“Wildness, Masculinity and Swimming Pools” with Jack Halberstam

How do you get from wild theory all the way to wild swimming? By taking a deep dive with Prof Jack Halberstam (Columbia University) of course! Jack takes us where the wild things crawl and on the way, we discuss masculinities, the creative powers of failure, our difficult relationships to non-human animals, nudity and queer bodies, queerness, colonialism and capitalism, and, naturally, our favourite swimming pools. We also dip into some great queer texts, including but by no means limited to: gay falconry novels, animation films, eco-critical writing and non-binary theory.Works by Jack mentioned:The Wild Beyond: Music, Architecture and Anarchy (forthcoming)Wild Things: The Disorder of Desire (Duke UP, 2020)Trans*: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variance (University of California Press, 2018)“Unbuilding Gender: Trans* Anarchitectures In and Beyond the Work of Gordon Matta-Clark” (Places Journal, October 2018)Gaga Feminism: Sex, Gender, and the End of Normal (Beacon Press, 2012) The Queer Art of Failure (Duke UP, 2011)Female Masculinity (Duke UP, 1998)Other texts, people and concepts mentioned:Pinky and the BrainPaul Preciado’s potentia gaudendi (Testo Junky)Jane Bennett’s vitality (Vibrant Matter)Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and its DiscontentsHelen MacDonald’s H is for HawkT.H. White’s The Goshawk (ferox)T.H. White’s The Once and Future KingGlenway WescottAntoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit PrinceJ.A. Baker’s The PeregrinRachel Carson’s The Silent SpringDonna Haraway’s A Cyborg ManifestoColin Dayan’s With Dogs at the Edge of LifeGail BedermanGeorge MosseFreikörperkulturDouglas Stuart’s Shuggie BainJos Charles’ FeeldJordy Rosenberg’s Confessions of the FoxSaidiya Hartman’s Wayward Lives, Beautiful ExperimentsWant to flood your feed with more ferox content? Check out http://www.jackhalberstam.com/bio/ and follow us on Instagram (@jackhalberstam @Lena_Mattheis) and Twitter (@Odo86700462 @Lena_Mattheis). Questions you should be able to respond to after listening to the podcast:1. Where does Jack see the potential in reading animation through a queer lens?2. What can masculinity be? What is it not?3. How does (im)maturity relate to queerness and binary thinking?4. In which ways does Jack see the relationship of humans to non-human animals as highly problematic? What are his thoughts on Donna Haraway?5. From this episode, what do you think Jack’s definition of queerness would be?6. Please write down a few sentences or key words on what ‘wildness’ is and try to think of a text that you think could be classified as wild.