Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan speak with Ria Tabacco Mar, the ACLU’s director of the Women’s Rights Project, about what the future for LGBTQ people looks like with president-elect Biden and an even more conservative Supreme Court. Then they discuss Uncle Frank, a film from Alan Ball about a gay man and his partner on a road trip with his niece from Manhattan to South Carolina in the 1970’s. They talk about how this differs from last month’s Boys In the Band, and the importance of remembering past queer struggles.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. (edited)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan look at fact and fiction in gay history. First, they examine Netflix’s recent version of The Boys in the Band in the context of the original, and how it captures a specific moment of gay life. Then they discuss the new HBO series EQUAL, which seeks to tell the stories of important figures from the history of the LGBTQ movement. They discuss how the utter modernity of interpretation and style leave the series lacking, but how useful it could be as a teaching tool and reminder of pre-Stonewall activism. Producer Daniel pops in for a short segment about the Ryan Murphy of it all.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan interview journalist Angela Chen about her new book, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex. They talk about asexuality’s rise in visibility, where ace people fit in the queer community, and how asexuality can lead us to question so many of our assumptions about social constructions that depend on who your sexual partners are. Then they unpack the story of gay politician Alex Morse, whose recent congressional campaign was plagued with accusations of sexual impropriety, and what a politician’s queer sex life is allowed to look like.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan talk to Slate sex-advice columnist Rich Juzwiak about the state of sex six months into the COVID-19 crisis. They discuss the sorts of questions he’s fielding, the limits of sexual creativity, and navigating casual sex during this time. Then the team digs into Ellen DeGeneres, how she fits into the history and modern landscape of queer media, and why she seems so disappointing.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan interview journalist David France about his new documentary Welcome to Chechnya on the atrocities happening there and the work being done by activists to liberate queer Chechens. Then they discuss the new audio documentary by Evan Roberts, “Caring for Lesbian Icon Phyllis Lyon, With Love and Deceit.” June shares how important Naya Rivera and her Glee character, Santana Lopez, were to the queer community and changing American attitudes on gay marriage. Then we close it out with the gay agenda.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan spoke with Mark Joseph Stern about the fifth anniversary of marriage equality, the future of LGBTQ rights in the United States, and the recent Supreme Court decision about employment discrimination. Then we’ve got our live show from June 3, when Bob the Drag Queen joined the crew to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, police violence, and the healing power of the new HBO series We’re Here.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder and Melissa Kaplan.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode, Bryan, Christina, and Rumaan interview activist and writer Sarah Schulman about ACT UP and the legacy of Larry Kramer. They discuss how Kramer’s tactics helped and hindered the organization, the ways white gay men played an outsize role as a public face of the movement, and what lessons we should take from ACT UP’s past successes. Schulman and Jim Hubbard coordinated the ACT UP Oral History Project, and her forthcoming book is Let the Record Show: ACT UP and the Enduring Experience of AIDS.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina admits to creating a quarantine bubble, and she talks with Bryan and Rumaan about why she felt comfortable joining her friends in this way and why our community seems better-equipped than others to figure out how to make such micro-communities work. Then they discuss two new documentaries on Netflix, A Secret Love and Circus of Books, and unpack how these films tried and failed to reckon with the depths of their subjects while still stirring some warm feelings along the way.This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan discuss virtual sex parties during self-isolation with former Slate colleague Andrew Kahn, exploring what it’s like to see all these different screens and how distance and self-consciousness play into the experience. Then they talk about the Netflix series Tiger King, all its queer story threads, and whether it’s actually bad for the gays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan look at comparisons between the COVID-19 pandemic and AIDS with Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign. Then they conduct a post-mortem on Pete Buttigieg with DC lawyer and Pete supporter Brooke Clagett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices