Issue 07
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A mixtape of queer, outdoorsy excerpts from other shows, channels and albums that we like. You’ll find alpaca, sheep and veg farmers, literature analysis, politics, hiking, nature sounds, filmmaking and music to take your ears on new adventures. We hope you enjoy these snippets and take the chance to go and listen to the originals - follow the links in the show notes below.
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Information about Issue 07
Length: 1:33:46
Transcript: Google Docs / PDF
High quality audio version: Google Drive (.wav file, 1.49GB)
Content notes: The pieces in Queer Out Here talk about many things related to being queer and the outdoors. This issue contains: mentions of racism, homophobia, transphobia and violent threats; discussion of killing, butchering and eating animals (specifically in “Fairside Farm”, “Memories of Sheep Farming” and “Boys in the Woods”); mention of maggots/flyblow in live sheep (“Memories of Sheep Farming”); bodily fluids (specifically alpaca spitting in people’s faces and mouths in “Tenacious Unicorn Ranch”); and references to the climate crisis and despair. There is also some mild wind distortion. If you have specific anxieties or triggers, check the transcript (linked above) or ask a trusted friend to listen and give you feedback. If there is something else you feel we should mention here, please let us know.
Running order:
The Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm - Dallas Robinson & Nico Wisler on Queer the Table
Ode to Sheep (Introduction) - Rae Garringer of Country Queers
Fairside Farm - Wesley Godden & Rae Garringer on Country Queers
Memories of Sheep Farming - Elena Higgins & Rae Garringer on Country Queers
Passion Fruit Pictures and The Wanderlust Women - Frit Tam & Catie Friend on Chatting to a Friend
Boys in the Woods - Nino McQuown & Nat Mesnard of Queers at the End of the World
Queers at the End of the World Season 2 Trailer
every beach - Helen
Tenacious Unicorn Ranch - Penny Logue & Rae Garringer on Country Queers
Country Queers Season 2 Trailer
Native Flora and Frogs of Canberra - Dr Kate Grarock
Cover art: This issue’s cover art is a digital sketch Jonathan did when he was bored at work. “I was trying out an online art tool someone mentioned - I don’t remember what it was, now - and I started playing around without any aim for the final image. Clearly, given the mountains that emerged, I wanted to be somewhere other than the office.” Jonathan has had a small amount of visual art published previously, including line drawings for the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild campaign.
Acknowledgement of Country: This issue and its documentation were edited in part on Brayakaulung (Gunaikurnai) Country. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land. We pay our respects to Gunaikurnai elders and we extend this to all Indigenous elders and people around the world.
Show notes for Issue 07
Introduction - Jonathan (he/they) and Allysse (she/they)
0:00:00
Short description: Welcome and housekeeping with Allysse and Jonathan. The sound of small birds and the soft chiming of goat bells plays in the background
The Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm - Dallas Robinson (ey/she) & Nico Wisler (they)
0:05:33
Excerpt from: This excerpt is from Queer the Table, an excellent show hosted by Nico Wisler on the Heritage Radio Network. In this episode, Nico speaks with Dallas Robinson, who is working to bring a visionary farm and education center to life. In this excerpt, Dallas explains eir inspiration in creating and naming the Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm. Also mentioned: Soulfire.
About Dallas: Dallas is a young Black lesbian land steward raised in eastern North Carolina. Eir goal to heal Black people’s relationship to land and agriculture is inspired by Fannie Lou Hamer, Harriet Tubman, and various Black farmers and sharecroppers who have taught her so much from a rich ancestry of African agricultural technology.
Find Dallas online: Instagram
About Queer the Table/Heritage Radio Network: Queer the Table is a show about the joyful, messy, radical magic that happens in spaces where queerness and food intersect. In conversation with farmers, chefs, activists, historians, seed savers and business babes, host Nico Wisler explores the idea of “queer food” in all of its limitless forms. Heritage Radio Network (HRN) is a nonprofit podcast network dedicated to creating a more equitable, sustainable, and delicious world by expanding the way eaters think about food. Founded in 2009 by Patrick Martins and inspired by the Slow Food Movement, since its inception HRN has been a platform for thought-provoking conversations about the real issues affecting the global food supply. There are many stories that never reach mainstream food media and that’s where HRN is different: it features from voices across the food chain - farmers, truckers, chefs, cheesemakers, cookbook authors, activists and more.
Find the Heritage Radio Network online: Website | Instagram | Twitter
Sweeper - Esther
0:12:10
Short description: Crickets on Wurundjeri Country, not far from the Maribyrnong.
Ode to Sheep (Introduction) - Rae Garringer (they)
0:14:33
Excerpt from: This excerpt is part of Rae’s intro to the Ode to Sheep series on the Country Queers podcast. This issue of Queer Out Here contains three excerpts from different interviews in the series. Here, Rae discusses why and how they brought together the Ode to Sheep series.
About Country Queers: Country Queers is an ongoing multimedia oral history project documenting the diverse experiences of rural, small town, and country LGBTQIA2S+ folks - across intersecting layers of identity such as race, class, age, ability, gender identity, and religion.
Music: All music in Country Queers excerpts appears courtesy of Country Queers. Pieces are written by either Tommy Anderson or Sam Gleaves. Once piece is performed on pedal steel by Rebecca Branson Jones.
Fairside Farm - Wesley Godden (he) & Rae Garringer (they)
0:19:51
Excerpt from: This interview first appeared on Country Queers (see above) in the episode Ode to Sheep Part One. In this excerpt, Wes talks about why he and his partner chose to breed hair sheep and his relationship with the flock. Wes shares some thoughts about the ethics of food production in farming.
About Wesley: Wesley is a biracial Singaporean and first generation gay farmer living in Eastern Ontario, Canada, who hand raises 200 Katahdin hair sheep with his partner of over 22 years. Because of their love for nature and the outdoors, they decided to move to the countryside to be closer to nature and never looked back.
Find Wesley online: Fairside Farm: Website | Instagram. Wes: Instagram
Acknowledgement of Country: Fairside Farm is in Eganville Ontario, on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation.
Content notes: This extract includes discussion of farming sheep for meat, and of the killing involved in both agriculture and horticulture.
Memories of Sheep Farming - Elena Higgins (she) & Rae Garringer (they)
0:28:33
Excerpt from: This interview first appeared on Country Queers (see above) in Ode to Sheep Part Three. In this excerpt, Elena recounts how the land and the farm of her relatives brought connection to her in her youth - how she found a sense of freedom in the landscape and lifestyle but also learned about the reality of farming livestock for consumption.
About Elena: The balance from three very strong cultures, Elena was born in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Raised in a Pākehā (white) foster family in which she regularly visited her Samoan matrilineal aiga (family) and her Māori whanau (family.) In 2006, Elena moved to the USA to pursue her musical talents. Supporting Native American gatherings and circles, she found her way to New Mexico. In August Elena met Tash. November of the same year saw the birth of Indigie Femme - international award winning musical duo! Elena is also the Executive Director for IndigenousWays and her mission has always been about supporting the arts and music and bringing people together so we may all love and learn from one another.
Find Elena online: IndigenousWays: Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram. Indigie Femme: Website | Reverbnation | YouTube | Facebook
Content notes: Contains discusses butchery and maggots (flyblow) in live sheep.
Sweeper - Emily & Jenny
0:35:11
Short description: Currawongs and a small child on GunaiKurnai Country.
Passion Fruit Pictures & The Wanderlust Women - Frit Tam (he/they) & Catie Friend (she)
0:38:00
Excerpt from: This is an excerpt from an episode of the interview podcast Chatting to a Friend, in which Catie Friend interviews Frit Tam. Original episode here. In the featured excerpt, Catie and Frit discuss his film The Wanderlust Women, and the need for better representation of people other than “grizzly bearded white men” in outdoor media.
About Frit: Frit Tam is an award-winning outdoors and adventure filmmaker and photographer specialising in adding colour and diversity to the outdoors through adventure films and outdoors photography. With his film studio, Passion Fruit Pictures, his latest films 'Brave Enough' and 'The Wanderlust Women' have won awards and are creating change in better positive representation of outdoors people and athletes. Frit has worked alongside brands and organisations such as Patagonia, Sprayway, The Ramblers and Mountain Training and, as a transgender individual, advocates powerfully for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Find Frit online: Passion Fruit Pictures: Website | Instagram. Frit: Website | Instagram
About Chatting to a Friend/Catie: Catie is a Scottish sports presenter and commentator living in Switzerland. She grew up in the countryside, climbing trees, building dens and riding horses but didn’t take up sport until she was 38. Saying yes to sporting adventures has not only changed her life for the better physically and mentally but has made her a better mum, wife and adventure buddy. Chatting to a Friend started in 2020 as a lockdown project and since its launch over 50 incredible people have shared stories about their lives and achievements. Catie invited Frit to be on the podcast because she wanted to hear more about their challenge to cycle and rollerblade across England in Glide for Pride. It is important to Catie to talk to people who have different life experiences from her and this seemed like a phenomenal opportunity to understand areas of life she didn’t know much about - and to hear about a good old adventure!
Find Catie online: Chatting to a Friend: Website | Instagram. Catie: Instagram
Acknowledgements: Amira Patel and her mother Aysha Yilmaz collaborated with Frit to make the film The Wanderlust Women. Find Amira on Instagram.
Other notes: Catie says, “When Frit was invited on the podcast, they identified as a gay woman and by the time it came to record Frit had come out as a trans man meaning the conversation was rich with warm and vulnerable conversation about the challenges and joys of being trans in the outdoor space. I just wanted to thank Frit for being so open, for allowing a cis heterosexual woman to ask quite probing questions and answering so openly and with such good grace while I almost certainly blundered in my attempts to understand better their story. I felt very honoured and fortunate.”
Boys in the Woods - Nino McQuown (they) & Nat Mesnard (they)
0:48:43
Excerpt from: This is an excerpt from the fantastic podcast Queers at the End of the World - specifically, the episode Boys in the Woods Part II. In this episode, Nat and Nino range through topics such as toxic masculinity, the siege at the US Capitol, and the ascension of Britney Spears. In this particular excerpt, Nino and Nat are discussing three survivalist narratives: Chris McCandless in John Krakauer’s “Into the Wild”, Brian Robeson in Gary Paulsen’s “Hatchet”, and Sam Gribley in Jean Craighead George’s “My Side of the Mountain”. The conversation shows how queerness, through its presence or absence, can be read into texts, and how a queer approach can encourage new interpretations.
About Queers at the End of the World: Queers at the End of the World is nerdy queer and trans folks talking about media of apocalypse, dystopia, and survival. Episodes are released every two weeks and bring together queer and trans artists, scientists, activists, and scholars to (re)imagine apocalypses and utopias, old and new.
Find Queers at the End of the World online: Website | Twitter | Instagram
About Nino: Nino McQuown is a fat trans butch who builds zines, poems, puppet shows, podcasts, and gardens in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. They like research, dangly house plants, and naps in the bath, and are a proud parent to more than three thousand hermaphroditic worms.
About Nat: Nat Mesnard writes fiction, teaches storytelling, and designs games. Nat has published poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in Catapult, Cartridge Lit, Autostraddle, Bodega, Blackbird, The Kenyon Review Online, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere. New games include a drag-inspired tabletop RPG titled “Ball of the Wild” published in the 2021 Level 1 Anthology for Free RPG Day.
Notes: Discusses a character eating an animal that has been killed by another animal.
Queers at the End of the World Season 2 Trailer
0:58:10
Short description: Full transcript unavailable. The trailer includes the voices of Nat and Nino, their guests and found or archival soundbites, played over echoey drones, keyboards, rockets launching and dial up modem sounds. The theme of the season is “what comes after collapse” - i.e. escape, in its various forms.
Sweeper - Dan
0:59:50
Short description: Roadworks echoing in a long tunnel on a rail trail.
every beach - Helen (she)
1:01:54
Excerpt from: This piece is from Helen’s album songs of time & distance, available on BandCamp.
About Helen: Helen grew up in the foothills of the Welsh Misty Mountains before packing her spotted hanky on a stick, eventually washing up on the unforgiving concrete shores of a big city on this rainy plague island. A burst of creativity in response to the Covid-19 pandemic found Helen sampling her old demotapes for sources of raw audio, which were further processed through granular synthesis software before she reassembled the results to produce a collage-like effect. The result was songs of time & distance.
About this piece: The original demotape was inspired by a visit to Barclodiad y Gawres, a Neolithic burial chamber on the coast at Ynys Môn (Anglesey). I had good memories of the day, which were brought back to mind after reading a tweet by the climate scientist Dr Genevieve Guenther, in response to the 2019 IPCC report, pointing out that climate change will have such a profound effect that "by 2100, every beach you've ever walked on will be below the waves."
Find Helen online: Bandcamp
Tenacious Unicorn Ranch - Penny Logue (she) and Rae Garringer (they)
1:07:01
Excerpt from: This interview first appeared on Country Queers (see above) in Ode to Sheep Part Two … but it is actually about alpaca! In this excerpt, Penny discusses her reason for setting up the ranch and farming alpaca, gives the low down on alpaca spit and gives us a great imitation of the sound of “alpaca indecision”.
About Penny and Tenacious Unicorn Ranch: Penny Logue is the founder of Tenacious Unicorn Ranch, a queer Anarchist collective alpaca ranch in Southern Colorado. Penny has dedicated her time on this planet to securing queer liberation, bringing down the state and most importantly returning this stolen nation to its rightful indigenous caretakers.
Find Tenacious Unicorn Ranch online: Website
Acknowledgement of Country: Tenacious Unicorn Ranch is on Ute, Apache and Navajo land.
Notes: Describes alpaca spitting in people’s faces and mouths.
Country Queers Season 2 Trailer
1:17:17
Short description: Full transcript not available. The trailer features nature sounds, music, and the voices of the six rural and small town LGBTQ+ folks featured in the next, collaborative, season of Country Queers.
Sweeper - Mags
1:20:34
Short description: Splashing water, the honking chatter of swans, ducks and geese, and a shouting child.
Native Flora and Frogs of Canberra - Dr Kate Grarock (she)
1:22:56
Excerpt from: The audio of this piece is taken from the video “Day hike and explore - native plants and animals - Mt Ainslie, Canberra” on Kate’s interesting YouTube channel. During this local lockdown outing, Kate takes her dog Lupo for a walk, stopping to identify frog species (based on their different calls) and pointing out several plants that have been used by Australia’s First Nations People for tens of thousands of years.
About Kate: Dr Kate Grarock is a Eureka Prize finalist, wildlife ecologist and expedition leader at Bush Blitz (Australia’s largest species discovery program). She loves inspiring people to be as passionate about the environment as she is. Kate is a proud new mum with her partner Elsie. During Covid lockdown, to get her ‘nature fix’ Kate decided to make a video of a 700km hike she completed along the coast of Australia. She loved documenting her hikes and sharing her passion for the environment with the Youtube community. She loves using her environmental knowledge in her hiking videos and encouraging minimal impact camping.
Acknowledgement of Country: This piece was created on Ngunnawal Country.
Conclusion - Allysse (she/they) and Jonathan (he/they)
1:31:11
Short description: Concluding comments and thanks. The sound of waves on a shingle beach plays beneath the voices.