This episode is the first of a three part series about first love. Specifically, the messy, inconvenient, heartbreaking chaos that first love often inspires for people in high school as well as all the sweetness, optimism and exciting feelings of discovery both about ourselves and that special someone. Mix in the big feelings of emerging sexuality and you can understand why so many of these interviewees remember this time in their lives like it was yesterday. List of contributors and links...

Enjoy this bonus episode of the podcast series Nuances: Our Asian Stories.  Hosted by Lazou, Nuance's latest season is titled Queering Premodern Asia and each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary and personal stories from guest scholars and artists.  Lazou reached out recently and, because our podcasts have a lot of themes in common, we decided to share an episode of each other’s pod with our listeners.  Just so you know, Lazou’s...

You graduated high school. You packed up all your things and you’re moving into a dorm room or your first apartment. Finally, you have the chance to define life on your own terms. For many queer people, leaving our family and getting our own place is the chance to finally seek out the experiences we’ve always wanted but weren’t allowed to have when every move, every decision we made was scrutinized by the family that we grew up with.  In this final volume of our “Firsts” series we hear from...

These days, thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to hook up; but no app can provide the rush you feel when you lock eyes with someone in person and you know, without any verbal communication, that there is a mutual interest. In this episode, our interviewees share first-time stories of cruising as well as other anecdotes about the art of cruising and what we’ve lost now that it has become less common. List of contributors and links to their full episodes: Justin (S4E1): The basics of...

Let’s end Pride 2024 with a bang! For this episode, Dave is taking a break from his series on First Times and he’s selected a few of his favorite moments when interviewees shared profound thoughts about queerness, community, identity and, of course, there are a lot of things to say about sex. So put your rubbers on because tea will be spilled, mics will be dropped and truth bombs will be detonated. Here’s links to each contributor’s individual episode: Jason (S1E1): Don’t waste your time on...

There’s a tendency to devalue first times that come as a result of the internet. There’s no meet-cutes; no love at first sight. The getting-to-know-you window happens on your device. Most of them are one-offs we will never see ever again. But, like it or not, this is the way most of us find first time partners now though there are signs that dating apps are losing users and people are starting to rely more on in-person opportunities. The most compelling part of first time internet hookups is...

As I was building this second high school hookup episode, I realized that many of the stories have striking similarities. People who grew up thousands of miles apart, often in different decades, had similar coming of age experiences. So I decided to create an entire episode featuring story pairs that are like fun-house reflections of each other; further proof that, even though queer adolescence is often full of deep insecurity and loneliness, there is likely someone out there who is going...

For queer people, our sexuality is not something that just switches on one day. It reveals itself over time - usually during adolescence - and the experience is often internal and private. Our first explorations into physical intimacy with other people often serve as a kind of test to see if we like it and help us start to define the role that sex will play in our lives as adults. High school is “go time” for these explorations and life quickly becomes a steaming stew of hormones,...

Listen on Apple Podcasts  Listen on Spotify. Who was your first crush? That first intense infatuation with someone special? A famous actor? A singer? An Athlete? Or was it someone you knew like another student at your school, a hot neighbor or a teacher who gave you extra attention? Whoever it was, first crushes are often the first indication that we have queer tendencies. This can be validating but also a little scary. In case you’re a size queen and want an extra long version of this...

Help support independent queer media. Get exclusive access to an UNCUT version of this episode with more than 30 extra minutes of stories by joining Fruitbowl’s Patreon community. Learn more at fruitbowlpodcast.com/donate Listen on Apple Podcasts  Listen on Spotify. Note: the descriptions of this episode were altered to avoid censorship by the major podcast platforms. America’s puritanical roots are never more exposed than they are when the subject of "self-love" is discussed or, more...

Patreon members get exclusive access to an UNCUT version of this episode with 20 extra minutes of stories. Learn more at fruitbowlpodcast.com/donate Listen on Apple Podcasts  Listen on Spotify. Many of us grew up in families and communities that never once acknowledged the existence of queer people: no exposure to queer authors, filmmakers, artists. Pornography is often the first media we see that acknowledges queer sexuality. In this episode, you will hear stories of pornography found...

Listen on Apple Podcasts  Listen on Spotify. Now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty. For this first episode we’re going back to the beginning of our coming of age when we had no clue what sex was or what it even meant. Maybe we heard about it from our parents, our friends or maybe we even went to a library. Many of us got the wrong information or maybe it just didn’t make sense but whatever we learned we definitely wanted to know more. Here’s a list of contributors for this episode...

Femininity and queerness go hand in hand; that’s the conventional wisdom, anyway. So it follows that our mom’s should be supportive, non-judgmental, embracing of our idiosyncrasies and accepting of children who don’t conform to conventional expectations of gender. But it doesn’t always work out that way. In this episode, Dave introduces a collection of stories about moms who teach us, disappoint us and, occasionally, surprise us. Here’s a list of contributors for this episode in the order in...

There are as many cliches about fatherhood as there are about queer people. Dads are little league coaches, the leaders of prayers, the final word in family debates, trusted voices of wisdom who guide their children through adolescence and prepare them for adulthood. Join Dave as he introduces a chorus of queers who describe their complex relationships with their fathers and what their patriarchs did (or didn’t do) when they found themselves in charge of kids who drew outside the lines of...

Welcome to Season 5 and a new episode format! Instead of just one person’s story, Season 5 episodes will present a variety of different stories and anecdotes from the Fruitbowl archive centered around a common theme. In this inaugural episode we focus on stories about families and hometowns. Adam describes being bullied and what happened when he eventually allowed himself to enjoy masturbation. Originally recorded in Oct. 2019. Find Adam’s full episode HERE (S2E3). Elliott reflects on the...

Breona is a professional sex therapist and author who lives not far from her hometown of Mt. Vernon, WA: home to the annual tulip festival. Growing up, Breona didn’t have many resources to answer her questions about sex. An early investigation to online porn was discovered by her parents and inspired her mother to have The Talk with her, but questions remained about being “in love” and responding to her body’s sexual instincts. College provided opportunities to finally dive into the “full...

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify John C. has had an unpredictable professional career and sexual history. He grew up in the deep south with racist family members and neighbors. Sexual experimentation with a friend happened early on, but, later, in college, things got complicated when a coworker raped John after a night of drugs and drinking. Jealous partners during his years as an aerobics instructor and boyfriends who didn't "get" his drag performance were additional obstacles....

When I was preparing to record my intro to Zachery’s episode, I started to compose a long reflection on the recent tragedy in Colorado Springs where a 22 year old monster with a rife decided to murder 5 innocent people in a gay bar, but every attempt I made trying to articulate my rage and sadness seemed trite and cliché. So I decided to simply dedicate this episode to the victims. Some listeners might wonder why I don’t have more famous people on Fruitbowl and the reason is simple: famous...

Fruitbowl’s creator and producer, Dave Quantic, provides his first full-length Fruitbowl interview in this “very special” episode hosted by editor Ryan Weadon. Dave’s sexual orientation came into focus early on while growing up in small-town, suburban Kansas in the late eighties, but the only place he could meet other queer people was cruising bathrooms and public parks in near-by Wichita. An assault and HIV scare inspired him to come out in college and, eventually, to his family. Since...

Steven grew up in his “shit-kicking” town of Tucson, AZ and even though it was liberal compared to the rest of the state, he was still a target for bullies because of his lisp and his habit of staring at other guys in the locker room. But summer adventures with his Dad in Ojai, CA taught him that a wondrous queer world waited for him outside of Tucson. Since recording his original Fruitbowl interview in 2019, Steven has gone through some major life events that he talks about in a follow-up...

Lizzie grew up in super-liberal Seattle with super-cool, neo-hippie parents who had lots of queer friends and didn’t bat an eye when Lizzie let them know that she was … not straight. Lizzie took the lead when it came to her first time with a guy and you’ll enjoy hearing about her other adventures with a girl from her gym, an Irish bartender and a French Canadian who swept her off her feet - enough for her to risk being detained by Canadian police at the border. When she was young, Lizzie also...

On this special Getting Fresh episode of Fruitbowl editor Ryan Weadon takes the reins as host and introduces a conversation Dave had with Eric, a nurse and Monkeypox survivor who lives in Portland with his partner Dave. Eric describes what it’s been like dealing with the virus and the challenges he’s had emotionally. Click HERE to visit the webpage for this episode that will feature Eric’s written answers to Dave’s pre-interview questions in case you wanted more information about his specific...

Listen on Apple Podcasts  Listen on Spotify Andrew was a self-described baby drag queen when he was little, putting on makeup and heels and performing for his parents. So when he told his mom at age 10 he was gay, her reaction was, “I know.  Do you still wanna go to the mall?” But just because Andrew was out didn’t mean adolescence was a walk in the park. A self-described awkward kid, he struggled with ADHD and anxiety. At age 8 he was sexually abused at a theater camp and, in his teens,...

Gay men had a lot of variables to balance while coming of age in the 70s and 80s: the sexual revolution & liberation, drug culture, AIDS, social stigma and intimacy and Coming out wasn’t easy while he was working on Wall Street. Through all of it, Mike tried to stay true to himself while figuring out that, as sexual beings, we are in a constant state of evolution. Later in life, Mike became a leader and activist, sitting on executive boards of many national gay organizations. Now he...