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.

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

Braiding Sweetgrass

Anna Tsing

Reading Recommendations

Support direct relief in Armenia

International Congress of Armenian Mycologists

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