Next week, comedy legend Carol Burnett turns 91 years old, and in honor of her amazing career and life, for this week’s episode we’re diving into the Sewers of Paris archives to revisit my 2018 chat with Carol superfan Justin Root. Justin’s entry to showbiz was kind of a cliché: a pretty young face who arrives in LA with no plan other than getting famous in movies. And yet, within a few days of moving from Ohio to Hollywood, Justin found himself in front of movie cameras. It didn't take long...

My guest this week is author Rasheed Newson, a TV writer who got his start on the show Lie to Me and has gone on to write for The 100, Narcos, Bel Air, and more. Last year his debut novel, My Government Means to Kill Me, made a big splash — it’s the story of a young gay black man who moves to New York during the HIV epidemic. And although Rasheed didn’t experience that world first-hand, he discovered during his writing process that in a strange way, he’d been preparing himself to tell that...

My guest this week is director Monty Wolfe, whose queer romcom Exploding Boy is now available on streaming. Monty’s path to filmmaking took a lot of swerves over the decades — starting with a teacher who saw the potential in a young teenager, and maybe something a little queer. That was followed by some less helpful guidance from other adults in his life, a job at a news station that he landed by accident, a decision to completely upend his life and move across the country in part to get as...

My guest this week is Jesse Murray, who got hooked on soap operas as a kid when he watched them with his mom … and then as an adult, found himself working in writer’s rooms at ABC, helping to make soap operas for a new generation. As a young viewer, Jesse’s enthusiasm for the soaps was bolstered when he saw gay teenage characters on daytime TV. It’s a measure of inclusivity that’s steadily improved in the years since — thanks to folks behind the scenes who appreciated its importance. We’ll...

My guest this week is Anthony Oliveira, whose new book Dayspring comes out this Easter, April 2, 2024. That’s a particularly suitable pub date, since the book is an exploration of how Christian ideas can infuse and are infused by queer love. Anthony’s a returning guest to The Sewers of Paris — I last spoke to him back in 2017, when our conversation focused on monsters and villains and standing in opposition to so-called decent society. Now, nearly a decade later, Anthony’s found himself...

This week, March 17, marks 54 years since the premiere of the groundbreaking film The Boys in the Band. Set in a New York apartment in the 1960s and based on the play by Mort Crowley, it was one of the first major movies to feature majority-queer characters. And to mark that 54th birthday, for this week’s Sewers of Paris I wanted to revisit my conversation with someone who knew the world of 60s Greenwich Village very well, playwright Robert Patrick. Robert wandered into the Village as an...

My guest this week is my friend and colleague Tyler Albertario, a writer and researcher with a magnetic enthusiasm for queer history and culture. Tyler always had an interest in our vast queer past, but it was a chance viewing of a show about gay life in the 80s that turned it into a more serious field of study — and that’s led to some of his fascinating insights into the silver age that we’re living in right now. We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a quick reminder that if you...

For this week’s episode, the recent release of Dune Part 2 reminded me of a Sewers of Paris episode from 2018 where my guest Ryan and I talked about the grip that fear can have on a person’s mind. Ryan grew up in a rough environment, where his parents subjected him to devastating homophobia and dangerous "ex-gay" treatments. After Ryan legally emancipated himself from his family, what followed was a period of homelessness and addiction that took years for him to overcome. But overcome them he...

My guest this week is artist Paul Robinson, who just launched a fantastic new project called Twelve Soldiers. It’s a year-long series of monthly profiles, spotlighting heroes of the queer community — and it’s just one of the ways that Paul hopes to give back to a community that’s been very good to him. Starting from the early days of his career as a photographer, working with friends like Lara Flynn Boyle and Jennifer Tilley, to his more recent projects like elevating the work of emerging...

There’s a new trailer out for the upcoming Wicked movie, so I thought it was a good time to dive into the Sewers archives to revisit my chat with Gregory Maguire, author of the Wicked novel, among many other works. Though I’m sure you’re familiar with his book and the musical adaptation, you may not know the extent to which Gregory’s childhood was infused with elements of fairytale — from the fantasy novels he devoured, to the family tragedy that led to his time in an orphanage.  We’ll have...

My guest this week is a sort of collector of culture. Sam is the co-host of a YouTube series called P and S — be careful not to say it too quickly in polite company — where he and his friend Ewan dissect the strangest pop culture artifacts they can find. Sam’s sensibility was shaped in part by stories about fictional oddballs finding each other. And now through his own videos and comedy, he’s creating culture that helps oddballs find each other in real life. You can find more of Sam’s work...

My guest this week is Mark Daley. Mark’s background is in politics, and included some time as communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. But a few years ago, he stumbled across an opportunity to apply his advocacy skills in a new arena, when he and his partner became parents — under circumstances that were not exactly what they’d planned. Mark has a new book out entitled Safe — it’s a look back at how he became a dad, how he maintained a family amidst the challenges...

My guest this week is David Levy, co-host of the Muppeturgy podcast. David thrives when he’s putting on a show, goofing around with friends, finding ways to make an audience laugh — but finding the best way to do that took some trial and error and a bit of a lawsuit. We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a couple quick announcements, starting with a reminder that if you like this podcast, you’ll probably like my newsletter. Every week I share fun stories about the making of...

My guest this week is Dean FM, a genderqueer rapper from Massachusetts. Dean was always a colorful kid and loved to escape into music — but never considered that it might become a career until a series of setbacks made him re-evaluate where he was living and what he was doing with his life. Dean just released a new album — there’s a link to that in the shownotes — and he has big dreams for what’s next. We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a couple quick announcements, starting...

This month sees the return of the Ryan Murphy series Feud, with its first new season in about five years. The topic this time is Truman Capote and his battles with high society. In honor of Capote’s return to the zeitgeist, for this week’s episode we’re diving into the sewers archives to revisit my 2017 conversation with Joseph Krebs, for whom Truman’s work played a pivotal role. Josef's done a lot of thinking about the impact he can have on the world, whether through the evangelical church...

Sorry this episode’s coming a day late! I’m recovering from laryngitis and still can’t talk, so you’ll hear a Very Special Guest introducing this week’s episode. My guest this week is Jin De Luong, author of the novel Naked Love Berlin. Jin never intended to uproot his life and move across the planet. But on what was supposed to be a short vacation, he fell in love — first with a city, and then with a man. And he took a cue from one of his favorite literary icons and let an adventure carry...

I can’t believe this is the case, but we’re just about at the end of 2023 — somehow — and I figured this was a good time to look back at some of my favorite Sewers of Paris episodes of the past year. From a New Orleans ghost-hunter who was inspired by Monty Python, to queer romance novels, to bad gays, to the shocking stories behind 1970s couture, I was lucky enough to chat with a lot of really intriguing guests over the last 12 months. So for this year-end episode, I’ve gathered the first...

As we veer ever closer to Christmas, this week's episode is a dive into the Sewers of Paris archives for a chat with Scott Shoemaker. Along with his partner Freddie, Scott’s great passion is live weird theater, which manifests in such projects as an ongoing series of live shows in which he plays a boozy pill-popping version of Ms Pac Man, or his annual Christmas show where he finds new ways every year to ruin and then hastily repair the holidays. Growing up, Scott dreamed of being a rock star...

My guest this week is New York comedian Justin Randall, who was a very different person when he moved to the big city a few years ago. Back then he was a closeted actor, and the idea of coming out seemed like a distant dream — and not a good one. But things changed when he started getting up on stage as a stand-up comedian, and discovered the liberating power of making people laugh … and of making fun of the things that once seemed scary. We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a...

We have two guests this week — filmmakers Melina Maerker and David Miller are the co-creators of a new documentary entitled We Live Here: The Midwest, which follows a variety of brave families enduring challenging circumstances as queer people in conservative parts of the country. Both Melinda and David came to filmmaking out of a desire to tell other peoples’ stories, and create a space where people can feel listened to — inspired, in their early careers, by two very different films. We’ll...

My guest this week is Lucas Hilderbrand, author of the new book The Bars Are Ours, which provides a deep look at the history of gay bars. Before he launched into this intriguing field of study, Lucas bounced around queer culture for several years, looking for the place where he fit in — a journey that included a particularly traumatic experience in musical theater. And it’s probably not a surprise that his attention focused on the ways that queer people connect with each other, and the things...

A new biopic just debuted on Netflix entitled Rustin, about the incredible life of Bayard Rustin — a civil rights leader who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. And this week, we’re diving into the Sewers of Paris archives to hear my 2017 interview with Bayard’s surviving partner, Walter Naegle, as well as with filmmaker Matt Wolf, who made a documentary about Walter entitled Bayard and Me. In addition to playing a key role in advising Martin Luther King Jr, Bayard also worked on behalf of...

My guest this week is historian Eric Gonzaba, whose fascinating work includes the Wearing Gay History archive — a collection of vintage queer t-shirts — and Mapping the Gay Guides, an accounting of queer travel guides from the 60s and 70s. Eric’s interest in history was piqued at an early age, when he developed an obsession for the Kennedy Center Honors, which pay annual tribute to lifetime innovators in the cultural fields. And it’s through his field of study that he continues to explore our...

My guest this week is an old friend. I first met Tim Sheridan about a decade ago, when we were both writers trying to figure out how to make a living doing what we loved. Well, it took some time, but we both figured it out. Today, Tim’s the celebrated writer of major movies and comics, from Justice League to He-Man and Transformers and Batman and Superman. His latest series is Alan Scott: The Green Lantern, which explores the story of a superhero hiding his homosexuality in the 1940s. We’ll...