Musical Theater on the Subway (Ep 394 - Brett/Broadway)

July 21, 2022 Matthew Baume

My guest this week is Bret Shuford, one half of the couple that calls themselves the Broadway Husbands. Bret met his husband Steven while they were both working on Broadway, and they started a blog about their lives together before embarking on their latest adventure — raising a kid. I’ll be talking to Bret this week about his childhood in Texas, his viral video career, and a problem that he steadfastly ignored until it threatened to destroy everything — and next week I’ll have his husband Steven on to share his story.

First, a quick reminder that I’ve got a weekly-ish newsletter that you can subscribe to at mattbaume.com. I’ll be sharing details there about my upcoming book about the history of gay characters on sitcoms. And I’ve got a YouTube channel where I post videos about film and TV history — I’ve got one coming up about Seinfeld’s “not that there’s anything wrong with that” episode — that’s at youtube.com/mattbaume.

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.

Becoming Real (Ep 393 - Wyatt/Velveteen Rabbit)

July 14, 2022 Matthew Baume

Before we start this week, I want to thank you for your patience — as you might’ve seen, I’ve been recovering from a balance issue that left me in a state of constant dizziness. As a result I had to cut back on editing for a few weeks, since that involves staring at a screen full of objects constantly scrolling left and right. But the good news is that I’m getting better and will be back to my usual Sewers schedule soon. Thanks again for bearing with me while I get back on my feet and back to making podcasts.

You may recognize actor Wyatt Fenner from Gotham, Veronica Mars, Bones, or the movie Make the Yuletide Gay. He has a new film screening this week in Outfest called Chrissy Judy, which is all about what happens when you have to break up with a friend. It plays this Friday, July 15 at 7pm at the DGA in Los Angeles — tickets are available at Outfest.org.

This week we’re revisiting my 2018 interview with Wyatt, who as an actor is an expert at inhabiting personas and hiding behind someone else. But an accidental outing and a violent attack that could have killed him helped Wyatt realize who it really was that he was hiding.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder that I’ve got a weekly-ish newsletter that you can subscribe to at mattbaume.com. And a YouTube channel where I post videos about film and TV history — I’ve got one coming up about Seinfeld’s “not that there’s anything wrong with that” episode.

Demons & Ghosts (Ep 392 - Hamish Steele/Dead End: Paranormal Park)

June 30, 2022 Matthew Baume

Maybe you’ve seen the new animated series on Netflix entitled Dead End: Paranormal Park, featuring a cast of queer characters working at an amusement park that might be a portal to hell. I spoke to the show’s creator, Hamish Steele, several years ago when his comic book Deadendia was in the early stages of being adapted into a show, and now that Dead End has been completed and released, we’re revisiting that conversation this week to hear about the real-life friends who inspired the story… and also Hamish’s controversial opinions about the difference between films that merely have queer people in them versus films that queer people actually like.

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’ve got one coming up about Seinfeld’s “not that there’s anything wrong with that” episode.

Everything but His Underwear (Ep 391 - Swedish Drag/Markus)

June 16, 2022 Matthew Baume

My guest this week set himself a goal many years ago — to bring RuPaul’s Drag Race to Sweden, with an all-Swedish production, Swedish queens, and a Swedish host. Now it’s finally happening, thanks to my guest’s decade of work amidst international travel, seeking a country that felt like home, and meeting and falling in love with his husband.

Every Gay Bar Was Owned by Mafia (Ep 390 - Stonewall/Tree)

June 2, 2022 Matthew Baume

Welcome to June, listeners. Every year for Pride month, I like to revisit my conversation with a man whose tales of old queer New York are absolutely captivating. He earned the nickname Tree thanks to his six-foot-five stature, and he’s been a part of New York’s gay community going back to the fifties, when he didn’t even know a community existed. Tree’s been a member of Brooklyn street gangs, worked with the mob, and counted among his friends Buddy Holly, Bea Arthur, and Rock Hudson. We talked back in 2020, as we were all heading into a lot of uncertainty around COVID, quarantines, and the future. The start of Pride month is a particularly apt time to reflect on Tree’s stories of endurance and liberation.

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 Will & Grace and I’ve got one coming up about the behind-the-scenes fight over the gay couple on Modern Family.

Quite a Lovely Revolution We Were Having (Ep 389 - David Bowie/Joan Jett Blakk)

May 26, 2022 Matthew Baume

My guest this week is the fascinating Terrence Smith, also known as Joan Jett Blakk, a drag performer who ran for mayor of Chicago in the 90s, and after that, President. Terrence has some incredible stories about growing up in Detroit, seeing David Bowie and The Supremes perform live, sneaking onto the floor of the Democratic National Convention, and orchestrating, as he calls it, “quite a lovely revolution.”

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 I’ve got one coming in June about how the gay couple on Modern Family were prevented from getting married by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Magic Horses & Middle School (Ep 388 - Hugh Ryan/magic horses)

May 19, 2022 Matthew Baume

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.

Camp is like Pornography (Ep 387 - Eurovision/Jānis)

May 12, 2022 Matthew Baume

We’re in the midst of Eurovision right now, the extravagant celebration of over-the-top music and outrageous costumes and, every now and then, taste. Eurovision is a great big ball of fun, and it was the subject of the very first episode of The Sewers of Paris. This week, we’re revisiting my 2015 interview with Jānis, who on this very show was the first person to introduce me to the joy of Eurovision, along with the German version of American Idol, gay-adjacent Hitchcock movies, and hard-core camp.

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’ve got a video coming this weekend about how Will & Grace premiered at what might’ve been the worst possible time, and how the creators overcame the Ellen curse.

Did I Just Get Married? (Ep 386 - Pedro Almodóvar/Alejandro Varela)

May 6, 2022 Matthew Baume

My guest this week is Alejandro Varela, who was a mostly-closeted college student when he left the US for a semester in Spain. There he was able to start fresh, come out, and explore queer culture — with a little inspiration from filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar — and to come back to the US a completely changed person.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a reminder to head over to mattbaume.com to subscribe to my newsletter. And take a look at my YouTube channel for videos about film and TV history — I just posted a video about the show Dynasty. And head over to my Patreon to support The Sewers of Paris and watch hours of bonus videos about super queer pop culture — lately I’ve been posting behind-the-scenes looks at the making of Will & Grace.

Betrayed by Books (Ep 385 - Fantasy novels/Oliver Darkshire)

April 28, 2022 Matthew Baume

My guest this week is Oliver Darkshire. As a young adult, he found himself drifting away from his friends, due in part to what turned out to be an undiagnosed illness that made it hard for him to participate in day-to-day activities. It was a fantasy novel that turned things around for him — a book that took an approach to sex that had never occurred to Oliver to seek out.

About The Sewers of Paris

The Sewers of Paris is a podcast about how queer 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: What’s the entertainment that changed your life?

About Defining Marriage

Each week on Defining Marriage, hosts Matt Baume and James Morris chat about what's happening with marriage equality, featuring frequent digressions into pop culture, silly banter, and the jokes and quibbles that have kept them together as a couple for over a decade.

The first eighteen episodes of the podcast contain the complete audiobook version of the book Defining Marriage, which traces the decades-long evolution of marriage through the personal stories of those who lived through it, featuring personal insights from the lives of Evan Wolfson, Dan Savage, Ken Mehlman, Dustin Lance Black, and many more.

About Matt's So-Cast Pod

Revisit the iconic '90s drama My So-Called Life, one episode at a time. Every week, host Matt Baume & his guests delve into the teen angst, the grown-up turmoil, and the endless flannel of the 90s -- and examine the show's impact on television and our lives.