Dr. PATRICIA KAISHIAN on Queer Mycology /262
Photo of Split Gill fungi (Schizophyllum commune) growing on host log; courtesy of Henri Koskinen.
How might a mushroom challenge global control? In this episode, Dr. Patricia Kaishian encourages us to think of mycology as a revolutionary and political practice. Diving into queer mycology, we see the ways that fungi challenge binaries of gender, family structure, and even traditional biological classification. Queer theory teaches us that difference is necessary and fluidity is vital. Queer mycology shows us this applies to the more-than-human. Fungi do not make easy subjects of capitalism. In the tradition of queer theory, how might we learn from fungi rather than being threatened by their binary and definition-defying presence?
Thinking on the urgency of climate change and its affects on our ecologies, knowledge about fungi is vital for the earth’s survival and our own spiritual survival. Dr. Kaishian, then, guides us to challenge science to maintain its integrity in the face of capitalistic incentives, and through this guidance brings us to a better understanding of the need for an ethical science that addresses the vital concerns of a changing climate. In this vein, Dr. Kaishian shares her experience in the Armenian diaspora and the need for explicitly political science and mycology in the wake of settler colonialism and genocide.
“The ways in which fungi interact with other organisms also challenge our desire to put very discreet linear boxes around the definition of a species.”
Photo of Dr. Patricia Kaishian
Dr. Patricia Kaishian is a Mycologist and postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, where she serves as a curator of the Arthur Fungarium and Kriebel Herbarium. Dr. Kaishian is a fungal taxonomist and received her PhD in Mycology from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry in Syracuse, NY, in 2020. She enjoys stepping outside of more traditional science and has written on the topic of philosophy of science, feminist bioscience, ecofeminism, and queer theory.
♫ The music featured in this episode is "Intro" by The Musicteller, "Awake Dreaming" and "Perfection" by Madelyn Ilana, and "Heart Land" by Kendra Swanson.
Episode References
International Congress of Armenian Mycologists
Reading Recommendations
Support direct relief in Armenia
International Congress of Armenian Mycologists
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For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.