Fiona Pestana
is a writer, producer, zinester, multimedia maker, and advocate for social change.
Fiona advocates for queer liberation, mutual aid, labor rights, feminism, and independent art through digital communications and community building. They believe that, even when the world feels like it’s falling apart at the hands of terrible people, we have the power to help each other live and thrive. Together, one day at a time.
Fiona has worked in progressive media since 2019. They produced podcasts at Crooked Media, including the feminist political analysis show Hysteria, their flagship Pod Save America, and the daily news show What A Day. Fiona sometimes hopped on the mic to discuss the history and current state of trans rights. Their favorite part of working there was being on the organizing and bargaining committees of the Crooked Media Workers Union. The workers ratified a contract that raised the bar for the whole podcast industry.
Fiona has also worked on narrative non-fiction podcasts — including Harsh Reality and White Picket Fence — that reckon with past injustices and highlight subsequent shifts towards social good. Beyond audio, Fiona has written for progressive entities like Ms. Magazine, Autostraddle, and Mutuals Media.
Since 2018, Fiona has thrown events like DIY music shows, queer parties, and photography retreats. Most of the events donated profits to mutual aid or progressive causes. For instance: in 2023, they co-produced Trans Joy Fest in Los Angeles, which highlighted trans art and provided free medical and gender-affirming supplies for local trans folks. The event, featured in the Los Angeles Times, raised money for queer political refugees in the South as well as for the local LGBT Center’s youth programs.
A lifelong artist, Fiona is a writer, zinester, photographer, designer, and performer. Their work is inspired by their Californian roots, Christian upbringing, friendships, indie music, and anticapitalist politics. They explore how to ground themself in nature, creativity, intimacy, and hope while living in a world that can be so chaotic and depressing. They often create under the moniker floweryfi.
Fiona lives in Queens, New York with their orange cat Lucky.
