Blog and Podcast
I love podcasting because it's an accessible platform for telling stories that are often ignored. And, as we know, podcasts are everywhere!
My passion for personal storytelling began in 2015 as an undergraduate student at Ramapo College. I witnessed firsthand how sharing my own transition story, and encouraging others to share theirs, helped those around me to better understand trans experiences and show up more actively as allies. As I considered how to broaden my impact beyond social media, I looked to the past; I saw how generations of trans folks before me had propelled movements forward by writing and speaking into existence their vision of the future we deserve. I launched Trans & Caffeinated first as a personal blog, and later as a podcast, to help make my mark.
With nearly 30,000 all-time page-views, my blog has received national recognition by Starbucks Stories, Boss Barista, A Better Table, Sprudge, Barista Magazine, and more. Over the past few years, I’ve been invited to share my story on stages across the U.S.
By expanding to an interview podcast, I’ve been able to amplify voices and stories that are not told as often. My approach to podcasting is highly intentional; through an intake form and pre-recording discussions, I work to make sure all guests have agency over what stories they tell and how their story is told. Guests choose the topics they wish to discuss, how to approach those topics, have final decision-making power on every step of the process–from the questions I ask to which pieces of our discussion make it into the publicly released audio. I firmly believe this is key to ethical storytelling, particularly when sharing the stories of trans and nonbinary folks, since historically the majority of our stories have been told through a white, cisgender, heterosexual lens.
Podcast Highlights
Sometimes, I meet folks who challenge my approach to work, either directly or indirectly. This always improves the way I tell stories.
One such example was Mar León. Prior to recording this episode, Mar graciously gave me the feedback that my accessibility protocols were not in line with my stated values. They were absolutely correct – up until this point, I had failed to include image descriptions on Trans & Caffeinated’s social media and failed to release transcripts for each episode, two steps that all content creators can and should take.
Leading up to recording, I integrated Mar’s recommendations in order to make all current and future content I created more accessible.
After this, Mar and I spoke a second time to develop a list of questions. Mar wanted to share about their activism work, yes – but also about how who they are as a person connects to the work they do, and specifically to the art they create. This led to one of the most powerful moments of the episode that I don’t think either of us planned for: Mar shared a beautiful spoken word piece, reclaiming the idea of disabled folks being viewed as monsters.
This is the kind of richness my approach to storytelling lends itself to: powerful moments of spontaneity. This encompasses the main goal of my approach: that all guests will feel empowered to show up as their full and authentic self, and share anything they wish to share in that particular moment.
Another such example was my dear friend Chris McAuley (founder of Getchu Some Gear and Director of Helpfulness at Brewista), who helped me remember why I should only ever go into recording with an extremely loose expectation of how it might go.
At the time Chris and I recorded this episode, he was largely a social media friend – and while I am always thrilled to chat about anything a guest is willing to share, I expected our conversation to be largely centered around his work with Getchu. On the contrary, my dear reader, we had a fun little chat about chickens! We touched on Getchu a bit, sure, but we spent the majority of our time together talking about his love for these egg-laying barn animals, and how Double Bubble should never have changed their formula because the old one was better. And it was an absolute hoot!
Our conversation re-grounded me in the purpose of my podcast, which is not actually to educate cis folks, or anybody for that matter, about trans issues. Rather, it’s to have cis folks learn to view trans folks as everyday humans who are going about our lives, each with our own interests, hobbies, and topics we love to discuss. Chickens!
Reviews
★★★★★
Thank you
"This show is incredible. The best podcast I’ve heard in a long time. Arielle is such a good interviewer. She gives the guests the space to talk and be themselves, but also asks very poignant and focused questions, while keeping the tone fun and entertaining. I can listen for hours!"
—Listener Marcelarj on Apple Podcasts
★★★★★
An incredible podcast
"Arielle is a delight to listen to and is a great interviewer. These stories are hella great and the conversations are important. If you are a coffee person or love a coffee person, just hit subscribe."
—Listener quinntoit on Apple Podcasts
★★★★★
It is a privilege to hear these stories
"I am ADDICTED. This podcast elevates voices that are historically and presently not given a platform. It is a breath of fresh air to hear the stories of queer BIPOC folx, in back-to-back episodes. I especially appreciate the episodes that talk about queer interactions with faith, but I have learned about a variety of other topics as well. 10/10, highly recommend!"
—Listener kaylabanana on Apple Podcasts
★★★★★
Such valuable representation!
"This is an amazing podcast giving voice to Gender Non Conforming and Trans experiences. A pleasant chat to have on that is also moving and relatable! Hearing people talk about living with gender helps me understand my own experience more. Also Arielle is a rad smart lady to listen to!"
—Listener Femboibb on Apple Podcasts
★★★★★
amazing podcast
"as a trans person, it’s really great to hear insights from all sorts of genderqueer folks and arielle is an amazing host"
—Listener CaseyNorbs on Apple Podcasts
