SOCIAL X CHANGE. Sheng Lor Waldinger recently relaunched her podcast under a new name, with an increased focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

1. The Social X Change Project Podcast

Love. Passion. Curiosity. That’s what podcaster Sheng Lor Waldinger wants to convey with her conversational podcast, The Social X Change Project. This locally focused podcast originally launched in December 2019 with the help of one of Waldinger’s friends. But Waldinger felt the project needed more time and energy, so she relaunched with a second season under its new name: The Social X Change Project. This podcast, produced with the help of CoLab and Ivy Media, centers around topics involving entertainment, education, and impact. In the coming year, Waldinger hopes to feature more underrepresented or marginalized people, as well as people of color. She also will focus on local guests as well as Hmong professionals.

Be on the lookout for updates at www.facebook.com/thesocialxchangeproject.

2. Queer in the Valley

In what other local podcast can you break out Golden Girls clips and still talk about deconstructing major social issues? Well, in Queer in the Valley, the hosts do just that! Created by the Chippewa Valley LGBTQ Community Center, this podcast explores pop culture, current events, and all things LGBTQ. Every episode focuses on the Chippewa Valley, featuring interviews with local individuals who identify as LGBTQ. Some of their past episodes include “Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling,” “The First Pride Was a Riot,” and “Cancel Culture.” In the next year, the podcast will lose co-host Ron Bower – the vice president of the Chippewa Valley LGBTQ Community Center – as he has taken on another role in Iowa. In 2021, Queer in the Valley will welcome Ben Struell and Dani Downing as new co-hosts.

Check it out at www.facebook.com/QueerInTheValley.

3. Conversations in Color

OK, OK, so Conversations in Color isn’t technically a podcast – it’s a livestream – but it’s such an important local resource, we just couldn’t leave it off the list. This broadcast, which focuses on topics of race in the Chippewa Valley, was founded by Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton and Ed Hudgins in July, after the killing of George Floyd. Topics of the program include interracial parenting, how racism affects white people, Black masculinity, police brutality, navigating race and racism with children, controversial monuments, and more. This nonpartisan livestream event is possible by the Pablo Center, Uniting Bridges, and Converge Radio 101.9. 

Check out more about the podcast at convergeradio.org, and watch out for new streams at www.facebook.com/Conversations-in-Color-589371255081214.