Kindred Transmissions by the Digital Transgender Archive
Kindred Transmissions is a podcast by the Digital Transgender Archive that tunes into the revolutionary voices of trans people from history. Through archival recordings, personal reflections, and conversations with contemporary trans artists, scholars, and activists, we trace the echoes of kinship across generations.
From Stonewall icons like Marsha P Johnson to visionary artists and activists like Red Jordan Arobateau, Rupert Raj, and Aiyyana Maracle, each episode invites listeners to experience trans history not as distant or static, but as alive, resonant, and still transmitting through time.
What does it mean to tune in to the archives? How is trans kinship built across time and space? And how can revisiting these frequencies help us imagine new futures?
Listen to Kindred Transmissions anywhere you get your podcasts, and discover the wisdom, resilience, and revolutionary magic of trans people past and present.
Kindred Transmissions by the Digital Transgender Archive
Our Gender Is Infinite: On Aiyyana Maracle with Syrus Marcus Ware
Closing out our season, we turn to the story of Aiyyana Maracle, a multidisciplinary artist, scholar, educator, and storyteller from Canada. A self-described “transformed woman who loves women,” Aiyyana invited audiences to rethink gender and sexuality through a decolonial lens.
For more than fifty years, Aiyanna served as both a maker and keeper of culture, working to bring Ogwehoweh art and knowledge into dialogue with a Eurocentric world. Her work offered an alternative to Western concepts of gender—one rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
In this episode, artist, activist, and scholar Syrus Marcus Ware reflects on his years of friendship and collaboration with Aiyyana Maracle, from working alongside her as a mentee to helping her organize her archival collection of recordings, costumes, and ephemera. Through performance clips and stories passed down from her grandmother, this episode offers an intimate portrait of Aiyyana Maracle's vision, artistry, and enduring legacy.
Find the archival materials mentioned in the episode at the Digital Transgender Archive website.
This episode of Kindred Transmissions is produced by Umi Hsu and Associate Producer Shei Yu. Hosted by Jules Gill-Peterson. Mixed by Evan Ibarra. Scripted by Umi Hsu and Shei Yu. Theme and episode music by Imogen Teasley-Vlautin. Research by Rachael McIntosh. Graphic Design by Ariel Huang.
This episode contains the voices of Aiyyana Maracle and Syrus Marcus Ware.
This season of Kindred Transmissions is made possible by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources and support from Northeastern University.