The Boys' Secret Society (Ep 364 - Gay Newspapers/Robert Steele)

My guest this week is Robert Steele, author of a new book about a figure in the early modern gay liberation movement that you probably never heard of. Robert’s subject is Jim Foshee, a teen runaway who landed in Los Angeles in the middle of a time of incredible upheaval. He was also Robert’s good friend, and between the two of them are some incredible stories about gay life of the 1950s onward.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture. I just published a new one about Jim Nabors, the Andy Griffith Show, and a scandalous fake marriage that nearly ended two closeted actors’ careers. And head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of TV and film history.

Check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

Big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

I Was Like a Zombie (Ep 363 - The Powerpuff Girls/Alex Salyer)

My guest this week is Alex Salyer, whose work you may have seen on HBO’s Animals, on Tuca and Bertie, on BoJack Horseman, and also possibly in some of your weirder dreams. Alex is an animation director whose work defies the rules of reality, and any other rules he might happen to run into. Working in adult animation, at this point Alex may have animated more dicks than anyone else in his field — quite an accomplishment for someone who grew up in a conservative religious family.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture. I’ve got one coming this weekend about Jim Nabors, the Andy Griffith Show, and a scandalous fake marriage that nearly ended two closeted actors’ careers.

And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

And a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

We've Cornered the Market on Mermaids (Ep 362 - Joel Kim Booster/Clue)

We’re careening towards Thanksgiving, and you know what that means — an onslaught of holiday specials on the horizon. One that I’m particularly looking forward to is Santa Inc, a stop-motion special featuring the voice of comedian Joel Kim Booster. I spoke with Joel back in 2017, and this week we’re diving into the Sewers of Paris archive to revisit that conversation in preparation for the holidays. 

Joel grew up in a household where his parents tried to control every aspect of his life — until he came out, at which point he found himself homeless, and then taken in by a family he barely even knew.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture. I’ve got one coming up about Jim Nabors, the Andy Griffith Show, and a scandalous fake marriage that nearly ended two closeted actors’ careers.

And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

And a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

Lots of Trouble (Ep 360 - The Breakfast Club/Lane Rogers)

My guest this week is Lane V. Rogers, who splits his time between posting videos on YouTube, streaming on Twitch, posting nudes on OnlyFans, and getting a degree in business — all of which would be a tremendous surprise to him just a few years ago. When he graduated from high school a few years ago, Lane realized that he had spent so much time rebelling that he hadn’t developed any interests or plans or goals for his life. He found himself adrift and aimless and working a dead-end job, and might still be there today if not for a lucky discovery of a VHS tape at a thrift shop.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture. And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

And a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

Sewers of Paris: A Gateway Drug to Fabulous (Ep. 360 - 80s Cartoons/Ted Biaselli)

At first glance, Elvira — the late-night movie hostess — looks like a character custom-engineered to appeal to straight men. So why do so many gays love her? I’ve got a new video up on YouTube exploring that very question, with help from someone who knows a thing or two about the character — her longtime collaborator and writer, Ted Biaselli, who also happens to be Director of Original Series at Netflix. Several years ago I interviewed Ted for The Sewers of Paris, and this week we’re returning to that conversation about his work with Elvira, aka Cassandra Peterson, as well as his journey from a flamboyant child in Pennsylvania to an art-school gay to developing shows that will hopefully speak to weird little kids like the one he used to be.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture. And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

And a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

The Drama Kid (Ep 359 - Funny Girl/David Pevsner)

My guest this week is David Pevsner, writer, actor, and erotic blogger. His book Damn Shame, a memoir of desire, defiance, and show tunes comes out in January (it’s available for pre-order now) and catalogs his adventures on Broadway and on TV, as an escort, and as a naked Tumblr star. It all starts with a kid dancing in secret to Barbra Streisand records.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a reminder to check out my YouTube channel where I post videos about queer pop culture history — I’ve got a new one coming this weekend about how Elvira became a gay icon and the Queen of Halloween. And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of queer TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

And a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

My Space-Brothers (Ep 358 - Star Trek DS9/David)

My guest this week has some catching up to do. David is a writer who grew up in a religious family, and until his early 30s was closeted and struggled through ex-gay treatments until he finally came out. Helping him to make the adjustment: Star Trek, where he came to realize he’d picked up more of his sense of right and wrong than from the church. After cutting ties with his old life, he sold almost everything he owned for a one-way bus ticket to LA, where a couple of lucky breaks kept him from living on the street and got him into the industry he’d always dreamed of joining.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

Also don’t forget to check out my YouTube where I post videos about queer pop culture history — I’ve got a new one all about The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. And you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of queer TV and film history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

A Big Purple Man in a Loin Cloth (Ep. 357 - Fazaad/Gargoyles)

Next week is the anniversary of the premiere of the show Gargoyles, an animated 90s series with queer subtext simmering just under the surface — and that’s according to the show’s creator. In honor of that anniversary, we’re diving back into the Sewers archives for a chat with Fazaad Feroze, who became obsessed with the show when he was young. The child of immigrants from Guyana before moving to the United States, he only has to look back one generation on his family tree to see a life that is unrecognizable to him. And as you can imagine, the family’s introduction to American culture wasn’t always easy and came with frequent surprises — including, when Fazaad was a teenager, the discovery of his real name.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

Also don’t forget to check out my YouTube where I post videos about queer pop culture history — and you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of queer TV, film, and Broadway history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

Always Pushing Boundaries (Ep 356 - Madonna/Farhad Dadyburjor)

My guest on the Sewers of Paris podcast this week is the author of The Other Man, a forthcoming novel set in Mumbai about two men from very different cultures falling in love. Farhad Dadyburjor knows a thing or two about bridging cultures — growing up in India, he developed a deep obsession with western pop stars like Madonna and even came out to a friend via a carefully phrased comparison to George Michael. These days he’s gained a much richer understanding of himself and his community — thanks to a combination of queer literature and dance parties.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.

Also don’t forget to check out my YouTube where I post videos about queer pop culture history — and you can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of queer TV, film, and Broadway history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

Sexy But Secret (Ep 355 - Twilight/Ian Lockwood)

My guest on the Sewers of Paris podcast this week would like you to see him at his worst. Ian Lockwood is a New York based pop music comedian who makes goofy music videos in which he plays his messiest self. It’s a style inspired in part by his relationship with the Twilight novels — which he started reading as a joke, and was then startled to discover that he unironically loved.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. And don’t forget to check out my YouTube where I post videos about queer pop culture history — I’ve got one coming this weekend about how queer activists teamed up with the producer of Bewitched and Barney Miller to overcome network censors and put the first recurring gay couple on television. You can also head over to my Patreon to watch hours of bonus videos featuring stories of queer TV, film, and Broadway history.

And check out my cute little newsletter where I share sneak peeks at what I’m working on at mattbaume.com.

Big thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris at Patreon.com/mattbaume. And to everyone who’s left a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen.