July 31, 2023 • 18 mins
This week’s “Podversations” episode features Raquel Willis, executive producer and creator for the Outspoken Podcast Network, iHeartPodcast’s LGBTQIA+ slate, and iHeartPodcasts President, Will Pearson.
Raquel Willis is an award-winning activist, author, and media strategist dedicated to Black transgender liberation who is now focusing on marrying together storytelling and social justice through podcasting with the launch of Outspoken. The Outspoken Podcast Network is meant to elevate the voices of marginalized communities and give the voices back to people in the queer community rather than allowing others to speak on their behalf. As both a producer and a creator herself, Raquel has a lot of insight and experience to share with listeners.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
iHeartRadio presents Podversations, a weekly discussion with the biggest names.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And influencers and podcasting.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I want to learn the secret psychic rituals Scrub stars
Zach Braff and Donald Fazing News before every Fake Doctor's
Real Friends taping, how Vice News parachutes into war zones
to rescue journalists from life threatening situations, Or why Keegan,
Michael Key and Blumhouse believe three D audio is the.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Future of storytelling.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Whether you're a newbie trying to break into the podcast
game or an exec trying to refine your playbook, Podversations
is the easiest way to keep your pulse on the industry.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hello and welcome back to the iHeart podcast Speakers series.
I'm Will Pearson, President of iHeart Podcasts. As you know,
we like to get together each week and talk to
some of our favorite creators. I'm super excited about this
week's conversation. We're talking to an advocate, a renowned speaker, creator,
somebody who sort of does it all and now can
add to this the creator or founder and executive producer
(01:09):
of a newslate of podcast for us. Also excited to
talk about her new memoir. Like I said, She's up
to many, many different things, but does them all well.
Raquel Willis, thanks for spending some time with us.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Yes, thank you will for having me on Rikeul.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
You're always on the go. I'm curious where have you
been most recently? What have you been up to?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Honestly enough, I have not been traveling outside of New
York much, but I've been all over in New York.
It's what I call gala season. So there are a
lot of nonprofits that I'm connected to that have had events.
Last night was the Misfoundations event, so we had some
powerful testimonies of like community advocates for women's rights and
(01:51):
gender liberation, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex where they are.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So that was very interesting to be a.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
Tap every day of just hanging out with the Duke
and Duchess.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Not at all, So that was cool.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
And then a few days ago was the Glad Media
Awards and I was excited that powerful project I worked
on with some amazing people at Logo TV and a
bunch of like trans Youth who are very powerful and ferocious.
We won an award for the Trans Youth town Hall.
So it's been a great last few days.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Oh that's huge, congratulations and it's been really fun to
see all the recognition you've been getting for so much
of the work you've done. You know, we mentioned at
the top here that you've been a longtime advocate in
the LGBTQ space.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
It was part of why we started these conversations because.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Of much of your writing and other work in the
community of the LGBTQ youth and just individuals, and we
wanted to start this late of shows called out Spoken,
dedicated to creators within the community, and you were the
first person that we thought we need to reach out
to and start talking about this to really try to
build this up. And here we are a few months
(02:59):
ago we announced Outspoken. We have an incredible roster of shows,
and I want to talk a little bit about those.
But I'm curious what made you decide to jump in
and join us as we decided to start out Spoken.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Yeah, well, I mean it's always been important for me
to kind of marry together storytelling and social justice. Now,
of course, our slate is not all activisty in the
way that I may have been in my work in
most of my career, but I do think that there's
something here around elevating the voices of the marginalized that
(03:33):
can't be understated, and especially in a time when the
LGBTQ plus community is so discussed in news media of
course discussed whether positively or negatively, within politics, unfortunately mostly negatively.
We need more of these platforms for LGBTQ plus folks
(03:54):
to speak authentically, to speak vulnerably.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
And to have our full.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
Lives shared with the world and not shared through someone
else's leans. What was exciting about joining the team of
outspoken Jay Brunson, Beth and mccolllouso. But yeah, so they
have also just been such a warm welcome wagon and
back into the iheartspace.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So yeah, we've been really excited to launch this.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
In some of the early conversations, we talked about the
fact that in building a slate like this, it's super
important for us to recognize the diversity even within this
late of podcast that we can't launch you know, two, three,
four podcasts and sort of call it a day, that
we really need to think about the breath here. Can
you speak to that a little bit, just sort of
thinking about that as we develop new programming across the slate.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Yeah, well, I think what I have often noticed is
that we have this kind of tendency to have these
cycles of saying we're going to support communities on the margin,
support creators on the margins, and then unfortunately, though those
resources may dry up, you know, after maybe a season.
(05:04):
And I've experienced that in various roles.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Most of the LGBTQ.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
People that I know, brilliant people, have experienced that as well.
And so I think what we miss is that it's
not about just one time amplifying a voice or a perspective.
It's about a long term investment in that person, but
also understanding that it's just not simply about the amplification.
(05:31):
It's also about resourcing and banding the wealth of resources
available to that person on the margins, because oftentimes we're
facing more barriers when it comes to building up our
platforms or building up our space in the professional sphere.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
So I think that's what it is. It's a long
term commitment.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
And that's also what I was excited about in joining Outspoken.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, it's one of those things where we've you know,
every single month, we want to keep building, keep adding,
keep growing, and as we think about the mix. You know,
one of the things that we've talked about is you
try to find this balance of of course, you need
some big names in the space in order to draw
attention to what we're doing and to give promotion to
some of the other shows. But then a big part
of the mission is trying to elevate new voices, trying
(06:20):
to make sure that we're breaking new creators into the
space and giving opportunities to those that have great ideas.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
They're super talented.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
They may not have five million social media followers or
something like that, but could you talk to just a
little bit about some of the balance of the shows
that we have, maybe even you know, pointing out some
of the shows that we have in the slate.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
So one thing I mean that I'm so excited that
you brought up is that it is that balance of
having these bigger names who can you know, draw more
attention onto.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
The work that we're doing.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
Yeah, also using that positioning to elevate lesser known folks.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Right, we're still doing very brilliant and powerful work.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
We're lucky on our that we had a lot of
creators who are already doing powerful things. So we have
you know, our partnerships with groups like Big Money Players.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Will Seller's Network, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yes, and School of Humans and so many others.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
So we had shows like last Culturistas, who you know,
if you're in podcast at all, there's no way to
ignore the powerful platform that they have built. Also have
had some important debuts this year, like Rosie O'Donnell is
back right with Onward. She's such a titan of LGBTQ
(07:34):
representation for me as a kid in the nineties, so
I love that we're able to pay it forward. Also
Frosted Tips with Lance Bats who doesn't love a little
boy band connection, so that's great. And then more recently
we've had the best podcast ever with Raven Simone and Miranda.
So we have some of these big names, and I
(07:55):
think it's also important to think about those particular figures, right,
because they have had these long careers where there was
a point where maybe they weren't able to openly share
their full truths, right. So I think it's so beautiful
that we have this platform now that not only is
bringing in new creators, but also offering opportunity for folks
(08:18):
who have not had that support in their fullness throughout
their careers and those three in particular showcase that. And
then of course we have folks like Laverne Cox and
Roseanne Gay who are in the Mix as well, so
we have.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Those powerful creators.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
But I'm also excited, of course about a forthcoming podcast
by an amazing young creator named Jordan Gozalez, who I
actually randomly met on the street walking to the Brooklyn
Museum like two weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Yeah, they were just like on the street. They were
like Raquel. I was like Hi.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
They actually just graduated from Higher ed So that's exciting,
you know. And their podcast is going to be coming
out soon and focused on LGBTQ plus love stories throughout history,
so that's amazing. And then we also have other talent
like Woke af Led, the incomparable Danielle Moody, great podcast, Yeah,
(09:15):
just so unapologetic and how she talks about the current
state of politics.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
She actually was the host of the Miss Foundation gala
last night, so I saw her in the Mixed two.
So it's a it's a community affair, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, we're in.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Spaces with folks all the time, and I'm excited that
we get to bring some of that warmth into the
space fantastic.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
So you're not only an executive producer on the slate,
but you're also a creator of a couple of shows.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Can you tell talk a little bit about the shows
that you've been working on.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, So, I mean, I have to say that I
am so blessed to have such strong, invested teams, and
so we've kind of been in the mix. It's also
been a busy time on that front as well, kind
of gearing up with the recording of both of those podcasts.
So the first is adapting the trans Obituaryes project, which
(10:24):
I created as an editorial project when I was executive
editor Out magazine.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Center of that story is talking.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
About the epidemic of violence that often plagues black and
brown trans women, the story of Leyleen Polanco, twenty seven
year old who died in Rockers custody, and kind of
the movement that she sparked through her experience there. So
just working with a powerful team. I'm working with Dylan
(10:53):
you Were and Joey Patt who are in the iHeart
fam and they are such phenomenal research and doing a
great job with the casting and everything.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
So got a great team there.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
And then my up team is with Queer Diaries, which
is a show elevating the experiences of young queer youth
in states that have a lot of this anti LGBTQ
legislation moving there, and so working with Julia Furlin and
Jordan Bailey and so we're we're having a great time,
even though we are kind of folding the complexity of
(11:26):
tragedy and transformation and joy with all.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Of these stories.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
So we're going to be releasing some big ones this year,
and I'm so excited that iHeart has taken me back
into the fold to try and make all of this happen.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, we're thrilled to have you here.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And those are two super important projects and projects that
we're honored to be a part of, and much more
to come. I did mention earlier that you've been working
on a memoir and this must have been just a
huge undertaking. I can't imagine what it's like to go
through this process and it will release in the fall
of this year.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So can you tell us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
About that experience and what led you to decide. I mean,
you've led a super interesting life, even though you're still
quite young, You've led a very interesting life to this point.
And those experiences are certainly worthy of sharing. But I'm curious,
you know, sort of what led you to the decision
to write this and what's it been.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Like, Yeah, well I'll be thirty two next week, just
to put it in reference for folks, and you know,
the memoir writing process, I just don't think that there's
really any way to prepare for it. You know, you
kind of go through all of these different cycles, which
I think people realize.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
You know, you have your visions and everything.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You're trying to get the just get as much as
you can on the page, And for me as a writer,
it's kind of like getting all the clay down and
then kind of chiseling away at Okay, well, what is
the story that we're excavating.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Here and the risk it takes to bloom on?
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Life and Liberation is about my experience growing up as
a young black kid in the American South and Agusta, Georgia,
trying to understand, well, why do I feel so out
of place? Why do I feel, you know, different from
other kids, you know, lo and Behold. It was because
I was transgender, and that was something that I didn't
(13:13):
really have language for until I was in college.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
At the University of Georgia. But along the way.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
I at least acknowledged my queerness as much as I
could in my youth, and my parents very traditional Black
Catholic parents. I was very blessed to come from a
two parent, you know, middle class household, and also had
all of these expectations that I was just not cut
out to fit into, and so I had to really
(13:41):
work with them to figure out, well, what is my
path going to be? And yeah, I dealt with some
experiences like my father passing away, which was kind of
a catalyst for me to dig deeper into my identity
and own it. And that's kind of the first half.
And then the second half is really my experience as
a fully realized black trans woman trying to figure out
(14:05):
what my media career could be in the middle of
the rise of the movement for black lives, the rise
transgender visibility, the rise of public discussions about feminism in
a new way. So that's it, in a nutshell. I
can't believe I even got it that short this time.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I honestly I cannot wait to read it, and I can.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Imagine how powerful.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And helpful it will be for so many others.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
To read the memoir and you know, as we think
sort of back to the podcast late, the role that
shows and conversations can play, or you know, we think
about gen Z, or we think about younger people that
are going through their own self discovery and just exploration
and thought and as stressful as youth can be, as
it is to also know that you're dealing with things
(14:51):
that you know, sometimes society doesn't make any easier for
all of us, right, And I'm curious to get your
thoughts on the role that you think some of these
podcas casts can play, you know, in society and for
specifically a younger generation in a way that you know,
maybe you or anyone older didn't have access to when
you were growing up. I'm just curious to get your
(15:12):
thoughts on that.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
Yeah, well, you know, I think one of the kind
of talking points we hear a lot right now is
the rise in LGBTQ identification by gen Z. So they
are by and far the most queer, the most trans
the most non binary generation to exist, and there are
(15:35):
stats that hover between one and five to one in
four Gen Z adults identify within the community. And I
think we're going to continue to see more and more
folks embrace their identities, and that's a big part of it.
So I think to your point, you know, we are
in a particular time where gen Z is kind of
(15:56):
able to reap some of the benefits of visibility in
terms of like over and I'll say this to someone
born in the nineties, you know, who experienced that. For
gen Z, there's a lot more opportunity to share your truth.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
But with that comes being more of a target in
a way. You know.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
I often get the question, do I think it's easier
to be openly trans now than say, ten years ago
when I first shared my truth in college? And I
think that's hard to say, because at least then, you know,
I didn't have so many eyes on me, I didn't
have such political baggage, you know, all these kind of stereotypes,
(16:37):
tropes and assumptions about who I am. And I think
that that is what our podcasts have an opportunity to
kind of cut off, is that those ideas are stereotypes, right.
We actually have an opportunity here to expand the palette
of stories.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
And so when someone meets a.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Trans person or meets a queer person, we don't want
them to think that they know the story because they don't.
Our podcasts are just giving folks more colors to play
with on that palette to understand other folks that they
don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, couldn't agree more. And I love the start that
we're off too. It's an amazing roster of podcasts. But
I think the thing that's that much more exciting is
that there's so much more to come. You know, we're
going to be launching dozens more podcasts over the next
year or so, with more to come after that, of course.
But we genuinely appreciate your leadership. You're involvedment everything that
you're doing here within iHeart and to help launch and
(17:34):
grow Outspoken, and wish you the best is you try
to wrap up this work on this memoir. I know
it's not easy, but Raquel, thanks for spending some time
with us today.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Thank you so much. Always a pleasure, and.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Thanks everybody for tuning in. We'll see you again next week.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Conversations is a production of iHeartRadio. I have more from
the biggest names in podcasting on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
iHeartRadio presents Podversations, a weekly discussion with the biggest names.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And influencers and podcasting.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I want to learn the secret psychic rituals Scrub stars
Zach Braff and Donald Fazing News before every Fake Doctor's
Real Friends taping, how Vice News parachutes into war zones
to rescue journalists from life threatening situations, Or why Keegan,
Michael Key and Blumhouse believe three D audio is the.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Future of storytelling.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Whether you're a newbie trying to break into the podcast
game or an exec trying to refine your playbook, Podversations
is the easiest way to keep your pulse on the industry.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hello and welcome back to the iHeart podcast Speakers series.
I'm Will Pearson, President of iHeart Podcasts. As you know,
we like to get together each week and talk to
some of our favorite creators. I'm super excited about this
week's conversation. We're talking to an advocate, a renowned speaker, creator,
somebody who sort of does it all and now can
add to this the creator or founder and executive producer
(01:09):
of a newslate of podcast for us. Also excited to
talk about her new memoir. Like I said, She's up
to many, many different things, but does them all well.
Raquel Willis, thanks for spending some time with us.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Yes, thank you will for having me on Rikeul.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
You're always on the go. I'm curious where have you
been most recently? What have you been up to?
Speaker 4 (01:26):
What have I been up to?
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Honestly enough, I have not been traveling outside of New
York much, but I've been all over in New York.
It's what I call gala season. So there are a
lot of nonprofits that I'm connected to that have had events.
Last night was the Misfoundations event, so we had some
powerful testimonies of like community advocates for women's rights and
(01:51):
gender liberation, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex where they are.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
So that was very interesting to be a.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
Tap every day of just hanging out with the Duke
and Duchess.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Not at all, So that was cool.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
And then a few days ago was the Glad Media
Awards and I was excited that powerful project I worked
on with some amazing people at Logo TV and a
bunch of like trans Youth who are very powerful and ferocious.
We won an award for the Trans Youth town Hall.
So it's been a great last few days.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Oh that's huge, congratulations and it's been really fun to
see all the recognition you've been getting for so much
of the work you've done. You know, we mentioned at
the top here that you've been a longtime advocate in
the LGBTQ space.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
It was part of why we started these conversations because.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Of much of your writing and other work in the
community of the LGBTQ youth and just individuals, and we
wanted to start this late of shows called out Spoken,
dedicated to creators within the community, and you were the
first person that we thought we need to reach out
to and start talking about this to really try to
build this up. And here we are a few months
(02:59):
ago we announced Outspoken. We have an incredible roster of shows,
and I want to talk a little bit about those.
But I'm curious what made you decide to jump in
and join us as we decided to start out Spoken.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Yeah, well, I mean it's always been important for me
to kind of marry together storytelling and social justice. Now,
of course, our slate is not all activisty in the
way that I may have been in my work in
most of my career, but I do think that there's
something here around elevating the voices of the marginalized that
(03:33):
can't be understated, and especially in a time when the
LGBTQ plus community is so discussed in news media of
course discussed whether positively or negatively, within politics, unfortunately mostly negatively.
We need more of these platforms for LGBTQ plus folks
(03:54):
to speak authentically, to speak vulnerably.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
And to have our full.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
Lives shared with the world and not shared through someone
else's leans. What was exciting about joining the team of
outspoken Jay Brunson, Beth and mccolllouso. But yeah, so they
have also just been such a warm welcome wagon and
back into the iheartspace.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So yeah, we've been really excited to launch this.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
In some of the early conversations, we talked about the
fact that in building a slate like this, it's super
important for us to recognize the diversity even within this
late of podcast that we can't launch you know, two, three,
four podcasts and sort of call it a day, that
we really need to think about the breath here. Can
you speak to that a little bit, just sort of
thinking about that as we develop new programming across the slate.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Yeah, well, I think what I have often noticed is
that we have this kind of tendency to have these
cycles of saying we're going to support communities on the margin,
support creators on the margins, and then unfortunately, though those
resources may dry up, you know, after maybe a season.
(05:04):
And I've experienced that in various roles.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Most of the LGBTQ.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
People that I know, brilliant people, have experienced that as well.
And so I think what we miss is that it's
not about just one time amplifying a voice or a perspective.
It's about a long term investment in that person, but
also understanding that it's just not simply about the amplification.
(05:31):
It's also about resourcing and banding the wealth of resources
available to that person on the margins, because oftentimes we're
facing more barriers when it comes to building up our
platforms or building up our space in the professional sphere.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
So I think that's what it is. It's a long
term commitment.
Speaker 5 (05:54):
And that's also what I was excited about in joining Outspoken.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Yeah, it's one of those things where we've you know,
every single month, we want to keep building, keep adding,
keep growing, and as we think about the mix. You know,
one of the things that we've talked about is you
try to find this balance of of course, you need
some big names in the space in order to draw
attention to what we're doing and to give promotion to
some of the other shows. But then a big part
of the mission is trying to elevate new voices, trying
(06:20):
to make sure that we're breaking new creators into the
space and giving opportunities to those that have great ideas.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
They're super talented.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
They may not have five million social media followers or
something like that, but could you talk to just a
little bit about some of the balance of the shows
that we have, maybe even you know, pointing out some
of the shows that we have in the slate.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
So one thing I mean that I'm so excited that
you brought up is that it is that balance of
having these bigger names who can you know, draw more
attention onto.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
The work that we're doing.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
Yeah, also using that positioning to elevate lesser known folks.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Right, we're still doing very brilliant and powerful work.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
We're lucky on our that we had a lot of
creators who are already doing powerful things. So we have
you know, our partnerships with groups like Big Money Players.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Will Seller's Network, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yes, and School of Humans and so many others.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
So we had shows like last Culturistas, who you know,
if you're in podcast at all, there's no way to
ignore the powerful platform that they have built. Also have
had some important debuts this year, like Rosie O'Donnell is
back right with Onward. She's such a titan of LGBTQ
(07:34):
representation for me as a kid in the nineties, so
I love that we're able to pay it forward. Also
Frosted Tips with Lance Bats who doesn't love a little
boy band connection, so that's great. And then more recently
we've had the best podcast ever with Raven Simone and Miranda.
So we have some of these big names, and I
(07:55):
think it's also important to think about those particular figures, right,
because they have had these long careers where there was
a point where maybe they weren't able to openly share
their full truths, right. So I think it's so beautiful
that we have this platform now that not only is
bringing in new creators, but also offering opportunity for folks
(08:18):
who have not had that support in their fullness throughout
their careers and those three in particular showcase that. And
then of course we have folks like Laverne Cox and
Roseanne Gay who are in the Mix as well, so
we have.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Those powerful creators.
Speaker 5 (08:33):
But I'm also excited, of course about a forthcoming podcast
by an amazing young creator named Jordan Gozalez, who I
actually randomly met on the street walking to the Brooklyn
Museum like two weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Yeah, they were just like on the street. They were
like Raquel. I was like Hi.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
They actually just graduated from Higher ed So that's exciting,
you know. And their podcast is going to be coming
out soon and focused on LGBTQ plus love stories throughout history,
so that's amazing. And then we also have other talent
like Woke af Led, the incomparable Danielle Moody, great podcast, Yeah,
(09:15):
just so unapologetic and how she talks about the current
state of politics.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
She actually was the host of the Miss Foundation gala
last night, so I saw her in the Mixed two.
So it's a it's a community affair, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, we're in.
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Spaces with folks all the time, and I'm excited that
we get to bring some of that warmth into the
space fantastic.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
So you're not only an executive producer on the slate,
but you're also a creator of a couple of shows.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
Can you tell talk a little bit about the shows
that you've been working on.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, So, I mean, I have to say that I
am so blessed to have such strong, invested teams, and
so we've kind of been in the mix. It's also
been a busy time on that front as well, kind
of gearing up with the recording of both of those podcasts.
So the first is adapting the trans Obituaryes project, which
(10:24):
I created as an editorial project when I was executive
editor Out magazine.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Center of that story is talking.
Speaker 5 (10:32):
About the epidemic of violence that often plagues black and
brown trans women, the story of Leyleen Polanco, twenty seven
year old who died in Rockers custody, and kind of
the movement that she sparked through her experience there. So
just working with a powerful team. I'm working with Dylan
(10:53):
you Were and Joey Patt who are in the iHeart
fam and they are such phenomenal research and doing a
great job with the casting and everything.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
So got a great team there.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
And then my up team is with Queer Diaries, which
is a show elevating the experiences of young queer youth
in states that have a lot of this anti LGBTQ
legislation moving there, and so working with Julia Furlin and
Jordan Bailey and so we're we're having a great time,
even though we are kind of folding the complexity of
(11:26):
tragedy and transformation and joy with all.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Of these stories.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
So we're going to be releasing some big ones this year,
and I'm so excited that iHeart has taken me back
into the fold to try and make all of this happen.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, we're thrilled to have you here.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And those are two super important projects and projects that
we're honored to be a part of, and much more
to come. I did mention earlier that you've been working
on a memoir and this must have been just a
huge undertaking. I can't imagine what it's like to go
through this process and it will release in the fall
of this year.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
So can you tell us a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
About that experience and what led you to decide. I mean,
you've led a super interesting life, even though you're still
quite young, You've led a very interesting life to this point.
And those experiences are certainly worthy of sharing. But I'm curious,
you know, sort of what led you to the decision
to write this and what's it been.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Like, Yeah, well I'll be thirty two next week, just
to put it in reference for folks, and you know,
the memoir writing process, I just don't think that there's
really any way to prepare for it. You know, you
kind of go through all of these different cycles, which
I think people realize.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
You know, you have your visions and everything.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You're trying to get the just get as much as
you can on the page, And for me as a writer,
it's kind of like getting all the clay down and
then kind of chiseling away at Okay, well, what is
the story that we're excavating.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Here and the risk it takes to bloom on?
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Life and Liberation is about my experience growing up as
a young black kid in the American South and Agusta, Georgia,
trying to understand, well, why do I feel so out
of place? Why do I feel, you know, different from
other kids, you know, lo and Behold. It was because
I was transgender, and that was something that I didn't
(13:13):
really have language for until I was in college.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
At the University of Georgia. But along the way.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
I at least acknowledged my queerness as much as I
could in my youth, and my parents very traditional Black
Catholic parents. I was very blessed to come from a
two parent, you know, middle class household, and also had
all of these expectations that I was just not cut
out to fit into, and so I had to really
(13:41):
work with them to figure out, well, what is my
path going to be? And yeah, I dealt with some
experiences like my father passing away, which was kind of
a catalyst for me to dig deeper into my identity
and own it. And that's kind of the first half.
And then the second half is really my experience as
a fully realized black trans woman trying to figure out
(14:05):
what my media career could be in the middle of
the rise of the movement for black lives, the rise
transgender visibility, the rise of public discussions about feminism in
a new way. So that's it, in a nutshell. I
can't believe I even got it that short this time.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I honestly I cannot wait to read it, and I can.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Imagine how powerful.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
And helpful it will be for so many others.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
To read the memoir and you know, as we think
sort of back to the podcast late, the role that
shows and conversations can play, or you know, we think
about gen Z, or we think about younger people that
are going through their own self discovery and just exploration
and thought and as stressful as youth can be, as
it is to also know that you're dealing with things
(14:51):
that you know, sometimes society doesn't make any easier for
all of us, right, And I'm curious to get your
thoughts on the role that you think some of these
podcas casts can play, you know, in society and for
specifically a younger generation in a way that you know,
maybe you or anyone older didn't have access to when
you were growing up. I'm just curious to get your
(15:12):
thoughts on that.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
Yeah, well, you know, I think one of the kind
of talking points we hear a lot right now is
the rise in LGBTQ identification by gen Z. So they
are by and far the most queer, the most trans
the most non binary generation to exist, and there are
(15:35):
stats that hover between one and five to one in
four Gen Z adults identify within the community. And I
think we're going to continue to see more and more
folks embrace their identities, and that's a big part of it.
So I think to your point, you know, we are
in a particular time where gen Z is kind of
(15:56):
able to reap some of the benefits of visibility in
terms of like over and I'll say this to someone
born in the nineties, you know, who experienced that. For
gen Z, there's a lot more opportunity to share your truth.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
But with that comes being more of a target in
a way. You know.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
I often get the question, do I think it's easier
to be openly trans now than say, ten years ago
when I first shared my truth in college? And I
think that's hard to say, because at least then, you know,
I didn't have so many eyes on me, I didn't
have such political baggage, you know, all these kind of stereotypes,
(16:37):
tropes and assumptions about who I am. And I think
that that is what our podcasts have an opportunity to
kind of cut off, is that those ideas are stereotypes, right.
We actually have an opportunity here to expand the palette
of stories.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
And so when someone meets a.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Trans person or meets a queer person, we don't want
them to think that they know the story because they don't.
Our podcasts are just giving folks more colors to play
with on that palette to understand other folks that they
don't know.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah, couldn't agree more. And I love the start that
we're off too. It's an amazing roster of podcasts. But
I think the thing that's that much more exciting is
that there's so much more to come. You know, we're
going to be launching dozens more podcasts over the next
year or so, with more to come after that, of course.
But we genuinely appreciate your leadership. You're involvedment everything that
you're doing here within iHeart and to help launch and
(17:34):
grow Outspoken, and wish you the best is you try
to wrap up this work on this memoir. I know
it's not easy, but Raquel, thanks for spending some time
with us today.
Speaker 4 (17:42):
Thank you so much. Always a pleasure, and.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Thanks everybody for tuning in. We'll see you again next week.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Conversations is a production of iHeartRadio. I have more from
the biggest names in podcasting on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Conal Byrne
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