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Oddly Stimulating (Ep 512 - Robert/Siddhartha)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is author and architect Robert Raasch, whose recent debut novel The Summer Between is a coming-of-age adventure set in Greenwich Village of the late 1970s. It’s a topic that Robert knows well, having lived through that time himself — making the most of the thrilling ...

Bonus video! Brooklyn's bungling gay bank robbers

Hello there!

It's hard to believe how many mistakes John Wojtowicz & company made when they decided to rob a bank in August of 1972 -- the heist that was eventually dramatized in the film Dog Day Afternoon. That movie includes a few of their goofy missteps, but it leaves out some of my favorites: The three failed attempts that began the day; the terrible timing with the armored car; and my favorite detail of how the bank manager cleverly managed to tip off his colleagues ab...

Sewers of Paris: Epic Dark Sword and Sorcery (Ep 511 - The Last Unicorn/SW Kent)

My guest on The Sewers of Paris podcast this week is writer SW Kent, whose new novel is The Storyteller from Balincia. He’s been a storyteller himself since he was a kid, but for the first act of his career he had to rest his fiction-writing muscles so that he could concentrate on his job, whi...

Bonus video! Dog Day Afternoon is Based on a True Story (That's Probably a Lie)

Hello there!

The film Dog Day Afternoon opens by saying that it's based on a true story, and it is: The events of the movie unfold almost exactly as they did in real life, with a bisexual bank robber holding up a bank and telling everyone that he needs the money to pay for his wife to get (in the parlance of the time) a "sex change operation."

There's just one problem with that, which is that the real life robber was probably lying. I've been combing through a lot of interviews, a...

Sewers of Paris: You Were Too Good (Ep 310 - Throuple)

We’re trying different for this week’s Sewers of Paris podcast. Instead of one guest, we have three — the cast of the new film Throuple. It’s a polyamorous romcom, a concert film, a coming-of-age story … and also a culmination of a long journey for Michael Doshier, Tommy Heleringer, and Stanton Plummer-Cambridge, w...

Bonus video! Al Pacino, secret gay ally???

When you think of great queer allies in Hollywood, Al Pacino may not be the first name that springs to mind. But it turns out that he not only had a surprisingly progressive attitude towards LGBTQ+ folks, going back decades ... but he secretly did some very important charitable work on behalf of queer lives.

I've got the details in this week's bonus video plus a look ahead at my next video -- about a real-life queer bank robber!

Also, we started watching Dog Day Afternoon...

Sewers of Paris: Beauty in Trash (Ep 309 - Bruce Vilanch)

With the Oscars this weekend, we’ve reached the culmination of the year’s awards season. And  for this week’s Sewers of Paris podcast, we’re diving into the archives to revisit my 2017 chat with an awards show legend: Bruce Vilanch, who's been slipping sly queer comedy into our entertainment since before some of us were even born. Starting out as a joke writer for great div...

Bonus video! Al Pacino was a demanding diva ... OR WAS HE???

Hello there! In this week's bonus video, I have a curious case of conflicting stories from Cruising director William Friedkin, most of them relating to Al Pacino. To hear Friedkin tell it, Pacino was one headache after another: He was unprepared, didn't know his lines, showed up late, and his hair looked terrible.

However! I have a feeling that's not the truth (Ellen) and that Friedkin's doing a little historical revision. Why would he do that? Well, that's where the true...

Sewers of Paris: A Gay Wolf Who Goes to a Liberal Arts College (Ep 508 - Big Boys/Corey Sherman)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is director Corey Sherman, whose latest film is Big Boys — a story of a teenager who isn’t even out to himself when he goes on a camping trip and starts to develop feelings for his cousin’s boyfriend. Corey’s work has often had an autobiograph...

Sewers of Paris: Secrets Do Not Serve Me (Ep 507: Shane/Wayne Scott)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is author and psychotherapist Wayne Scott. His new book, The Maps They Gave Us, is a memoir about navigating a rocky period in a marriage, about narrowly dodging d...

Bonus video! So the director of THE EXCORCIST walks into a gay leather bar...

It's 1978 and director William Friedkin needs to do a little research, so he strips down to a jockstrap and walks into The Ramrod with a friend who's carrying a concealed revolver. In this week's bonus video, I have the weird story of how Friedkin found himself nearly nude and surrounded by orgiastic queer pleasures in New York's meatpacking district.

Plus! Some tantalizing details about a background actor who appears in the movie Cruising for approximately one second, and...

Sewers of Paris: I Don't Really Care What the Rules Are (Ep 506: Usher/Kingsley)

Welcome to a special episode of The Sewers of Paris! All this month, the Old Church Concert Hall in Portland is celebrating Black History Month with performances honoring Black artists. And I was lucky enough to speak with Kingsley, who helped organize the venue’s Blacker the Berry night, coming up on Saturday the 22nd.

Kingsley’s inspirations span a wide range of genres, sta...

Bonus Video! The story of the nude photo scandal that nearly ended The Real World

There was a nude photo scandal that nearly stopped The Real World from ever making it to air -- early in Season 1, over half the cast threatened to walk away from the project because of how the producers were treating them. I've got the behind-the-scenes story in this week's bonus video ... plus the story of a hookup between one member of the cast and a director, including details that never made it to air. And! A little peek at the video I'm working on next about the movie...

Sewers of Paris: Sometimes I am the Villain (Ep 505: Siouxie and the Banshees/George)

My guest on the Sewers of Paris podcast this week is musician George Alley — a returning guest who first appeared on the podcast in 2018. Back then, we talked about how he escaped ...

Bonus Video! Highlights from the never-aired Real World pilot

Huge thanks to Patron Kimberly, who pointed me in the right direction to find the never-aired pilot of The Real World! In this week's bonus video, I want to share a bunch of fascinating moments from this experimental not-for-broadcast artifact, from the awkward meetings to a loft party to a fake romance staged for the cameras.

Plus: You might've heard that the publisher EA fired a lot of folks who worked on the Dragon Age series of games, which have long been hailed for their q...

Sewers of Paris: The Entire Planet Was Paying Attention (Ep 504: The Real World/Judd Winick)

Cast your mind back, if you will, to the 1990s, when reality TV was new. Though the genre was young, many had already written off shows like The Real World as trash. But one young man saw an opportunity, and thought that maybe there was a way he could use television to save lives. His name was Pedro Zamora, and his work wound up changing the course of more lives than he could have poss...

Sewers of Paris: Gay by May (Ep 503: Snow White/David)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is filmmaker David Beck. His childhood love of theater led him to a life as an actor — and also a difficult struggle to keep his head above water in a career where work was unpredictable and fiercely competitive. After coming out of the closet with the help of a few illicit substances, a chance offer from a friend led to a reinvention b...

Bonus video! Gay high school boyfriends, and David Lynch's queer work

Hello there!

I just came across the application letters from a bunch of the early cast of The Real World, and found a funny story about Pam (from San Francisco) and a high school experience that I suspect many of us will find familiar.

Plus! As we remember the wonderful work of David Lynch, I want to share a few recommendations for queer moments in his movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, there aren't many! But the few that he has are very good.

Also, if we're using ...

Bonus Vid! The incredible bravery of The Real World's Norman Korpi

Hello there!

Imagine it's 1992, when being an openly gay person is tremendously dangerous in most of America -- and you've volunteered to have your big queer life broadcast to millions of homes. Norm from season 1 of The Real World had absolutely no idea what he was signing up for, but he knew enough to know it was a big risk, which is why I continue to be amazed by his bravery then and now.

This week's bonus video is the story of what happened AFTER the reality -- w...

Sewers of Paris: The Moment Where I Lost It (Ep 502 - E.T./Andrew)

This month sees a rerelease of the classic ‘80s film The Goonies, which is about to turn 40. In honor of that milestone, we’re heading into the Sewers archives to hear my 2018 chat with Andrew Putschoegl, whose childhood mirrored that of ‘80s films where groups of neighborhood kids are thrown together int...

Glitter and Be Gay with me

They say laughter is the best medicine and I sure could use some of that right now, which is why I invite you to enjoy some performances of "Glitter and Be Gay," the aria from Candide in which a singer chortles in high C while covering herself in jewels. Iconic!

Alas, my back troubles as mentioned in last week's bonus video have gotten a touch more disruptive (don't worry, I'm getting treatment, it's just a slow recovery process) and I'm not able to shoot a bonus video for...

Sewers of Paris: I Accidentally Found Myself on MTV (501: The Real World/Danny Roberts)

My guest this week is Danny Roberts, one of the stars of Real World: New Orleans, which originally aired on MTV in 2000. Danny was planning to become a teacher and wound up on the show through a series of coincidences, accidents, and last-minute changes of plan, so he was a little unprepared for the fame that he soon found thrust upon him. To say nothing of the weird — and sometimes awful...

Bonus video! The behind-the-scenes story of how MTV created The Real World

Hello there!

I'm recovering from some back trouble this week so I'm sliiiiiightly woozy on muscle relaxers... but I won't let that stop me from making a bonus video! This week, I have the real life story of how MTV created The Real World in a desperate attempt to prove that they were still cool, and how the show wound up giving rise to the entire genre of reality TV (and also the animated show Daria).

Plus! A little sneak peek at what's coming your way in 2025.

Backup link i...

The Sewers of Paris 500th Episode Q&A Spectacular!

It's the 500th episode of the Sewers of Paris, and to celebrate James and I are doing a special Q&A with questions sent in by listeners! Huge thanks to everyone who sent questions, and let me know if you'd like to hear more episodes like these!

And as requested by patron David, here are some of my favorite early episodes for anyone who wants to get started with the podcast, or jump back and re-li...

Bonus video! The messy birth of MTV

Hello there!

I have a video about The Real World coming your way soon, and for this week's bonus video I want to share some fun stories about the very silly origins of MTV -- how a bunch of music weirdos (and a Monkee) hijacked Nickelodeon to prove the idea could work, why they had to take a bus to New Jersey to see their own channel, and how it was initially named some thing very very very different. Plus! The story of how MTV secretly paid for the music video for Thr...