Driving a Jeep at 90 Miles an Hour (Ep 409 - Brini Maxwell/Auntie Mame)

My guest this week is Ben Sander, creator of the character Brini Maxwell, a drag hostess who’s helmed shows about crafting, cooking, and homemaking, for decades. It all started with a little cable access show that he produced with some help from his mother, before becoming a cable TV series, with live shows that continue to this day — with Brini the character continuing to evolve as Ben her creator explores new artistic frontiers.

(Also: if you’re a fan of pop culture history — and I think you are — you’ll probably enjoy Sam’s great blog from a few years back, The Obscurity Factor.)

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and names in the credits of YouTube videos.

Maybe I'm Not Gay, Maybe I'm a Skater (Ep 408 - Edgar/Tony Hawk)

My guest this week is Edgar Gomez, author of the book High Risk Homosexual. Edgar spent years trying to figure out who he was, bouncing from one group to another — which took him from skater cliques to an encounter with a sex worker in Nicaragua to enrolling in school to become a cop, until he was expelled after being falsely accused of being a drug dealer. Edgar auditioned a lot of identities before he found one that felt right — one that allowed him to continue infiltrating and exploring all the different ways that human beings find to connect with each other.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and names in the credits of YouTube videos.

Beware of the World (Ep 407 - Josh/My Best Friend's Wedding)

My guest this week is Josh Weed, who ten years ago became a minor online celebrity after writing a blog post about how he was gay, Mormon, and happily married to a woman. Well, things have changed a bit since then. In 2018, Josh and his now ex-wife decided that it just wasn’t working, and they parted ways to pursue new relationships. Since then, they’ve both re-married, and remain close friends. And Josh has had some space to reflect on the cultural forces that gave them a distorted view of human sexuality … and those that helped them break free, including a handful of unexpected films.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and names in the credits of YouTube videos.

The Actual Mayor of Emeryville (Ep 406 - 90s Alt-Rock/Mayor John Bauters)

This week I’m talking to Mayor John Bauters — yes that’s right the actual mayor of Emeryville, which are the words on the sash that was made for him by Pixar studios, just one of the constituencies in his East Bay town. John never planned to become an elected official, and he doesn’t care if people vote him out. Which is maybe what makes him such an unusual leader. 

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

I'm Going to Read About Murders (Ep 405 - Agatha Christie/Paul Baker)

My guest this week is Professor Paul Baker, a writer and linguist whose work includes some FASCINATING explorations of Polari, the secret 19-century queer language that existed in England a century ago. He’s also delved deep into the history of British don’t-say-gay laws, gay seafarers, and in an upcoming book about campy queer culture. Given his expertise in campy sitcoms, drag stars, and celebrated actresses, I have a feeling that he speaks a language in which listeners of this podcast will be particularly fluent.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

I Get a Kick Out of Freaking People Out (Ep 404 - Interview With the Vampire/Levi Hastings)

Over on YouTube, I just released a new video about the long queer history of vampire lore — from Victorian novels about killer lesbians and undead seamen to early motion pictures and then the groundbreaking novel Interview With the Vampire in the 1970s. A new adaptation of Interview just premiered on AMC this week, and so in honor of that we’re diving into the Sewers archives to revisit my 2015 interview with Levi Hastings.

Levi’s an illustrator who grew up feeling like a misfit in his tiny religious Idaho town. He could tell he was an outsider, and so he decided to lean into it: embracing anything dark and sinister and brooding. It felt good to freak the world out with his talk of vampires and Marilyn Manson ... but it was also a little lonely. He knew there were other people like him out there in the world, he just wasn't sure where to find them… until he embarked on an eye-opening road trip.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, in case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

All Monsters Are People (Ep 403 - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes/Michael Varrati)

For this week’s episode, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to run an interview about horror movies, since October’s about to begin — or about romantic comedies, in recognition of Billy Eichner’s new rom-com Bros. So I decided to run an episode about horror AND romance. It’s a revisit of my 2018 interview with Michael Varrati, Hollywood screenwriter responsible for such films as From Hell She Rises, and Seven Dorms of Death … and also A Christmas Reunion and A Christmas in Vermont. Michael's genre-hopping might seem a little weird, but he's not alone in straddling horror and rom-com. 

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, in case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

My Second Life (Ep 402 - Phantom of the Opera/Chris Geidner)

My guest this week has two lives — his theater life and his law life. By day, you may know Chris Geidner for his reporting and writing on some of the most pressing legal issues of the day. But he’s just as passionate about musical theater, going all the way back to the time he was enthralled by Phantom of the Opera. In fact, it was one little twist of fate that led him to a legal career instead of a life in the theater — but, as he discovered, the two careers aren’t as different as one might think.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, in case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a book coming out next year about queer sitcoms! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

Giving Myself Permission to Get a Little Bit Sexier (Ep 401 - French Comics/Josh Cornillon)

You might know my guest this week from his saucy art on Twitter, but there’s much more to his work than X-Men in Speedos. Josh Cornillon grew up reading sophisticated graphic novels in his native France, and those books infuse the writing and illustration that he does today.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, hey in case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a book coming out next year about how subversive queer comedy transformed the American sitcom over the last half century! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and pre-orders are open — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details, to pre-order your copy, and to sign up for my newsletter to get excerpts and updates.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.

I Think I Quit (Ep 400 - The Front Runner/TJ Klune

TJ Klune’s childhood grew up reading books in a forest under the trees, which sounds idyllic … minus the part about how he was mercilessly bullied. Literature and libraries were his safe haven, and in fact a librarian was the first person he ever came out to. In his adult life, TJ found himself working a grueling job in the insurance industry, longing to tell the stories in his head. But nobody was more surprised than he was when, one day, he walked into work and declared the he was quitting so he could write the great gay American novel.

You can get TJ’s book Wolfsong here.

Also, I want to let you know that I’ve got a book coming out next year, and I can finally reveal the title! It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo, and it’s about how subversive queer comedy transformed the American sitcom over the last half century. Pre-orders are open now via all major booksellers and local shops — head over to gaysitcoms.com to get all the details, to pre-order your copy, and to sign up for my newsletter to get excerpts and updates.

Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive bonus videos about pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in YouTube videos.