thinking bodies: a feminist philosophy podcast

What do revolutionary politics, prog rock, and doomscrolling have in common? More than you might think! In this special episode of thinking bodies, Anna and Kristin welcome back friend of the pod Michael Doan to discuss his new book, Rehearsing the Future: The Thought and Practice of James and Grace Lee Boggs (AK Press, October 2026).

This episode features reflections from members of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership: Stephen Ward, Trinity Watson, and Kim Sherobbi.

James and Grace Lee Boggs were revolutionary thinkers and organizers whose decades of work in Detroit challenged conventional ideas about political change, education, freedom, and what it means to become human. Their revolutionary philosophy of dialectical humanism fuels the idea of two-sided transformation--changing ourselves and society!

We ponder Grace's claim that universities are where thinking goes to die, whether making content counts as making things, and what it means to become more human human beings.

Together, we explore what it means to think from social movements rather than simply about them. We talk about the contradictions of American capitalism, the relationship between racism and technological development, the alienation of our heads from our hands, and the possibilities of education that prepares people not just for jobs, but for taking responsibility for their communities.

Stick with us all the way to the end when we talk about Mike's approach to writing with thinkers who are no longer with us, and what it means to carry forward a living intellectual and political legacy.

Buy Michael's Book!: https://www.akpress.org/rehearsing-the-future.html

Learn more about the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership: https://www.boggscenter.org/

Full descriptive transcript and episode references: thinkingbodiespod.com

Keywords: Revolutionary change, dialectical humanism, visionary organizing, Black radical thought, education, community responsibility, automation, alienation, and the relationship between thinking and doing.

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What’s feminist about makeup, fashion, hair, and beauty? In this live episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier dive into Ann Cahill’s “Feminist Pleasure and Feminine Beautification” (2003) and ask what happens when we take beauty practices seriously as embodied, pleasurable, relational, and potentially feminist practices.

Along with contributors, we ask, is beautification always about the gaze—or can makeup, fashion, and other beauty practices also be sites of knowledge, connection, creativity, and care?

Ramanpreeet Bahra joined us as a consulting producer, this episode features reflections and contributions from Megan Dean, Helga Varden, Allison Wolf, Christine Hamel, Cressida Heyes, and Katy Fulfer. Listen as we discuss beauty practices as craft, communal care, feminist agency, maintenance work, and sites of objectification and resistance.

Shownotes and descriptive transcripts on our website.

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Keywords: feminist philosophy, Ann Cahill, Feminist Pleasure and Feminine Beautification, beauty, beautification, feminism, pleasure, embodiment, body philosophy, feminist theory, objectification, agency, care, craft, gender, beauty standards.

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What does it mean to be a misfit? In this episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde, Kristin Rodier, and Corinne Lajoie explore Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s influential 2011 essay, “Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept.”

What if disability isn’t simply something that belongs to a body, but something that happens between bodies and worlds?

Featuring Joel Michael Reynolds, Rhea Ienni, and Emily R. Douglas, this episode explores disability, embodiment, accessibility, ableism, feminist materialism, access fatigue, misfitting, and the knowledge that comes from not fitting the world as it is.

We "visit" the Island of Misfit Toys, think about conference lighting, ask what access costs, and consider whether the goal should always be to make misfits fit—or to make misfitting more livable, joyful, and collectively possible.

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

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Keywords: feminist philosophy, philosophy of disability, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, misfits, disability studies, feminist disability studies, feminist materialism, embodiment, accessibility, ableism, access fatigue, crip theory, disability justice, feminist theory.

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In this final instalment of our Field Notes series from the Thinking Trans / Trans Thinking conference, Anna and Kristin are joined by conference organizer Amy Marvin for a conversation on trans philosophy, feminist philosophy, humour, and what it means to gather together. We feature conference participants Riley Lewicki and Alanah Mortlock, to explore what it means to create philosophical spaces that begin from the assumption that trans people exist — and that their lives, relationships, and ways of thinking matter.

Amy discusses her forthcoming monograph Trans Fascination, her work on curiosity and “curiotization” (the process through which trans people are transformed into curiosities or objects of fascination) and the complexities of trans visibility.

Plus: favourite Golden Girl returns, conference joy, trans film, (Kristin's) “weaponized philosopher incompetence,” role playing on planes, and why “all the good shit is happening” in Black trans philosophy.

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

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Keywords: Amy Marvin; Trans Fascination; trans philosophy; feminist philosophy; trans feminism; trans visibility; trans curiosity; curiotization; transgender philosophy; philosophy of gender; transphobia; gender norms; gender binaries; gender multiplicity; feminist theory; intersectionality; feminist philosophy of humor

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What does it mean to be called a “deceiver” — and what happens when that accusation becomes a justification for violence?

In this episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier explore Talia Mae Bettcher’s groundbreaking 2007 essay, “Evil Deceivers and Make-Believers: On Transphobic Violence and the Politics of Illusion.” With clips from philosophers Alex Adamson and Ding, they dig into gender presentation, “reality enforcement,” and the assumptions that constructs trans people as deceiving others about their bodies and identities.

The episode moves from the murder of Gwen Araujo and the trans panic defense to clothing, sexuality, the heterosexual matrix, compulsory heterosexuality, double binds, and the politics of who gets to define what counts as “real.” With our contributors we ask, Where is the deception? And who gets to decide what is true?

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

Content note: This episode discusses transphobic violence, including sexual assault and murder.

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Keywords: feminist philosophy, trans philosophy, trans feminist philosophy, transgender studies, Talia Mae Bettcher, transphobia, transphobic violence, gender identity, reality enforcement, trans panic, trans panic defense, Gwen Araujo, gender norms, compulsory heterosexuality, heterosexual matrix, Judith Butler, José Muñoz, María Lugones, embodiment, trans rights, feminist theory, queer theory, social construction of gender, trans liberation,

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In this Field Notes episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier return to the Thinking/Trans // Trans/Thinking Conference for conversations with Matthew J. Cull, Javier Pitts Guzmán, Sanjula Rajat, and Jules Wong.

We explore trans philosophy and feminist philosophy, the metaphysics of gender, gender as something that contains multitudes, and what it means to think beyond rigid categories.

We ask: What is philosophy? What should we teach high school students? Who would be on your desert-island philosophy bookshelf? Along the way, we talk Angela Davis, abolition, Octavia Butler, disability, joy, self-transformation, vulnerability, community, and philosophy as a tool for imagining and building different worlds.

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Keywords: trans philosophy; feminist philosophy; metaphysics of gender; trans feminism; gender and philosophy; gender as social construction; feminist metaphysics; feminist philosophy of the self; philosophy and politics; abolition feminism; Angela Davis; Octavia Butler; disability

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Join us as we kick off our field notes series--It’s a podcast-road-trip/conference episode that introduces a series on trans philosophy, while also reflecting on what we might want philosophy to do in the world

Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier head to the Thinking Trans // Trans Thinking conference for conversations with philosophers Simon Ruchti and Catherine Clune-Taylor.

We talk trans philosophy, philosophy conferences, academic culture, bodies, food, accessibility, posturing, hospitality, and what makes a philosophical community feel like a community.

Plus: what would we teach high school students if we could teach them anything?

The Golden Girls make an appearance, as do Michel Foucault, Aristotle, Sarah Ahmed, moral luck, happiness, and the question of how philosophy might help us become better humans.

We ask asks what conferences are for, how bodies and social conditions affect philosophical work, and what kinds of academic communities we want to build.

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

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Keywords: trans philosophy; feminist philosophy; philosophy conference; Foucault; trans studies; philosophy and gender; academic culture; philosophy pedagogy; moral luck; Sarah Ahmed; happiness; accessibility;

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Who do you trust—and what happens when trust goes wrong? What makes trust warranted—and when should we become feminist trust-busters?

In this guest produced episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier join with Corinne Lajoie to explore Annette Baier’s feminist philosophy classic, “Trust and Antitrust” (1986). Baier's analysis explicitly connects trust to asymmetrical relationships and differential vulnerability, including gender, class, race, and disability.

With contributions from Carolyn McLeod, Amy Mullin, Hale Demir-Doğuoğlu, and Laura Specker Sullivan, we dig into trust, distrust, vulnerability, power, dependency, intimacy, and oppression. From parents and children to institutions and strangers on buses, Baier helps us see the invisible web of trust that holds our social lives together—and the ways that web can also sustain exploitation.

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

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Keywords: Annette Baier; Trust and Antitrust; feminist philosophy; trust; distrust; trust and vulnerability; power and trust; feminist ethics; trustworthiness; institutional trust; oppression; exploitation; dependency; interdependence;

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What happens when your anger is dismissed as “bitter,” “dramatic,” or “too emotional”? In this inaugural episode of thinking bodies, Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier dig into Sue Campbell’s iconic article, “Being Dismissed: The Politics of Emotional Expression” (1994).

With insights from Ami Harbin, Christine Koggel, Alexis Shotwell, Kate Norlock, and Michael Doan, we explore emotional dismissal, anger, social uptake, “freestyle feelings,” and the politics of who gets taken seriously.

What if our feelings aren’t private—and what if other people help shape what we’re able to feel, understand, and say? Campbell's work continues to have relevance in 2024 and beyond.

Thank you so much to the Amplify Podcast Network, Stacey Copeland and Hannah McGregor for all of your mentorship.

Show notes, resources, and descriptive transcripts available on thinkingbodiespod.com

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Keywords: feminist philosophy, feminist theory, politics of emotional expression, philosophy of emotion, feminist philosophy of emotion, emotions, anger, feminist anger, social uptake, bitterness, interpretive dismissal, freestyle feelings, affect, feminist epistemology, feminist ethics, oppression, emotional expression, Audre Lorde, Marilyn Frye, Indigenous feminism, Black feminism

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This trailer introduces the DIT (doing it together) experiment that is thinking bodies! Drs. Anna Mudde and Kristin Rodier will be sourcing voice clips on feminist philosophy topics, and having fun building ideas together.

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