Liz Mason (Zines)

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

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In this episode:

"I make zines and jokes and have thoughts."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by zinester, archivist, and independent scholar Liz Mason for a conversation exploring DIY publishing, archives, humor, and the enduring cultural life of zines. Together, they discuss independent publishing as a creative practice, a form of community building, and a form of cultural research, while reflecting on libraries, radio, oral history, fandom, and the evolving relationships among memory, documentation, and punk.

The conversation centers on Mason's Most Unwanted Zine, a research-driven publication built from surveys of zinesters and readers that playfully transforms qualitative data into satire. Along the way, they discuss fax-machine funerals, collaborative storytelling, aging in DIY culture, creative curiosity, and the ways zines continue to document everyday life while preserving voices often left out of traditional archives.

Liz Mason has been publishing zines since the 1990s. Her work has appeared in Punk Planet, The Zine Yearbook, and the backs of her friends' toilets. She managed Chicago's legendary zine hub, Quimby's Bookstore, for more than two decades and is currently pursuing a Master's in Information Science with a specialization in Archives and Records Management at Chicago State University. Mason is also the creator of Caboose, co-host of the Rough Draft podcast, and a DJ at CHIRP Radio.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

LizMasonIsAwesome.com

Rough Draft with Keidra and Liz Podcast

Liz Mason Official: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter | Linktree

LizMasonZines - Etsy

https://www.facebook.com/LizMasonIsAwesome

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-mason-caboose-zine/

Instagram: @caboosezine

Bluesky: @caboosezine.bsky.social

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Arrow Avalon – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast.

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