Queer Histories Through Time: Podcast Recommendations

Impactful queer stories covering many places and years for Pride 2024

Podcast artwork for But We Loved, Making Gay History, Nuances: Our Asian Stories, Second Sunday, and Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

Curated by:

👉🏽 Devin (she/her)

Why this theme?

👉🏽Queer histories span many places and years. These shows document many of them by including as many voices as possible from people who were there or who have close connections with the memories. From gay love stories in premodern Asia, to filmmakers and religious groups during the AIDS crisis, these histories and their storytellers collect impactful moments from queer history. Happy Pride!

Podcast Picks

But We Loved podcast cover art

But We Loved

The front line of the fight against AIDS wasn’t just a fight against the disease, it was also a fight against the homophobia that was so prevalent at the time. Filmmaker Jean Carlomusto documented the AIDS crisis for ACT UP in the ‘80s, and she reflects on the impact that lesbians like her had in responding to the deadly epidemic that mostly affected gay men.

Making Gay History podcast cover art

Making Gay History

This episode shares multiple voices to set the stage for that now-iconic night on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village when LGBTQ people said “Enough!” in a voice so loud and angry that it was the police who ran from queer activists and not the other way around.

Nuances: Our Asian Stories podcast cover art

Nuances

In pre-modern times, some of the most iconic love stories were not only gay, but they were real stories recorded in historical archives in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Pakistan. Yes, they did involve a gorgeous man… and his emperor. Or Saint.

Second Sunday podcast cover art

Second Sunday

Bishop Yvette Flunder’s story of growing up in the Black church and struggling to accept her true identity is a familiar story for the guests on Second Sunday. Bishop Flunder’s story reflects the history of breakoff communities stemming from religious institutions as people sought places that would accept their full identities. For Bishop Flunder, the HIV/AIDS crisis was when she felt called by God after being away for a while and she needed to help people. She created a space to continue doing so for those who had been pushed out of their communities.

Lost Spaces podcast cover art

Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

Even though the shooting at Pulse Nightclub wasn’t that long ago, it has faded from many minds. Except for those who were impacted by it. Some histories are far away and we’ve had more time to process them, but this episode shows what it’s like to process a moment in history that still feels so close and raw.

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Community

🎤 This week in Podcast The Newsletter: The Tribeca lineup has been announced. Get your tickets here. Don’t miss the Audio Flux event and In the Dark Live.

🎙️We get it. You care about the climate crisis — but sometimes thinking about it is just too overwhelming. Well, TED Climate is here to help with that. Host Dan Kwartler unpacks the problems and solutions behind big systemic issues in bite-sized episodes.

💡Western Sound is organizing an upcoming seminars on creativity and craft that are geared toward podcast producers and anyone working in a creative field. The goal is to inspire attendees to create their own groundbreaking work, find their next dream project, turn setbacks into inspiration, and navigate these tough times in our industry. The courses take place over Zoom on June 8, 9, and 15. EarBuds friends get a 15% discount code: EARBUDS15, and can sign up here.

[Werking Title] with Eliza Lambert will feature conversations with audio creators

Podcast news from Podnews

Spotlight

Hello, John Doe podcast cover art

At age 45, Steve Patterson made a shocking online discovery: his own missing person’s page.

Desperate to uncover why he had been included on the list, Steve called Todd Matthews, a missing-persons investigator, in search of answers. Along the way, Steve would have to make sense of a personal story with more twists and turns than he’d ever imagined. 

In this 10-episode narrative series, Todd Matthews, an amateur sleuth from Tennessee, tells the story of a family torn apart by tragedy and his quest to bring them back together.

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