logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2023
8m 36s

How Black queer culture shaped history |...

TED
About this episode
Names like Bayard Rustin, Frances Thompson and William Dorsey Swann have been largely erased from US history, but they and other Black queer leaders played central roles in monumental movements like emancipation, civil rights and LGBTQ+ pride, among others. In this tribute to forgotten icons, queer culture historian and TED Fellow Channing Gerard Joseph shares their little-known stories, connecting the origins of drag in the 1880s to the present day and exploring the awesome power to choose how we define ourselves.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
The hidden cost of buying gold | Claudia Vega
Gold may glitter, but the hidden cost of mining it is devastating. Amazon researcher and TED Fellow Claudia Vega exposes how mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining poisons local communities and destroys rainforests — and shows why protecting the planet is far more valuable ... Show More
33m 25s
Yesterday
How we’re turning pollution into toys, toothpaste and more | Xu Hao
It took alcohol 200 years to go from scientific discovery to industrial revolution, but tech innovator Xu Hao says we can’t afford to wait that long to tackle the climate crisis. He explores why most climate solutions are still stuck in labs — despite breakthrough science that ca ... Show More
14m 22s
Oct 8
The best thing that could happen to the energy industry | Matt Tilleard
History has been written by whoever controls the dominant fuel of the era — until now, says renewables entrepreneur Matt Tilleard. He explains why, as the clean energy transition ramps up, we’re moving from a world where energy comes from burning fuels to one where it will come f ... Show More
13m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
Hidden Love: LGBTQ+ lives in the archives
The National Archives’ collections offer a valuable insight into how the government interacted with and viewed LGBTQ communities in the past, at a time when the State played a major role in repressing and controlling the lives of gay and bisexual men and women. This talk takes yo ... Show More
39m 45s
Jun 2021
A Gay Civil Rights Leader Pushed into the Shadows
Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington and advised Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on direct nonviolent action, but this Civil Rights hero didn’t get his proper due at the time because he was gay. For this special Pride month episode, Don Lemon affirms Rustin's rightful plac ... Show More
31m 47s
Oct 2019
Cynthia Erivo: At Home with Oprah Winfrey
Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Cynthia Erivo discusses her starring role in the upcoming film “Harriet.” “Harriet” is the first feature film to tell the true story of one of the most iconic women in American history, Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman went from being a runaw ... Show More
25m 3s
Nov 2019
The Black Congressmen of Reconstruction: Death of Representation
During the 1870s, more than a dozen African American men, many of whom had been born into slavery, were elected to the U.S. Congress. These political pioneers symbolized the sky high hopes of millions of former slaves during the years right after the Civil War. It was a period th ... Show More
44m 31s
Oct 2022
'The Woman King' and when movies aren't history lessons
When our host Brittany Luse first heard of The Woman King – a film about an all-women warrior unit defending the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the years of the Atlantic slave trade – the idea made her nervous. Hollywood's record with Black historical dramas is pretty che ... Show More
29m 8s
Jun 2023
Icons: Chevalier D'Eon
Chevalier D'Eon (1728-1810) is seen today as an early and important gender-nonconforming public figure. After an impressive career as a spy and diplomat, she lived as a woman despite facing public scrutiny. We're celebrating Pride Month with Icons: supreme queens of queer culture ... Show More
7m 39s
Mar 2023
Charlie Samuelson, "Courtly and Queer: Deconstruction, Desire, and Medieval French Literature" (Ohio State UP, 2022)
In Courtly and Queer: Deconstruction, Desire, and Medieval French Literature (Ohio State UP, 2022), Charlie Samuelson casts queerness in medieval French texts about courtly love in a new light by bringing together for the first time two exemplary genres: high medieval verse roman ... Show More
1h 1m