THE PODCAST: Laura Jane Grace in "Punk Guilt" {official thing} (Patreon)

{public post}

HALLO LOVES.

the fourth episode of The Art of Asking Everything Podcast is out now, TODAY. episode 4 features a conversation with Laura Jane Grace.

i usually put this thank you at the end, but i'm going up front this time: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all the patrons here who are supporting this podcast and making it possible for us to keep it ad-free, brand-free, sponsor-free, and totally uncensored. WE. ARE. THE. MEDIA!!!!!!!!

and what a guest to get down and dirty with. i am more excited about this episode than ANY of them so far, and i'm been pretty excited about all of them. as i said on instagram a few days ago when i posted this photo of laura by katie hovland:

the “art of asking everything” podcast just keeps getting more deeper and more incredibler. 

this week i am in conversation with Laura Jane Grace, the singer/songwriter behind the band Against Me! and the author of “Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout”. 

there are moments where you read a book - and meet a person - and wonder if you are looking in a mirror...laura and i are so different but also have so much in common it is uncanny. what's happened in our lives, what happened with our bands, how we have navigated hatred, how we keep creating. i could have talked to this woman for nine hours and we would have only scratched the surface. 

the threads in our lives, in so many ways: i mean....they are the same.

i have one big regret, and i'll put it up front: i regret that i didn't READ LAURA'S INCREDIBLE BOOK before doing the podcast, which came up very last minute since we found out we were both at SXSW at the same time.

i read it while i was on tour with "there will be no intermission", and it was so affirming, so heartbreaking, and so...just nice,. nice to not feel alone. nice to not feel like i was the only one dealing with the particular crazy that you deal with in world of authenticity, punk, touring, fame, music business, relationshipping...life.

so here we GO:

Laura Jane Grace: Punk Guilt is now available wherever you get your podcasts.

GO! LISTEN! and SHARE!:
https://linktr.ee/AskingEverything

and holy shit (!!!) lookkit this beautifulllllll picture hayley took:

photo by hayley rosenblum 

LOVE.

more.....

this was me and laura in the random SXSW hotel in austin texas, where we recorded:

photo by hayley rosenblum

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HOW TO LISTEN, HOW TO SHARE?

this handy linktree has a round-up of how to tune into the podcast on some of the most popular players. we will have the audio embedded on each episode post on my website: http://amandapalmer.net/podcast

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COMING UP...TALK WITH ME & LAURA during the 

THE PATRON-ONLY LIVE FOLLOW-UP CHAT.

the follow-up chat last week with BJ Miller was so, so fantastic: thank you to everyone who tuned in, really. your presence and questions are what make it so good. (here's the link to watch the archive for anyone who missed it: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/aoae-ep3)

this week, we'll all be chatting with laura and i can't wait. since we recorded the podcast i finished reading her book and am full of questions....AND she surprise-released a new album while in quarantine a couple weeks ago that she recorded this past july..... 

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT,

our chat is scheduled for this THURSDAY, october 22nd starting at 6pm ET new york time (that's friday, oct 23 at 11am NZST for me)

RSVP here and start leaving questions!!!!

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/aoae-ep4

(you'll need to log into patreon to access this webcast as it's patron-only).

the live cast will be recorded and you can view the archive recording at the same link above, any time after the live stream ends.

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SHOW NOTES: The Art of Asking Everything, Season 1, Episode 4

Laura Jane Grace: Punk Guilt

photo by joe leonard

Amanda Palmer presents an intimate conversation with Laura Jane Grace. Recorded March 15, 2019 in Austin, TX.

Laura Jane Grace is the founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me! They’ve come out with 7 studio albums. Grace is one of the first highly visible punk rock musicians to come out as transgender and has become an outspoken advocate for transgender awareness. Her column Mandatory Happiness was published by Vice for years. 

Her autobiography is entitled, "Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout."

Her debut solo album “Bought to Rot” was released in 2018. Her new album “Stay Alive” is out now on Polyvinyl Records.
laura's bio:

She's been powerfully open about her own experiences with gender dysphoria, transitioning, imposter syndrome and - most interesting to me - what it means to be truly authentic in this world. Our conversation went all over the place, as you'd expect, from how we write songs and deal with "finishing" things, to how we deal when the head-weasels come scurrying....

@LauraJaneGrace

www.laurajanegracemusic.com

Stay Alive:
https://www.polyvinylrecords.com/product/stay_alive

Bought to Rot:
https://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/bought-rot

Against Me!:
https://www.againstme.net

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout:
https://againstme.myshopify.com/collections/everything/products/laura-jane-grace-tranny-hardcover-book

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT!!!

we've attached a pdf of the transcript of my conversation with Laura to the patreon post. to view it, you can download it by visiting this patreon post on the web at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42535270
(it's a hyperlink at the very bottom of the post with a little paper clip attachment symbol next to it)

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BOOK CLUB!!!!!

THIS BE THE BOOK:

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sell-Out

you can get the book, HERE:
https://againstme.myshopify.com/collections/everything/products/laura-jane-grace-tranny-hardcover-book

and you can read an excerpt of the book, here....
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5gqwz8/tranny-confessions-of-punk-rocks-most-infamous-anarchist-sellout-excerpt-v23n07

THE POST TO DISCUSS IS ALREADY UP AND BOPPING on the shadowbox.

https://forum.theshadowbox.net/t/laura-jane-grace-tranny-discussion-thread/5894

there's a lot to talk about with the community, so go, go go.

my personal bandwidth to do yet more webchats and zooms about the books has been limited, but that won't stop y'all and the book club volunteers from cracking the whip and organizing up some live chats so everyone can be in the same discussion at the same time. as we get our heads around organizing that, we'll keep headsing you up. meanwhile....just go to the shadowbox and start meeting people!!!:

here's what i wrote to kick it off:

i’m looking forward to this one a SHIT TON, and i hope laura can bop in for a discussion at some point (as we know, this organization has been anarchic, but we’ll get there).

i found myself SEEING myself in this book: not with the gender dysphoria, though i could relate to feeling confused and hidden in the realm of sex and gender (i often have been, and certainly was as a teen and in my early twenties)…but oh my LORD with the music business and record industry stuff. the inner monologues of WHAT IS REAL and WHAT IS PUNK and WHAT IS AUTHENTIC and WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN AND TO FUCKING WHO…my head was falling off from nodding.

don’t forget…laura and against me! and the dresden dolls signed with major labels RIGHT around the same time. the dolls, well, we sort of got away with it a little more than against me! did: we never really positioned ourselves as full-on anarchists, or fuck-the-man punks who sang about smashing the state. i was more likely to cite klaus nomi as an influence…brian was the one into fugazi and black flag. and thank god. nobody came to our shows and slashed our tires or bought tickets solely so they could stand in the front row giving us the finger. this happened to laura. she’s learned how to be hated, forged in the fire a lot like yours truly here. learning how to be hated becomes a whole new skill set you don’t know you’re gonna have to learn.

anyway…i know there are plenty of trans members of this community, i hope this podcast episode opens you up to laura, the book, and her amazing art. we talked a lot more about music, writing and process than we did about being trans, but it all rolls into the same pile. we are real.

enjoy reading…and start discussing!! hopefully we’ll circle into a time to talk as a live group.

x
a

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MORE OF LAURA'S LATEST MUSIC:

https://www.laurajanegracemusic.com/

"BORN TO ROT", from Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers
Released: November 9, 2018:
https://laurajanegracethedevouringmothers.bandcamp.com/album/bought-to-rot

THE NEW ONE:

STAY ALIVE
by Laura Jane Grace
Released: October 1, 2020

https://laurajanegrace.bandcamp.com/album/stay-alive

BOW DOWN.

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CREDITS:

Thanks, of course, to my guest Laura Jane Grace for doing this wonderful interview with me. It was recorded by Jessica Gardener, who was also filming a documentary on my entire SXSW experience. You can actually watch that documentary online.

The theme song that you are listening to right now is Bottomfeeder, from my 2012 crowdfunded album Theatre Is Evil. For all the music that you heard in this episode, you can go to the new and improved amandapalmer.net/podcast

Many, many thanks to my podcast assistant, social media helper, and additional engineer Xanthea O’Connor. This podcast was produced by FannieCo. Many, many thanks to my team at AFP worldwide: Hayley, Michael, Jordan, and Alex, I love you guys. Special thanks to Nick Rizzuto, Brittney Bomberger, Allie Cohen, and Braxton Carter.

This whole podcast would not be possible without patronage. I have about 15,000 people supporting me and my team so that we can do this podcast without ads, sponsors, or censorship, so that we can just do what we want, and say what we mean. And on that note, I would like to give very special thanks to some of my highest level patrons. Bernhard Reebok, Simon Oliver, Saint Alexander, Birdie Black, Ruth Ann Harnisch, and Leela Cosgrove. Please, go to Patreon, become a supporting member, and that will also give you access to the live follow-up chats that we have been doing with almost every podcast guest.

LOVE !!!!

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xxx

a

------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

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