Hey fam, happy new year. It's me, Amara. And welcome to the Translodge podcast, a show where we tell

trans stories to save translines. Well, clearly, we're back as a podcast and with some swanky new theme

music that you heard right at the top of the show, I hope that you like it, and I also hope

that you had a really restful holiday. So we all know that this year is starting off a bit

rough and might be a little bumpy.

And so we decided that this was the perfect time to bring in laughter, to bring in comedy,

to bring in the idea that even when things are tough, we can find a way to laugh and to try to find some joy in them. So there's no better way to

kick off our first episode of the year during this tough time with a comedy episode, which we hope

is going to be our funniest ever. First up is comedy writer and podcast host, Ali Beardsley, who talks with us about their career in making people laugh on the internet.

Comedy can be kind of like a Trojan horse.

Like you can get people laughing and then get them thinking.

Then I'll chat with funny woman Robin Tran about making jokes about the challenges of the trans experience, which

we definitely need right now. Wherever I go, if I'm the funniest person there, I think that is

going to make a difference. But before we get to these hilarious conversations, just a heads up,

that we recorded these conversations a while back. So you may hear some dated references, hopefully not too dated.

And with that, we're just going to go ahead and get started with some trans joy.

Thank you. All the funniest people I know are trans.

I guess it's because we have to laugh to keep them crying.

So I guess it's no surprise that some of the best comedians on the scene right now are trans, too.

Mixed Dahlia Bell is one of those people.

Breaking all kinds of ground in the comedy world, she is the self-described best kind of mess.

She's performed comedy festivals around the country and is a repeat guest on NPR and

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