Mel Woods is a trans nonbinary journalist (they/them) who grew up outside Red Deer, Alberta, next door to a semi-truck driver named Todd. Five years ago they started testosterone, and they think about that choice every week. Mel shares what reality TV taught a generation of queer kids, what testosterone does that nobody warns you about, and why some cis women take it too. They also get into reporting on anti-trans politics from inside the story, and why going to play Magic: The Gathering after a brutal news day counts as resistance.
About Mel Woods
Mel Woods is an award-winning journalist, writer and editor originally from the prairies and now based in Vancouver. Now investigating anti-trans hate in Canada with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, they were previously a senior editor at Xtra Magazine where they covered LGBTQ2S+ news and culture. Their freelance work has appeared in The Walrus, HuffPost Canada, CBC, Vice, Slate, The Tyee, and the Globe and Mail.
Key Topics & Timestamps
00:00 Finding joy in your body
00:33 Meet Mel Woods
03:37 Recognizing yourself
04:33 Self-determination
06:19 Reporting on trans rights
10:41 Reality TV and queer identity
16:13 Gender-neutral clothing
19:39 Charlie Kirk coverage and anti-trans misinformation
26:27 Reporting when you are part of the story
28:38 Closing the laptop and living your life
29:41 What testosterone gave Mel
31:17 Living in a changing body
35:06 Community and access to care
37:52 Advice for starting transition
40:21 Five years on testosterone
40:57 Where to find Mel
41:51 Credits
Find Mel Woods
Website: melwoods.me
Bluesky: @melwoods.me
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Get Queer podcast
Mentioned in This Episode
- GLAAD
- Survivor (the show featuring Zeke Smith)
- Get Queer: Casually Queer (Mel’s interview with Zeke Smith)
- Get Queer: Trans TV (the conversation with Zeke continues)
- Get Queer: Housewives Get Queer (with Racquel Chevremont)
- Lorde’s “Man of the Year” and the permission to want (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- What “Gender-Neutral” Fashion Gets Wrong (Mel Woods, The Walrus)
- Trans people didn’t ask to get pulled into any of this (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- Charlie Kirk died a year ago. Trans people are still paying the price (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- Trans Journalists Association
- Magic: The Gathering
- Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (a film by Jane Schoenbrun)
- I Saw the TV Glow (a film by Jane Schoenbrun)
- Trans Care BC (gender-affirming care information and support in British Columbia)
Produced by Katie Jensen at Vocal Fry Studios.
Help bring GETSOME to more people
I’m in the Top Host competition, and I’d love your support. You can cast one free vote for me every 24 hours. The page also offers paid votes, but I’m only asking for the free one.
Explore Michelle’s book, Coming Soon: The Unshaming Guide to Early Ejaculation and Lasting Longer: comingsoonbook.ca.
Has GETSOME given you something to think about? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Mel Woods is a trans nonbinary journalist (they/them) who grew up outside Red Deer, Alberta, next door to a semi-truck driver named Todd. Five years ago they started testosterone, and they think about that choice every week. Mel shares what reality TV taught a generation of queer kids, what testosterone does that nobody warns you about, and why some cis women take it too. They also get into reporting on anti-trans politics from inside the story, and why going to play Magic: The Gathering after a brutal news day counts as resistance.
About Mel Woods
Mel Woods is an award-winning journalist, writer and editor originally from the prairies and now based in Vancouver. Now investigating anti-trans hate in Canada with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, they were previously a senior editor at Xtra Magazine where they covered LGBTQ2S+ news and culture. Their freelance work has appeared in The Walrus, HuffPost Canada, CBC, Vice, Slate, The Tyee, and the Globe and Mail.
Key Topics & Timestamps
00:00 Finding joy in your body
00:33 Meet Mel Woods
03:37 Recognizing yourself
04:33 Self-determination
06:19 Reporting on trans rights
10:41 Reality TV and queer identity
16:13 Gender-neutral clothing
19:39 Charlie Kirk coverage and anti-trans misinformation
26:27 Reporting when you are part of the story
28:38 Closing the laptop and living your life
29:41 What testosterone gave Mel
31:17 Living in a changing body
35:06 Community and access to care
37:52 Advice for starting transition
40:21 Five years on testosterone
40:57 Where to find Mel
41:51 Credits
Find Mel Woods
Website: melwoods.me
Bluesky: @melwoods.me
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Get Queer podcast
Mentioned in This Episode
- GLAAD
- Survivor (the show featuring Zeke Smith)
- Get Queer: Casually Queer (Mel’s interview with Zeke Smith)
- Get Queer: Trans TV (the conversation with Zeke continues)
- Get Queer: Housewives Get Queer (with Racquel Chevremont)
- Lorde’s “Man of the Year” and the permission to want (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- What “Gender-Neutral” Fashion Gets Wrong (Mel Woods, The Walrus)
- Trans people didn’t ask to get pulled into any of this (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- Charlie Kirk died a year ago. Trans people are still paying the price (Mel Woods, Xtra)
- Trans Journalists Association
- Magic: The Gathering
- Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (a film by Jane Schoenbrun)
- I Saw the TV Glow (a film by Jane Schoenbrun)
- Trans Care BC (gender-affirming care information and support in British Columbia)
Produced by Katie Jensen at Vocal Fry Studios.
Help bring GETSOME to more people
I’m in the Top Host competition, and I’d love your support. You can cast one free vote for me every 24 hours. The page also offers paid votes, but I’m only asking for the free one.
Explore Michelle’s book, Coming Soon: The Unshaming Guide to Early Ejaculation and Lasting Longer: comingsoonbook.ca.
Has GETSOME given you something to think about? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
LITTLE MISS BEE IS LIVING A DOUBLE LIFE.
By day, she’s a high-powered working professional proudly shattering glass ceilings and climbing the corporate ladder. But off the clock, she’s a kink-positive, active member of the rope bondage community.
In the final episode of the 3rd season of the GETSOME Podcast, we discuss personal authority, self-acceptance, and keeping it kinky. Our guest, Little Miss Bee, manages to keep her professional and personal worlds completely separate without losing touch with either side of herself. Ultimately, her openness and experiences give us the space to reflect on our own desires and boundaries, helping us find a path towards our own sexual, personal, and professional empowerment.
Show Notes:
- [00:00:30] Little Miss Bee describes her very clear sense of direction and openness to various sexual and non-sexual experiences.
- [00:01:00] The dichotomy of Little Miss Bee's life: a professional by day, exploring her deepest desires by night.
- [00:03:00] Discusses the importance of consent and boundaries within the kink community, emphasizing her role as both a top and a bottom.
- [00:05:00] Little Miss Bee's passion for rope bondage, known as Shibari, and her journey from being tied to becoming a rigger.
- [00:10:00] Talks about seeking connections that go beyond physical interactions, aiming for a deeper, more meaningful connections.
- [00:15:00] Little Miss Bee reflects on her sexual evolution from a "desirous, sex-positive teenager" to moving slower, taking in the sensuality of it all.
- [00:20:00] The challenges of maintaining non-monogamy, dealing with societal expectations, and the joys of living authentically.
- [00:25:00] The allure and etiquette of sex parties, describing them as spaces where consent and hedonistic desires meet.
- [00:30:00] A perplexing moment when Little Miss Bee confronted prejudice while revealing her open relationship status.
Help bring GETSOME to more people
I’m in the Top Host competition, and I’d love your support. You can cast one free vote for me every 24 hours. The page also offers paid votes, but I’m only asking for the free one.
Explore Michelle’s book, Coming Soon: The Unshaming Guide to Early Ejaculation and Lasting Longer: comingsoonbook.ca.
Has GETSOME given you something to think about? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts.