721: Qua-Drag-Tic Equation with Kyne Santos

Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that wants you to have the gay audacity to do ANYTHING your little queer heart desires! This week Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Kyne Santos (@onlinekyne), the Math Drag Queen and author of Math In Drag. From an early age, Kyne knew he loved two things, math…and makeup. He could never have known back then that those two loves would lead him on a journey to becoming the Math Queen! Through his recently released book and viral TikTok videos, he uses drag as an avenue for making math more approachable and fun for everyone. Whether you consider yourself good at math, “bad with numbers” or anything in between, Kyne is here to broaden your mindset and help you to embrace the beautiful possibilities of both math and drag.  When we are little, people decide pretty quickly to put us into the math/science box or the creative/arts box. The truth is so much more nuanced than that, with math applying to every creative pursuit you can think of. Even songwriters are doing math every single time they write a note on a page. Math in itself is a creative puzzle solving tool and when embraced can open a whole new world of possibilities. What we learn in K-12 is usually just the basic tools of math and it is a shame that learning seems to stop right before getting to the more creative applications. Math and creativity do not have to be kept in separate boxes, and Kyne’s book and videos show that there are ways to approach math that are much more relatable and fun.  We talk with Kyne about both math and gender as social constructs, the economics of being a contestant on Drag Race through the lens of Game Theory, how math is used in music (sound engineering, anybody?), and the importance of keeping an open mind about math and drag alike.  Kyne’s book, Math In Drag, is available now (and the audiobook is coming soon!). Learn more about the book and pick up your very own copy here.  Follow us on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida).  Happy Pride to all! From now through the end of June you can take 15% off your purchase at our merch store with code lhopride and stock up on everything you need to show your Pride 365! Visit bit.ly/lezmerch to secure the bag.  You can support Lez Hang Out while unlocking a bunch of perks including access to our exclusive Discord channel, monthly full-length bonus episodes, weekly ad-free episodes, and more by joining us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices