With all the fuss lately about drag story hours – people in often audacious attire and imaginative makeup reading stories to children – we thought you’d like to hear and see some for yourselves. So you can consider whether they really should be banned, as some politicians demand.

No need to sneak into an elementary school or your local library’s kiddies’ room though, we’re bringing some to you! We’ve recorded four readings along with short conversations with drag performers, authors, a publisher and a parent.

We hope you enjoy our Pride Month video and audio Drag Storytime series.

KPFA’s Drag Storytime series is produced by E.A., Peter Stickney and Eric Jansen (aka Cinnamon Sugarshoes).


Episode One

For our first installment, we caught up with The One and Only Rexy of Drag Story Hour at the Bay Area Book Festival in downtown Berkeley May 7, along with the author and publisher of one of the books she read.

Listen Here

 


 

 

Episode Two

For this second installment, we visited a kindergarten class in the Berkeley Unified School District to hear drag queen Panda Dulce give a storybook reading  to kindergartners for Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month. We also spoke with Lourdes Rivas about their book, “They Call Me Mix”. 

Listen Here

 


 

 

Episode Three

For our third installment, we caught up with VERA! at Montclair Community Play Center. Later in the episode we speak with Baylee, program coordinator for the Bay Area chapter of Drag Story Hour

Listen Here

 

Background Briefing

Background Briefing – July 12, 2023

We begin with the heatwave in the south across Florida, Texas, Arizona and California with record temperatures impacting 54 million Americans about to see triple-digit highs this week.  Arizona, and Phoenix in particular, will experience intense heat and could swelter for its longest period on record in 110-degree high temperatures with California and the Desert … Continued


Background Briefing (5am)

Background Briefing with Ian Masters – July 12, 2023

We begin with the heatwave in the south across Florida, Texas, Arizona and California with record temperatures impacting 54 million Americans about to see triple-digit highs this week.  Arizona, and Phoenix in particular, will experience intense heat and could swelter for its longest period on record in 110-degree high temperatures with California and the Desert … Continued


Background Briefing

Background Briefing – July 11, 2023

We begin with tomorrow’s NATO summit ahead of which we have just learned that Turkey’s Erdogan has dropped his objections to Sweden entering the alliance. Joining us to discuss alternatives to joining NATO such as Ukraine modeling its future security on Israel, which is something Zelensky has suggested, is Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the … Continued


Background Briefing

Background Briefing – July 10, 2023

We begin with the upcoming NATO summit with President Zelensky having gotten support to join NATO from Turkey’s President Erdogan who is holding up Sweden’s entry. We discuss nuclear threats from Russia which appear to be receding, but will certainly be inflamed if NATO were to go along with calls from the Baltic states and … Continued