The Sound of Trans Freedom - 015

A stack of letters written by trans people asking for help in the 90s is an essential piece of queer history. The letters are rightly kept confidentially, but a year ago we were given special access to make a sound art piece using them. Today we’re marking the anniversary of that work, which was produced by Tash and Arlie Adlington, with contributions from Jesse Lawson, Kamari Romeo, naafi, and Imogen Sayers.The Sound of Trans Freedom audio piece in full: Soundcloud | YouTubeShort films mentioned in this episode: Sweetheart (dir Luke Wintour, 2025)Dandelion (dir Fiona Obertinca, 2026)The Sound of Trans Freedom was supported by an Engagement Grant from The National ArchivesThanks to all the contributors who gave their voices, thoughts and feelings to the piecesThe Press for Change archive letters read throughout the piece were by Serena James, recorded by David PyeThe featured artists were:naafi, Kamari Romeo, Tom Sayers, Jesse LawsonArchival audio courtesy of:Gender Talk, a radio show speaking the language of gender created by Nancy Nangeroni, originally broadcast on WMBR Cambridge and Boston, USA. Find them at gendertalk.com.Out-FM, a multi-racial, progressive LGBTQ+ public affairs and culture show on WBAI New York, USA. Listen to their extensive archive at outfm.org.The Sound of Trans Freedom was...Compiled and mixed by Arlie AdlingtonProduced by Tash WalkerAnd the Executive Producers for Aunt Nell were Tash Walker and Adam ZmithThanks to:Stephen WhittlePress for ChangeThe National ArchivesandThe Hall-Carpenter Archives at LSEListen to ad-free episodes by supporting the show on Patreon.Aunt Nell:  Newsletter | Instagram | YouTube | websiteThe Log Books is hosted and produced by Tash Walker and Adam ZmithThe assistant producer is Mia CampbellMusic from SoundstripeOriginal artwork by Natalie DotoThanks to the dreamboats at AcastFor the story of the helpline Switchboard and untold stories from Britain's LGBTQ+ history: listen to Seasons 1-3, co-produced with Shivani Dave.For interviews from the research for our book, published by Faber & Faber: listen to Season 4.KI7FHCTLCUOCNJZ9Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.