Podcasts
Coming soon: Nicole Hardy’s guest appearance on How To!
We all need advice, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to turn. Each week, Courtney Martin and Carvell Wallace bring a listener on to the show to solve their toughest problems with the help of world-class experts. It’s free therapy, and you’re invited.
Nicole Hardy, author of the memoir “Confessions of a Latter-day Virgin,” speaks about Mormonism’s law of chastity and the crisis of faith that ultimately led her to resign from the Mormon church. Dr. Jon Paul Higgins, who holds a doctorate in education and educational justice and is the creator, executive producer and co-host of the “Black Fat Femme Podcast,” speaks about their experience of growing up as a queer Jehovah’s Witness and the surveillance that ultimately pushed them to leave that community.
Actress Justina Machado reads Nicole Hardy’s essay “Single, Female, Mormon, Alone,” about a Mormon woman whose life is changed by a trip to, of all places, Planned Parenthood. You may know Ms. Machado from the Netflix sitcom “One Day at a Time,” or the HBO drama “Six Feet Under.”
“OF all the places I felt sure I’d never go, Planned Parenthood topped the list. Because, you know, they perform abortions and give condoms to kids, or so I’d been warned. Yet one spring afternoon found me in its waiting room next to a teenage girl, who was clearly perplexed by the intake form and likely bound for an uncomfortable, humiliating four minutes in the back of a borrowed Chevy Chevelle.
But what did I know? I was a 35-year-old virgin, preparing for my own “first time,” which, incidentally, didn’t happen until I was well into 36.
Readings
Lit Series: In November of 2012, I was commissioned, along with writers Sherman Alexie and Kevin Sampsell, to write new work on the theme "While You Were Sleeping." This is that work.
Filmed at Richard Hugo House by Samudre Media
Rosemont College: A short excerpt from Confessions of a Latter-day Virgin, during my 2013 book tour.
Live storytelling
Back Fence PDX is a live storytelling series in Portland, OR. Filmed live at the Mission Theater. September 28, 2013 Theme: Losing My Religion. For more information about live shows, visit backfencepdx.com. Check out the podcast on backfencepdxradio.com, also available on Stitcher and iTunes.