The Vagitators Podcast: Recent Episodes
thevagitators
Gina & Barnaby: Intersectional Feminists, Independent Podcasters, Based in Berlin, Germany. We explore the dynamics of powers, and the impact of gender constructions on lineage, access and expression of power!
Sam is a woman with a bass-baritone voice, which means that in the Opera world, most of the roles available to her are classically male power figures.
In this episode, she shares her journey of self-construction, and shares her insights on how to ease into oneself in order to empower one’s voice.
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More information on Sam Taskinen on her website. http://samulitaskinen.com/
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive.
Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
Episode cover art: curtesy of Kathleen Ogilvie
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Curious about our process? Here's a video to show you how we do it: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CO0dl8kKs4I/
Gina & Barnaby are joined by Kathleen Ogilvie, who shares her journey of empowerment through self-acceptance and self-construction.
You can find a transcript of this episode in our shared Vagi-drive, click here!
The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: curtesy of Kathleen Ogilvie -- Curious about our process? Here's a video to show you how we do it: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CO0dl8kKs4I/
We are BACK baby! And we are kicking this sprint off with a mission statement banger, starting from the top and little louder for the folks in the back: We are The Vagitators.
In this episode, we cover the basics of what we do, how we do it, and we lay out the foundations for the upcoming 8 episodes.
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You can find a transcript of this episode in our shared Vagi-drive, click here.
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Works cited:
Scott, Jill. "Cross My Mind". Spotify.
https://open.spotify.com/track/58wz6SXvLA7JjKtX5Ydq06
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Suzanne Reichenbach -- Curious about our process? Here's a video to show you how we do it: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CO0dl8kKs4I/
Why are G & B half naked on Instagram?
How hard is it for a French woman to pronounce Spanx Sprint?
Who the heck is Agath@, and more importantly, what’s next for the Vagitators Podcasts?
All these questions and more are addressed in our second retrospective episode!
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Here's a link to our very first Vagi-Movie: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CO0dl8kKs4I/
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Suzanne Reichenbach
“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture” Todd Phillips told Vanity Fair.
Well, alright! Barnaby takes her darkest, trickiest joke to joke doctor Caroline Clifford and gives them a rewrite in an attempt not to offend anyone, and endure in her blooming stand-up comedy career (sic).
The dynamics of comedy in a context of social media (and particularly twitter) and cancel culture make the job tough - but can one really be cancelled? Could B. really lose it all for one bad joke?
What is cancel culture anyway? The Vagitators set out for answers, and Barnaby aims for results!
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You can find out more about Caroline's classes on the Berlin Stand-up School Website
Check-out Paula Poundstone's epic HBO One Night Stand here, the moment that we refer to on the show is at 34:58
The epic song that started it all, Your Love Is Cancelled by CHIC and the amazing Nile Rodgers
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: curtesy of Caroline Clifford
According to an article from the Harvard Business Review, humans categorise others in less than 150 milliseconds, and within 30 minutes form a lasting judgement of the other.
Aesthetics play a huge part in making representation matter: how we chose to present ourselves, and the extent to which we are able to chose, are elements of how others will experience us, and how we ultimately experience the world within our intersectionality.
This week, we are joined by Berlin-based art critic Jennifer Allen, to explore how we can change our habits to find an ethical, empowering expression of ourselves, and deconstruct how we make sense of fashion, aesthetics and consumption behaviour.
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If you want to know more about Jenny, she wrote an excellent article on what it's like to be Jennifer Allen.
Check out the work of Emilie Barbry for Papesse, here.
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators
One report estimated that the entire wellness industry is worth $4.5 trillion, with a rate of 6.4% year over year. Yet, the documented state of wellness worldwide is on the decline, strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
How will we survive the 2020s? Gina & Barnaby sit down with expert on the topic B. Rogers, New-York based multidisciplinary artist and writer of 'Surviving the 2020s: User Manual'.
The manual is a thought-provoking piece of literary nonfiction, where NYC-bred artist, community organizer, and self-proclaimed street refugee creates a user manual for civilians and dissidents alike to (hopefully) survive the upcoming decade. Filled with diagrams and sage advice, this book is a must have in any emergency grab bag.
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Rogers, B., 2021. Surviving the 2020s: User Manual. 1st ed. New York: AC Books / Saalt Press.
You can find the User Manual for purchase on the Small Press Distribution website.
You can follow B. on her instagram @streetrefuge, and follow her work for supporting other artists @createthehood.
The recipe for Gina's delicious dhal is from the amazing Meera Sodha, and you can find it on her website here.
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover photo, curtesy of B. Rogers
With the help of special musical guests The Piners, Gina & Barnaby analyse the lyrics of bluegrass, heartland Maine anthem Lonesome Rider to uncover in which ways women+/* can be alone, lonely, lonesome, self-partnered, or whatever they want to be.
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The Piners. “Lonesome Rider”, The Piners, Brick House Music, 1999, track 2. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/4xNhf5QFdU0kbYzd3EFw83?si=6ea0150eecc6433d
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover photo, curtesy of Suzanne Reichenbach
You didn't think we'd forget about today did you?
G & B get together to celebrate sisterhood, and share inspirations to have a fulfilling International Women's Day!
Gina's feminist anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U
Barnaby's feminist anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drGx7JkFSp4
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Gina's feminist literature (believe it or not): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227443.Bridget_Jones_s_Diary
Barnaby's feminist literature: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2326184.Les_Trois_Quarts_du_temps?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8EPJebTuCA&rank=1
If you would like to purchase those books, we recommend second hand stores or your local library.
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Gina's favorite feminist film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI
Barnaby favorite feminist film: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/daisies
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Gina's feminist icons*: Boudica, her mother
Barnaby's feminist icons*: Frida Khalo, Joséphine Baker, Aggripina the Elder
*including, not limited to
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators
What happens when your body short-circuits your mind, your life, and your podcasting editorial plan? Barnaby and Gina speak about the corona virus, giving birth, and performing on stage to understand what we can learn from glitches in our mind to make more space for our bodies.
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators
In this Vagi-Champion episode, Gina & Barnaby (virtually) travel to Washington DC to record the tales of resilience from amazing women in history. From Serena Williams to Billy Jean King, from Hillary Clinton to Elizabeth Warren, guest David McRae helps shed light on what it takes to be a Vagitator, and how does one start a process of Vagitation.
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
In this new mission statement episode, Gina & Barnaby are confronted with some uncomfortable assumptions of what it means to be a feminist.
They take it to the streets to explore some popular beliefs, and answer a listener's question on the future of humanity, the future of Vagitators podcast, and what was it again? Ah yeah, the meaning of feminism.
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The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Selen Duru for The Vagitators
The New Year is the greatest time for reflections!
Gina & Barnaby look back at the past two months of podcasting, and reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what landed in between with a wide range of special guests from OWGs, Neukölln Fuckboys, fellow podcasters, yoga teachers and more!
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Check out Oscar's podcast, called Getting There: https://getting-there.simplecast.com/
Check out Ash's podcast, called Flicks'n'Scoops: https://flicksnscoops.com/podcast/
For more on Selen's yoga classes: https://www.instagram.com/duruselen/
And of course the fabulous Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Georg Bochow for The Vagitators
In Episode Five, Gina & Barnaby share an afternoon with the fabulously resilient Heather Hudyma and listen to the story of her venture into a completely new field, and her quest for someone, anyone, that could share their methods and tools to succeed in a industry she feel truly passionate about improving, and making more accessible.
Mentorship, very much like dictatorship is above all a job description. How to make this job work for most, outside of the OWG tropes? This is what we explore in this episode.
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Audio excepts from My Fair Lady, Dir. George Cukor. Warner Bros, 1964. Film.
-Damn right, we do MLA annotations.-
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The Opera is Racist instagram is here: https://www.instagram.com/operaisracist
You can find out more about the wonderful Meri Williams here: http://blog.geekmanager.co.uk/
More info on sponsorship here: https://hbr.org/2019/02/sponsors-need-to-stop-acting-like-mentors
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators
Guided by Pauline Vandeweghe of Agapè Care, a Berlin-based massage a wellness space dedicated to womxn, Gina & Barnaby make their way through the corridors of time to connect with their inner mystical powers.
The journey, from the Dark Ages to the present, challenges G & B in their assumption for their quests of a Vagitator, and leads them to discover an entire new set of champions along the way.
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You can find Pauline's wellness space here: https://www.agape-care.de/
You can purchase a gift card for yourself or your loved one directly on her website: https://www.agape-care.de/product/gift-card/
We strongly recommend a visit to Starhawk's website here: https://starhawk.org/
Further readings that are referenced in this podcasts are:
Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federeci Sorcières, la puissance invaincue des femmes (Witches, the Undefeated Power of Women) by Mona Chollet Reclaim, Anthologie de textes écoféministes (Reclaim, Anthology of ecofeminist texts) by Émilie Hache The Spiral Dance by Starhawk Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman by Leslie Feinberg -- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
Gina & Barnaby relocate from the kitchen to the couch to tackle the chunky, chunky topic of motherhood as a form of absolute female power.
They are joined by Jennifer Allen, a Berlin-based art critic, publisher and trauma expert, a friend of the Vagitators, and a brilliant woman.
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If you want to know more about Jenny, here's a really cool article she wrote about what it's like to be named Jennifer Allen: https://www.frieze.com/article/being-jennifer-allen
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators
Gina & Barnaby invite Janus Roth, a seemingly mediocre Neukölln twitter user, to talk about a Vivian Gornick quote that Janus tweeted back in January 2020.
But as the smoke screens of Web 2.0 dissipates, it turns out that their guests is not who they originally appeared to be.
Did Janus purposefully pass themselves as someone they're not? Did G & B get catfished? But more importantly, why?
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Janus Roth Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/rothjanus
Janus Roth x Maansi Jain Interview: https://www.kunstlerkunstlerin.com/iap-12-maansi-jain
Maansi Jain’s Website: https://www.maansijain.com/
See (and buy) some of Maansi Jain’s art on depop: https://www.depop.com/maansi/
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
In Episode One, Gina & Barnaby ride to Berlin’s district of Neukölln to meet with Emilie Barbry, the High Priestess of genderless apparel, to record the compelling tale of her encounter with an infamous corporate plastic doll which led her to rethink the identity of her brand and discover a Vagitator champion along the way.
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Discover Papesse: https://papesse-apparel.com/
Free Therapy: https://roxialbescu.com/
Papatya: http://www.papatya.org/
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/
Gina & Barnaby share a bowl of dhal, a bottle of cheap prosecco, and the anecdotes that sparked the idea for The Vagitators.
-- The Vagitators Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Gina May Walter & Barnaby Alive. Music & sound by Nina Guo: https://www.facesound.org/ Episode cover art: Barnaby Alive for The Vagitators