Our Own Lothlorien (Ep. 177 - Dungeons & Dragons)

This Week's Guest: Jeremy Crawford

Imaging growing up to find that the fantasy worlds you envisioned as a kid aren't just real, but have been waiting for you to lead them. My guest this week is Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer for Dungeons & Dragons. We'll be talking about the witches, wizards, and elves who shaped his work in games, his relationship with his husband, and the queer content he now gets to insert in the world's most iconic tabletop game.

And BTW, I hope you'll join us for the next Sewers of Paris live chat. I want to hear about the books, movies, music, and games that you and your fellow Sewers listeners are obsessed with. The livestream is on Saturday, June 30th at 2pm pacific -- there's a link at the top of the Sewers of Paris twitter feed, where you can set a reminder to get a notification when we go live. 

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. There's rewards for folks who back the show -- just click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show. Thanks to Cappafeo who wrote on iTunes, "I came to the show through Queens of Adventure and I'm so glad I did."

Well, speaking of which! If you're looking for more queer podcasts, check out the show I host with some fantastically funny drag queens Queens of Adventure. We play an ongoing and very queer Dungeons & Dragons adventure full of action and suspense and shady banter. Season 1 just launched -- head over to QueensOfAdventure.com to subscribe.

And the Queens of Adventure live is coming to San Francisco for two shows on July 13 and 14. Come see drag queens playing D&D live on stage! Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

This Week's Recommendation: Affairs of the Heart

For this week's recommendation, take a look at the classical writing that Jeremy mentioned, lamenting the loss of queer culture in ancient Greece. The title is translated sometimes as "Affairs of the Heart," other times as "Amores," and also as "Erōtes," an it's a dialogue between characters debating the merits of same-sex affection versus opposite-sex.

Translations are easy enough to find online, though they're not exactly fast reads. There is a LOT to unpack, and my favorite parts are those that really seem to revel in sexuality -- such as this rather steamy description of men in their twenties: "The limbs, being large and manly, are hard, the chins that once were soft are rough and covered with bristles, and the well-developed thighs are as it were sullied with hairs. And as for the parts less visible than these, I leave knowledge of them to you who have tried them!"

There are also passages that will excite fans of homosupremacy: "For marriage is a remedy invented to ensure man's necessary perpetuity, but only love for males is a noble duty enjoined by a philosophic spirit. Anything cultivated for aesthetic reasons in the midst of abundance is accompanied with greater honour than things which require for their existence immediate need, and beauty is in every way superior to necessity."

That's followed, unfortunately, by some intense misogyny -- as it turns out, gay culture hasn't changed that much in 2000 years. As much as there is to enjoy in the text, there's a lot to critique, including the youthfulness suggested by repeated use of the term "boy." Still, it's a fascinating peek into attitudes toward sexuality in the 4th century, and it's not hard to imagine the same spirited conversation happening over brunch today.

Space Ballerinas (Ep. 175 - Sailor Moon)

This Week's Guest: Ryan La Sala

My guest this week is Ryan La Sala. He's got a very queer fantasy novel coming out next year, and while he's always been imaginative, he didn't always exactly use his powers for good. 

BTW, I hope you'll join us for the next Sewers of Paris live chat. It's on June 30th -- there's a link to the next livestream at the top of the Sewers of Paris twitter feed, and you can set a reminder to get a notification when we go live. 

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. There's rewards for folks who back the show -- just click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show. Thanks to AdamSmith520 who wrote on iTunes, "I’ve learnt so much from this podcast! If you’re interested in gay stories and culture, check it out."

If you're looking for more queer podcasts, check out the show I host with some fantastically funny drag queens Queens of Adventure. We play an ongoing and very queer Dungeons & Dragons adventure full of action and suspense and shady banter. Season 1 just launched -- head over to QueensOfAdventure.com to subscribe.

And the Queens of Adventure live is coming to San Francisco for two shows on July 13 and 14. Come see drag queens playing D&D live on stage! Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

This Week's Recommendation: Magical Boys

For more about magical girls, magical boys, and magical enbys, check out a podcast co-hosted by a past Sewers of Paris guest, DJ Kirkland. The show is called Magical Boys, and on it DJ and his friends talk about games, movies, comics, art, culture -- basically anything geeky and gay. 

Magical Boys is the funny frank conversation you want to be having all the time with your best friends -- and because the boys all know each other so well, they can be delightfully honest about the insecurities, vanities, and guilty pleasures that we're so often hesitant to confess. 

Recent topics include Overwatch, soft talking, hot boys at the gym, and how come on, it's 2018 everyone, just be horny on your main Twitter account instead of creating a whole separate secret one for sex talk. Magical Boys produces my favorite podcast effect: the feeling that you're getting together with friends to relax, let down your guard, and somehow even though it's an audio recording, feel like you're really being seen.

Stuff We Talked About

Dream Bigger (Ep. 174 - The Amazing Race)

This Week's Guest: Scott Flanary

Do you always NEED to dream big, or is it sometimes ok to just be happy with what you've got? My guest this week has some experience when it comes to achieving big dreams -- Scott Flanary was the winner of Season 29 of The Amazing Race, which had been a goal for pretty much all of his adult life. So now that he's accomplished goals that once seemed impossibly difficult, he's grappling with a tough question: now what?

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Sewers of Paris live chat last weekend. Our next one is June 30th -- there's a link to the next livestream at the top of the Sewers of Paris twitter feed, when you can set a reminder to get a notification when we go live. 

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show. Thanks to Alestrial who wrote on iTunes, "Yes please, A rare podcast that helps you discover something about yourself while learning about others." Aww that's really sweet. 

Also, if you're looking for more queer podcasts, check out the show I host with some fantastically funny drag queens Queens of Adventure. We play an ongoing and very queer Dungeons & Dragons adventure full of action and suspense and shady banter. Season 1 just launched -- head over to QueensOfAdventure.com to subscribe.

If you're in Seattle, we've got a live Dungeons & Drag Queens show coming up on June 21! And the Queens of Adventure live is coming to San Francisco for two shows on July 13 and 14. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

This Week's Recommendation: Me Talk Pretty One Day

Thanks again to Scott for joining me. For more queer musings on travel, fresh starts, and finding yourself while you were looking for something else, check out David Sedaris' book "Me Talk Pretty One Day." Sedaris is, of course, required reading, his essays all beautifully crafted meals of humor, anxiety, and thoughtful resignation to the absurd. But this book marked a shift in his writing: it chronicles his time in America and then his re-settlement in France -- where, unable to speak the language, he is robbed of his primary means of navigation. The experience he relates is a bit like being hazed by an entire country, one word at a time, and yet still he soldiers on, a sort of gay Eeyore grasping his way through an alien landscape.  What emerges is a travelogue not as much about being in a new country as it is about living in a new language, a broadening of horizons that is far more expansive within the writer than without.
 

Stuff We Talked About

Madonna Nirvana (Ep. 173 - Madonna)

This Week's Guest: D'Arcee Charington Neal

Join us on tonight's episode when my guest D'Arcee recalls what may have been the worst thing anyone's ever been told by their boss.

We'll have that conversation in a minute -- but first, if you're looking for more podcasts to listen to, check out the show I just launched along with some fantastically funny drag queens. The show's called Queens of Adventure, and it's based on our live shows where drag queens play a real Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Queens of Adventure brings together larger-than-life drag shows and epic fantasy adventures, with the queens rolling the dice every other week to combat killer wigs, tame burly bears, investigate shady seamen, and misty step their way into your heart. Season One just launched -- head over to QueensOfAdventure.com to subscribe.

And if you're in Seattle, mark your calendars for June 21! We're doing our next live Dungeons & Drag Queens show at Kremwerk just in time for Pride. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

And I hope you'll join us for the next Sewers of Paris live chat -- on Saturday, June 9, at 2pm Pacific. There's a link pinned to the top of the SewersOfParis twitter feed -- see you there!

This Week's Recommendation: Human Nature

Thanks again to D'Arcee for joining me. For this week's recommendation, check out the music video for Madonna's Human Nature. Surrounded by dancers in light bondage gear, her body is pried open as she chants that you should express yourself, don't repress yourself. The entire song is a non-apology for feelings and words that don't require an apology. The focus is unmistakably sexual -- no surprise, given the artist -- but there's also a winking playful shrug as the visuals shift from aggressive writhing to goofy images like a Chihuahua in leather chaps.

The conflict in the video is totally spellbinding. On one hand are the demands of the dance, which has emotional figures bound, thrown, flogged, and and tangled in rope, seemingly out of control of their own bodies, along with angry lyrics like "I'm not your bitch don't hang your shit on me." But on the other hand there's shots of laughter, and comfortable confident ease in bondage scenes.

Throughout, the lyrics repeat "I'm not sorry. It's human nature." Sex, as it's shown in the video, is relentless and uncontrollable and violent -- but also funny, if you let it. Libido grabs hold of us all with forces beyond our control, and by the end of the video we see Madonna happily going along for the ride. 

The video concludes with her staring into the camera. "You're the one with the problem," she says. "Absolutely no regrets."

Stuff We Talked About

The Devil in my Head (Ep. 172 - The Bodyguard)

This Week's Guest: Byron Lane

A well-told joke doesn't just have the effect of making an audience laugh -- it can also provide armor for the person telling it. My guest this week is actor and comedian Byron Lane, whose projects include the webseries Last Will and Testicle, and the stage show Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist. Through his work, he went from the kid who always wanted someone to protect him to a man who could protect himself through laughter.

Byron's show is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but first they're doing a couple of bon voyage/fundraiser shows in LA. Tickets are available: Fri 6/29 8pm & Sat 6/30 8pm at Casita del Campo.

We'll have that conversation in a minute -- but first, I want to let you know that I've just launched a new podcast along with some fantastically funny drag queens. It's called Queens of Adventure, and it's based on our live shows where drag queens play a real Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Queens of Adventure brings together larger-than-life drag shows and epic fantasy adventures, with the queens rolling the dice every other week to combat killer wigs, tame burly bears, investigate shady seamen, and misty step their way into your heart. Season One just launched -- head over to QueensOfAdventure.com to subscribe.

And if you're in Seattle, mark your calendars for June 21! We're doing our next live Dungeons & Drag Queens show at Kremwerk just in time for Pride. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.
 

This Week's Recommendation: Last Will and Testicle

Thanks again to Byron for joining me. Head over to LastWillAndTesticle.com to check out his webseries, an autobiographical comedy about all the different stages of coping with a life-changing diagnosis. In bite-sized morsels, each little episode highlights the emotional impact that the news has on family and friends, and also the goofy ways that a cancer scare changes a person's life.

Over the course of two seasons, we see Bryon deal with denial, anger, bargaining, and the rest. He engages in dialogue with his balls. He processes his feelings with the help of a therapist, religious parents, and a boyfriend who is mostly just grossed out by the whole thing. And throughout it all, he seems mostly befuddled, since now matter how prepared you might be for a health crisis, it will always be larger than one person can handle on their own.

Look for cameos from Jonathan Van Ness, Drew Droege, Sam Pancake, and other usual-suspects. Although these familiar faces often pop up on various gay webserieses, in this context it's particularly comforting to recognize them. Health problems are scary, so it's nice to have family by your side -- whether it's biological family or a chosen gay family of the LA gay comedy scene.

Thanks again for listening.

Making Things up as You Go (Ep. 171 - Björk)

This Week's Guest: Santiago Melli-Huber

How do you know when it's time to move versus when is it time to stay put? My guest this week is Santiago Melli-Huber, who's on a constant hunt for a place that feels right. Whether trying new jobs, new cities, or new social circles, he's made himself into a bit of an investigator, always asking what needs to change and then taking action to try something new.

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

Hey, if you're in Seattle for Pride next month, mark your calendars for June 21! We're doing our next live Dungeons & Drag Queens show at Kremwerk. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

This Week's Recommendation

Thanks again to Santiago for joining me. I'm always delighted to talk about Bjork, particularly because Iceland is just about my favorite place. Should you find yourself fortunate enough to spend a little time in Reykjavik, my recommendation is that you look into a group there called Drag-Súgur that's doing some of the most interesting drag on Earth.

Even Iceland's capital city isn't very large, and so as drag troupes go, Drag-Súgur has a decidedly small-town feel. Experimental, surprising, and very youthful, the group is diverse out of necessity, since Reykjavik just isn't large enough for different queer groups to splinter into many different subcultures. What's more, their shows attract a crowd of friendly international regulars, where everyone knows each other's names and does their best to learn each other's languages.

When I visited last summer, the impression that I got was one of true queer community: supportive, friendly, willing to give each other the space to try something new. There was a tribute to The Fifth Element, a goth rock song, a bit of Euro-pop and some friendly barbs exchanged between hosts. In other words, a place where you can instantly feel at home, despite being far from where you're from.

Stuff We Talked About

No More I Love Yous (Ep. 170 - Drag Families)

Special Guest: Alexis Nicole Whitney

No matter how thoroughly you've planned, life has a way of taking you by surprise -- and when it does, it's often family that gets you through the tough times. Alexis was born to a woman unprepared for motherhood, and so grandparents stepped in to raise her. As she grew older, Houston's drag scene provided a second family where she was free to express herself more freely. But it was an unexpected health crisis that brought both families together when their daughter needed them most.

BTW, The Sewers of Paris is made possible by everyone who pledges a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon" to help make this podcast possible. Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

And if you're in Seattle, mark your calendars for June 21! We're doing our next live show, featuring drag queens playing Dungeons & Dragons, just in time for Pride. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

This Episode's Recommendation: Adults Only

Thanks again to Alexis for joining me. For this week's recommendation, seek out the short film "Adults Only," which (full disclosure) was directed by a friend of mine, Heath Daniels, a couple of years ago. It's the wordless story of a deaf man mourning the end of a relationship, and struggling to figure out what's next. He's still mired in past memories, disconnected and longing for connection.

That connection comes in an unpredictable place and an even more unpredictable form: the neon-lit labyrinth of a bathhouse, where he's surrounded by peep shows and public sex. The short forgoes dialogue, instead using evocative imagery and sexually charged daydreams to illuminate the main character's pain -- and also his drive to move on despite not quite knowing the way.

It's hard enough to put yourself in another person's place, particularly someone who doesn't experience the world with the same senses that you do. But the deaf protagonist of Adults Only finds a common ground that's hard not to relate to -- heartbreak, loss, and mourning, followed by the thrill of unexpected pleasure.

Stuff We Talked About

Spitefully Outed (Ep. 169 - So You Think You Can Dance)

This Week's Guest: Phil Stamper

My guest this week is Phil Stamper, whose book The Gravity of Us tells the story of two young men who fall in love amidst the drama of a mission to Mars. For years, Phil struggled to balance competing impulses to be silly and serious, and to keep his creative spark alive throughout the drudgery of office work. The result is an upcoming debut novel that amplifies his own queer experiences with some help from science fiction.

Just a reminder -- I hope you'll join us for the next Sewers of Paris live chat on Saturday May 19, at 2pm Pacific with special guest Fazaad Feroze. We want to hear about the book and movies and songs and shows you're obsessed with right now. 

And if you're in Seattle for Pride next month, mark your calendars for June 21! We're doing our next live Dungeons & Drag Queens show at Kremwerk. Tickets are now on sale at QueensOfAdventure.com.

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

This Week's Recommendation: Steven Universe

Thanks again to Phil for joining me. You can find out more about him and his book at PhilStamper.com. We talked this week about the mix of culture both silly and serious, and for my recommendation I hope you'll take a look at one of my favorite shows, Steven Universe. 

You'll want to give it a few episodes to really get going, and then the show will reward your patience many times over. What seems at first like a goofy kid's show suddenly yanks back the curtain midway through the first season to reveal a show that, while still fun, has seemingly endless layers of depth and sophistication and darkness and a pumpkin that barks and cuddles like a dog.

It is also possibly one of the queerest shows ever to have existed, featuring magical science-fiction women in relationships so complex we don't even have words for how they relate to reach other. Come for the zapping lasers and space battles; stay for the lesbian commune drama.

Stuff We Talked About

How to Make Something About Making Something (Ep. 168: Bedknobs and Broomsticks)

This Week's Guest: James Connelly

What if you had the power to make the places you imagine real -- so real that people can walk through them and touch them, and millions of strangers could see the setting that once only existed in your mind? My guest this week is James Connelly, who designed the sets for shows like The Voice, Bill Nye Saves the World, the Teen Choice Awards, and many more. When he's building worlds for television, he draws on his memories and experiences and daydreams, mashing together influences from across his life to invite the world into his imagination.

By the way, if you're heading to DragCon in LA this weekend, I hope you'll join me for two panels! On Sunday, I'm be hosting a game of Dungeons and Dragons played by BenDeLaCreme, Erika Klash, Kitty Powers, and Fraya Love. And on Sunday, I'll be hosting a fun friendly chat about tabletop gaming, featuring a panel of queer and ally gamers sharing recommendations for finding games and people to play with. 

And mark your calendars for our next Sewers of Paris live chat -- it's on Saturday, May 19th, at 2pm Pacific.

If you're enjoying The Sewers of Paris, click "Support the Show on Patreon" to join the folks who make the podcast possible for as little as a dollar a month. Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

This Week's Recommendation: The Great British Bake-Off

Thanks again to James for joining me. I hope you've already seen this week's recommendation, but in case you haven't, make this the week you finally watch The Great British Bake-Off -- or as it's called in the US, the Great British Baking Show.

I'm not normally one for reality show competitions where everyone's bitterly clawing for the prize, and fortunately that's not what this show is. The Bake-Off often feels more like a collaboration, a partnership between contestants where everyone enjoys seeing each other succeed.

There's no sabotage, no cruelty, no attitude from anyone -- apart from, perhaps occasionally, one of the judges -- and the whole affair feels more like friends gathering to support each other than a contest.

That's not to say it isn't dramatic. The challenges they face are overwhelming, often requiring ingredients nobody's every heard of, techniques impossible to master and recipes that may not even be in English. The show pushes the bakers to reach beyond what they think they can do -- and when it's at its best, shows them helping each other to reveal that with just a little assistance from others, we're all capable of exceeding our expectations for ourselves.

Stuff We Talked About

The Only Boy on Paradise Island (Ep. 167 - Wonder Woman)

This Week's Guest: Richard Andreoli

This week's guest grew up idolizing comic book heroes, which presented a problem as he entered adulthood: how could he possibly measure up to the flying, crime-fighting, invisible-jet-flying role models of his youth? Richard Andreoli's mission in life became seeking out the opportunities for heroics in everyday life. In other words -- not expecting to become a superhero, but finding pride in being a normalhero.

By the way, if you're heading to DragCon in LA next month, I hope you'll join me for two panels! On Saturday, I'll be hosting a breakneck game of Dungeons and Dragons played by BenDeLaCreme, Erika Klash, Kitty Powers, and Fraya Love. And on Sunday, I'll be hosting a fun friendly chat about tabletop gaming, featuring a panel of queer and ally gamers sharing recommendations for finding games and people to play with. It's going to be a blast -- hope to see you there.

And no matter where you are in the world, I hope you'll join us for the next Sewers of Paris live chat -- it's on Saturday, May 5, at 2pm Pacific. We want to hear about the book and movies and songs and shows you're obsessed with right now. There's a link at the top of the SewersOfParis twitter feed -- see you Saturday!

Huge thanks to everyone who makes The Sewers of Paris possible with a pledge of a dollar or more a month on Patreon. If you're enjoying the show, click "Support the Show on Patreon." Or you can support The Sewers of Paris for free by leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice -- that really helps people find the show.

This Week's Recommendation: The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

Thanks again to Richard for joining me. Head over to BattleAtTheComicExpo.com to check out his book, coming out later this month. 

For this week's recommendation, take a look at a documentary about another gay author: it's called The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, and it is an utter delight. You probably recognize Armistead's name as the author of the Tales of the City novels, but the documentary pulls back the curtain on the life of the man whose writing turned him into an icon.

It's a perfect primer not just on what his books are, but on why they matter and to whom they mattered most. Starting in the 1970s, his stories of singles mingling in San Francisco were only supposed to be a fun weekly newspaper column. But as time went on and his subject matter got queerer, his columns became a lifeline for a community that still faced daily struggles to survive.

Looking back, nearly a half century later, it's hard to image what that world could have been like, when queer culture was taboo even in San Francisco. So much of that history was lost to the epidemic, to bigotry, and to the fear -- completely reasonable -- that documenting LGBTQ lives would expose them to even greater harm. 

If you're of a certain age, you can rely on your memory to keep those distant voices alive. But for the rest of us, those records of the time -- whether written down or shared face to face -- are a vital link to those who built the world we enjoy today.

Stuff We Talked About