The Sewers of Paris is a podcast about how queer people's lives are shaped by our favorite books, movies, music, and shows. Each week, guests open up about their secret struggles, hidden passions, and surprising triumphs by plucking a piece of entertainment from their past and answering the question: how did it change your life?
Longtime listener?
New to the show?
Recent Episodes
All Episodes
-
April 2015
- Apr 8, 2015 Welcome to the Sewers of Paris
- Apr 8, 2015 Camp is like Pornography (Ep. 1: Eurovision)
- Apr 16, 2015 I was Quite Happy to be the Villain (Ep. 2: Julian and Sandy)
- Apr 16, 2015 Gay Men's Catnip (Ep. 3: Wizard of Oz)
- Apr 18, 2015 Short and Super-Perverted (Ep. 4: Salome)
- Apr 23, 2015 Funny and Salacious and Dangerous (Ep. 5: Soap)
- Apr 30, 2015 There's no Word in Afrikaans for Gay (Ep. 6: South Africa)
- May 2015
- June 2015
-
July 2015
- Jul 2, 2015 I'm Not Gay, I'm Just a Dance Major (Ep. 15 - The Boys in the Band)
- Jul 9, 2015 Important Fiction with Wieners (Ep. 16 - E.M. Forster)
- Jul 16, 2015 Libraries Have Always Felt Safe (Ep. 17 - Redwall and The Virgin Mary)
- Jul 23, 2015 The Witch's Perspective (Ep. 18 - Wicked)
- Jul 30, 2015 Drag Clothing for GI Joes (Ep. 19 - The Birdcage)
-
August 2015
- Aug 6, 2015 I Could be Black and Gay and Also a Writer (Ep. 20 - Will & Grace and Langston Hughes)
- Aug 12, 2015 I'm Rooting for the Pig (Ep. 21 - The Muppet Show)
- Aug 20, 2015 There's Something About Not Giving a F*ck (Ep. 22 - Nintendo Games & John Waters)
- Aug 27, 2015 I Prefer the Term "Enchanted" (Ep. 23 - Magic, Puppetry, and Mr. Rogers)
-
September 2015
- Sep 3, 2015 The Cecil B. DeMille of Porn (Ep. 24 - Batman & Chi Chi LaRue)
- Sep 10, 2015 Terrifying and yet Intriguing (Ep. 25 - Punk Rock)
- Sep 17, 2015 Giving Yourself a Crash Course in Gay (Ep. 26 - Cinephiles)
- Sep 24, 2015 You Don't Own Me (Ep. 27 - First Wives Club)
-
October 2015
- Oct 1, 2015 Trust it & Thrust it (Ep. 28 - Showgirls & Ellen)
- Oct 8, 2015 People Wearing Masks (Ep. 29 - Hocus Pocus)
- Oct 15, 2015 I Got a Kick out of Freaking People Out (Ep. 30 - Interview with the Vampire)
- Oct 22, 2015 You Can't Make Us Feel Ashamed (Ep. 31 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
- Oct 29, 2015 The Final Girl (Ep. 32 - Nightmare on Elm Street)
- November 2015
-
December 2015
- Dec 3, 2015 Flamboyant Before I was Ready (Ep. 37 - Moulin Rouge & Big Brother)
- Dec 10, 2015 When You Don’t Have Words to Say, You Sing (Ep. 38 - Angels in America)
- Dec 17, 2015 Just be Gay, It's Fine (Ep. 39 - The Cosby Show)
- Dec 24, 2015 The Sewers of Paris Holiday-Special Special
- Dec 31, 2015 My Mom Had to Look up "Homosexual" at the Library (Ep. 41 - Carol Burnett)
-
January 2016
- Jan 7, 2016 I'm not an Expert, Except that I Have a Heart (Ep. 42 - Captain Kirk)
- Jan 14, 2016 The Best Smut You'll Ever Read (Ep. 43 - Anais Nin)
- Jan 21, 2016 The Person I was in Namibia and the Person I am Now (Ep. 44 - Desperate Housewives)
- Jan 28, 2016 The Joke of Being Gay (Ep. 45 - Polyester & Arrested Development)
- February 2016
-
March 2016
- Mar 3, 2016 I Embrace Being High-Strung (Ep. 50 - Louis Virtel & Jeopardy!)
- Mar 10, 2016 That's a Life in the Theater (Ep. 51 - Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett)
- Mar 17, 2016 If You Can Survive it, do it (Ep. 52 - Gay New York in the 70s & 80s)
- Mar 24, 2016 My Land's Only Borders Lie Around my Heart (Ep. 53 - Chess, Mariah, and Wicked)
- Mar 31, 2016 Don't Follow Rules (Ep. 54 - Indie Rock, Chiptunes, and Video Games)
-
April 2016
- Apr 7, 2016 My Cat Makes Me Laugh a Lot (Ep. 55 - Bette Midler)
- Apr 14, 2016 I Needed to Feel at Home in my Home (Ep. 56 - Matilda)
- Apr 21, 2016 I was in Fantasy Worlds with Quests and Wizards (Ep. 57 - Dungeons & Dragons)
- Apr 28, 2016 I'm in the Whore Houses and the Leper Colonies (Ep. 58 - Robbie Turner)
- May 2016
-
June 2016
- Jun 2, 2016 You Don't Want to See Minnie Mouse Take Her Head Off (Ep. 63 - Ben DeLaCreme)
- Jun 9, 2016 Villains and Hairdressers (Ep. 64 - Bryan Safi)
- Jun 16, 2016 Earthquakes Are Fine, I'd Just Rather not be in Eugene (Ep. 65 - Tokyo Drag Queen)
- Jun 23, 2016 My Slumber Parties Were Notorious (Ep. 66 - Greenwich Village)
- Jun 30, 2016 The Lost Year in Argentina (Ep. 67 - 80s Pop Songs)
-
July 2016
- Jul 7, 2016 The Girlie Show (Ep. 68 - Madonna)
- Jul 14, 2016 What's Gayer than Plinko? (Ep. 69 - Body Heat)
- Jul 21, 2016 I was Fresh Meat and a Hustler (Ep. 70 - The Kids in the Hall)
- Jul 28, 2016 Go and Love Some More (Ep. 71 - Harold and Maude)
-
August 2016
- Aug 4, 2016 A Bomb Went Through the Wall of the House (Ep. 72 - Sondheim)
- Aug 11, 2016 We Were Our Own John Hughes Movie (Ep. 73 - Voyagers)
- Aug 18, 2016 The Women and the Monsters (Ep. 74: Drew Droege)
- Aug 25, 2016 A Gateway Drug to Fabulous (Ep. 75 - 80s Cartoons)
-
September 2016
- Sep 1, 2016 Clam Diggers and Mussel Suckers (Ep. 76 - Coco Peru)
- Sep 8, 2016 Little Mouse in a Big World (Ep. 77 - Furries)
- Sep 15, 2016 All Mothers Know (Ep. 78 - Clueless)
- Sep 22, 2016 A Kid Who Had Powers in Japan (Ep. 79 - Sailor Moon)
- Sep 29, 2016 I Have To Tell You Something Really Bad (Ep. 80 - Howard's End)
-
October 2016
- Oct 6, 2016 Where's the Pazow? (Ep. 81 - HR Pufnstuff)
- Oct 13, 2016 The Moon's About to Fall (Ep. 82 - Majora's Mask)
- Oct 20, 2016 Vagabonds Like Me (Ep. 83 - Stand by Me)
- Oct 27, 2016 The Nicest Debt Collector Around (Ep. 84 - Great British Bake Off)
- November 2016
-
December 2016
- Dec 1, 2016 Don't Ask Me Out Again Until You've Written Chapter Two (Ep. 90 - Tootsie)
- Dec 8, 2016 Tragically Ludicrous and Ludicrously Tragic (Ep. 91 - Reality Shows)
- Dec 15, 2016 That Really Felt Like Christmas Magic (Ep. 92 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
- Dec 22, 2016 A Telemundo Reaction (Ep. 93 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
- Dec 29, 2016 The Best Gay Entertainment of 2016
-
January 2017
- Jan 5, 2017 A Need to be Doused in Black Culture - (Ep. 95 - Sonari Glinton)
- Jan 12, 2017 A Big Purple Man in a Loin Cloth (Ep. 96 - Gargoyles)
- Jan 19, 2017 Going to the Beach with John Waters (Ep. 97 - Peaches Christ)
- Jan 26, 2017 Screaming on the Inside, Placid on the Outside (Ep. 98 - Mary Tyler Moore)
- February 2017
-
March 2017
- Mar 2, 2017 A Weird Thing From Outer Space Having a Love Affair (Ep. 103 - RISK's Kevin Allison)
- Mar 9, 2017 It Makes Every Gay Bone in my Body Vibrate (Ep. 104 - Broadway)
- Mar 16, 2017 I Always Wanted to be the Pretty one (Ep. 105 - Miss Universe)
- Mar 23, 2017 A Giraffe Gynecologist (Ep. 106 - Opera)
- Mar 30, 2017 You Can be Sad or You Can be Gay (Ep. 107 - Guy Branum)
- April 2017
- May 2017
-
June 2017
- Jun 1, 2017 Queer Desire Has Always Been There (Ep. 116: Kurt Cobain)
- Jun 8, 2017 I Was a Teenage Theater Tyrant (Ep. 117 - Pee-wee Herman)
- Jun 15, 2017 Roll Yourself in Glitter - (Ep. 118: Justin Sayre)
- Jun 22, 2017 He Found Out my Secret - (Ep. 119: Matchgame & Press Your Luck)
- Jun 29, 2017 Anita Bryant, God Bless Her (Ep. 120: Gore Vidal)
-
July 2017
- Jul 6, 2017 We've Cornered the Market on Mermaids (Ep. 121 - Joel Kim Booster)
- Jul 13, 2017 Elizabeth Taylor is my Higher Power (Ep. 122 - Hillary Clinton)
- Jul 20, 2017 Going to Face the Dragon (Ep. 123 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- Jul 27, 2017 Luxury Music for Surplus People (Ep. 124 - Madonna & Prince)
-
August 2017
- Aug 3, 2017 Everything but the Snakes (Ep. 125 - Worship songs)
- Aug 10, 2017 Swept Away by Dracula (Ep. 126 - horror films)
- Aug 17, 2017 I am Militantly Vulnerable (Ep. 127 - Sailor Moon)
- Aug 24, 2017 The Doctor's Wife (Ep. 128 - The Witches)
- Aug 31, 2017 Glitter and be Gay (Ep. 129 - Julie Andrews)
-
September 2017
- Sep 7, 2017 It's F*cking Tough to be Reasonable (Ep. 130 - Suikoden 2)
- Sep 8, 2017 Bonus Episode: Dungeons and Drag Queens
- Sep 14, 2017 Super Extra (Ep. 131 - Gabriel Fontana & Britney Spears)
- Sep 21, 2017 The Priests of Hollywood (Ep. 132 - Designing Women & Gone with the Wind)
- Sep 28, 2017 How to be Awesome (Ep. 133 - Terry Pratchett)
-
October 2017
- Oct 5, 2017 Tina Turner Realness (Ep. 134 - Proud Mary)
- Oct 12, 2017 I Always Thought Your Father was a Bit of a Poof (Ep. 135 - Sonnet 20)
- Oct 19, 2017 Royalties and a Husband (Ep. 136 - West Side Story & Eric Marcus of Making Gay History)
- Oct 26, 2017 Underground Culture (Ep. 137 - The Smiths & To Kill a Mockingbird)
-
November 2017
- Nov 2, 2017 Putting Your Body Through a Car Wash (Ep. 138 - Spirited Away & BDSM)
- Nov 8, 2017 Bonus Episode! The Lost Treasure of the Neverglades
- Nov 9, 2017 Everybody Should Have Secrets (Ep. 139 - Imitation of Life)
- Nov 16, 2017 A Sandbox of Weirdness (Ep. 140 - Jamie Pierce)
- Nov 23, 2017 A Britney-Whitney Gay (Ep. 141 - Best Little Whorehouse in Texas)
- Nov 30, 2017 Everything is Queer (Ep 142 - Matt Rogers)
-
December 2017
- Dec 7, 2017 Surrounded by Death and Drugs (Ep. 143 - Sina Grace & Iceman)
- Dec 14, 2017 Nothing Went Fine (Ep. 144 - Les Miserables)
- Dec 21, 2017 The 2017 Sewers of Paris Holiday Special Special
- Dec 28, 2017 On Top of Mount Sodom (Ep. 146 - The Dead Poets Society)
-
January 2018
- Jan 4, 2018 Glamorous but Homicidal (Ep. 147 - The Cure)
- Jan 11, 2018 It's Worth it to be Passionate (Ep. 148 - Final Fantasy VII)
- Jan 18, 2018 Gay Male Student #1 (Ep. 149 - Carol Burnett)
- Jan 24, 2018 Hot Glue and Rhinestones (Ep. 150 - Chi Chi DeVayne)
-
February 2018
- Feb 1, 2018 The Kentucky Derby for People (Ep. 151 - Drag Race)
- Feb 8, 2018 It Was Deeply Weird (Ep. 152 - Cats)
- Feb 15, 2018 Oracular Garbage Pile (Ep. 153 - James Bond)
- Feb 20, 2018 Crazy Pirate Madonna (Ep. 154 - Tori Amos)
- Feb 22, 2018 Excited and Scared (Ep. 155 - Ari Shapiro of NPR's All Things Considered)
-
March 2018
- Mar 1, 2018 The Moment Where I Lost It (Ep. 156 - E.T.)
- Mar 8, 2018 Sign me up to be Stupid (Ep. 157 - Professional Wrestling)
- Mar 13, 2018 Like Getting Struck by Lightning (Ep. 158 - The Twist Queer Film Festival)
- Mar 15, 2018 The Monster I Have to Beat (Ep. 159 - JP Brammer)
- Mar 22, 2018 People Who Have Real Magic (Ep. 160 - Dune)
- Mar 29, 2018 Evil Glamour (Ep. 161 - Anime & Maleficent)
-
April 2018
- Apr 5, 2018 Zombies, Witches, and Talking Dolls (Ep. 162 - Passions)
- Apr 12, 2018 The Wrong Kind of Gay (Ep. 163 - Jem and the Holograms)
- Apr 17, 2018 I Don't Have Any Shame in my Game (Ep. 164 - Aydian Dowling)
- Apr 19, 2018 Vampire Drag Queens (Ep. 165 - Marilyn Manson)
- Apr 26, 2018 Becoming Real (Ep. 166 - The Velveteen Rabbit)
-
May 2018
- May 3, 2018 The Only Boy on Paradise Island (Ep. 167 - Wonder Woman)
- May 10, 2018 How to Make Something About Making Something (Ep. 168: Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
- May 17, 2018 Spitefully Outed (Ep. 169 - So You Think You Can Dance)
- May 22, 2018 No More I Love Yous (Ep. 170 - Drag Families)
- May 24, 2018 Making Things up as You Go (Ep. 171 - Björk)
- May 31, 2018 The Devil in my Head (Ep. 172 - The Bodyguard)
-
June 2018
- Jun 7, 2018 Madonna Nirvana (Ep. 173 - Madonna)
- Jun 14, 2018 Dream Bigger (Ep. 174 - The Amazing Race)
- Jun 21, 2018 Space Ballerinas (Ep. 175 - Sailor Moon)
- Jun 28, 2018 Our Own Lothlorien (Ep. 177 - Dungeons & Dragons)
-
July 2018
- Jul 5, 2018 When I Started Saying the Word Butt (Ep. 178 - Q. Allan Brocka)
- Jul 7, 2018 Gunshots in the Night (Ep. 179 - Kingdom Hearts)
- Jul 12, 2018 I Finally Felt Like I Made It (Ep. 180 - Andrew Lloyd Weber)
- Jul 19, 2018 We Just Kept Secrets (Ep. 181 - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?)
- Jul 26, 2018 Behind Closed Doors (Ep. 182 - Steel Magnolias)
- Jul 31, 2018 Examining Your Desire (Ep. 183 - Ragtime)
-
August 2018
- Aug 2, 2018 A Bondage Analysis of Tolkien (Ep. 184 - Lord of the Rings)
- Aug 9, 2018 Demons Were Always At Hand (Ep. 185 - Beetlejuice)
- Aug 15, 2018 Bonus Episode! Gay by May or Your Money Back (Ep. 186 - Gaby Dunn)
- Aug 16, 2018 All Monsters Are People (Ep. 187 - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes)
- Aug 23, 2018 The Fast Road to Hell (Ep. 188 - The Nutcracker)
- Aug 30, 2018 A Party to Call Home (Ep. 189 - Pink Party Prime)
-
September 2018
- Sep 6, 2018 I Don't Want to Go Quietly - (Ep. 190 - Metallica)
- Sep 13, 2018 The Town Queen (Ep. 191 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
- Sep 18, 2018 I'm Here, I'm Queer, I'm Tired, It's Your Turn (Ep. 192 - Secretary)
- Sep 20, 2018 In my Own Way I'm a Doomsday Prepper (Ep. 193 - I Love Lucy)
- Sep 27, 2018 Come to the Party, it's Weird (Ep. 194 - Cheryl)
-
October 2018
- Oct 4, 2018 The First Time I Could be a Gay Person (Ep. 195 - Alien)
- Oct 11, 2018 My First Job with RuPaul (Ep. 196 - Jamal Terry-Sims)
- Oct 18, 2018 There's no Comedy Without Conflict (Ep. 197 - Improv)
- Oct 23, 2018 The Go-Out Girls (Ep. 198 - Alaska Thunderf*ck)
- Oct 25, 2018 You Were Great in Lawnmower Man (Ep. 199 - Neuromancer)
-
November 2018
- Nov 1, 2018 She Made me Dress up as the Pink Carebear (Ep. 200 - Kevin Yee)
- Nov 8, 2018 What Makes You Have a Fabulous Life (Ep. 201 - Madonna)
- Nov 15, 2018 What Happens in a Gay Bar (Ep. 202 - Lady Gaga)
- Nov 22, 2018 Bonus Episode: Beyond the Sewers of Paris! We Were Born for This Moment (Ep. 203 - Annie)
- Nov 22, 2018 This Boy is a Deviant (Ep. 204 - Jaymes Mansfield)
- Nov 29, 2018 Unleash the Queen (Ep. 205 - Freddie Mercury)
-
December 2018
- Dec 6, 2018 What Do You Do When You're An Over The Hill Baton Twirler? (Ep. 206 - The Sound of Music)
- Dec 13, 2018 A Little Space Alien (Ep. 207 - Superman)
- Dec 20, 2018 The Sewers of Paris Holiday Special Special!
- Dec 24, 2018 Taking Back Queer Femme Sexuality (Ep. 208 - Sylvia Plath)
- Dec 27, 2018 Behind the Sewers of Paris (Ep. 209 - Star Wars)
-
January 2019
- Jan 3, 2019 The Gothic Clarinetist (Ep. 210 - Mormon Musicals)
- Jan 10, 2019 It Was a Battle (Ep. 211 - Leather, Kink, and Watchmaking)
- Jan 17, 2019 My Grubby Dark Weekend Secret (Ep. 212 - James Bond)
- Jan 22, 2019 Permission to be Sexual (Ep. 213 - Cher & Prince)
- Jan 24, 2019 Star Power (Ep. 214 - Tales of the City)
- Jan 31, 2019 Working on Something Big (Ep. 215 - Sci-Fi and Ham Radio)
-
February 2019
- Feb 7, 2019 Hypersaturated (Ep. 216 - Knitting & Dance)
- Feb 11, 2019 Bonus Episode: Science is Queer (Ep. 218 - ASAP Science's Mitch and Greg)
- Feb 14, 2019 An Etch-a-Sketch for my Life (Ep. 217 - Clue)
- Feb 21, 2019 Why Can't it be Me? (Ep. 219 - Shakespeare)
- Feb 28, 2019 Seek Queer People Out (Ep. 220 - My Gay Roommate)
-
March 2019
- Mar 4, 2019 Bonus Episode: A Show for all the Awkward Queers (Ep. 222 - Xena Warrior Princess)
- Mar 7, 2019 Weird and Queered (Ep. 222 - Return to Oz)
- Mar 14, 2019 The Seven Minutes of Terror (Ep. 223 - Arthur C. Clarke)
- Mar 21, 2019 We Were Young and Having Fun (Ep. 224 - Miami Beach in the 1970s)
- Mar 28, 2019 Consistently Lying (Ep. 225 - old-timey radio)
-
April 2019
- Apr 4, 2019 You're Going to Have a Lot of Feelings (Ep. 226: Tobin Low & the Tonys)
- Apr 9, 2019 Buffy is How I Found Friends (Ep. 227 - Buffy & Ray Goldberg)
- Apr 11, 2019 The Last Person Who Was Taught to Cruise (Ep. 228 - Roger Rabbit & John Leavitt)
- Apr 18, 2019 Humans Trying to Make Sense of God (Ep. 229: The Good Place & Ross Murray)
- Apr 25, 2019 My First Gay Gasp (Ep 230 - Gilmore Girls & Nico Lang)
-
May 2019
- May 2, 2019 A Musical Theater Teen Factory (Ep 231 - Peter Pan/Marc Snetiker)
- May 7, 2019 The Psychology of Harry Potter (Ep 232 - Harry Potter/Victoria Lee)
- May 9, 2019 I Was a Pet Project (Ep. 233 - Lady Gaga at the Superbowl/Bucky Flores)
- May 16, 2019 Fantasy Worlds with Quests and Wizards (Ep. 234 - Dungeons & Dragons/David Gaider)
- May 23, 2019 Sweaty Good Times (Ep. 235 - Dance Music/Ryan Whedon)
- May 30, 2019 I Always Was a Mermaid (Ep. 236 - Optimus Prime/Noah Michelson)
- June 2019
