What does it take to stand on the side of the highway with your thumb in the air, waiting for a stranger to pick you up? For artist, sex worker, and community organizer Chloe Nova, it’s a mix of curiosity and radical trust. Indeed, Chloe sees hitchhiking as more than just a mode of transportation from one location than another, it’s a way of navigating life.
On this episode of When We’re Not Hustling, Chloe and Jessie dive into Chloe’s experiences hitchhiking in over 40 countries. While her interest in hitchhiking was born out of an effort to seek out discomfort, it became so much more to her. Chloe narrates the stories of her travels, from hitchhiking across the US to Turkey to Malaysian Borneo, and many more. Jessie and Chloe talk about everything she’s learned from her time on the road, and how hitchhiking serves as a radical resistance to structures of the state. Gripping stories, Hobbesian theory, a discussion of the innate goodness of humanity: this episode has it all!
Guest Recommendations:
Books:
- On Freedom by Maggie Nelson
- Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman
- Mothers and Others by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
People:
- Guest: Chloe Nova
- Host: Jessie Sage
- Producer: Emily Foster
- Intern: Anna Fischer
- Music: Benjamin J Benamati
Sponsor: Assembly Four
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