Threadings.
Episodes
a letter on metacognition [ft. a social experiment]
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
having the most delicious caramel pu'erh.
the strip club did indeed make me bonkers!
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In which ismatu gwendolyn, public servant, recounts the praxis they got from their local strippery in regards to the acquisition and distribution of U...
The Financial Transparency Meeting but Instead of Showing Graphs I Yell
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In which ismatu Gwendolyn, budding revolutionary, reminds everyone (once again) that their goal is NOT a life where they are individually comfortable!...
yes, I really do mean “algorithmically-elected official.”
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Full transcript, as always, available at threadings.io
when am I compelled to speak? (ft. Madleen flotilla, Booker, and necessary reorientation)
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
full transcript at threadings.io
THE WAR IS NOT A METAPHOR: The Capitalist, the Defector, the Traitor, and the Revolutionaries
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The global working class engages in active revolution as we speak (and here I am to pontificate about it). As I (ismatu, artist, the pen behind these ...
Targeted Deportations and the Changing Face of Fascism
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In which writer and child of immigrants ismatu gwendolyn discusses the systematic deportations of academic immigrants. Beyond debating whether fascism...
Ismatu Gwendolyn: Class Traitor
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In which Ismatu Gwendolyn, young revolutionary with a pen in hand, seeks to stake their power with and for The People, rather than utilizing the trust...
Notes on the Moment [02.02.2025]
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Midnight musings on Bird Flu, Yahtzee, and the merits of taking a jumping break with your resident one year old. Pour some tea for this one. All essay...
The Mythical Black Artist™
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Otherwise entitled, “Everybody wanna be Nina Simone; don’t nobody wanna sing Mississippi Goddam.” In which ismatu gwendolyn, writer and public s...
State of the Constituency 2024
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The purpose of the State of the Constituency is to reorient ourselves to who I am (the invisible pen behind all these essays, Ismatu Gwendolyn) what I...
On Fear.
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
in which ismatu gwendolyn returns to their stage to talk about what’s keeping them up at night. Transcription available at threadings.io https://www...
There are a great many springtimes: notes on Bethann Hardison’s Invisible Beauty
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The strangest part about terminal illness is how often death comes for a peck on the lips and nothing more. A few weeks ago, I flew home to attend my ...
Harris, Palestine, and the Spectacle of Liberation.
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
a series of musings nearly entitled, “I am frightened by the way people tire of the world.” I have had a negative amount of desire to write but To...
The Question of Agency and Creation
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Questions for your consideration: how do I appreciate you well for taking part in this space? And, how best can we a public good? Please whatever comm...
Girl go to SLEEP! ft. lessons from night life, grad school, and strangers
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sleep tips for those who struggle to sleep when they could. Essay (and transcript) available at ismatu.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you...
The Case for a Global Strike
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A letter written for Bisan, circulated to my constituency: Peace. I write to you from the floor of my bedroom in Sierra Leone. Two days ago, Iran laun...
the role of the artist is to load the gun.
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
an essay nearly entitled, “the orange trees teach me art-making.” This essay is a continuation of my prolonged look at revolutionary healers in pr...
toni cade bambara: i start with the recognition that we are at war
02 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
captioned live! we took one hour to read four paragraphs together. excerpt from: Conversations with Toni Cade Bambara, edited by Thabiti Lewis. I don’...
you’ve been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress).
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In which we engage the following theses: (1) the ruling class benefits from illiteracy.(2) short-form video entertains more than it sticks.(3) reading...
I want my community to outlive me.
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
internet friends, I am still burning alive. Today is February 10, 2024, which marks two years since my entrance into the social internet. This has bee...
everything is free! no more paywalls. have tea with me.
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Threadings. and quite literally everything I do is free! I only can do this because people voluntarily pay! Wow! Thank you!!!!Transcription below beca...
revolution, then, is a faith-based practice.
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
a letter to my daughter on the religion of revolution.Please lend your support to A Little Juju Podcast in their return! Juju Grant is a writer, ethno...
From The Vault: Advice, Three Years or so After My First Wedding
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An essay from The Vault on how miraculously pain steals language. CW: mentions of self-harm. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this...
There Is No Revolution without Madness.
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The first essay of the Revolutionary Healers series. WHAT USE is "measured rationality" when to be Reasonable means to dying quietly, all the ...
a prelude: “blessed,” meaning washed with blood.
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
in which ismatu delivers a free-styled, spoken essay where they realize Grief as a seed blooming their bones. This is a public episode. If you’d lik...
Information Anarchy: The Case Against Sponsorships
13 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The primary goal of this essay is to argue for a healthy skepticism of sponsorship-saturated media amidst a new age in information sharing, with secon...
Mutual Aid is Mutual! Recap + Readings
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since y’all stay asking me for resource lists. The here, damn! of it all. Full list and links associated at ismatu.substack.com. happy reading!! jaz...
Revolutionary Healers: A Syllabus
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In which Ismatu Gwendolyn, new to the healing profession and rooting in revolutionary thought and action, provides structure for their studies in publ...
From The Vault: On Grief and God
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
sharing an old piece of creative writing because I, a mountain dweller, am stuck in the city and think of the sea.Originally written June of 2018 This...
Surprise! I am just like my father.
23 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In which we: unpack the “is she mad?” mentality, contemplate informed consent for a podcast space, and be explicit about the care infrastructure a...
Revolutionary Love costs you something.
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
notes on refusing to charge for client services.Cited: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love by Joy James | Oshun’s FlightCliff notes: stop asking me to ...
first draft thoughts: on revolutionary love and existing outside of myself
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
[The Preview]: Oh, then in regards to mutual aid, I keep faltering with this series because I can't, like… I think I need to find a balance betw...
a former stripper, current workaholic finds balance.
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
No stripping did not ruin my relationship with men but you should hear how many hours in a row I can work nonstop hahahahah <3 on treating myself a...
Therapists Are Also the Police: Social Work, Sex Work, and the Politics of Deservingness
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Therapists are part of the Soft Police (signed, an MSW). Read the full essay at Ismatu.Substack.com. Thank you for listening with an open mind!Sources...
please say hello to me.
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I feel like i am in a zoo. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ism...
28 | i want a life that reverberates.
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Musings from my porch in Chicago that ask: am I good at hosting happiness? Am I the right shape to hold onto the life that I want? What noise do I mak...
27 | the call and response of Collective Grief; to Jordan Neely
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
on what we owe to each other in the grief. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epi...
26 | Swapping Secrets with Courtnee Futch: what do you save for yourself when no one keeps you but The Stage?
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
a conversation about survival, archival, and the intimacy found and lost when you grow up in the public eye. request the full transcript at ismatu.gwe...
25 | archival as a declaration of love
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
this is the next essay in the study of self series. listen to the previous episode here. Content warning for: mentions of suicidal thought and intent,...
24 | There is no safety in being Beautiful: reflections from a life spent On Display (™)
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A child model turned grad school stripper speaks openly about the reality of being shackled to Beauty (and the negotiations you make at the top of the...
23 | Love Studies + Black Feminism: my study of self
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcoming in Season II of Threadings. Notes on my the orbit of my personhood. An essay once titled, “how do I love myself?” (but I didn’t know w...
22 | dinner with a capitalist in amsterdam, $115k, and other things that changed my life
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
in which I tell you about where I've been, where I've ended up, and where I'm going from here. Jazz of the episode:Send In The Clowns x Pa...
21| on loving my parents again and again (read: on learning to love myself)
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
musings once entitled, “a therapist reflects on the whiplash of finally having relationships with my parents i am grateful for, despite it all.” I...
20| a love letter to my seven year old self: reproductive justice is economic justice
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We owe the children of this world tangible and lasting justice— and economic justice touches every kind of oppression there is. This is a public epi...
19| a manifesto: dear internet friends, I’m burning alive.
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
an open letter to everyone fearful and exhausted, sent with love. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or...
18| Poverty is an intentional genocide.
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ismatu Gwendolyn, clinical social worker and former impoverished child, doubles down on the ugly (and obvious) truth of why poverty exists in the firs...
17| To High Chief Bombolai; with love, from your granddaughter.
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re reading or listening this, that means I’ve decided to pull back one of the veils of my life and tell you a little bit about my family hi...
16| Poverty is a policy choice.
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Introductions to a month-long series about poverty eradication, labor rights, and reproductive justice. Partnered with a fundraiser to help agricultur...
15| New Year's Reset: Germinating >>> Goals.
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I do not set goals in January and I never will. I love myself too much to rush myself out of my winter hibernation. Why do we impose so much on a year...
14| Fame is the least humanizing kind of love.
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can true, full, and nuanced love truly exist across parasocial relationships? Ismatu Gwendolyn reflects on the dehumanizing nature of fame (no matter ...
13| Reading my mother a bedtime story: the twin heroes
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
in which I read from The Annotated African American Folktales and she occasionally gives a heartfelt "mmm." listen to the full story at Ismatu...
12| Self love literally can never save us.
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Da’Shaun L. Harrison has penned one of my favorite texts in the past five years. I have read it three times in nine months and I have become more an...
11| "Radical self-love" does not mean you lie to yourself.
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of willing myself to love something that I simply do not, what if I was honest in my self-loathing? What might I be compelled to change if I d...
10| Dandelions: a Love Letter to Fear
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
what kindness do I owe terror? Is there a better relationship I can have with my own fear than kill it, ignore it, eradicate it? Ismatu Gwendolyn make...
9| Loving myself means loving my mother.
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How is self love entangled with parental love? I am blooming into adulthood realizing that so much of myself is directly sourced from the people that ...
8| The Love of a Kept Promise
15 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What sort of love can we have for ourselves that we keep our own promises? Do I love myself in way that spurs me to act in my own best interest? In th...
7| The Pleasure of Excellence: How can we “be great” under capitalism?
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to pursue Excellence unabashedly without it being capitalism's fault? Do we have work spaces that are not defined by or centered ar...
Bonus Episode: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and the flip-flop, flippy flip flop and ass bitches.
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody knows how to critique anymore and it makes my ass itch. Beyoncé can be both in the oppressor class and one of the best artists alive; I promis...
5| I kinda wanna f*ck Excellence.
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is the pursuit of Excellence always... bad? Is it possible to have a relationship with Excellence that is not rooted in performing capitalism? Also......
4| I am Papier-mâchéd pieces of people that love me.
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode serves as an introduction to Ismatu Gwendolyn, as a patron asked them to reflect on their personhood. They asked the following: Who are y...
3| The Wisteria: a Love Letter to Grief
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How does Grief show up in the Garden Space? What does she look like; where does she live? Most importantly, where do Grief and love coincide? Ismatu G...
2| ...do I have trash taste? and other musings on my love life
21 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit ismatu.substack.comMe and my friend + former roomie Lorren discuss my exes, male-related...
1| The Garden Space: an Introduction
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Garden Space, a newsletter and podcast where we consider connection. What could it mean to be in community with oneself, one's intr...