Andy Kuhlman, Fat Fashion Activism + WW Rebrand Rubbish
S1E5 - Cover Image: Periwinkle background/border with guest photo at the center. KFAI logo appears in the top right. Matter of Fat logo appears at the bottom left of the photo. To the right of the logo the words “Andy Kuhlmann, Episode #5” appear with a white background. This ep’s photo is a headshot of Andy Kuhlman. They are looking to the right. Graphic tropical leaves appear in the background.
show notes:
Welcome to the fifth episode of Matter of Fat: a body positive podcast with Midwest sensibilities! Co-hosts Cat Polivoda and Saraya Boghani highlight community voices with a lens on body size, body positivity, & fat liberation.
This episode, Cat and Saraya update each other on what's happening in the Twin Cities and their lives during The Fat Dish, talk with their guest Andy Kuhlmann about their story as a matter of fat, and dive into the Dirt and Discourse. This episode was originally released on October 17th 2018.
In the Fat Dish, Cat chats upcoming Pollen Midwest events, her shop Cake Plus-Size Resale’s birthday, seeing Nicole Byer, and being part of a panel for Matriarch Digital Media during Twin Cities Startup Week. Saraya tells us about her recent trip to Colorado, seeing Rupi Kaur perform, and being on a panel about Body Positivity & Fat Liberation.
Upcoming local events include: The Big Fat Super Swap on October 20th from 1-3PM at the Nokomis Community Center in South Minneapolis. Also on Saturday, October 20th, the local chapter of Fat Girls Hiking is hosting a hike at Elm Creek Park Reserve.
This episode’s interview is with Andy Kuhlman. Andy recounts the beginnings of their personal fat activism and co-founding the Big Fat Super Swap, shares a bit about their comedic background, expresses the woes of finding clothing to fit their body and sense of style as a non-binary, superfat person, and shares their love of Sumo on Japanese Public Television and The Adventure Zone podcast.
In Dirt + Discourse, Cat and Saraya discuss Weight Watcher’s recent rebrand to WW ( or, “Wellness” that “Works” - quotes ours, not theirs). Saraya’s got questions about what identity they’re trying to sell with this rebrand and why. She encourages us to “follow the money”! Cat questions their true commitment to wellness and challenges us to recognize that if diets worked for most people WW wouldn’t be in business. (It’s truly one heck of a business model.)
Many thanks to you for listening and reading, KFAI and Mason Butler for supporting Matter of Fat, Allison Anne Design + Create for our logo, and Kyle Werstein for composing and producing our theme music.
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Twitter: twitter.com/matteroffatpod
Email: matteroffatpod@gmail.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Pollen Midwest www.pollenmidwest.org/about/
Nicole Byer www.nicolebyerwastaken.com/
Matriarch Digital Media www.matriarchdm.com/
Twin Cities Startup Week twincitiesstartupweek.com/
Rupi Kaur rupikaur.com/
Big Fat Super Swap www.facebook.com/bigfatsuperswap/
Japanese Public Television www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/
The Adventure Zone Podcast www.maximumfun.org/shows/adventure-zone