2024-07-17 - Joe Hassert, A Queer Carbondale Alum in Las Vegas!

Jonny interviews Dr. Joe Hassert who was a resident of Carbondale from 2000 to 2012 and was remarkably active in making community art projects happen here. Joe now lives in Las Vegas where he is a professor of Communication Studies at the College of Southern Nevada. He is the current president of the queer faculty and staff advocacy group there and works with students in the student LGBTQ organization to bring about positive, material change in their institution. Jonny and Joe talk about life in the desert, the queer scene in Las Vegas, what Joe learned from his time in Southern Illinois, LGBTQ advocacy, mass shootings, politics, and pragmatic activism.