Radicals & Revolutionaries Lab

This week’s revolutionary is Boise’s Bombshell: Minerva Jayne VanAllan. She’s an advice columnist, entertainer, comedian, and artist shaking up the norms in Boise, Idaho. From birth onward, the theme throughout Minerva’s life is resilience and authenticity. Throughout our conversation, Minerva shares her story about exploring gender, drag, and her political existence. She shares about how she’s dealt with death threats starting from childhood, and how she’s found ways to empower herself in the face of adversity. Some Questions I Ask: Tell us about what you spend your time doing. (1:25)Do you ever feel like you’re pushing boundaries and therefore being censored a bit? (4:37)When did you start doing entertainment? (18:09)How do you conceptualize drag versus gender? (41:37)In This Episode, You Will Learn: How Minerva handled her first death threat at 10 years old. (7:49)How Minerva’s grandmother influenced her curated look. (21:10)Why Minerva sees competitive drag as reminiscent of toxicity.