Comedy, Religion & Social Justice with Cameron Esposito

03/30/20 • 29 min

Cameron Esposito is a Los Angeles-based standup comic, actor and writer. She has appeared both on TV and film, as well as at comedy and music festivals world wide. Cameron’s podcast, Queery, features interviews with LGBTQ+ luminaries including the likes of Roxane Gay, Trixie Mattel, Evan Rachel Wood, Lena Waithe & Tegan and Sara Quin.

Cameron is co-creator and co-star of Take My Wife, which garnered rave reviews from the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vulture and Indiewire and is available on Starz. Her most recent special, Rape Jokes, raised almost $100,000 for RAINN. Her first book, Save Yourself, is available March 2020.

Episode Highlights

Cameron shares about her newly released book, Save Yourself.
We compare and contrast our experiences of growing up Catholic and queer.
She shares her story about how she wanted to be a priest, from being an altar server to going on missions as a teen.
Cameron’s social justice education opened her eyes to realize the path of priesthood was not for her, while simultaneously coming out queer.
She shares that her primary spiritual fulfillment is found in her own community.
We discuss how her interests in community, social justice and comedy combine into her standup work.
We talk about the importance of language in public spaces as a way to respect communities of diverse identities.

Web links

Find more at CameronEsposito.com
You can also find Cameron on Instagram, Twitter & FaceBook
Get your copy of the new book SAVE YOURSELF

Grab your FREE Guide - Needs, Boundaries & Self-Care for Queer Folks. Download it here.

Join the Queer Spirit Community Facebook group to continue the conversation and stay up to date on new episodes.

And follow us on Instagram!

Join our mailing list to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you.

Episode Highlights

Cameron shares about her newly released book, Save Yourself.
We compare and contrast our experiences of growing up Catholic and queer.
She shares her story about how she wanted to be a priest, from being an altar server to going on missions as a teen.
Cameron’s social justice education opened her eyes to realize the path of priesthood was not for her, while simultaneously coming out queer.
She shares that her primary spiritual fulfillment is found in her own community.
We discuss how her interests in community, social justice and comedy combine into her standup work.
We talk about the importance of language in public spaces as a way to respect communities of diverse identities.

Web links

Find more at CameronEsposito.com
You can also find Cameron on Instagram, Twitter & FaceBook
Get your copy of the new book SAVE YOURSELF

Grab your FREE Guide - Needs, Boundaries & Self-Care for Queer Folks. Download it here.

Join the Queer Spirit Community Facebook group to continue the conversation and stay up to date on new episodes.

And follow us on Instagram!

Join our mailing list to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you.

Previous Episode

Facing Fear Courageously with Julie Dreyer

Julie Dreyer (she/her) is a board certified hospital chaplain who helps patients, families and staff meet their emotional and spiritual needs. She completed a Masters of Divinity at Maitripa (a Tibetan Buddhist college), where she teaches classes, facilitates meditation and music practices. Her sense of the world has been shaped by practicing within various spiritual and embodiment traditions. In search of wholeness, Julie spent four years traveling the world sharing sacred music with people on the streets, in nature and with intentional communities. She is grateful to all her teachers who continue to inspire her to be with what is.

Episode Highlights

Julie explains what a chaplain is and how she fulfills that role now in a hospital.
She tells about her spiritual journey to become a chaplain, moving from a career in computer engineering to exploring music and yoga for her own healing.
Julie talks about how her sisters cancer diagnosis and death lead to her to confront her own relationship to death, and eventually supporting others as they face their own mortality.
She shares how music and songs help to express emotions and support others through challenging times.
We talk about the important challenge of confronting and engaging your fear when facing illness and death.

Web links

Association of Professional Chaplains

Grab your FREE Guide - Needs, Boundaries & Self-Care for Queer Folks. Download it here.

Join the Queer Spirit Community Facebook group to continue the conversation and stay up to date on new episodes.

And follow us on Instagram!

Join our mailing list to get news and podcast updates sent directly to you.

Next Episode

The Art & Practice of Queer Altars with Michael Espinoza

Michael Espinoza (they/them or he/him) is an Artist living and working in Portland, OR. Portland is located on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Clakamas, Kathamet, Tualitan and the many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia river. The major themes in their work include queer identity, Mexican heritage, family, ancestry, healing and recovery, sex and the body. Recent work has included a durational live performance on the streets of Portland, site-specific gallery installation, in-studio bricolage, and a series of installations by the sea in Jalisco, Mexico. They regularly collaborate with academics, performance artists, visual artists, drag queens and dancers. Currently they are creating a project tentatively titled The Archive of Absence which aims to create a large conceptual space to fill with the artworks which would have been created by an entire generation of queer ancestors lost to AIDS. Please contact them immediately if you fund a grant or residency that could support this type of work.

Episode Highlights

Michael shares that they first started making altars after receiving their grandmothers statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe when she died.
They share about the influence of growing up Catholic onto their altar practice.
We talk about the various purposes and functions of altars both in art and in spiritual practice, as a kind of portal.
Michael talks about the elements they use in their works, and the symbolic meanings they provide in a piece.
We discuss ideas about reclaiming queer ancestry and honoring them through altar practices. They share about a public performance piece honoring queer ancestors.
They share about the similarities and differences between having an art practice and a spiritual practice.

Web links