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The Best of The Sewers of Paris: A Drag Race Spectacular!

Starting this week, I’m doing something special for Pride. Throughout the month of June, I’m going to bring you the very best of the last nine years of Sewers of Paris interviews — excerpts from some of my very favorite conversations. We’re starting this week with a roundup of some of the fabulous Drag Race performers that have stopped by the show, starting with BenDeLaCreme, co...

Matt's So Cast Pod: Life of Brian (with Trevor McMahan, Sharon Johnson, and Susan Lambert Hatem)

On this week's episode of Matt's So-Cast Pod: Everyone's at maximum freakout in the leadup to World Happiness Dance, whatever that is, and nobody can figure out who's going with who -- especially with the addition of two new students, Delia and Cory, shaking up the social circles. Adding to the confusion: We're getting Brian's inner monologue instead of Angela's! What's going on???? And why is Graham so determined to wallpaper the bedroom instead of dealing with...

Bright Colors, Zany Action (Ep 470 - Skeletor/JP Karliak)

You may have most recently heard this week’s guest on X-Men 97, where he plays the character morph — but you’ve also heard him as the voice of the Green Goblin, the Joker, Boss Baby, Archie, Wile E. Coyote, and so many more I’ve lost count.

I spoke with JP Karliak back in 2020 about his career as a voice actor for video games and animation. And for this week’s episode, we’re celebrating season 1 of his X-Men role by revisiting that interview about the ...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Other People's Mothers (with Sam Pirie and Liz Krott)

On this week’s episode of the podcast, Rayanne and Patty throw dueling parties on the same night! It seems like the most worst thing that could possibly happen to Angela...until Rayanne’s drinking spirals out of control. Meanwhile Patty’s mother Vivian stuffs a turkey in the fridge, to Graham’s dismay. And the karma around the Chase household gets really low. Or dark. Or whatever karma does.

Breaking it all down with me are Scottish comedian 2024-05-27 16:00:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Bonus video! The first gay vampire novel

Hello there! There's a Cabaret video coming your way next Sunday, all about the making of the film and why Berlin was such a tantalizing pla

Hello there!

There's a Cabaret video coming your way next Sunday, all about the making of the film and why Berlin was such a tantalizing place for queer people in the 1920s (until it very suddenly was decidedly NOT that). So in this week's bonus video I want to talk about Karl Friedrich Ulrichs, one of the people responsibl...

Sewers of Paris: Dangerous Book of Secrets (Ep 469 - Lord of the Rings/Jared)

My guest this week is Jared Pechaček, author of the forthcoming fantasy-horror novel The West Passage. Jared’s work is heavily informed by his homeschooling and his upbringing in the Pentecostal church — influences that found their way into his writing without him realizing it. When he finally did understand just how much his fiction revealed about him, it was like finding clues that his brain had been dropping for years. ...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Halloween (with Peaches Christ and Drew Mackie)

It’s Halloween! Spoooooooky chills are in the air as Rayanne plots a seance, but winds up making a connection with someone she least unexpected. Meanwhile, Angela finds a new boy to fixate on — one who’s even more doomed than Jordan. Patty and Graham obtain some haunted (???) outfits from a mysterious costume shop. And Danielle finally gets some attention.

Chatting with me this week are drag icon Peaches Christ, som...

Bonus video! Liza Minnelli visits the lesbian mud-wrestlers of Hamburg

Hello there!

I've been digging deeper into the life & career of Ms. Liza Minnelli and I've found some truly delightsome interviews that she gave around 1972. That includes a few details about her research into Cabaret, which apparently led her to a Hamburg orgy/lesbian mud wrestling??? Imagine getting all dressed up for a nice night of lesbian mud-wrestling and then you spot Liza Minnelli across the room.

Plus! I've got some interesting clues about the roles that...

Sewers of Paris: Don't Ask Me Out Again Until You've Written Chapter Two (Ep 468 - Steven Rowley/Tootsie)

For this week's Sewers of Paris podcast, I'm chatting with the writer Steven Rowley. He's known for numerous novels: Lily and the Octopus; The Celebrants; The Editor; and The Guncle, which is about a gay man who finds his hands full when he takes in a niece and nephew he never expected to raise. Not only did that novel win the Thurber Prize — it’s now the first installme...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Episode 8, Strangers in the House (with Ryan O'Connor and Samantha Rei)

A medical emergency throws everyone into a panic, and things get weird at the Chase household. Sharon starts hanging out with Brian, Rayanne is nice to Sharon, and Graham makes a cake that makes Patty question their entire relationship. It’s enough to make Angela almost forget that Jordan even exists! (Almost… but not quite.)

Helping me break it all down are 2024-05-13 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Bonus video! Fosse's big blowup fight (and Liza's lost Disney film)

Hello there!

For this week's bonus video we're taking a closer look at Bob Fosse, the legendary dancer, choreographer, director ... and eavesdropper. There was a bit of an incident during the filming of Cabaret, when he happened to be listening through a wall and heard a producer preparing to double-cross him. That led to a confrontation that became the stuff of Hollywood legend.

Plus! I've got a bit of a mystery on my hands: Apparently, Walt Disney offered ...

Sewers of Paris: There Was a Rage (Ep 467 - Star Wars/Karl Dunn)

My guest this week is writer, activist, and former gold trader Karl Dunn, whose new book How to Burn a Rainbow (available for pre-order on Amazon) is a memoir of how he pieced his life bac...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Why Jordan Can't Read (with Liz Krott)

On this week's podcast: Angela is DEFINITELY over Jordan, honest, swear to God. Except then she discovers that he can barely read, and decides it's her mission to help him... which conveniently provides a reason to ask him out on a date. (To see a movie with subtitles. Good thinking, Angela.) Meanwhile, Graham and Patty discover they might or might not be pregnant, and grapple with the ...

Bonus Video! The time Johnny Carson's gay jokes went a little too far

Hello there!

Did you hear the one about the time Wayne Newton threatened to beat up Johnny Carson over some gay jokes? Or the one about Rodney Dangerfield's gay brother? Or how about the comic who got cut from the show for being too gay?

Johnny had an often-contentious relationship with queer viewers in the early 1970s, and although video footage of it it hard to find, there are little hints here and there of the backstage drama and on-camera yuks. I'm taking a closer look at what...

Sewers of Paris: Lucy Would Not Take This Down (Ep 466 Lucille Ball/Eli McCann)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is Eli McCann, a lawyer, a humor columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, and a devotee of Lucille Ball since the age of six. That made him an easy kid to shop for, and by the time he was a teen he’d amassed a treasure trove of Lucy memorabilia … which nearly led to a crisis when...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Ep 6 - The Substitute (with Scott Flanary)

On this week's podcast: A new substitute teacher arrives at Liberty High, bringing a shocking attitude, mismatched socks, and carpets galore. His class becomes the hottest ticket in town — but who really is Vic Racine, and is he as “cool” as the teens say? And who wrote that saucy sexy poem for the literary magazine?

In search of answers, I’m joined by the fabulous Scott Flanary&n...

Sewers of Paris: Living a Superhero Lifestyle (Ep 465 - Scooby Doo/Tim Fish)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is writer and artist Tim Fish. I first came across his work in the book Liebestrasse, written by Greg Lockard and illustrated by Tim. It’s the story of two men connecting in Berlin in the leadup to World War II, and it’s typical of Tim’s interests — personal, emotional, and thoughtful. Tim’s always been interested in comics, but for many years ...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: The Zit (with Virginia Sole-Smith, Samantha Rei, and Sam Pirie)

This week our heroes grapple with their greatest horror yet: Being perceived! A list circulates around Liberty High that ranks the sophomore girls on their appearance, much to the dismay of just about everyone. (Except Rayanne, who is tickled to be recognized for "most slut potential.") Meanwhile, Angela is furious to have developed a zit, and even furious-er when Patty decides they should enter a mother/da...

Bonus video! The gay activist who caught a real-life murderer in The Exorcist

Hello there!

I've got some more fun artifacts from my Yale research trip to share with you -- this time, some scribbles in scripts and early drafts from the sitcom Ellen.

Plus! A group of very effective lesbians shutting down a particularly homophobic & antifeminist speaker on the Dick Cavett show. You can watch the full video of their action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJxXH_Gy...

Sewers of Paris: Gay Male Student #1 (Ep 464 - Carol Burnett/Justin Root)

Next week, comedy legend Carol Burnett turns 91 years old, and in honor of her amazing career and life, for this week’s episode of the Sewers of Paris podcast we’re diving into the 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, with...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Ep 4, Father Figures (with Guy Branum)

Do not be misled! The title of episode 4, “Father Figures,” does not refer to dad bods, but instead to dads who loom large in the lives of Angela, Patty, and Rayanne — often when those dads are nowhere to be seen. Angela’s annoyed to have discovered Graham’s possible philandering; Patty is annoyed that her father keeps interfering in the family’s IRS audit; and Rayanne was annoyed at her dad for...

Bonus Video! My surprising gay discoveries in the Yale archives

Hello there!

I have to admit I get a real thrill every time an archivist comes out of a back room carrying a banker's box full of file folders, yellowed newspaper clippings, crinkled photographs, and mimeographed memos that were tucked away ten years before I was even born -- who even KNOWS what treasures might be hiding in there?

This week, I'm visiting the archives at Yale in New Haven, combing through a treasure trove of documents that haven't been touched in years. And ohhhhh ...

Sewers of Paris: I Love F***-Ups (Ep 463 - Another World/Rasheed Newson)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast 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...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Guns and Gossip (with Anthony Oliveira)

There’s a double-feature of drama on this week’s episode, as rumors and innuendo swirl around two separate calamities: After a gun goes off during class, only Brian Krakow can reveal the parties involved — but he’s not talking; and gossip about Angela’s dalliance with Jordan reaches Patty’s ears, to everyone’s mortification. Plus, Rickie gains some unexpected depth! And we meet Rayanne’s mom...

Bonus video! The Silliest Sissies of the Seventies

Hello there!

For this week's bonus video, we're going to take a brief look at Mr. Humphreys from Are You Being Served? and then a looooong look at gay TV of the 1970s.

[And a quick update about Mr. Humphries & John Inman -- I'm completely wrong in the video when I say that the actor wasn't queer! I was looking at some OOOOOOLD sources that insisted he was straight, but of course they were just being willfully ignorant. I should've known better!]

Sewers of Paris: Loners & Misfits (Ep 462 - Silence of the Lambs/Monty Wolfe)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast 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 s...

Matt's So-Cast Pod: Dancing in the Dark (with Michael Hobbes & Terrence Moss)

Welcome to episode 2 of Matt's So-Cast Pod!

Everyone’s in the mood for love but nobody seems to be able to make a connection in this week’s episode, “Dancing in the Dark,” with Angela longing for a kiss from Jordan, Patty hoping Graham will sweep her off her feet, and Brian hoping against hope to get some extra credit (and not just the academic kind). I’ll be talking to the delightful Michael Hobbes (<...

Bonus video! Daring gay British films of the 1960s, and also Ghostbusters

Hello there!

For this week's bonus video, I thought you might like a closer look at some of the movies that followed through the door that Victim opened: Brave films that included even more queer content like Taste of Honey, The Leather Boys, If..., and Sunday Bloody Sunday. (One little correction: The Leather Boys was based on a novel, not a play.)

If you're planning to check these films out, and I recommend that you do, you s...

March recommendations: Your top 3 queer films, a mermaid's love life, and Liberace the flower child

Hello there!

Time once again for the monthly recommendations video, where I gather viewing recommendations from folks like you and pass them along -- so if you like what I make, you'll probably like this stuff too!

Last month I asked what you would put on your top-three queer movie list, and GOOD LORD did you all have a ton of great suggestions. There's no way I could list them all, but here...

Sewers of Paris: Sci-Fi, Soaps, and Sports (Ep 461 - Jesse/All My Children)

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast 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 t...