Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

If Getting Curious were a magazine, this week’s episode would be the “September Issue,” and this week’s guest would be the cover star of our dreams. British Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful, OBE, joins Jonathan to discuss how he’s transformed your favorite magazines over the last three decades; how he’s leading the way for a more diverse, welcoming fashion world; and what it was like to get vulnerable for his new memoir A Visible Man.   Edward Enninful is Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue and the European Editorial Director for Vogue. As a lifelong advocate for diverse voices, Edward spearheaded “The Black Issue” at Italian Vogue which featured only Black models. He eventually rose to become the fashion and style director of W Magazine. In 2017, Edward became editor-in-chief of British Vogue, making him the only Black person to serve in this role in the history of Vogue. Born in Ghana, he currently resides in London. You can follow Edward on Instagram and Twitter @edward_enninful. His new memoir A Visible Man is now on sale.    Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Sep 202254min

In 1871, Germany adopted an anti-sodomy statute called Paragraph 175. Sixty years later, the Nazis broadened that law—and it quickly became the basis for persecuting Germany’s queer population. When World War II ended, Paragraph 175 remained on the books. Dr. W. Jake Newsome joins Jonathan to discuss queer Germans’ experiences of Nazi rule and its aftermaths, the history and legacy of the pink triangle, and how this pivotal moment in queer history bears on today.   CW: This episode references racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic ideology, and bodily harm.   W. Jake Newsome, Ph.D. is an award-winning scholar of German and American LGBTQ+ history whose work educates global audiences. His new book Pink Triangle Legacies: Coming Out in the Shadow of the Holocaust chronicles the dynamic and inspiring history of the LGBTQ+ community's first international pride symbol: the pink triangle.  For more of Dr. Newsome’s work, visit his website or follow him on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok @wjnewsome.  You can find digital essays, videos, podcasts, lesson plans, and other resources on LGBTQIA+ people in Nazi Germany at wjakenewsome.com/resources.   Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14 Sep 20221h 21min

It's a beautiful night—the sky is clear, the stars are twinkling. You see a shooting star! Or is it a comet! Maybe a meteor? Whatever it is, it’s gone in an instant. But what if that whirring bit of space were headed... straight towards the Earth, not past it? Yeah, not so cute. This week, Christina Hernández and Terik Daly of NASA join Jonathan to talk about asteroids, what they’re made of, and how we could protect the planet if one came hurtling towards the place we call home.   Christina Hernández (she/her/hers) is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She currently works on Psyche, NASA’s mission to a metal world, as a flight systems engineer. She previously spent over 6 years working on NASA’s Perseverance rover mission as a payload systems engineer. You can follow Christina on Twitter @estrellasycafe.  Dr. Terik Daly is a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He is the deputy instrument scientist for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which is the world’s first planetary defense test mission. For more information on NASA’s upcoming missions, including those mentioned in this episode, you can follow @AsteroidWatch on Twitter.  Interested in the worlds of our solar system? Visit @NASASolarSystem for the broad picture and @NASAPersevere to check in on our neighbor, Mars! Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7 Sep 20221h 5min

We’re spending this week cooking up some incredible fall programming. To tide you over, here’s a re-air of our episode with Sohla El-Waylly, all about cooking basics, ancient recipes, and Sohla and Jonathan’s shared affinity for a certain Taco Bell classic that was discontinued at the time of this recording and is now BACK!    Sohla El-Waylly is a culinary creator, writer, and community advocate. She’s the guest editor of the forthcoming collection The Best American Food Writing 2022, available for pre-order now. She can also be seen starring in The HISTORY® Channel’s online series Ancient Recipes with Sohla.    You can keep up with Sohla’s work on Instagram @sohlae and at www.hellosohla.com.   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

31 Aug 202251min

There are more than 62 million Latine people living in the United States. Some are US-born, others are recent immigrants, and still more have had family members here for centuries—living on land that was once part of Mexico. This week, Mónica Ramírez returns to Getting Curious to discuss how the Latine community is “deeply rooted” in the US, what it looks like to protect the humanity and dignity of these 62 million people, and why advocates like Mónica aren’t simply showing up at spaces of consequence to address systemic issues—they’re creating spaces of consequence. CW: This episode discusses bodily harm and hateful rhetoric. Mónica Ramírez is an attorney, author, and activist fighting for the rights of farmworkers, migrant women workers, and the Latine(x) community. She is the founder of Justice for Migrant Women and co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, The Latinx House, and Poderistas. Mónica has received numerous awards, including Harvard Kennedy School’s first Gender Equity Changemaker Award, Feminist Majority’s Global Women’s Rights Award, the Smithsonian’s 2018 Ingenuity Award and the Hispanic Heritage Award.  She was named to Forbes Mexico’s 100 Most Powerful Women’s 2018 list and TIME Magazine included her in its 2021 TIME100 Next list. Mónica is also an inaugural member of the Ford Global Fellowship. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Women’s Law Center, Friends of the Latino Museum and she is a member of The Little Market’s Activists Committee. Mónica lives in Ohio with her husband and son.   Follow Monica on Instagram @activistmonicaramirez and Twitter @MonicaRamirezOH. The Latinx House is on Instagram and Twitter @thelatinxhouse, and at www.thelatinxhouse.org.   For more on Raizado, The Latinx House Festival, head to www.raizadofest.org.    For more resources mentioned in this episode, check out:   Coalition of Immokalee Workers United Farm Workers Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO Nalleli Cobo - Goldman Environmental Prize   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Aug 20221h 1min

Gossip Galaxy here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of the universe’s elite. I have it on *expert* authority that the Milky Way is stirring up cosmic drama. Has this Local Group galaxy had enough of its central black hole? Will they or won’t they with Andromeda? And is spaghettification the real dish of the summer? Dr. Moiya McTier and Jonathan tell all in this week’s stellar episode.   Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator based in New York City. Her new book The Milky Way: An Autobiography of our Galaxy is out now.   After graduating from Harvard as the first person in the school’s history to study both astronomy and mythology, Moiya earned her PhD in astrophysics at Columbia University where she was selected as a National Science Foundation research fellow. Moiya has consulted with companies like Disney and PBS on their fictional worlds, helped design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science, and given hundreds of talks about science around the globe (including features on MSNBC, NPR, and NowThis News).    To combine her unique set of expertise, Moiya hosts and produces the Exolore podcast that explores fictional world-building through the lens of science. When she’s not researching space or imagining new worlds, Moiya can likely be found watching trashy reality TV with her cat, Kosmo.   You can follow Dr. McTier on Twitter and Instagram @goastromo, and at moiyamctier.com.   Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.  Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Headshot Credit for Dr. McTier: Mindy Tucker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Aug 20221h 14min

You want LGBTQIA+ rights? You want reproductive justice? You want to end mass incarceration? You want environmental protections? You want living wages? You better vote for state legislature, b**ch. Sister District co-founders Gaby Goldstein and Lala Wu return to Getting Curious for a conversation all about the upcoming midterm elections, and specifically what’s in store for state legislative races. Listen in as they discuss what it’ll take for Democrats and progressives to hold their ground; how we can invest in year-round, state-level organizing; and why we need to think in a timeline of decades, not just election cycles.  Gaby Goldstein is an attorney and political strategist who focuses on the growing importance of state legislatures. She is co-founder at Sister District, whose mission is to build progressive power in state legislatures and co-moderator of the State Power Series, a virtual event series co-sponsored by Vote Save America/Crooked Media and Sister District. Lala Wu is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Sister District, which builds progressive power in state legislatures. Prior to Sister District, Lala was a lawyer, specializing in environmental and clean energy law. Lala graduated from U.C. Berkeley, School of Law and Barnard College of Columbia University. Lala serves on the Boards of the AAPI Victory Alliance and Together SF, and the Advisory Board of Asian American Women's Political Initiative. She is a New Leaders Council alum. You can follow Gaby and Lala on Twitter @gaby__goldstein and @_lala_wu_. To keep up with Sister District, you can follow them on Twitter @Sister_District.  Want to get involved with Sister District? Check out the Sister District & Partners National phonebank!    Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation.   Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

10 Aug 202259min

A note from Jonathan and team Getting Curious: we recorded this episode in May, the same day the first case of monkeypox was documented in the US. Today there are nearly 6000 confirmed cases—and counting—across the country. If you’re a member of the queer community or an ally, we implore you to make the spread of monkeypox a personal problem—and to put pressure on elected leaders to take this outbreak seriously. Dr. Thrasher's work is central to understanding how and why this virus is spreading, so we'll be posting updated commentary from him, and other resources, to our @CuriouswithJVN social media pages in the coming days. Viral spread, this week’s guest reminds us, “happens through very normative life activities: sex, breathing, handshaking, hugging, just being. The things that we have to do to stay alive.” So what happens when we encounter viruses through these activities? The answer often depends on who “we” are. Listen in as Dr. Steven W. Thrasher and Jonathan explore how social inequalities in the US and beyond shape how viruses spread—and who is most vulnerable when they do.   CW: This episode discusses police violence, bodily harm, and hateful rhetoric.   Steven W. Thrasher, PhD holds the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg chair at Northwestern University's Medill School, the first journalism professorship in the world created to focus on LGBTQ research. A columnist for Scientific American, his writing has been widely published by The New York Times, Nation, The Atlantic, Journal of American History, Esquire and New York Magazine. In 2019, Out Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential and impactful people of the year, and the Ford Foundation awarded him a grant for Creativity and Free Expression. The Viral Underclass is his first book.   You can follow Steven on Twitter @thrasherxy. You can follow Celadon Books on Twitter @CeladonBooks for updates on The Viral Underclass and other books.    Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.    Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.   Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.   Love listening to Getting Curious? Now, you can also watch Getting Curious—on Netflix! Head to netflix.com/gettingcurious to dive in.   Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.   Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.   Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.   Getting Curious merch is available on PodSwag.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Aug 20221h 17min