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The Cutting Up: A Kiki with Connie & Lina
Welcome to The Cutting Up: A Kiki with Connie and Lina, a new weekly podcast hosted by DJ/activist Lina Bradford and fashion legend Connie Fleming, the show offers unprecedented access to the icons, secrets, and untold stories that shaped queer culture. Lina and Connie are both trailblazing women of transgender experience, with deep backgrounds hosting and performing in NYC’s most storied clubs—and pioneering on fashion runways. They bring their knowledge, stories, and relationships to “The Cutting Up,” offering audiences a backstage pass to authentic conversations that can only happen between true friends and industry legends. “The Cutting Up” goes deep on fashion, music, activism, and identity.
Episodes
38 episodes
A Summer Cookout Chaos Cutting Up
Summer vibes only! Lina, Connie, and Producer Matt take Summer by storm. It’s all music, cookout food debates, beach energy, Fire Island plans, tan lines, and how you know summer has really started (...
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Fire Island’s Hidden History + Madonna’s Next Act
Pop icon debates, queer history deep dives, and insider cultural storytelling! This week Connie and Lina are joined by writer-producer Jess Rothschild.First up, Madonna’s Confessions Two album. What do we...
Moral Panic & Queer Cinema with Blue Film director Elliot Tuttle
Buckle up. This week we’re joined by debut filmmaker Elliot Tuttle, director of Blue Film, one of the boldest queer indie films in recent memory. The film follows a cam boy hired by an anonymous client who turns out to...
Drag Legend Shequida, The Roxy & Boy Bar: ’90s NYC Nightlife Tea
This week on Cutting Up: Roxy. Boy Bar. Mars. Absolute chaos.The legendary Shequida joins us to spill iconic ’90s NYC nightlife tea — from first seeing Lady Bunny at Mars to getting into The Roxy on opening night and n...
Inside the Movement Defending Trans Equality Nationwide
What does it actually take to defend trans rights in 2026?This week, Connie and Lina sit down with Victoria Foster James of Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) to talk about the legal, political, and cultural fight shaping tran...
Laverne Cox on Trauma, Trans Youth & Legacy
Connie and Lina are back with Part 2 of their conversation with Laverne Cox, and from the jump we are talking about whether trauma is necessary for strength, the political fight over trans youth and puberty blockers, and the real harm of tak...
Laverne Cox, Part 1: ’90s NYC Nightlife & Her Memoir
Laverne Cox is here, and she's giving us two full episodes.This is the conversation we've been waiting for! Laverne sits down to talk about 1990s New York nightlife, trans visibility, and her new memoir, Transcendent...
Why Real Conversations Still Matter (NYC Edition)
This week, Connie and Lina welcome Zach Miller, host of the podcast Before We Cheers, and the vibes are very New York, very cultured, and just a little chaotic (in the best way).Zach describes Before We Cheers as “the emotional...
What NYC Nightlife Was Like in the 90s (Before Social Media)
What was New York nightlife really like before phones, influencers, and bottle service?This week on The Cutting Up, we sit down with East Village legend DJ Gant Johnson to relive the chaos, glamour, and d...
Peppermint on Survival of the Thickest, Trans Rights, and Celebrity Traitors
Peppermint joins The Cutting Up, and the gloves are OFF.The icon, activist, and 2026 NYC Pride Grand Marshal comes through for what starts as a springtime kiki, and ends up being one of our most honest, m...
Cleansing Curses, Taking Leaps & Owning Your Power
This week on The Cutting Up, Connie and Lina are welcoming our brother-in-chaos and Pride royalty himself, David Correa. Shall we start with outfits and an I Love Lucy tangent? Yes, we shall....
Alvaro Takes Us Inside 80s NYC Art & Fashion: Antonio Lopez, Naomi & The Golden Club Era
Okay, first of all… yes. The camera betrayed us last time. But like true legends, we came back hotter. On this episode, we welcome back the incomparable Alvaro, an artist, fashion insider, South Bronx original. And this time the cameras stay...
Music to Kiki By: Disco, House & the Albums That Raised Us
This week we are joined by producer Matthew Breen (who also doubles as HR, Sugar). We all spiral from the iconic Justin-Britney denim lewk into a full jukebox of memories.It’s all about MUSIC. The albums that raised us, the son...
Kevin Aviance on Black Queer Legacy, Beyoncé, and Club Kid History
It’s a birthday episode and we are celebrating all month, Sugar and we’re setting intentions.Connie and Lena kick things off with a mystical little “circle of three” blessing before summoning the icon, the legend, the voice you definite...
Joey Arias Unfiltered: Nightlife, Mugler & a Legendary Downtown Life
This week on The Cutting Up, Connie and I are kiki‑ing in Washington Heights like it’s a downtown séance — and our guest? Only a living, breathing piece of NYC nightlife history: the one and only Joey Arias.Yes. That...
Glam, Grit & Glisten: Our Convo with Wilson Cruz
Baby… this episode? A whole mood.Wilson Cruz dropped into The Cutting Up and we started where all important conversations start: backstage glam. Because if we’re going to talk about surviving late-stage c...
Our First Times: Crushes, Chaos & A Married Man
This week’s kiki starts creamy… but quickly turns into a full-blown “the first time I…” chaos! .Yes, we open with creamsicles, Charlie perfume, and a head-to-toe cream moment (because aesthetics matter). But the real meat of th...
Kiki, Chaos & Crisco (Yes, THAT Crisco): Backstage with Connie & Lena
Oooh Sugar, we are back and bring you a peek “backstage” - it’s unfiltered, off-the-rails and spiritually protected, okay?? Because why did we start the episode spraying “Go Away Evil” like we were cleansing demons… and almost took our...
Psychic Tea & Protection Spells
Hey Sugar, we’re back! 💋This week on The Cutting Up, Connie and I start with a cute little backstage kiki — you know, just casually spiraling from Diane Freis dresses and YSL fantasy to vintage perfume me...
Love Bombs & Trash‑Bag Exits: The Dating Red Flags We Missed
🚩 If he says “I don’t really give compliments…” baby, that’s your cue. 🚩This week on The Cutting Up, we’ve got outfit breakdowns, supermodel nostalgia, and mental Versace campaigns. But then we...
Connie & Lina’s Valentine’s Day Survival Guide
Okay Sugar, it’s Valentine’s Day and we are serving opinions and giggles. This episode is basically a heart‑shaped box of chaos.First up, dating apps that test my patience, then subway crushes that live rent‑free in our minds. ...
Cutting Up with the Cosmos: David Odyssey Reads Lina & Connie
On this episode of The Cutting Up, we went full cosmic with David Odyssey from Heavenly Bodies. Honey, that’s a crossover! And it felt magical, grounding, and just plain fun.We star...
Hollywood, Casting & Life as a Trans Actress
This week on the pod, Connie and I are doing what we do best: talking fashion, reliving auditions we absolutely should have booked, and unpacking the absolute circus that is today’s news cycle. We get into door‑knocker...
More Than Makeup: Beauty as Trans Power
Okay Sugar, strap in! This episode of The Cutting Up is serving beauty, history, and a whole lot of truth.This week, when the gong rashes, guess who it is… the iconic Bradley Miller—makeup artist, educato...
Training the Body, Feeding the Soul: A Kiki with Celebrity Trainer Kacy Duke
We were already in full kiki mode, but once fitness icon Kacy Duke stepped into the chat? Baby. It became a juicy, feel-good, soul-stirring conversation about fitness, confidence, and loving the skin you’re in, no matter the season.<...