Podcast Press Kit
Contact for press inquiries:
Laura Marie Ruocco | laura@tmiproject.org
TMI Project | 65 Saint James Street, Kingston, NY 12401
The TMI Project Story Hour launched in April of 2020. Since then, the podcast has appeared twice on Apple’s New & Noteworthy and has been featured on Spotify and Pandora. In 2023, The TMI Project Story Hour was given the highest honor at International Women’s Podcast Awards, taking home the award for Changing the World One Moment at a Time; and received recognition at Sonic Bloom Awards for Gender Justice and Voice of the People.
Season 4: Pride Stories
On Season 4 of The TMI Project Story Hour: Pride Stories, co-hosts Julie Novak and Blake Pfeil profile 13 of our favorite LGBTQIA+ storytellers, all of whom share radically true pride stories to record history, explore identity, save lives, and celebrate being queer and alive! Join us as we take a deeper dive and share the stories behind the secrets, and what happened next.
Season 4 Co-hosts:
Julie Novak
“To be a part of helping people release the shame that binds them, to see people transform in the most positive way after sharing their truth is what gives my life meaning. Countless times I have witnessed how the act of being seen and heard can create true connection and lasting change.”
Julie is a multi-talented performer, writer, and musician who enjoys making people laugh, feel loved, and consider their role in making the world a better place. Aside from co-founding TMI Project, Julie is a media producer and facilitator with The Future Perfect Project, a queer-led organization that offers free arts programming to LGBTQIA+ youth across the globe. She has performed all over the United States, including a tour of her one-person show America’s Next Top, which had a successful run in the NYC Fringe Festival. Currently, Julie is the host of No One Like You (broadcast on TMI Project media partner Radio Kingston/WKNY), a weekly program where she interviews everyday heroes who share uplifting stories about turning their kryptonite into their superpower. Learn more: julienovak.com
Blake Pfeil
“It’s humbling to be part of a mission committed to exploring the cultural dynamics of intersectionality. For centuries, the art of true storytelling has allowed for unheard voices to find an audience and untold stories to come to light. In a day and age when truth is constantly under fire, there is hope when all kinds of marginalized voices are able to find platforms like TMI Project to share common ground.”
Blake Pfeil is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist. He cofounded folk-fusion band Macabre Americana and hosts “The Pfeil File” on Radio Kingston/WKNY (107.9 FM/1490 AM in the Hudson Valley, NY). Blake’s work appears on stages, concert halls, or clubs; through your headphones, speakers, radio, Diskman, or TV screens; or in magazines, books, or journals. In all his non-existent spare time, Blake is also currently working as an associate producer for season 5 of History Colorado’s Lost Highways. His current project is All-American Ruins, a multimedia travelogue in which he recounts his experiences exploring abandoned spaces across the United States and reimagines them via multimodal storytelling. The podcast arm of the project, abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast, was an Official Select at On Air Fest 2023 and winner of the Top of the Rockies – Best of Podcasts (2023). All-American Ruins was also recently shortlisted for the Elevate Creatives Fund.MA, Arts Entrepreneurship, Purchase College; BFA, Musical Theatre, Emerson College. Audio Podcast Fellow, SUNY Stony Brook. https://www.blakepfeil.com
SEASON 4 EDITOR
“As a queer non-binary person, being part of a project focusing on the stories of queer folk was a unique opportunity to align my work with my own identity. These stories are both engaging and important to the tapestry of our history as so many of our stories have been silenced or unsung. TMI Project is doing something special, and I’m honoured to be a part of that.”
Stevie Manns is a Scottish audio producer and podcast consultant now living in New York. Stevie is a podcast fan, first and foremost, producing and hosting two of their own podcasts, This Next Song’s About: A Songwriter’s Podcast and Set Phasers: A Highly Illogical Star Trek Podcast. With a background in radio presenting, production, and self-producing music as a songwriter, Stevie made a long-awaited career change from finance in 2021. Stevie also holds a Law degree from Aberdeen University.
Season 4 Storytellers:
TMI Project Executive Director Eva Tenuto speaks with Celeste Lecesne, co-founder of The Trevor Project, the first 24 hour suicide lifeline for LGBTQIA+ youth, about the necessity of sharing our stories of survival. Then, we hear from storyteller Ray, who was able to interrupt suicidal ideation thanks to a life-saving call to The Trevor Project.
TMI Project Executive Director Eva Tenuto passes the mic to the new hosts of Season 4; TMI Project co-founder (and Eva’s wife) Julie Novak and Operations and Programs Manager, Blake Pfeil. Together they reflect on the importance of true storytelling for the LGBTQIA+ community to share their authentic truth, record their history, explore identity, and celebrate queerness!
Like many kids, Ness struggles to find belonging at school, and strives for perfection in an attempt to be liked. But what does it mean to seek perfection as a Black queer child, when society’s model of perfect is a white man? With the help of his grandma’s advice, adult Ness finally finds someone strong and powerful staring back when he looks into the mirror.
Zelda aka Judith Z. Miller takes us through her early crushes, from girls at camp to her English teacher. Shamed for her sexuality by her parents, high school psychiatrist, and college classmates, Zelda finally finds community at a progressive college where she and her girlfriend are treated with respect for the first time.
After getting kicked out of his house, Liam moves to NYC and finds his calling: dance. He also finds something else: crystal meth. When both start battling for his full attention, Liam realizes he has to make a choice.
Before coming out as a transgender woman, Bailey tried to present as the ultimate man. She was a bodybuilder, successful in business, and seemingly had it all. Yet hiding her true self took a toll, and depression threatened her life, until transitioning ultimately saved her.
Pat and Ralph share parallel stories of coming into their identities in a time before rainbow flags and corporate Pride sponsorship. Pat came out as a lesbian in the 1970s, after the Stonewall Rebellion gave her the courage to stage a revolution in her own life. Ralph was born in 1931. He knew he was different from an early age, but didn’t know what that meant until a classmate in his early teens told him boys like them were called fairies.
Outdated narratives frame “coming out” as a singular, pivotal moment in a queer person’s life where they reveal their sexuality to those around them. Windy tells a different story, of coming out in layers and spirals. Among them, the first time Windy talks to her parents about having a girlfriend, and the vastly different responses from her mother and father.
Kiebpoli & Erik, hosts of the upcoming Black Trans Stories Matter Season of The TMI Project Podcast, share their Pride Stories.
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