Volunqueers is a monthly podcast brought to you by the LGBTQI+ RPCV affiliate group. Each episode we will interview an LGBTQI+ RPCV to learn about their Peace Corps service, what it was like to live abroad as a queer person, and how Peace Corps has impacted them. We hope you will enjoy our content and join our growing community at www.lgbtqirpcv.org
In this episode, we sit down with Ken Goughnour to talk about his time in Benin! He traded running water and electricity for 122 births, midnight knocks with fermented millet beer, and a quiet romance with an armed gendarme.
From royal namings to clandestine queerness in the village, Ken shares what happens when raw vulnerability meets unexpected connection.
Tune in for a candid, alluring look at finding love and kinship in the places you least expect.
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A recording with a transcript of this episode is available via Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If you enjoy this LGBTQI+ RPCV content please consider joining our growing community at www.lgbtqirpcv.org (http://www.lgbtqirpcv.org). If you have questions about our community please contact us at podcast@lgbtqirpcv.org.
All opinions presented in this podcast are those of the individual and do not represent official positions or statements by the US Peace Corps, the National Peace Corps Association, or any other affiliated organizations.
1 Sept 2026
Episode 20 - Dr. Don Kilhefner (RPCV Ethiopia)
In this episode, we sit down with living legend Dr. Don Kilhefner, whose journey began in 1962 among the very first wave of Peace Corps volunteers! Stepping straight from a Rose Garden blessing with JFK into the highlands of Ethiopia, all while harboring a truth that could have ended his service overnight.
Between hand-cranked stencils, a secret recipe for revolutionary school lunches, and a touch of Amharic-infused "witchcraft," Don’s time in Dessie sparked a lifelong fire. But that was just the prologue. From co-founding the Gay Liberation Front and attempting to take over a California county, to decades of radical community building and eldering, Don shares what happens when altruism meets unapologetic defiance.
Tune in for a spellbinding, provocative, and vibrant conversation on the magic of intergenerational wisdom, revolutionary identity, and why the real power has always lived at the grassroots.
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A recording with a transcript of this episode is available via Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If you enjoy this LGBTQI+ RPCV content please consider joining our growing community at www.lgbtqirpcv.org (http://www.lgbtqirpcv.org). If you have questions about our community please contact us at podcast@lgbtqirpcv.org.
All opinions presented in this podcast are those of the individual and do not represent official positions or statements by the US Peace Corps, the National Peace Corps Association, or any other affiliated organizations.
1 Aug 2026
Episode 19 - Steph Shelton (RPCV Tonga)
In this episode, we sit down with Steph Shelton, an RPCV whose journey took her from post-recession job hunts to the Kingdom of Tonga, where female homosexuality was practically invisible and she was forced to step back into the closet.
Between navigating the "Beach Corps" myth and Tonga’s complex third-gender dynamics, Steph spent two years guarding her identity thousands of miles from home. But just as she reached the finish line, a single late-night slip-up threatened to blow her cover and ignite the island’s notorious "coconut wireless."
Tune in to hear Steph’s raw, funny, and deeply honest story on survival, identity, and why protecting your peace is the ultimate life lesson.
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A recording with a transcript of this episode is available via Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If you enjoy this LGBTQI+ RPCV content please consider joining our growing community at www.lgbtqirpcv.org (http://www.lgbtqirpcv.org). If you have questions about our community please contact us at podcast@lgbtqirpcv.org.
All opinions presented in this podcast are those of the individual and do not represent official positions or statements by the US Peace Corps, the National Peace Corps Association, or any other affiliated organizations.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 8 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
3
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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