Shortly after 含羞草研究社淢ath in Drag含羞草研究社� hit the shelves in book stores across North America, author Kyne Santos found herself in a New York City elevator with renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
含羞草研究社淚 was just, like, fangirling so hard,含羞草研究社� she said in a recent video interview about last week含羞草研究社檚 chance meeting, Rubik含羞草研究社檚 cube earrings dangling from her lobes. 含羞草研究社淎nd you know what含羞草研究社檚 crazy? He knew who I was.含羞草研究社�
Of course he did. She含羞草研究社檚 Kyne.
Santos was a contestant on the first season of the television show Canada含羞草研究社檚 Drag Race, but she含羞草研究社檚 perhaps more widely known on TikTok, where she guides 1.5 million followers into a glittering world of mathematics. In her videos, and now with her book, she reveals the wonders of infinities and imaginary numbers, showing that math is a mind-bending universe that pushes the limits of our imagination 含羞草研究社� just like drag.
含羞草研究社淢ath is really about creativity,含羞草研究社� she said from her home in Kitchener, Ont. 含羞草研究社淪ometimes in math, we question our assumptions, we rewrite our definitions, we rethink our frameworks. And really, it is a lot like drag because they含羞草研究社檙e both creative, we do them both for fun, and they both operate in metaphors and abstraction, and tearing down stereotypes and frameworks and rebuilding them from the ground up.含羞草研究社�
Santos has always been good at math, but she fell in love with it participating in high school math competitions, she said, where the questions were less about computing an answer than about taking apart ideas and figuring out why something is true. She said competitions showed her that math went beyond memorizing formulas.
含羞草研究社淭he way that we含羞草研究社檙e teaching math to kids is 含羞草研究社� a lot like teaching art to kids by having them paint a fence,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檙e not going to walk away from that thinking, 含羞草研究社業 love art.含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫
During high school was also when she fell in love with drag. She experimented with makeup and launched a YouTube channel giving beauty tutorials, and eventually evolved into Kyne, the drag queen.
含羞草研究社淚 saw RuPaul含羞草研究社檚 Drag Race for the first time and I saw that these queens were just creative, sensitive souls like I was who played with makeup, and extended it into hair pieces and costumes and wigs and song and dance, just everything that I love,含羞草研究社� she said.
She was at the University of Waterloo doing an undergraduate math degree when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she used her time in lockdown to make her first TikTok video about math, in full drag. Recording a video as Kyne, she said, was a way to invite her audience into a creative, more open state of mind 含羞草研究社� the same state she hopes they含羞草研究社檒l use with mathematics.
It seems to have worked: the videos took off.
Released March 5, 含羞草研究社淢ath in Drag含羞草研究社� blends Kyne含羞草研究社檚 personal history with accessible explorations of higher-level mathematical concepts. In one chapter, she writes about her father含羞草研究社檚 death, and uses a story about his fastidiousness with money to explain exponential growth. In another, she writes about the homophobia drag queens face for pushing gender boundaries, linking it to mathematical concepts that break the rules, like a graph that seems to allow dividing by zero, which, according to the average calculator, is strictly forbidden.
The history of mathematics has a lot to teach people who support anti-LGTBQ hate and protest drag shows, she said.
For example, the concept of zero was wildly controversial before it assumed its rightful spot on the number line. The idea forced mathematicians, scientists, philosophers 含羞草研究社� even the Catholic Church 含羞草研究社� to re-examine their idea of what a number is and could be.
含羞草研究社淲hy can含羞草研究社檛 we do that with drag? Why can含羞草研究社檛 we do that with everything?含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淲hen we encounter new things in the wild, instead of saying, 含羞草研究社楾hat doesn含羞草研究社檛 fit the definition,含羞草研究社� we should just change the definitions, and we should rewrite the frameworks to include other types of people.含羞草研究社�
Santos was selected to be part of the first season of Canada含羞草研究社檚 Drag Race 含羞草研究社� a reality competition for drag queens, based on the American version of Rupaul含羞草研究社檚 Drag Race 含羞草研究社� which aired in 2020. She was sent home after the second episode, but she said the experience taught her to trust herself and lean into her strengths, like teaching about math.
She admires the British mathematician Eugenia Cheng, whose book 含羞草研究社淗ow to Bake Pi含羞草研究社� uses dessert recipes to explain an abstract branch of math called category theory. She also admires RuPaul, who is credited with helping to bring drag mainstream.
含羞草研究社淚 think that what RuPaul has done has opened up the doors for queens like me to do different things in drag, like put out a book and be on television,含羞草研究社� Santos said. 含羞草研究社淚 really respect her hustle.含羞草研究社�
She含羞草研究社檚 set to begin a cross-Canada tour for 含羞草研究社淢ath in Drag含羞草研究社� next month. She also wants to keep teaching, perhaps beyond TikTok, and maybe go to graduate school.
And after that elevator ride last week, she may even be a guest on deGrasse Tyson含羞草研究社檚 podcast.
含羞草研究社淚 love doing what I do. I love educating people. I love doing the TikTok videos,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淚f I could just do this forever, I含羞草研究社檇 be so happy with that.含羞草研究社�
