Zach Stafford on Locations That Spark Surprise

Dylan Thuras: I'm going to begin truly by asking you just a little bit about Tennessee.

Zach Stafford: Oh.

Dylan: Inform me about rising up there. What was that like?

Zach: Thanks for asking that. Once I was starting my profession, I all the time recognized as a Tennessee rider. And place has all the time been tremendous essential for me. And the place I grew up was actually essential for me. However Tennessee was a extremely difficult place to be black and homosexual. You recognize, I'm from a city north of Nashville, the place my household was, you recognize, within the '90s, one of many first interracial {couples} actually to maneuver there. I used to be one of many solely blended youngsters in my faculty. My mother and father are black and white, so I establish as a blended child.

And it's a fairly conservative place the place I'm from. It's deeply non secular, however non secular in that method that like Southerners are actually good at being non secular. It's like cultural. You say, “Bless your coronary heart.” You go to church, however you continue to gossip rather a lot. Everybody drinks, they celebration. However they, you recognize, consider in Jesus as a result of Jesus will clear them of all their sins if they simply say a prayer. So it's a extremely humorous place. It's not very like, like orthodox or actually like stringent. It's, you recognize, conservative with like just a little C. And naturally, all of them vote purple. So my household is deeply liberal, not very non secular. And I used to be very a lot, you recognize, misplaced whereas being in place there. So, you recognize, I all the time dreamed of one other place.

Dylan: I'm Dylan Thuras, and that is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's unusual, unimaginable, and wondrous locations. At this time, I'm speaking with Zach Stafford. Zach is a author, producer, and a co-host of the information and tradition podcast, Vibe Examine. And at the moment I'm asking Zach about his life as seen by way of place, 5 locations specifically, as a result of Zach has this type of loopy resume.

He grew up in Tennessee, however he bought his begin in Chicago at an area newspaper the place he wrote a column about his private life when he was simply in his twenties. That helped launch his profession as a journalist, the place he went on to work at locations like Out Journal. Then he moved to just a little startup referred to as The Grinder for some time, after which at The Advocate. After which as like a enjoyable little aspect venture, you recognize, he produced a Broadway musical that gained the Tony in 2022.

So this work, this profession has introduced Zach throughout America to many various cities and cities. And every of those locations has had some affect, some shaping perform on his life and who he's. So at the moment we're going to speak about how these locations formed who he has develop into.

That is an edited transcript of the Atlas Obscura Podcast: a celebration of the world's unusual, unimaginable, and wondrous locations. Discover the present on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all main podcast apps.

Dylan: If you have been younger and a youngster, you have been on the lookout for the exit. You have been seeking to sort of get someplace.

Zach: I used to be all the time keenly conscious that I needed to depart the place I used to be from. And, you recognize, I really like the place I'm from. It formed me. I'm going again usually, however I knew it wasn't my eternally residence. So I all the time seemed north and, you recognize, Chicago for me, for some motive, all the time captured my creativeness. I believe as a result of it was an city atmosphere, it was a Black metropolis, it was a queer metropolis, it was all these items. So I all the time had this like North star and, you recognize, rising up, it was all the time like, endure, endure, endure, simply get by way of this as a result of at some point you'll get out.

And, you recognize, and I'm additionally a child of, you recognize, Dan Savage, the podcaster and author created the It Will get Higher marketing campaign, you recognize, within the Obama period. And I used to be positively like a youngster when that occurred. So I'd took that to coronary heart and I used to be like, “It is going to get higher if I cross the Mason-Dixon line.” After which I finally crossed the Mason-Dixon line.

Dylan: And inform me about arriving in Chicago. Inform me about that interval of your life, you recognize, what that sort of cultural shift felt like. Tennessee and Chicago are completely different. These are completely different locations.

Zach: Very completely different locations, very completely different locations. And I used to be very a lot, what was shocking to me upon arrival was I used to be nonetheless misplaced. You recognize, my Southerness grew to become actually acute. And that's why I believe I began speaking rather a lot about it. As a result of whenever you're from Tennessee and you reside in Tennessee, everybody's from Tennessee. Like, why are we speaking about it?

However I moved to Chicago and I had an accent. I had a mind-set concerning the world and experiencing the world that was simply so completely different than all my colleagues in faculty and my buddies after which the individuals I'd meet. So it weirdly made me extra Southern, however I believe it was extra of like, I used to be taking an accounting of what I needed to maintain in my Southerness and what I needed to let go.

And what I liked about residing in Chicago was this, just like the beginnings of not feeling misplaced. That I'd stroll down the road and folks weren't as nervous to be round me. They weren't as involved with who I'm. They weren't, you recognize, all these questions sort of disappeared.

And what I liked about Chicago is I went to high school at DePaul College, which in the event you're acquainted, and I believe you're acquainted with Chicago, is on the North aspect of town. It's in Lincoln Park, a really prosperous space. However what I liked about my faculty is that it was tremendous near the gayborhood, which is Boys City.

And so I in a short time bought to have this like quick entry to queer individuals of all completely different colours and genders and identities and ages that I had by no means even conceptualized. So it felt sort of like falling by way of the wanting glass rather a lot, to reference Alice in Wonderland. And I liked it. I liked falling and it was actually, actually nice time.

Dylan: Was there any tradition shock going from Tennessee to Chicago? Or was it extra like, I knew what I needed and right here it lastly is?

Zach: There was a lot tradition shock. And if something, there was like trauma shock, if that's a phrase. I wrote about this rather a lot once I labored for The Guardian whereas I used to be in Chicago after I graduated. And I wrote, I coated race and politics and a bunch of different issues. And one thing I discovered myself lacking was the very simple racism of the South. And what I imply by that's—

Dylan: Positive, certain. Completely different flavors and completely different latitudes.

Zach: Oh, completely different flavors. So there was the massive dream that you simply have been instructed, particularly as a Southerner, we talked about Northerners. I grew up speaking rather a lot about Northerners. And the North was sort of a utopic place the place racism didn't exist, is what I used to be instructed. That's why Black individuals left and went there.

And once I arrived, I spotted in a short time by way of loads of private experiences that racism was nonetheless there. It was very, very, very current. It simply seemed completely different and it materialized very in a different way. And I discovered myself eager for the in-your-face direct hatred that I've gotten used to. You stroll into a spot and somebody doesn't need you there, they simply instructed you.

The place in Chicago, there was all this passive aggression. There was all these methods during which they made it tougher for you. They might ice you out at a restaurant and simply not serve you for some time. The place I grew up within the South within the '90s and folks have been simply very open about it. As a result of they have been like, that is simply the lifestyle.

In order that was the shock for me was that I noticed a consciousness round race and id and that individuals have been attempting to sort of subvert it by way of hiding it and attempting to say—particularly, that is the Obama period—the place they have been Democrats too. They're like, “Oh, I'm going to vote for this man,” however they didn't need to have dinner with me or deal with me equally.

And that was very surprising to me as a result of I believed, you recognize, Chicago is so Black, it's so all these items, however shortly realized that it's the second most segregated metropolis within the nation. And I started to really feel that as I moved by way of town, it was like, “Oh wait, this adjustments by block, by zip code.”

And so for me, it was like a brand new method of experiencing my very own Blackness in America. And it actually radicalized me in ways in which the South didn't, which I believe is a shock to individuals the place individuals consider the South as radicalizing of most of the most well-known writers and activists of the world. For me, Chicago is basically activating as a Black individual.

Dylan: So, okay. So in some methods you discovered form of issues that have been actually fairly surprising. Alternatively, it seems like in Boys City, you discovered possibly one thing that you simply'd been searching for, which was sort of like a group the place you felt possibly not simply snug, however even some sense of sort of anonymity or similar to, I'm simply, you recognize—so what was Boys City in your life in Chicago and the way did that sort of change who you're at the moment?

Zach: Yeah, I really like Boys City. To today, I nonetheless have a keenness for it. Again then, you recognize, 2008, it was like, it was simply an amazing sense of magic. Boys City is, you recognize, within the North aspect of Chicago, it's a neighborhood that's sandwiched between Wrigleyville or Wrigley Subject, the place the baseball, the Cubs play, and the lake itself, Lake Michigan. And it's this little sliver and it's very homosexual. It's turning into decreasingly much less and fewer homosexual sadly. However at the moment, it was like peak gayness, peak every part.

And there's a triangle of streets there that I'd stroll with my buddies as a result of I wasn't 21 but and I didn't have a pretend ID in the intervening time. So I'd simply stroll the streets. And on the streets, you get to see like, there have been so many individuals doing, you recognize, street-based work, like intercourse work or medicine, promoting medicine. I'd meet them and so they seem like me or they seem like my cousins.

After which I'd hang around with these individuals on the street after which I'd stroll up and I meet drag queens who're strolling to work. I'd speak to guys who would flirt with me exterior the bar smoking cigarettes. I bought to see the LGBT Middle there. I by no means even knew that there was LGBT facilities on this planet. After which I bought to have entry to at least one.

So for me, it was this opening of a complete new world of like these solid of characters and these prospects of being that I simply by no means thought-about. You recognize, we speak rather a lot about chance fashions, particularly millennials. Millennials love a chance mannequin, love eager about illustration. And at the moment, you recognize, we had like Glee on TV and like Queer as People and some reveals, Will and Grace, however nobody actually seemed like me. However to go to a neighborhood the place there was loads of me all over the place was simply so affirming.

However it additionally was deeply miserable as a result of to that time I made earlier across the methods during which race and gender present up in Chicago, it grew to become very obvious that there was a hierarchy of Boys City. You recognize, there are the those that have been contained in the bars that might truly pay to go to dinner there. And there have been the those that have been on the streets that have been working the streets. There have been the those that lived in Boys City and people are the those that visited Boys City.

So I in a short time grew to become conscious of simply the methods a lot class and id and all these items blended collectively. And it was an ideal recipe for me as a result of once I arrived at college, I didn't actually know what I needed to check. I simply knew I needed to be in class. And what I needed most in my life was to have language round who I'm. And I believe actually have a way of place on this planet.

And as I used to be in college, I began taking gender research lessons and significant race concept lessons. So I'm studying all these phrases round intersectionality and feminism as I'm additionally spending my nights, strolling the streets of Boys City, assembly individuals with buddies and simply hanging out. And it grew to become very sensible for me. This theoretical framework of eager about id on this planet by way of academia grew to become very realized in Boys City itself. So it was simply actually affirming for me to need to lean into this neighborhood that was actually contradictory, actually dynamic and actually difficult for me.

And so I simply sort of created my very own little residence there and it made me a storyteller on the finish of the day. And that's actually the place my journalism profession comes from is being so in love with assembly individuals on the streets and listening to their tales of what it's prefer to dwell there or come to Boys City is, I'd say, the start of what made me a journalist was being like, “Oh, on a regular basis individuals have one thing attention-grabbing to say and they need to be heard as a result of me listening to them actually modified me.”

Dylan: Do you keep in mind the primary piece you revealed, the primary piece you filed throughout this era, like for a sort of correct …?

Zach: Sure. Oh, God. Sure, I do. I do very, very properly. Proper once I graduated faculty in 2012, I believe, I used to be introduced on to the Chicago Tribune, which is the massive regional paper of Chicago. And I wrote for his or her every day commuter paper that everybody bought whenever you bought on the practice. So whenever you get on the L, there'd be stacks of this newspaper known as the RedEye.

So my editor employed me. And I keep in mind him jokingly saying to me within the assembly, you recognize, you might be the homosexual Carrie Bradshaw as a result of I liked Intercourse and the Metropolis on the time. And I used to be like, “Oh, yeah, I can write concerning the metropolis and my experiences in it.” And I'm simply so, you recognize, at 21, 22, you suppose you're simply so essential and your worldview is so wanted that I similar to leaned in.

So then I bought a column to take action. So it actually affirmed possibly a foul behavior. And my very first column I ever wrote was referred to as Received't You Date My Neighbor? I simply begin courting as a current faculty grad. And I met a man and I don't keep in mind his identify. However what I do keep in mind is that he was transferring a block away from me. And I used to be actually nervous about this as a result of I used to be like, “Oh, if he strikes a block away from me, does that imply now we have to be collectively?” And so I did what any author would do after assembly a person for 2 weeks, and I wrote about him and a column about assembly this man.

And there was this factor I talked to my buddies about with like, what occurs in the event you begin sleeping or courting a neighbor? Does that change the dynamics? And thru the column writing after which my lived expertise, I discovered that like they may very well be your neighbor it's not going to essentially affect your love life an excessive amount of, particularly when it's early on. So that you shouldn't be making large choices of one thing you simply began getting engaged with.

So yeah, my first columns have been very a lot concerning the metropolis and the way I used to be transferring by way of it. And I used it as sort of like a public diary, which was now wanting again sort of embarrassing as a result of I'd trip the practice and folks can be studying it. And I used to be like, “Oh God, that is sort of cringy that you simply're like studying my courting life as I'm sitting subsequent to you.”

Dylan: Yeah. I imply, you're proper to be like 22 years previous out of school and mainly have like this large platform to do like opinion items about your personal life is like, that's wild.

Zach: It was so wild. I nonetheless don't know why they stated sure. Like I don't know in the event that they realized I had simply graduated faculty or what, but it surely modified my life eternally. That column is why I'm even speaking to you at the moment. It set off a domino impact in my life. So I'm actually grateful for it. However now I don't advise 22 12 months olds to put in writing like that.

Dylan: Yeah.

Zach: I lived in Chicago for 9 years, together with faculty. And what took me out of Chicago was a job on the app Grindr. So Grindr, for many who don't know, which I'm assuming everybody is aware of, is legendary. It's iconic and it deserves to be iconic as a result of it launched in 2009 and it was one of many first apps within the app retailer, interval. Earlier than Tinder, there was Grindr. And I used to be obsessive about it as a university scholar as a result of it was an app.

I used to be actually concerned about it from a tutorial standpoint as a result of I used to be finding out gender research in faculty, but in addition cultural geography. So I used to be like, “Oh, I'm utilizing this app to maneuver by way of town.” And I shortly realized I used to be being handled in a different way in numerous elements of Chicago, relying on the place I went and the way I introduced myself.

So loads of my educational work grew to become about GPS applied sciences, truly. And I did get to grad faculty and determined to not go to grad faculty to be a geographer. However I did all this work round—

Dylan: You actually do have place in your background in a giant method. You nearly grew to become a geographer. Oh, that's fascinating.

Zach: Really. Once I discovered we have been doing this present and that you simply have been prepared to have me on, I used to be like, “Oh my God, that is making my entire life.”

Dylan: Oh, that's superior. That's so cool.

Zach: As a result of I actually, if I'd taken a special path in my life again then, I'd have a PhD now in cultural geography and I'd be finding out digital areas and locations and identities. So I used to be actually concerned about how we take our bodily self and add it right into a digital place.

So all of that work did feed into my journalistic profession. And once I grew to become a journalist with a capital J and began doing investigative work, used Grindr on sure assignments. So I as soon as went to Kansas Metropolis for The Guardian and reported out a homicide by way of utilizing Grindr as a result of it was a homosexual man that was murdered by way of a lover on Grindr.

So I used to be sort of utilizing courting apps to do journalism on this actually enjoyable method that my mother thought was simply my excuse to discover a man, however I actually was attempting to make use of it for work functions. However all of that caught the attention of Grindr and Grindr introduced me to L.A.

I hated L.A. as a spot earlier than then. I'd solely come a number of occasions and I believed it was simply so barren and shallow architecturally. I discovered it actually uninteresting. I discovered the site visitors to be overbearing and all of these items. And Grindr referred to as and supplied me a job to launch my very own journal. And I needed to say sure. And so they have been like, “However you need to transfer right here.” So I moved there. I moved right here. I'm nonetheless right here. And that was like the following part of my life that basically modified me.

L.A. was a spot that not solely wasn't residence, however was a spot I'd by no means needed to go. And I needed to construct an entire life right here. And the primary few years have been actually robust, however I bought to construct {a magazine} that I used to be actually happy with. And it was a spot the place I bought to do this Grindr-centric work round queer lives, however at a world scale. We had reporters in each nation and it was so wonderful. And thru that work, I bought to discover ways to produce documentaries and work on tv reveals as a result of Grindr's a giant firm and we have been optioning our IP.

So all of that work actually modified me. And in L.A., on the finish of the day, it's develop into my favourite place to be. I really like L.A. a lot, but it surely was in this type of feeling out of kinds right here and misplaced that I used to be in a position to actually refine my observe as a storyteller. As a result of I believe the by way of line by way of all of the work I've completed is all very story-based and in addition geographically primarily based, I've discovered through the years. It's all about place and the tales we inform in these locations, actually.

Dylan: Yeah. Okay, so that you're out in L.A. Inform me just a little bit—I imply, that is I really simply don't know—what occurred on the West Facet Freeway in New York?

Zach: Whereas I used to be in L.A., I finally went on to be the editor-in-chief of The Advocate. And whereas I used to be at The Advocate, I used to be like, “Oh, I can't simply have one job.” So I began internet hosting a morning tv present in New York. And so I'd spend my weekdays in New York and are available again to L.A. And whereas I used to be there, you recognize, my life was actually, actually insane. It was only a lot.

And after a number of years of that, the pandemic hit. And when the pandemic hit, my life, like all of our lives, got here to a cease. And I lived in Chelsea on the time. And proper earlier than all of it occurred, I had met a person at my CrossFit gymnasium who grew to become a pal. And I had a giant crush on him. And throughout the first month or two, he requested me to go on a motorcycle trip down the West Facet Freeway. And since I labored a lot, I by no means went to the West Facet Freeway.

I actually would get up, go to the newsroom, work all day, then go to The Advocate, which Out Journal too, and we do that each one day. After which I'd simply my entire days have been simply that again and again and over. And when every part bought actually quiet, I bought to essentially take pleasure in New York.

I'd by no means lived in New York earlier than. I'd solely gone there for work. However I started to really feel sort of the magic of it. And on the time, you recognize, there was no site visitors. Nobody's on the road. So it was a really like, it was like being on a film set on the time. A terrifying film set as a result of, you recognize, this pandemic's raging. However it was a extremely, actually attention-grabbing film set.

And this man who finally grew to become my companion would take me on bike rides. And we'd go bike driving each day on the West Facet Freeway. And it simply was like such a second of peace for me, of understanding that inside all of the chaos of life, that it's actually essential to search out some stillness the place you could find it. And that you could find sort of the sweetness in a spot the place you similar to take a second to take pleasure in it. And New York for me, I had by no means actually seen the sweetness in New York. New York was about plugging in and going. However being with him—and we're clearly nonetheless collectively and now we dwell in L.A.—but it surely's like my comfortable place, you recognize, everytime you're confused, you consider like, “Oh, there's an excessive amount of happening on this planet,” I can take myself mentally again to these walks on the West Facet Freeway. And it simply actually brings me again all the way down to earth.

So I all the time, so now once I go to New York, I attempt to go to the West Facet Freeway each time simply to pay respect to a strip of concrete or pavement that basically helped me get by way of a troublesome time.

Dylan: As your profession has advanced, as you might have advanced, what does that seem like? I do know you've completed a good quantity of journey. Like is there locations you go the place you could find that peace of thoughts or possibly sense of getting away from work and self-expectation?

Zach: Oh, yeah. However through the years, I've made Mexico Metropolis that sort of refuge for myself. I began going with Saeed Jones, who I host the podcast with in like 2016, I believe was our first journey. And, you recognize, I grew up, I believe all of us grew up in an America the place they talked loads of shit about Mexico.

You recognize, I grew up listening to like Mexico Metropolis is so harmful. And I neglect why I went there, however he and I went on our first journey there in 2016. And it simply reshaped my mind once more, as a result of it's a spot that I heard all these tales about. However then once I went there, it was radically completely different than what everybody instructed me. It was very queer, very trendy.

Dylan: Loopy cosmopolitan.

Zach: Loopy cosmopolitan.

Dylan: Like New York sort of seems to be just a little provincial like towards Mexico Metropolis.

Zach: It's simply down the road, prefer it's sooner for me to go to Mexico Metropolis from L.A. than New York Metropolis. And I simply met so many individuals there. And it simply expanded my worldview on this method that was actually essential. It's very completely different than going to Europe, as a result of Europe feels prefer it's one other a part of the continent. However these are like neighbors in our hemisphere.

And they give thought to America in a different way. They take care of America in a different way. And it's all these things, and tradition is completely different there. And their relationship to colonialism is basically fascinating and the way it sort of continues to echo at the moment. However I went there and I believe my potential to construct group there, as a result of I've loads of expensive buddies there now which might be native Mexicans and have companies and lives and households.

And it simply has develop into a spot the place I'm going to cover and never be wrapped up in work. I actually discover myself drawn to locations the place I can sort of disappear and never be working or not be on and sort of return to that unique love of mine, which is simply assembly a stranger and speaking to them with out actually any expectation in any respect.

Dylan: Yeah. Are there any locations inside Mexico Metropolis that you simply actually love? Any particular cafes, bars, areas?

Zach: Sure. I've to shout out a pricey pal of mine, Cecilia. She simply opened up a bar, like a Mezcal wine bar within the historic district. However it's one of many solely woman-owned Mezcal locations in Mexico Metropolis.

And each time I'm on the town, I'm going to her retail area and we'll have a cocktail party there together with her buddies, my buddies. And we similar to, it's after hours and now we have quesadillas and drink Mezcal and wine. And it simply feels so informal and so enjoyable. So for me, that's—I'm very drawn to the casualness of Mexico Metropolis. And never a lot the, I don't know, the Pujols or just like the actually well-known large eating places. I like going to a metropolis the place I can simply be nameless and be part of the material actually simply. So, yeah.

Dylan: It's humorous. It's the theme that runs by way of these locations we've talked about. Clearly, you've moved round rather a lot for work and completed loads of completely different stuff. However speaking about Boys City, speaking concerning the West Facet Freeway, the place you're taking a motorcycle trip with a romantic companion and that's evolving. After which Mexico Metropolis is that this place the place you possibly can sort of similar to—these are all locations the place you're unencumbered by a way of, “Oh, right here's what I should be doing. Right here's what I should be, you recognize, right here's how, that is essential as a result of this opens up this factor.”

These are locations the place you're mainly in a position to form of wander, transfer freely, similar to expertise the place and your self in a sort of non-structured or non-judgmental method. Is that true? Is that like a, it looks like—yeah.

Zach: Yeah. Thanks for reflecting that again. As a result of as I used to be saying all of this, I've been monitoring my thoughts and that could be a reoccurring theme again and again. That sense of marvel is basically essential, which I don't suppose I've ever actually recognized earlier than.

And that additionally helps me. Thanks for saying that, I ought to ship you a fee for remedy as an alternative of my therapist. As a result of that helps me perceive with my companion after we journey, you recognize, I'm the one which simply books the place and will get our air tickets or no matter, nonetheless we're getting there. After which I don't plan something in that center interval. I'm like, we'll simply see what occurs. And he's actually good at discovering the museums, the locations, the issues that we do.

However my pure inclination with locations is simply to unfold into them and see the place they take me. It's sort of like getting in a river. And I do suppose as you're saying that, I'm like, yeah, that's actually essential to me simply to have the ability to be someplace and don't have any expectation of all of it. As a result of I really feel like I've, as a result of how a lot I work, I've loads of expectation all day lengthy.

Dylan: It's fairly onerous to flee, proper? Like we feature these little gadgets in our pocket, which might be asking us to do, sort of flip each expertise right into a model of labor. It may be onerous, you recognize, possibly you make a journey as a result of it's a piece journey. And whenever you discover these moments the place you don't have a transparent schedule and you're truly free to be form of unsure about what's earlier than you, there's a actual deep pleasure and freedom and shock in what you discover is it's usually very affirming of your sense of individuals and chance.

And it's humorous, I had the same—I used to be in a special metropolis. I used to be in Guanajuato, which is in central Mexico. However I simply discovered myself there with a day to kill, mainly. And I didn't actually have time to make actual plans. And I spent a lot of the day simply strolling across the metropolis. I went to a few—

Zach: That's so good.

Dylan: And it, you recognize, it's one in all my greatest journey reminiscences of current time as a result of it was simply that and also you simply let a spot sort of—you're only a individual in an area and also you don't actually, you don't know why, you're simply there to form of expertise it as it's. And I believe that's actually highly effective.

Zach: Yeah, an individual in an area. Yeah, we want extra of that. Only a individual in an area.

Dylan: You're simply there, yeah. Properly, Zach, this has been a extremely, a beautiful dialog. It's very nice to get to satisfy you.

Zach: Thanks.

Dylan: Go take a look at Zach's present, Vibe Examine, wherever you get your podcasts.

Hear and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all main podcast apps.

This episode was produced by Tomeka Weatherspoon. Our podcast is a co-production of Atlas Obscura and Stitcher Studios. The individuals who make our present embody Doug Baldinger, Chris Naka, Kameel Stanley, Johanna Mayer, Manola Morales, Baudelaire, Gabby Gladney, Amanda McGowan, Alexa Lim, Casey Holford, and Luz Fleming. Our theme music is by Sam Tyndall.