There’s a new book out this month about the history of The Women’s House of Detention, a women’s prison that was located just across the street from The Stonewall Inn, that played a role in the 1969 uprising, and that for better or worse shaped queer culture in New York’s iconic gayborhood. The author, Hugh Ryan, was my guest on the Sewers of Paris several years ago, and for this week’s episode we’re revisiting by 2020 interview with him about his previous book, When Brooklyn was Queer. Settle in for a chat about Hugh’s own favorite books — pulpy sci-fi novels, which filled his middle school days with magic horses. Growing up, Hugh became a mild mannered academic by day, rowdy party monster by night. And after a series of adventures, including one in which he moved into another person’s life, Hugh found a calling in creating pop-up museums of queer history.
We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a weekly newsletter where I write stories about queer pop culture and also link to cute animal videos — subscribe to that at mattbaume.com. Also take a look at my YouTube channel for videos about film and TV history — I just posted a video about how Will & Grace premiered at what might’ve been the worst possible time, and how the creators overcame the Ellen curse.
Also, big thanks to everyone who supports The Sewers of Paris on Patreon! Patrons get hours of exclusive videos about super queer pop culture history, stickers and stuff in the mail, and shoutouts in the credits of YouTube videos.