“After keeping her film ‘A Field, a Body, an Angel’ private until submitting it to film festivals, Noah Alvarez, a Columbia alum, screened her film on Oct. 1 at the Eyewash Station venue. The film was rooted in surrealism, something Alvarez features in all her films.
 
“Alvarez is one of many transgender filmmakers based in Chicago who are part of an ever-growing rise in DIY, low-budget films in a new wave of cinema that some trans filmmakers have called ‘Trans New Weird.’”

“Chicago filmmaker Henry Hanson said the variety of indie subcultures in filmmaking allows for trans filmmakers to have opportunities beyond mainstream cinema. 
 
“Hanson had his film ‘Dog Movie’ featured by the Criterion Channel, and he said that was the first time the people around him recognized it as a massive achievement, especially considering that the film only had a budget of $1,000. “

“Jake Thomas of the Oregon Capital Chronicle talks about how Oregon is quietly letting part of its landmark transgender care mandate go unenforced.”

“Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. The State of Oregon has done a lot to thwart efforts from the Trump administration and the White House to impose its agenda on the state. From lawsuits to court orders to outright refusal, Oregon has thumbed its nose at the White House, but while these efforts create headlines, one policy has quietly been shuttered. Today on the show, you'll hear from an Oregon Capital Chronicle reporter who says Oregon is not enforcing its once historic transgender care mandate, and fear of the White House could be the reason why.”

“Republican candidates and political committees have spent more than $100 million since August on advertisements referencing gender-transition procedures, making transgender medical care a prominent issue in the 2026 midterm elections as independent fact-checkers find that some campaigns have misrepresented candidates’ voting records and the medical procedures available to minors.”

“An Oct. 12 investigation by FactCheck.org⁠ found that Republican candidates and outside organizations spent more than $100 million on over 200 television, streaming and digital advertisements containing the phrase ‘sex change’ between Aug. 1 and the publication of the analysis.
More than $77 million of that spending occurred in U.S. Senate races, according to FactCheck.org’s review of advertising data collected by AdImpact.

“The investigation examined advertisements in Ohio, Texas and Alaska that claimed Democratic candidates supported gender-transition surgeries for children or taxpayer financing of such procedures. In several instances, fact-checkers found that the advertisements relied on votes against legislation that restricted a substantially broader range of medical treatments.”

“The advertisements highlight a recurring feature of political messaging: complex legislative decisions can be reduced to claims that do not accurately describe what a candidate voted for or against.”

“A PolitiFact investigation published Aug. 28⁠ similarly examined advertisements in Kansas, Iowa and other states, finding instances where edited statements or legislative votes were presented without important context.”