Welcome back to the Sewers of Paris. Thanks for your patience during the brief pause in the podcast during the month of June — and now I’m delighted to get back behind the mic for more conversations about the entertainment that changed the lives of queer people. On tonight’s episode:
My guest this week is Manuel Betancourt, whose new book of essays about hunks, heartthrobs, and what pop culture taught him about men — and the desire for them. Manuel’s found his way through a series of re-inventions, moving from Colombia to Canada to New York and California, each time deciding to try out a new life as he zeroed in on the one that fits best — one that, it turns out, includes naked garden parties.
We’ll have that conversation in a minute. But first — you may have heard that I too have a new book out! It’s about the behind-the-scenes history of queer characters on sitcoms, and the role that comedy played in queer liberation — and continues to play to this day. It’s called Hi Honey, I’m Homo! and it’s available now wherever books are sold. I can even sign and personalize your copy before shipping it to you — just go to gaysitcoms.com and look for the instructions for ordering a signed copy.
Also if you’re a fan of queer culture, and I’m sure you are, don’t forget to swing by my YouTube channel for my videos about film and TV history. That’s at YouTube.com/mattbaume — and I’ve got a new video premiering this weekend all about Norman Lear that I think you’ll love. You can also subscribe to my email newsletter for weekly dispatches, and join me every Sunday for livestreams over on Twitch at twitch.tv/mattbaume — on the last livestream, we watched clips from a bunch of my favorite failed TV show pilots, and there’s lots more to watch on the next one.
Oh and one more thing — I’ve added two new free features to my Patreon. The first is a free tier that gets monthly Q&A videos where I respond to questions and clips sent in by folks like you. And the second is a free trial, so you can watch hundreds of Patreon-exclusive bonus videos for a week, and then decide if you want to stick around. You can check out the Patreon at patreon.com/mattbaume.
Everything but His Underwear (Ep 391 - Swedish Drag/Markus)
Every Gay Bar Was Owned by Mafia (Ep 390 - Stonewall/Tree)
Quite a Lovely Revolution We Were Having (Ep 389 - David Bowie/Joan Jett Blakk)
Magic Horses & Middle School (Ep 388 - Hugh Ryan/magic horses)
Camp is like Pornography (Ep 387 - Eurovision/Jānis)
Did I Just Get Married? (Ep 386 - Pedro Almodóvar/Alejandro Varela)
Betrayed by Books (Ep 385 - Fantasy novels/Oliver Darkshire)
Learning to be Myself More (Ep 384 - Live drag soap opera/Harold Slazer)
Oracular Garbage Pile (Ep 383 - James Bond/Andrew Wheeler)
A Crew of Proto-Queer Boys (Ep 382 - Spice Girls/Little Miss Hot Mess)
Space Ballerinas (Ep 381 - Sailor Moon/Ryan La Salla)
It's Petty Drama (Ep 380 - The Hills/Xavier D'Leau)
We're All Enjoying the Male Body (Ep 379 - International Male/Buck Jones)
Secrets Kill (Ep 378 - Disaster films/Christopher Rice)
Raised by Hippies (Ep 377 - Room with a View/Michael Bach)
The Moon's About to Fall (Ep 376 - Majora's Mask/Enrique)
Funny and Salacious and Dangerous (Ep 375: Andrew/Soap)
I was Quite Happy to be the Villain (Ep 374: Tork Shaw/Kenneth Williams)
Behind the Scenes with Betty White (Ep 373 - The Golden Girls/Jim Colucci)
Southern Decadence (Ep 372 - The Chronicles of Narnia/Jonathan Alexander)
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