In this conversation, I sit down with my friend Raven Hinojosa to trace the threads of our connection—how ritual, magic, and care weave through our friendship. We talk about:

• How our relationship shifted when Raven joined me in disability and illness

• Following ease and pleasure, even in pain

• Evolving and unfurling without needing to “fix” ourselves

• The role of ritual and creativity in deepening love and interdependence

This episode is an invitation into the ways friendship, disability, and magic hold us together.

Stay tender. Stay tangled. Stay held together.

Want full length episodes? Become a subscriber at ⁠subscribe.heldtogetherpod.com⁠ for access to full conversations, bonus content, and more!

Memberships offered on a sliding scale from free to $10/month.

Find Xander Peer Keller:
On Instagram @xanderpeerkeller and linked here.
On Facebook linked here.
And on TikTok @queercripmagic and linked here.
Read their writing on Substack at xanderpeerkeller.substack.com/ linked here.
Visit their website at disabilitycreativity.com linked here.
Check out Sirona Isle's music on Spotify!
Email us at helptogetherpod@gmail.com

In this tender conversation, Xander Peer Keller and their longtime friend Amy reflect on 20 years of friendship shaped by disability, queerness, sickness, and unchosen paths. Together they explore:

• Unchosen paths — navigating childlessness and incurable illness

• Interdependence in practice — what it means to build and sustain a care web

• Friendship through rupture and repair — lessons from 20 years of showing up

• Invisible grief — losses that aren’t always seen or understood by others

• Receiving care — moving past fear of being “needy” into worthiness and reciprocity

With honesty and vulnerability, they share what it means to mother without children, to live inside an ill body, and to trust that community and support can make survival feel like flourishing.

Stay tender. Stay tangled. Stay held together.

Want full length episodes? Become a subscriber at ⁠subscribe.heldtogetherpod.com⁠ for access to full conversations, bonus content, and more!

Memberships offered on a sliding scale from free to $10/month.

Find Xander Peer Keller:
On Instagram @xanderpeerkeller and linked here.
On Facebook linked here.
And on TikTok @queercripmagic and linked here.
Read their writing on Substack at xanderpeerkeller.substack.com/ linked here.
Visit their website at disabilitycreativity.com linked here.
Check out Sirona Isle's music on Spotify and linked here!
Email us at helptogetherpod@gmail.com

In the first full-length episode of Held Together, host Xander Peer Keller opens the door (and the bed) to a conversation about disability, care, and interdependence. Joined by longtime friend and collaborator Beth, they share stories of building a care web—a network of support rooted in friendship, reciprocity, and queer community.

This episode explores:

• Finding voice and healing through song, storytelling, and community

• How disabled and non-disabled people can practice mutual aid and reciprocity

• The realities of crip time, pain, and communicating needs in interdependent relationships

• Why care webs matter for queer, disabled, and neurodivergent communities

• The joy and creativity that can emerge from interdependence

At its heart, this conversation asks: What becomes possible when we stop holding it all together alone—and allow ourselves to be held together?

Stay tender. Stay tangled. Stay held together.

Want full length episodes? Become a subscriber at subscribe.heldtogetherpod.com for access to full conversations, bonus content, and more!

Memberships offered on a sliding scale from free to $10/month.

Find Xander Peer Keller:

On Instagram @xanderpeerkeller and linked here.

On Facebook linked here.

And on TikTok @queercripmagic and linked here.

Read their writing on Substack at xanderpeerkeller.substack.com/ linked here.

Visit their website at disabilitycreativity.com linked here.

Check out Sirona Isle's music on Spotify linked here!

Email us at helptogetherpod@gmail.com

In this short behind-the-scenes episode, you’ll meet the people who are holding and shaping Held Together. Xander introduces Beth, Nora, and Lunie (their dog) as the team weaving sound, structure, and support into this experiment in care webs and conversation.

Together, we share how this podcast was born out of friendship, courage, and the simple but radical act of showing up for one another. From building nests and leaning back-to-back, to discovering the strength of a three-legged truss, this episode offers a glimpse into the relationships that make Held Together possible.

Find Xander Peer Keller:

On Instagram @xanderpeerkeller and linked here.

On Facebook linked here.

And on TikTok @queercripmagic and linked here.

Read their writing on Substack at xanderpeerkeller.substack.com/ linked here.

Visit their website at disabilitycreativity.com linked here.

Check out Sirona Isle's music on Spotify linked here!

Email us at helptogetherpod@gmail.com

Welcome to Held Together, a podcast about care webs, disabled life, and the everyday magic of interdependence. From my bed, I, Xander Peer Keller, invite you into conversations that are intimate, messy, and beautiful. We explore how pain can become a portal, how queerness and disability carry their own magic, and how being held together is more powerful than holding it all alone.

This trailer is a glimpse into the world we’re creating here: part invocation, part seed-planting, and always rooted in the truth that interdependence is power.

Find Xander Peer Keller:

On Instagram @xanderpeerkeller and linked here.

On Facebook linked here.

And on TikTok @queercripmagic and linked here.

Read their writing on Substack at xanderpeerkeller.substack.com/ linked here.

Visit their website at disabilitycreativity.com linked here.

Check out Sirona Isle's music on Spotify linked here!

Email us at helptogetherpod@gmail.com