating ritual into collective spaces, and much more. After singing the praises of Jenny’s ever-evolving, holistic approach to community-building, Joy and Sarah discuss art as a container for complex reality, the facade of “apolitical” organizations, and preferable ways to acknowledge vets on Veterans Day -- featuring appearances by some basic Howard ..read more

We’re baaaaack! Our couple weeks off turned into three months but what is time during the apocalypse anyway? For our triumphant return to your earholes we are joined by Crash Barbosa, a recording artist and activist based out of L.A. We dive into his horrifying, politically motivated arrest story, mental health activism, unlearning systematic oppression from the inside, and why you should always call authority figures by their first names. Afterward, Joy and Sarah discuss their respective breaks, look back at 9/11 and Occupy Wall Street, and pay tribute to Norm Macdonald by discussing the righ ..read more

We've missed you, What the Folk fam! On this episode, instead of having a guest, we decided to take the chance to catch up with each other on life, the universe, and everything. We discuss dealing with personal disappointment and tragedy, and keeping a healthy perspective in the face of the ongoing climate apocalypse. And of course, new music! This one features a fun and timely tune by Ned and Wendy the Band, which we are sure you will love as much as we do. Ned and Wendy the Band: nedandwendytheband.com “Vulnerable” music video: https://youtu.be/rPkSSdZNV3E ..read more

Why do all the research and rhetoric around drug use focus on the small percentage of problematic users, leaving the vast majority of drug users out of the conversation? Why are we so shitty at talking about pleasure in America? Why don’t more people take their cats camping? Dr. Ingrid Walker is here to help us tackle these questions, as we explore drugs, pleasure, trauma, menopause, and bad portrayals of getting high in popular culture. After the interview, Joy and Sarah talk about sex for a hot minute. Note: We would like to apologize to rock n roll for its exclusion from this episode. FOLLO ..read more

On this episode of What the Folk, our guest is Michael McPhearson, the executive director of online news publication the South Seattle Emerald, the former executive director of Veterans for Peace, and a longtime activist for racial and social justice within and outside of the US. This interview covers empathy as a radical act, the challenges of fostering solidarity across differences, and the necessity of localized independent media. Afterwards, Joy and Sarah reflect on their own solidarity and communication challenges, as well as how freaking tired they are because who isn’t these days. Treat ..read more

Our guest on this episode is the well-traveled, well-spoken, and unapologetically outspoken musician Mark Rubin. From co-founding the influential Americana trickster band The Bad Livers to being a leader in the contemporary klezmer scene, Mark’s storied career strands weave together perfectly in this latest release, The Triumph of Assimilation. We talk about the new album, his experiences as a Southern Jew, the intersectional fascism reboot, cultural appropriation do-nots, and Yiddish songwriter/poet Mordechai Gebirtig. Featured music is “It’s Burning,” “A Day of Revenge“,”Royal Street Shuffle ..read more

We've missed you, What the Folk fam! We took a hiatus to get our respective and collective shit together, and now here we are, back and weirder than ever. In this, our 42nd episode, we cover – well, Life, the Universe, and Everything. Since it led us to discuss relationships, political corruption, the patriarchy, and cats – just to name a few hot topics – Joy's theory is that the Ultimate Question is "how's your apocalypse going?" Plus! Hear Sarah's original poem, "Bad Timing," and Joy's songs "Love Yourself!" and "Happy Ever After" – all inspired by the endlessly exciting and complicated them ..read more

Part deux of our monster M*A*S*H-athon conversation starts by tackling gender issues in the show and ends up with an imagined future for Hawkeye that involves hanging out with Timothy Leary and becoming an anti-war activist. In between, we cover sexism in the military, Freudian psychology, and nerd out about the show’s groundbreaking use of creative narrative devices. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of anti-imperialism chat too! Music for this episode is covers of “Suicide is Painless” (Johnny Mandel/Michael Altman) and “You’re the Enemy” by Emily Yates (available for stream/download at https://wa ..read more

Russian history scholar and political scientist Michael Iasilli joins us to discuss, what else, the war in Ukraine. Besides giving us a fascinating tour through Russian and Ukrainian history, Iasilli also has a lot to say about avoiding xenophobia against Russians during this time. Naturally, your hosts and Michael got along swimmingly because we all agree that we have much more in common with the regular people in other countries than we do with our respective governments. Afterward, Joy and Sarah riff on the idea of finding common ground, living in a world of multiple truths, and discuss the ..read more

The fabulous Lauren Flynn returns to the pod! We talk about the inspiration for her awesome new band, Buried Blonde, trust and intuition in the creative process, why artists are essential workers and grappling with death at the Cheesecake Factory. Afterwards, Joy and Sarah discuss the lessons they have learned during the pandemic, Colonel Bruce Hampton, and how to have a non-monogamous relationship with yourself. Featured music is “Like a Scar” and “Perfect Machine” by Buried Blonde, and “Good Riddance Fake Bitches” by Joy Damiani, courtesy of the artists. FOLLOW BURIED BLONDE https://www.buri ..read more