In an episode that cuts straight to the soul, this week’s guest Andrea Gibson joins Ayana in a conversation that asks what it means to truly live. Andrea contemplates the ways we cope with loneliness and the deeply rooted societal fears of disconnection and of death. Facing fear, confusion, and loss head on, Andrea reminds us that healing is a return to the self, a return to community.
Andrea’s openness about their diagnosis and emotional journey, brings depth and emotion to the conversation. Through poem and spirituality, Andrea draws us to see the beauty in being alive in this particular life, in our particular bodies, at this particular time. Their presence and attention is life-giving.
As Andrea shares their journey connecting to the eternal, genderless “We,” they invite listeners to contemplate their identities beyond this life alone. As we let the need to know fall away, what miracles might reveal themselves to us?
Andrea Gibson is one of the most celebrated and influential spoken word poets of our time. Best known for their live performances, Gibson has changed the landscape of what it means to attend a “poetry show” altogether. To hear Gibson is like hearing songwriters play their music, their trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display. Gibson’s poems center around LGBTQ issues, gender, feminism, mental health and the dismantling of oppressive social systems. The winner of the first Women’s World Poetry Slam, Gibson has gone on to be awarded the LGBTQ Out100 and has been featured on BBC, NPR and CSpan. Gibson is the author of seven award winning books and seven full length albums. Their live shows have become loving and supportive ecosystems for audiences to feel seen, heard, and held through Gibson’s art.
Music by John Carrol Kirby (generously provided by Patience Records), Kesia Negata, and Katie Gray. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.
FOR THE WILD on Slow Media
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KIMBERLY ANN JOHNSON on Pleasure as Pathway [ENCORE]
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MAYA KHOSLA on What the Forest Holds [ENCORE]
ROSS REID How We Talk About What Matters /369
JAROD K. ANDERSON on Reclaiming Limits [ENCORE]
THREE BLACK MEN on the World as Ritual /368
ADRIENNE MAREE BROWN on Pleasure as Birthright [ENCORE] /367
ERIK ASSADOURIAN on Dreams of the Long Future /366
MERLIN SHELDRAKE on Embodied Entanglements / 365
SKY HOPINKA on What We Pass On /364
Othering and Belonging with Udi Raz, Yasmeen Daher, and Cecilie Surasky
SYLVIA V. LINSTEADT on The Motherline /363
TYSON YUNKAPORTA on Inviolable Lore /362
LAYLA K. FEGHALI on The Land in Our Bones /361
MOLLY YOUNG BROWN on The Great Turning /360
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The Edges in the Middle, VII: Báyò Akómoláfé, Sa’ed Atshan, Cecilie Surasky
SANDOR ELLIX KATZ on Cultures of Fermentation /359
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