WHAT IFF? PODCAST
AMPLIFYING VOICES AND SPARKING DISCUSSION
WRITTEN BY SEASON 3 PRODUCERS, EMILY CURREY (she/her) AND MOLLY DICKERSON (she/her)
WHAT IFF? is a podcast in which we explore intersectional feminist futures (“IFF”) and discuss social activism’s role in our everyday lives. In spring 2024, we produced and released two episodes.
Season 3 Producers, (L to R) Emily Currey and Molly Dickerson, of the student-run podcast What IFF? Exploring Intersectional Feminist Futures with Women’s and Gender Studies at CofC. Photo Credit: Reese Moore
Our podcasting process aims to educate not only others but also ourselves. We begin work on an episode by researching our topic to understand better what we’re discussing and to give us ideas for questions to ask our interviewees. One of our favorite parts of creating this podcast is facilitating interviews with specialists on the subject matter we’re talking about. Both of the interviews we’ve done have been extraordinary experiences. Our interviewees have been informative, exciting, and enjoyable to speak with.
Our first episode of the season is a conversation about chronic pain, the myth of the wandering womb, and hysteria through an intersectional feminist lens. We interviewed Dr. Sandy Slater (History) and asked her about the historical background of the intersections among ableism, sexism, and racism.
The most unexpected part of the podcasting has been how much we learn in post-production. While editing our first episode, we became aware of how we were using the word “women” to refer to primarily cis-gendered women’s experiences; thus, we made sure to acknowledge our mistakes in the language we used throughout the interview and clarify that cis-sexism is an additional system of oppression that affects patients’ treatment.
Be sure to tune into our latest episode! In partnership with the 1967 Legacy Scholars program, we interviewed Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, Dean of Liberal Arts and Communication at Arkansas State University, “binya”Charlestonian, and College of Charleston alumna. A professor of History, Jones-Branch specializes in uncovering Black women’s activism in the rural South. She is an outstanding role model, not to mention a funny and irreverent interviewee!
We have loved getting to do this experiential learning work in WGS and would like to thank our site supervisors, Dr. Cristina Dominguez and Priscilla Thomas, for their guidance and support throughout the process.
WGS podcast, magazine, and editorial content producer interns are recipients of WGS student awards thanks to the generosity of donors.
DT: Yes, definitely. So, queer anarchy is, in essence, studying how your identity as a gay person or a trans person, is an act of rebellion against the state. So, for example, in my research for this paper, I learned that the City of Charleston, back in the seventeenth century, used to outlaw dressing of an opposite sex, which obviously is transphobic inherently but even racist as it dates back to origins and not allowing people of a different socioeconomic class to dress as if they were wealthier.