Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast - Why Love Isn’t Apolitical: Liberation and Rethinking Relationships
Slate Daily Feed
Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Bryan Lowder sits down with activist and author Dean Spade to discuss his latest book, Love in a F*cked Up World. Together, they unpack how capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy shape our desires, the pitfalls of the “relationship escalator,” and why collective care might be the most radical love of all. From breaking free of toxic relationship scripts to reimagining intimacy beyond hierarchy and control, this conversation challenges everything we’ve been taught about love—and offers a vision for something more liberatory.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Free audio post-production by Alphonic.com. |
| 0:32.8 | Hey everyone, welcome to Outward Slate's podcast about queers, talking, laughing, loving, breathing, fighting, fucking, crying, drinking, riding, winning, losing, cheating, kissing, thinking, and dreaming. |
| 0:38.9 | A little L-word reference there for all you real ones. I'm Brian Lauder, an at Slate and this week we're going to be talking about a lot of those things, a lot of the things in that list, |
| 0:42.9 | especially the ones related to relationships and love. Yes, I know it's after Valentine's Day |
| 0:48.3 | and yes, I understand that many of us might not have romance at the top of our minds right now |
| 0:52.6 | as American democracy crumbles around us. |
| 0:55.5 | At least it's not a turn on for me, but you do you. But for those of us committed to resisting |
| 0:59.3 | the Trump administration's attacks on trans and queer people and especially those organizing |
| 1:03.5 | and working in activist circles, our guests today would argue that strengthening and healing |
| 1:08.0 | our relationships with other people is essential if we want to have a |
| 1:11.4 | successful opposition movement. That guest is noted activist and writer Dean Spade, and his new |
| 1:16.8 | book, with the excellent title, Love in a Fucked Up World, offers a roadmap and a toolkit for |
| 1:21.4 | becoming a better lover, whether that's of friends, comrades, co-conspirators, hookups, or even |
| 1:26.5 | romantic partners. As Dean underscores in the |
| 1:29.0 | book, in the face of all, the suppression and violence, we're going to need each other more than ever, |
| 1:33.7 | but the best ways of nurturing those crucial networks of care aren't always obvious. We're going to |
| 1:38.6 | take a short break, but after that, we'll talk with Dean about self-help for radicals, the insidious |
| 1:43.2 | romance myth, and something called |
| 1:45.3 | revolutionary promiscuity. I'm excited about that. But first, listeners, I want to remind you that, |
| 1:51.4 | you know, we're doing our best here at Alward to cover this frightening and tumultuous time for our |
| 1:55.7 | community, and we could really use your help. If you have any news stories, social media, like discourses |
| 2:02.4 | you're following, or pressing questions, or anything else about this moment that you would |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.