Countrysides Computers Queers
EPISODE 1
This episode serves as an introduction to myself, as well as my personal interest in the topic of the podcast. This is of course, the most boring episode, aside from a brief interview with an anonymous friend. However, I also discuss a lot of theory learned from “Queer Rural Youth Online: A Digital Ethnography,” a thesis by Joseph Robert Burns, and Out in the Country by Mary L. Gray, which served as a guide to my own research in the following four episodes.
EPISODE 2
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lee Thorpe Jr., a professor of sociology at SUNY Plattsburgh. Dr. Thorpe got his PhD in sociology from West Virginia University with his dissertation, “Sexual Identity and Homophily: The Powerful Role of Sexual Identity for Romantic Partner Selection.” We discuss his research as well as his own personal experiences being queer in rural America during his studies.
EPISODE 3
The first fully biographical episode of the podcast features life stories from Beth Glover, a professional actor, director, producer, and professor of theatre at SUNY Plattsburgh. Her experiences growing up in rural Mississippi as a gay woman before the mainstreaming of the internet provide insight into its effects on rural queer life in more recent history.
EPISODE 4
The second biographical interview of the series features LeAnn Yelton, founder of the Plattsburgh Queer Collective and a very active member of the greater Plattsburgh area community. LeAnn grew up queer in rural Texas, during the age of the internet, and their stories both compliment and highlight the differences of queer rural life as told in the previous episode by Beth Glover.
EPISODE 5
For the final episode of Countrysides, Computers, and Queers, I attend a local Dyke Night event. At the bar, I briefly interview multiple attendees about their experiences in the North Country and on the World Wide Web. Thank you to the Plattsburgh Queer Collective, as well as my girlfriend Janie and friend Cinara for coming along with me!
In my last semester at SUNY Plattsburgh, I did an independent study focused on podcasting. Initially, I was going to make a syndicated show version of RANDio, but I was encouraged by my advisor to try a new format and topic, so I came up with the idea for Countrysides, Computers, and Queers. Over the course of two months, I got the chance to meet so many interesting people, and learn so much about the queer community in Plattsburgh working on this podcast! Interviews I conducted one-on-one are featured in episodes 2-4. I’d like to thank these guests for sitting down and sharing their experiences and knowledge with me, this podcast wouldn’t be the same without Dr. Lee Thorpe Jr., LeAnn Yelton, and Beth Glover. I’d also like to thank the entire Plattsburgh Queer Collective (founded by LeAnn Yelton), and the Dyke Night attendees who participated in short interviews in episode 5. Also, a huge thank you to Mary L. Gray for her work in her book Out in the Country. The research that I did in Countrysides, Computers, Queers would be without foundation if not for the research Gray did in this book. Her anthropological framework guided me, as someone outside of this type of academic study, and I’m super grateful to everything I learned reading this awesome book that you can find here: Out in the Country.
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