My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is Frankie Miranda, the first openly gay president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation — a nonprofit serving the Latino community. Frankie’s background isn’t what you might expect for the head of a political organization. When he moved from Puerto Rico to New York, the plan was to study theater. But his dramatic training turned out to serve him well in work where he could serve his community — especially after stepping into a lea...
2023-09-07 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
Here's a Q&A/feedback video for September, and ohhhh boy do I have a lot to share this month. Lately you've been sending me a lot of suggestions for stuff that I should check out, and I have to say you all have wonderful taste -- so I'm going to pass many of those recommendations right back along to everyone else. Those recommendations range from campy British plays-turned-into-films, pantomime, queer horror with a particular emphasis on Hitchcock's homos, and a fascina...
2023-09-01 16:00:21 +0000 UTC
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On last week's Sewers of Paris podcast I spoke with Ben Miller of the Bad Gays book and podcast. This week I’m talking to his co-host and co-author, Huw Lemmey, a writer whose work investigates the disgusting. It’s an unlikely fascination, one borne out of attitudes he heard expressed about queer people when he was growing up. In looking at th...
2023-08-31 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
For this week's bonus video, WOW do I have an incredible person to introduce you to: Barbette, who born in a little Texas town in 1899 and rose to become the high-wire drag queen toast of Paris, Broadway, and motion pictures. Celebrated by Jean Cocteau, Barbette's real name was Vander Clyde (or maybe Vander Clyde Broadway?) and he left home at 14 to join the circus as a female impersonator. In the late 1950s, Billy Wilder hired him to teach Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon how t...
2023-08-27 18:16:03 +0000 UTC
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My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is Ben Miller, co-author and co-creator of the Bad Gays book and podcast. Ben was headed for a career in international relations until he realized just how out of place he was in that role. It was a lucky encounter with a historical communist leader who helped him course-correct, and now he helps ...
2023-08-24 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Oh boy am I THRILLED to bring you this week's Bonus Video, because we've unearthed a bunch of documents that refute a long-held Hollywood legend about the film Some Like it Hot! I also have some great details about the not-famous-enough dancer who coached Marilyn Monroe through a variety of films, and also choreographed the infamous and super gay "Anyone for Love" number from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes -- featuring a particularly bold pinup model from old physique magazines. And there's also a ...
2023-08-20 16:01:01 +0000 UTC
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My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is John Griffiths, the founder and executive director of GALECA — that’s The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. From an early age, John loved spending time with TV families, and as an adult he turned that passion into a career, spending time hob-nobbing and covering icons of entertainment. But like those found-families that captured his attention as a kid, he’s also ...
2023-08-17 19:10:54 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
For this week's Bonus Video, I've got some RATHER incendiary remarks from Carroll O'Connor (that's Archie on All in the Family) regarding the breaking of contracts -- basically, he writes in TV Guide (of all places) that it's always ethical for actors to make life difficult for greedy producers who want to exploit workers, and it's hard to disagree. Also, I have a few clips for you from Sally Struthers' All in the Family semi-spinoff, Gloria
2023-08-13 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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My guest this week is illustrator Kevin Jay Stanton. I can’t remember how he first came to my attention, but for the last few years I’ve been following him and his lovely artwork of plants and woodland creatures, which find their way onto all manner of objects from tarot cards to bomber jackets. Kevin’s work draws heavily from the ...
2023-08-10 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Hi there!
I wanted to give you a heads-up about a recent glitch on Patreon: A small number of folks may have noticed that their bank declined to process Patreon pledges over the last few days. (Most pledges went through with no problems.) I'm in touch with Patreon's support people, and they let me know that they found the issue and are working on a fix.
For now, Patreon recommends that anyone whose pledges were declined take these two steps:
- Contact their card issuer t...
2023-08-04 21:00:35 +0000 UTC
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My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast spent eight years auditioning for Drag Race before he was accepted and his life completely changed. Alexis Michelle, aka Alex Michaels, was a theater performer when he discovered a love of drag, and gradually figured out how to turn his hobby into his career. Now Alexis known for two much-talked about appearances on Drag Race, for appearing on the show Dragnificent, for multiple off-Broadway roles, 2023-08-03 17:31:27 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
Time once again for the monthly Q&A/feedback video, available for free to all Patreon members! I'm responding to questions, comments, and clips that you've sent me -- and this month, it's almost all clips. Fascinating ones! We'll start with one more BONKERS failed pilot, this time featuring Superman ... with one minor change. Then we've got a brief flash of sexy-gay time on a show where Delta Burke plays a lady (briefly) married to a football homosexual. Then a bu...
2023-08-01 16:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Hello there! This week's bonus video is all about Beverly LaSalle, the groundbreaking drag queen from All in the Family -- where she was discovered, how the writers adapted a real-life drag performer for a TV audience, and how television changed live drag venues in the late 70s. Plus, the actress who played Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) famously turned down the starring role on Murder She Wrote, but that didn't stop her from playing a mystery novelist a few years later! ... ...
2023-07-30 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is Trip Galey, who grew up in the macho world of rodeo before leaving it all behind to join the world of fairies. At his first opportunity, Trip left home to study literature and Shakespeare, finding himself drawn to classical fantasies — to the point that he reshaped his life around them, finding a home in England and dedicating himself to the study of magical tales....
2023-07-27 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello there! In this week's bonus video, I have two astonishing stories about Bette Davis being a real weirdo around the cast of All in the Family, starting with a run-in with the president of Egypt and ending with her getting caught cleaning a museum restroom. Also: Why All in the Family came very very close to killing off Archie in the fifth season, and an incredibly weird attempt by CBS executives to pull a gender-swap on Archie's grandson. Plus the time Shari Lewis (of L...
2023-07-23 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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My guest on The Sewers of Paris podcast this week is Jesse Finley Reed, co-director and co-producer of the new documentary All Man, which dives deep into the famous (or infamous) catalog/magazine International Male. If you were a curious young queer in the 90s, chances are good that you took a furtive look through the pages of International Male, or had copies hidden in places o...
2023-07-20 16:16:02 +0000 UTC
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Hello there! In this week's bonus video, I've got some intriguing stories about the casting of All in the Family -- and some very unlikely lucky-breaks that completely changed the lives of some of the younger actors, from Rob Reiner to Sally Struthers to Mike Evans (that's Lionel Jefferson, who was with the show from the very first episode). Also, I stumbled across some unexpected parallels between Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and the Muppets ... and also with the musical 1776....
2023-07-16 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
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I have two guests on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast — Shantel Buggs and Trevor Hoppe are the co-authors of a new book about how queer people talk to each other about sex entitled “Unsafe Words: Queering Consent in the #MeToo Era.” I spoke to them both about what brought them to this topic, and about their individual experiences growing up as queer people in very differ...
2023-07-13 18:41:30 +0000 UTC
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Welcome back to the Sewers of Paris! Thanks for your patience during the brief pause in the podcast — now I’m delighted to get back behind the mic for more conversations about the entertainment that changed the lives of queer people. On tonight’s episode: Disney villains, Buffy, and James Baldwin.
My guest is Manuel Betancourt, whose new book of essays about hunks, heartthrobs, and what pop culture taught him about men — and the desire for them. Manuel’s found his way through ...
2023-07-06 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Oh hello!
In this week's bonus video, I've got a ton of great stories about Norman Lear's many many shows: How he had to sneak NBC executives into a CBS office in order to get Sanford and Son picked up; how the star of Mary Hartman Mary Hartman wrote a 12-page essay arguing for why she should have a nervous breakdown; and the surprising family connections of the first interracial couple of television (and their connection to both Lenny Kravitz and Al Roker!) ... ...
2023-07-02 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
Time once again for the monthly Q&A video, available for free to all Patreon members!
Responding to your comments, clips you've sent, and requests -- and can you believe some of you still want to talk about My Mother the Car??? (Only a little this time, I promise.) Also: I got some great responses to a question I posed a few weeks ago about why there's that stereotype about gay men being so well-versed in pop culture. And! We're taking a lo...
2023-07-01 16:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
As of this week, all of the Patreon bonus videos should be transferred from Vimeo to YouTube -- which should mean an end to the "video not found" errors. Now that the change-over is done, everything ought to play normally. But if you run into any errors or weird behavior, please let me know so I can fix it! And thanks for your patience.
In this week's bonus video, I'm meandering from Seattle to Portland and back again while recounting the story of Turn On, a disast...
2023-06-25 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
A quick heads-up about videos on Patreon: I'm in the process of moving all of the videos from Vimeo to YouTube, which should finally end the "video not available" message that sometimes pops up here. There shouldn't be any disruption for you -- all the videos should just play normally, just (hopefully) without any more annoying errors. But if you run into any issues, please let me know so I can fix it! This process involves a lot of one-by-one downloading, uploading, an...
2023-06-18 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello there!
I'm trying something new with bonus videos this week -- instead of putting them on Vimeo, this one's on YouTube. I'm hoping this will resolve the "sometimes it just wont play" issue that some folks encounter, but let me know if this is working better or worse for you. And here's a backup link in case the video's not playing: https://youtu.be/ORkFvurBxVI
I'm also planning to move the bonus video...
2023-06-11 17:11:24 +0000 UTC
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Backup link in case the video's not working:
https://youtu.be/kJ3UOjvZ8ro
And by the way, I've started the process of moving bonus videos over to YouTube, which should be more stable. It'll take a few weeks because I've got A LOT of files to transfer and it has to be done one-by-one, but once I'm finished, bonus videos should be much more reliable.
Hello there!
For this ...
2023-06-04 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Backup link in case the video doesn't play: https://youtu.be/428j8ljRpVs
Hello there! I'm adding something new this month!
Lately, a lot of Patrons have been sending me clips & questions & observations & whatnot, so I've decided to do a once-a-month Q&A video where I respond to some of the things you've sent me. Let me know if this is something you like & want more of...
2023-06-01 20:05:30 +0000 UTC
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Backup link in case the video doesn't play: https://youtu.be/qOXWIbCL0m0
Hello there! In this week's bonus video, we're exploring the SUPER bizarre saga of the animatronic robot that Disney built in the 90s to promote both ABC sitcoms and the Exxon oil company. Why does it look SO terrible? I think I have the answer! And! I've got a cute story from Norman Lear, and a rather sweet moment from an ...
2023-05-28 16:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Backup link in case the video doesn't play:
https://youtu.be/QdnZEXEF1Ck
It's Mother's Day, and you know what that means: Time to celebrate the iconic 1965 sitcom My Mother the Car, widely considered the worst television show ever made. But I think it's the best! Not because it's good (it's not) but because it is SO WEIRD. In this week's bonus video, I'm diving into ...
2023-05-14 16:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Backup link in case the video doesn't play:
https://youtu.be/35PzSd3xf1Y
Hi there! In this week's bonus video, we're exploring the mystery of the Ellen DeGeneres Variety Show -- a program that was filmed but never broadcast in the late 90s. We're also looking at how Ellen's comedy career was nearly derailed by, of all things, CATS. Yes, the musical. Plus ... Ellen is apparent...
2023-05-07 21:59:21 +0000 UTC
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On the last episode of the Sewers of Paris podcast, we heard from Max Miller, host of the YouTube series Tasting History the book of the same name. This week, we’re revisiting my 2020 conversation Max’s partner José, who as a kid was a shy gay nerd before he grew up to be … also a shy gay nerd. But one who helped launch Disney Plus, who now cohosts a YouTube series of his own, crea...
2023-05-04 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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