Jonny interviews Dr. Joe Hassert who was a resident of Carbondale from 2000 to 2012 and was remarkably active in making community art projects happen here. Joe now lives in Las Vegas where he is a professor of Communication Studies at the College of Southern Nevada. He is the current president of the queer faculty and staff advocacy group there and works with students in the student LGBTQ organization to bring about positive, material change in their institution. Jonny and Joe talk about life in the desert, the queer scene in Las Vegas, what Joe learned from his time in Southern Illinois, LGBTQ advocacy, mass shootings, politics, and pragmatic activism. 

Jonny talks with his former co-host, Caleb McKinley-Portee, and O.J. Duncan about some of the staffing issues for the Student Multicultural Resource Center, including the LGBTQ Resource Center, on the Southern Illinois University campus. Both are officers in the Graduate and Professional Student Council and are involved in working with campus administrators to address student concerns. Both are also out, queer advocates for the community. Together, they work with other students on campus to push for better representation for the LGBTQ community and its inclusion in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. They detail challenges and obstructions they are facing in doing this work. In short, they bring receipts.

Jonny shares highlights from the SIU “Rally for Diversity,” a student protest concerning staffing changes at the Student Multicultural Resource Center (SMRC). Students and others expressed a variety of concerns, including the sudden departure of the LGBTQ Resource Center Coordinator, Dr. Angela Towne. The Vice Chancellor of Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Dr. Paul Frazier, attended the rally and addressed student concerns. Jonny then interviews the SMRC’s Executive Director, Dr. Renada Greer, and Dr. Frazier about services provided by their programs, the process for restaffing the LGBTQ RC, and how SIU might be poised to be an open and affirming university, recruiting and retainng minority students from surrounding states legislatively enacting bans and restrictions on higher education.

Jonny curates some news stories in the wake of the school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenessee last week. He focuses mostly on the aftermath, including Rightwing hysteria over the shooter’s reported transgender identity, the student protests on Monday, the ousting of state representatives who joined the protestors, and the general failure to focus in any way on gun reform. In the back half of the show, he provides a taxonomy for the over 600 pieces of legislation currently under discussion in 46 states targeting LGBTQ rights. He then reviews the impacts these discussions are having on public opinion about queer and trans folks.