Pride in Bruce: Niko Stratus on ‘Dancing in the Dark,’ Dad Rock, and Becoming a Writer

About this episode

Niko Stratus discusses their journey as a writer and their connection to Bruce Springsteen's music during Pride in Bruce Month.

We kick off Pride in Bruce Month with guest Nico Stratus, a Toronto-based writer originally from Canada’s Yukon. Niko describes growing up in a music- and book-filled home, later leaving construction work after coming out as trans, and building a writing career through online essays, including an early op-ed that prompted an attempted libel threat. Nico recounts discovering Bruce Springsteen later in life—initially misreading Born in the U.S.A.—and connecting deeply to Bruce’s earnestness, storytelling, and songs like “Dancing in the Dark,” “Thunder Road,” “Drive All Night,” and Nebraska tracks. Nico discusses their book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, a memoir-mixtape where “Dancing in the Dark” becomes a pivotal catalyst for coming out, and shares where to find their work online. Find out more about Niko here - https://www.nikostratis.com/ Amazon Link for The Dad Rock that Made me a Women - here https://a.co/d/0git0VZh 00:00 Pride in Bruce Intro 01:48 Meet Jesse and Nico 02:10 Tattoo and Cancer Talk 02:46 Nico Background Story 04:03 Music in the Yukon 09:35 Reading and Escape 11:13 Comics Marvel vs DC 13:56 Becoming a Writer 17:02 First Op-Ed and Lawsuit 18:01 Discovering…

People in this episode

Host: Jesse Jackson

Guest: Niko Stratus

Topics covered

• Pride Month
• Bruce Springsteen
• writing
• coming out
• music
• memoir

Keywords

• Bruce Springsteen
• Dancing in the Dark
• memoir
• Pride Month
• writing career
• coming out
• music

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Dancing in the Dark, Born in the U.S.A., The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, Thunder Road, Drive All Night, Nebraska

Places: Canada, Yukon, Toronto

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