Fat activist Allison Graham talks to photographer Shoog McDaniel about what it was like to be on the other side of the lens for the documentary about their life and art practice. “I want people to see the movie and not be able to see a difference between the beautiful spring water and the beautiful Belly. I want it to be one and the same.” — Shoog McDaniel on the Periodical Podcast“My work is about highlighting bodies and lives that are often overlooked by popular society. I enjoy photographi...
It’s a very compassionate thing to do to see yourself as you are and not hate yourself.” — Allison Graham on building fat community in her hometownAdvocate and community-builder Allison Graham joins guest host Emily Christensen for a conversation about why she likes the word fat, body positivity vs. fat liberation, and how anti-fat bias shows up in the work she does as a therapist and advocate for survivors of sexual violence.More recently, Allison has been working to build fat community in W...
On the Periodical Podcast, triple threat Nyala Moon chats about her “Fleabag”- inspired fourth-wall-breaking short film “How to Date While Trans.”Like a lot of actors, Moon had to create the content she wanted to star in. When she was in school, pre-”Pose,” she jokes that most roles for trans people were “dead hooker #87” on “Law & Order: SVU.” She realized she couldn’t depend on others to create the kind of characters she wanted to play. Moon’s “modern stories for trans people,” ar...
“I don't personally believe you can extricate environmental issues from reproductive issues because if a mother is drinking polluted water, what is that going to do to her system? What is that going to do to the system of the baby that she's housing? If she lives in an area where he can see noxious fumes being pumped into the air because of a nearby refinery, what is that going to do to her respiratory system? … If she lives in a food desert, what is that going to do to her strength? All of t...
Morgan Jerkins and Zora Schiltz Rouse are young filmmakers working at the thematic intersection of environmental and reproductive justice.Morgan is a New York Times bestselling author and National Magazine Award-winning journalist. Zora is a producer and director who most recently worked on a Ryan Murphy show for FX. We'll be back with their full interview on April 3 — think of it as a post-film Q&A. In the meantime, follow them on IG: @_morganjerkins, @zoritapepitaSupport the showIf you ...
More than a decade ago, Tyomi Morgan noticed no prominent Black women were talking about sexual health. “Instead of complaining about it, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to enter into this space.” The sexologist and designer of The Cowgirl Workout sits down with Asha Dahya to discuss how our bodies are hardwired for pleasure, the way cultural B.S. interferes with that reality, and how we can reconnect. “This is part of our humanness. Our sexuality, no matter what it looks like, is a pa...
In this moving conversation, Asha Dahya speaks with writer/director Jahmil Eady about how her own birth story inspired the screenplay for “The Bond.” When Eady was born, her mother was incarcerated. She was shackled during labor, a practice that continues in many U.S. states today. During Eady’s teen years, her mother and other activists successfully advocated for anti-shackling legislation in New York state. Both her mother’s story and Eady’s extensive research informed the short film. ...
Welcome to this special rePROFilm mini podcast episode, as part of our ‘Films for Thought’ partnership with WISP - a company that specializes in female-focused online reproduction and sexual health treatment. We’ve partnered with WISP to present a repro health movie night on college campuses across the US. At RePROFilm we believe in conversation and filmmaking as a vehicle for sparking change, and I’m so excited to be presenting these interviews with some brilliant filmmakers.Sindha Agha is&n...
Welcome to this special rePROFilm mini podcast episode, as part of our ‘Films for Thought’ partnership with WISP - a company that specializes in female-focused online reproduction and sexual health treatment. We’ve partnered with WISP to present a repro health movie night on college campuses across the US. At RePROFilm we believe in conversation and filmmaking as a vehicle for sparking change, and I’m so excited to be presenting these interviews with some brilliant filmmakers. Aurora Brachma...
The “work wives” behind the dark comedy “Always & Forever” join Asha Dahya on the Periodical Podcast to chat about collaboration, going viral, and how humor is a secret weapon in the fight for reproductive justice. “It's just a proven concept at this point that comedy disrupts the status quo. A little bit of humor, a little bit of entertainment moves the needle. It works.” — Lara Everly“Humor sneaks past people's defenses. It can be a way (in), even for people who agree but might fee...
On this month’s episode of the Periodical Podcast, Asha Dahya speaks with the “Long Line of Ladies” co-directors about “a different kind of filmmaking” driven by listening, collaboration, and representation — the non-performative kind. After making the Oscar-winning short “Period. End of Sentence.,” Zehtabchi wanted to tell a stigma-free story about periods. That led her to researching tribal traditions and ultimately partnering with Tome, an indigenous filmmaker who skipped her own com...
The “Who Gets to Parent?” creators join Asha Dahya on the rePROFilm Periodical Podcast to discuss their parenthood story and how they combined storytelling and research to create their documentary series. They also discuss the life-changing power of community building, the blessing of a family ally, and what it’s like to be queer parents who live in Kansas. A truly moving and inspiring conversation — one of our favorites. “We started pouring so much more love into each other and patience...
The idea for “Simone” came to writer-director Aisha Amin after countless hours on public transit observing parents and other caretakers struggling with young children. For our Vol. 16 Periodical Podcast, Asha Dahya speaks with Amin about how she developed the title character in collaboration with actress Cree McClellan, a single mother herself. Support the showIf you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you will get each episode of the pod straight to your inbox. Le...
Periodical Podcast host Asha Dahya chats with “Counterfeit Kunkoo” writer/director Reema Maya Sengupta about how her mother’s struggle to find housing as a single woman inspired her to write a “very angry script.” In a lovely full-circle moment, Reema’s mom served as the producer of the film and helped secure many of the set locations in the Mumbai slum where she grew up. Support the showIf you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you will get each episode of the po...
Welcome to our March episode of the rePROFilm podcast. It’s Women’s History Month, and it’s also Oscars month, and we are SO excited to speak with two Academy Award-nominated filmmakers in this episode! Our theme this month is virginity - the conversations we have about it, the cultural taboos, the societal expectations, the ridiculous gender expectations, and why, when it comes to sexuality and youth, focusing on healthy communication rather than shame or fear-based messaging, is perhap...
REHEARSAL with special guest Courtney Hope ThérondThe “Rehearsal” writer/director talks to Asha Dahya on the Periodical Podcast about how her own on-set experiences inspired her short film. Maybe if she could demonstrate how intimacy scenes can go awry, she thought, others might understand how problems can arise even between people who trust, care for, and respect each other. Tune in to find out how audiences reacted.Support the showIf you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter ...
Our featured short film this month has got us thinking about family support systems, awkward parental conversations, and how repro rights and health care is actually inextricably linked to all of that.The short film we’re excited to present in December is called La Macana, directed and written by Maria Mealla. The film follows recently divorced Carmen and Franco who work through their fervent relationship to support their daughter Sol when she gets her period for the first time. Just reading ...
Asha Dahya speaks with Kevin Shane who is the Marketing & Communications Director for an organization called the Male Contraceptive Initiative. He is leading the organization’s advocacy and outreach efforts. This organization is doing some incredibly brilliant and frankly revolutionary things in the contraceptive space for men, or sperm producers, which is the term Kevin will explain more about in the interview. Before we get into the episode, think about how birth control completely...
Asha Dahya speaks with “Sweet Potatoes” director Rommel Villa about how he worked with Miramontes’ children to tell his improbable story of invention and resistance. Please do yourself a favor and RUN, don’t walk, to watch ‘Sweet Potatoes’ during the month of November by heading to reprofilm.org. If you haven’t already, subscribe to our monthly newsletter where you will get each episode of the pod straight to your inbox. Be sure to follow @RommelVB on Instagram and Twitter, and see more ...
Asha Dahya chats with Julia VanRooyen, an OB/GYN and sex educator. In this informative conversation, Dr. Julia breaks down the science and policy surrounding sex education in the U.S. “We hear again and again and again that giving kids information about sex is going to give them license to have it. That has been studied extensively, and it really is not true. Studies have shown that abstinence-only sex education does not lower teen pregnancy or birth rates and in fact likely increa...