This holiday season, we’re inviting Getting Curious listeners to reflect on what it means to be in community. In that spirit, we’re re-releasing a conversation about mutual aid with the writer and activist Dean Spade. Mutual aid is all about meeting people’s survival needs at a local level, and building sustained, decentralized, compassionate support networks. We encourage you to take a listen to Dean and Jonathan’s conversation, then take some time to learn about—and get involved in—mutual aid initiatives in your community.

Dean Spade has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past two decades. He’s the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, the director of the documentary “Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back!,” and the creator of the mutual aid toolkit at BigDoorBrigade.com. His latest book, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next), was published by Verso Press in October 2020.

You can follow Dean on Instagram @spade.dean and Twitter @deanspade. 

Want to take action but not sure where to start? Here are some resources Dean recommends:

Shit’s Totally FUCKED! What Can We Do?: A Mutual Aid Explainer

What is Mutual Aid? (Classroom Version)

Workshop Series: Building Capacity for Mutual Aid Groups

Truthout’s Movement Memos: Dean Spade Is Asking Activists, “How Much Bolder Could You Be?”

And if you’re curious about Dean’s work beyond mutual aid, check out how he approaches the romance myth from a feminist, radical perspective:

New Romance Webinar: Dismantling the Cycle of Romance

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation.

Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.