About Peterson

About Peterson Toscano

For over two decades, Peterson Toscano has used storytelling to disarm, challenge, and connect. Whether behind a microphone, on a theatrical stage, or digging in his garden, his work consistently explores the intersections of justice, spirituality, LGBTQ+ rights, and human resilience.

Today, Peterson is a celebrated audio producer and podcast host who approaches sound design as an intimate craft. His audio footprint spans a variety of critical and creative projects, including:

• Bubble&Squeak, his personal audio playground.

• Quakers Today, the companion podcast to Friends Journal magazine.

• Climate Changed, hosting conversations for spiritual leaders navigating a warming world alongside The BTS Center.

• Religion and Justice, discussing the intersections of class, religion, labor, and ecology with the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Long before he was mixing audio, Peterson spent from 2003 to 2020 connecting with audiences across North America, Europe, and Africa through his critically acclaimed one-person comedies and lively performance lectures. His stage work fearlessly and humorously confronted heavy political and social realities, from sexism, racism, and white privilege to gender variance and the climate crisis.

As a recognized independent scholar, his groundbreaking work highlighting gender non-conformity in the text of the Bible garnered praise from theologians, academics, and activists alike. His signature performance piece, Transfigurations—Transgressing Gender in the Bible, was presented everywhere from university symposiums and seminaries to underground drag bars. It now lives on as a film, available on DVD from Meetinghouse.xyz and streaming freely on YouTube.

Grounded by his Quaker faith, Peterson is an avid gardener and a lover of all foods. He lives in Waterval Boven (Emgwenya), Mpumalanga, South Africa, where he shares his life with his husband, Glen Retief—the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The Jack Bank: A Memoir of a South African Childhood, who is currently penning a novel rooted in South African history.

Looking to hire Peterson for podcast production or consulting? 

Visit YourStoryHelp.com or KhanyisaCreative.com  

Follow Peterson on your favorite social media site.