TMSIDK 027: cartoonist and zinemaker Nicole Georges

04/16/14 • 59 min

Nicole Georges is a cartoonist, writer, zinemaker, teacher, aerobics instructor (?), and pet portraitist. When she was a child, Georges’ mother and family told her that her father died when she was a baby. When she was 21, a palm reader told her that her biological dad was still alive. She called conservative talk show host Dr. Laura for some advice. She chronicles what happened next in her graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura.

Based in Portland, Georges has been making comics and zines including “Invincible Summer” for over a decade. She also teaches at the Independent Publishing Resource Center, which provides access to tools and resources for creating independently published media and artwork. Georges tells us about teaching Riot Grrl history and zinemaking to teenagers, and finding value and self-empowerment through self-expression. When we talked to Georges, she was in the middle of a 9-month fellowship at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT.

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TMSIDK 026: Teenager X

Two years ago, we recorded a conversation with 16 year-old high school student. Not someone famous, but someone who is, to you, a random teenager. So that he could feel free to speak candidly about friends, school, and culture, we gave him the pseudonym Teenager X. He told us about being more tech-savvy than his teachers, he described his hectic schedule, he vented frustrations about learning to drive, and shared a funny anecdote about being kicked out of an online Metal Gear game.

Two years later, we revisit Teenager X. He's 18 now and mere months away from high school graduation. He talks about high school "busy work", modern jazz, and nerd culture. He tells us about a brief stint reviewing rom-coms for his high school newspaper and ponders his plans for life after high school, work, college, and girls.

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TMSIDK 028 Artist Vanessa German's ARThouse

Vanessa German is a "http://pavelzoubok.com/node//1687”>multidisciplinary artist and poet. She has done TEDx talks at MIT, Harvard, and Pittsburgh. She lives in Homewood, a Pittsburgh neighborhood that The Rachel Maddow Show called, "One of America’s Most Violent Neighborhoods." In response to that violence, German began inviting children to make art with her on her front porch. This club quickly outgrew her front porch and she found an empty house and dubbed it ARThouse. You can donate to her project here.

ARThouse is important. We need it because it provides a safe, creative environment for children and neighbors to come together, to experience the power and energy of their creative minds. It is doubly, tripley, quadruply important because all of this good happens in a neighborhood that most people don't hear about unless something violent and tragic has occurred. It is important because the children in this neighborhood demanded it. Insisted upon having a space that they could walk to, to be safe, to be creative, to have fun, to discover and express themselves.