June 8, 2022

EP. 268 — Are Mushrooms Truly Magic? with Dr. Patty Kaishian

Jonathan long saw mushrooms as an ingredient to avoid on a menu—until they learned that mushrooms, and fungi more generally, have a lot to do with queerness. In this week’s “Pride In Nature” episode, Dr. Patty Kaishian joins Jonathan to discuss fungi behavior and reproduction, her groundbreaking work on queer mycology, and how changing our relationships with fungi can change the world.

Dr. Patty Kaishian is a mycologist and Visiting Professor at Bard College. Her research focuses on fungal taxonomy, diversity, evolution, symbiosis, and ecology, particularly of the less studied fungal groups, such as the insect-associated Laboulbeniales. Dr. Kaishian also studies philosophy of science and feminist bioscience, exploring how mycology and other scientific disciplines are situated in and informed by our sociopolitical landscape.

Loved learning about the fabulous world of fungi? Follow Dr. Kaishian on Instagram and Twitter @queendom_fungi!

 

For more information about the International Congress of Armenian Mycologists, visit https://icarmenian-mycologists.github.io/.

Join the conversation, and find out what former guests are up to, by following us on Instagram and Twitter @CuriousWithJVN.

Jonathan is on Instagram and Twitter @JVN and @Jonathan.Vanness on Facebook.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

 

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Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our associate producer is Zahra Crim. Our editor is Andrew Carson.

 

Our socials are run and curated by Middle Seat Digital.

 

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

 

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Transcript

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness & Dr. Patty Kaishian  JVN [00:00:00] Welcome to Getting Curious. I’m Jonathan Van Ness and every week we get to do a gorgeous little trip together where we sit down for a gorgeous conversation with a brilliant expert to learn all about something that makes me curious. On today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Patty Kaishian, where I ask her: Are mushrooms truly magic? Welcome to Getting Curious. This is Jonathan Van Ness. I’m so excited for this week’s episode because, honey, we are going to places that we have never gone before on Getting Curious. Welcome to the show, Dr. Patty Kaishian, who is a mycologist and forest pathologist. I’ve never even heard of that before. She’s currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of biology at Bard College. How are you, Patty?  PATTY KAISHIAN [00:00:47] I’m so happy to be here, so thank you for having me on your super cool podcast.  JVN [00:00:51] So here’s the thing.

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