Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

This holiday break, we’re re-releasing two of our favorite episodes, with three of our favorite experts, about one of our favorite topics: figure skating. First up is an episode from April 2018 with Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu, who was the first American female figure skater to land a triple Axel at the Olympics, earning her a bronze medal in PyeongChang in 2018. Jonathan and Mirai jump right into the technical, artistic, and political aspects of figure skating—and discuss what it was like for Mirai to take her prowess off ice to compete in Dancing with the Stars: Athletes. Find Mirai on Instagram @mirainagasu, on Twitter @mirai_nagasu, and at www.mirainagasu.com. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that if you want to represent your block in Brooklyn as a local elected official, you have to mark a gender designation—and the only options are “male” and “female”? This week on Getting Curious, Jonathan is speaking with Jesse Pierce and Samy Nemir Olivares, both elected District Leaders in Brooklyn, all about this gender rule: how it came into existence, why it’s exclusionary, and how we can work to make local seats across Brooklyn and the country more inclusive and equitable. Jesse Pierce is a non-binary queer elected Democratic District Leader in Brooklyn's 52nd Assembly District. They focus on hyper local political grassroots organizing as a means to transform our politics both locally and nationally. Samy Nemir Olivares (he/they) is a Puerto Rican-Dominican, queer activist, writer, communicator and District Leader in Brooklyn. Samy advocates for gender, racial and social justice through politics, media and education. Samy works for a national nonprofit for LGBTQ civil rights and produced a documentary about TGNC rights in New York: Stonewall With a T. You can follow Jesse on Twitter @jessepiercebk and Instagram @jessepierce07. You can follow Samy on Twitter @SamyNemir and Instagram @SamyforBrooklyn. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re a close listener of Getting Curious, you’ll know that today’s conversation with Professor Saleema Snow, all about the practice known as civil asset forfeiture, is a long time coming. Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement to seize and often keep any property they suspect is involved in a crime. Jonathan wants to learn more about this practice: how deep its roots are, how it came to exist across the United States, what it reveals about discriminatory policing, and what it would look like to dismantle this system. Professor Snow is a Professor of Law at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law where she teaches appellate advocacy and critical race theory. Her scholarship focuses on religious profiling, poverty law, and the intersection of poverty, gender, and access to justice. You can follow Professor Snow on Twitter @SaleemaSnow. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know when you have a song stuck in your head and the only way you can get it out is to play it? Well, Jonathan has a similar feeling: he can’t shake the idea that he needs to sing a song. Like, literally, any song, preferably one with pleasing harmony. And he’s reaching out to the Grammy Award-winning artist Meghan Trainor for guidance. Meghan joins Jonathan to discuss singing and songwriting fundamentals, her musical influences, and her new holiday album A Very Trainor Christmas.   Follow Meghan on Instagram and Twitter @meghan_trainor, and check out A Very Trainor Christmas—out now!   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re re-releasing an episode from June 2019 that we hold dear, with the performance artist and writer ALOK. ALOK and Jonathan discuss their experiences embracing life beyond the gender binary, the historical precedents for gender fluidity, and the power of “emotional alchemy” in the face of discrimination.   Follow ALOK on Instagram @alokvmenon, and make sure to check out their book Beyond The Gender Binary. You can keep up with all of their incredible work at www.alokvmenon.com.   Once you’ve listened to the episode, head over to Jonathan’s Instagram @JVN for a July 2020 follow-up conversation with ALOK. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Getting Curious, we’re getting the down low on what’s up in the sky with Professor Kristen Rasmussen, an Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University and an expert on clouds. She and Jonathan break down cloud types, extreme weather, and the lasting impact that the 1996 movie Twister had on both of their lives—and one of their careers.   You can keep up with Professor Rasmussen on Twitter @KRasmusWx, and follow her research group at Colorado State University.   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.   Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com.   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Election Day is behind us, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more work ahead. Consider this week’s Getting Curious a chance to reflect and recharge, as Jonathan speaks with the writer, editor, activist, and social justice facilitator adrienne maree brown. The two discuss adrienne’s work around emergent strategy and pleasure activism, consider what authentic community engagement looks like, and explore how science fiction can be an invaluable resource for shaping a more equitable future.   adrienne maree brown is the author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, and the co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements. Her forthcoming book We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice is now available for pre-order.   Follow adrienne on Twitter @adriennemaree and Instagram @adriennemareebrown, and keep up with her work at www.adriennemareebrown.net.   Once you’ve finished the episode, make sure to check out adrienne’s podcasts How To Survive The End of the World and Octavia’s Parables.   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Look, we already know the answer to this question. But we can dream! We’re sending you into Election Day with an early release of this week’s Getting Curious, featuring a conversation with the iconic comedian, writer, and producer Samantha Bee. She and Jonathan talk political humor, the Golden Girls, Canadian health care, and so much more. Take a listen when you’re in line to vote, when you need a break from refreshing last-minute polling numbers, or on the other side of Election Day—whatever happens, we’re here for you.   Samantha Bee is the host and Executive Producer of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS and the podcast Full Release with Samantha Bee on Earwolf. Follow her on Twitter @iamsambee, and keep up with Full Frontal on Twitter and Instagram @FullFrontalSamB.   Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.   Check out all new Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com.   Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you phone banking, leafleting, and heading to the polls early this election season and still feeling like you need a boost? Then it might be time to introduce deep canvassing to your routine. The activist, community organizer, and director of People’s Action George Goehl joins Jonathan to share this go-to practice for building a more progressive nation—and explains why rural America needs to be central to any discussion of the electorate. Follow George on Twitter @GeorgeGoehl, and People’s Action on Twitter and Instagram @pplsaction. Once you’ve finished the episode, make sure to check out George’s podcast To See Each Other. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are more than 2.5 million care workers, nannies, and house cleaners across the United States. They are skilled professionals. Their labor is essential. So are their rights. Alicia Garza, who is the Director of Strategy & Partnerships for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, joins Jonathan to discuss the history of domestic work in the United States, why domestic workers are some of the least protected, most vulnerable individuals—without access to health care, paid sick days, or a living wage—and what a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights could offer these workers in the way of proper compensation, labor protections, and dignity. Beyond her work with the NDWA, Alicia Garza is the co-creator of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, the principal at the Black Futures Lab, a writer, and a podcast host. Her new book The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart is out now. Once you’ve had a chance to listen to this episode of Getting Curious, make sure to check out Alicia’s first appearance on the show, and her podcasts Lady Don’t Take No and Sunstorm. Follow Alicia on Twitter @aliciagarza and Instagram @chasinggarza. Find out what today’s guest and former guests are up to by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Check out Getting Curious merch at PodSwag.com. Listen to more music from Quiñ by heading over to TheQuinCat.com. Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices