SANTES - a podcast for future trans and queer ancestors.

Lazarus Letcher - The Patron Saint of Fierce Protection and Respite

Welcome to episode 6 of the SANTES Podcast! We are excited to share our conversation with Lazarus Letcher where they discuss the current erasure of trans history, how house decor turned out to be protective wards, and an ancestor story involving a horseback break for freedom. Lazarus Nance Letcher is an artist and writer from the Midwest, now living on the ancestral and unceded Tiwa land in New Mexico. Lazarus is a string instrument player, primarily playing the viola, and a singer-songwriter. They are also a Ph.D. Candidate in American Studies with a focus on Black and Indigenous liberation and queer and trans studies. To learn more about their work check out their website at https://www.lazarusletcher.com/, follow their band Eileen and the In-Betweens on Instagram @eileenandtheinbetweens, and check out the exhibit Stages of Tectonic Blackness, "Return to Blackdom" playing at the Tacoma Art Museum through March 2027 - https://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/exhibit/blackness-is/ Listen and subscribe! ♥️ Available wherever you listen to podcasts, or Check out our website and listen there: www.santesproject.com/podcast

Tina Valentin Aguirre of Inspirational Spark

Cheers to episode 5 of the SANTES Podcast! In this episode, we talk with Tina Valentin Aguirre about queer history in San Francisco in the Mission and Castro districts, as well as their deep love and adoration for Teresita La Campesina. Tina Valentin Aguirre is a pillar in the San Francisco Bay Area arts community. They moved to the Bay Area for college in 1986 where they found a vibrant queer Latinx community mobilizing against AIDS. Tina is also a published poet, arts curator, serves as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District Director, and has also served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the GLBT Historical Society. You can follow Tina's work on Instagram @tinalatinasf or on Facebook at Tina V. Aguirre. Don't forget to check out their exhibit "Conjuring Power: Queer and Trans Movements Roots and Futures" at YBCA on display March 13 - August 23, 2026! Listen and subscribe! ♥️ Available wherever you listen to podcasts, or Check out our website and listen there: www.santesproject.com/podcast **Accessible Transcript available on our podcast webpage

Gerard Miller - The Patron Saint of Spiritual Reflection

We hope you're ready for episode 4 of the SANTES Podcast! In this episode, we talk with Gerard Miller about recovering lineages of ancestry, when to call upon ancestors, and how to reconnect for folks who have had their ancestors taken from them. Gerard Miller is a Black, non-binary, queer community educator & aspiring Ancestor, as well as a co-founder and member of the Seattle Hoodoo Society. They are a child of Baltimore with deep roots in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and northern North Carolina, on a journey to reclaim their legacy as a Sacred Other. Working with plant medicine, birthwork, movement, and storykeeping/-telling; they hope to integrate the parts of the 7-pointed star: the World Above, the World Beneath, the World Around Us, and the World Within. You can follow their work on their website www.altaredroots.com [http://www.altaredroots.com] or on social media on Facebook/Instagram @altared.roots **Accessible Transcript available on our podcast webpage

Joss Barton - The Patron Saint of Filthy Queer Joy

Welcome to episode 3 of the SANTES Podcast! In this episode, we talk with Joss Barton about her ancestor Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country, the divine dance floor, and how to invoke her when she becomes a future ancestor. *We recorded this episode in October of 2025. Joss Barton is a writer, journalist, and spoken word performance artist exploring and documenting queer and trans* life, love, and liberation. Her work blends femme-fever dreams over the soundtrack of the American nightmare. You can check out her work on IG @ganjacum_ Her next book of poetry Goodbye to a Dream Believed! will be published by FuturePoem by Fall of 2026. Listen and subscribe! ♥️ Spotify: bit.ly/SantesSpotify Apple Podcast: bit.ly/SantesApplePod Or just go to our website and listen there: www.santesproject.com/podcast (Accessible Transcript available on our podcast webpage)

Roberto Fatal: The Patron Saint of Spiritual Artistry

In our second SANTES episode, we have a lively conversation with filmmaker Roberto Fatal talking about honoring our indigenous roots, reclaiming memory, and the power of dreaming and creativity. Roberto Fatal is a Meztize Chicana filmmaker and storyteller. Their Queer, gender fluid, Mestize/Mixed identity informs the sci-fi films they make and their work centers on humans who sit at the intersections of time, space, and culture. You can follow their work on IG @roberto_fatal, their writings on Substack @Roberto_Fatal, and check out their films on their website www.robertofatal.com [http://www.robertofatal.com].