Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast

A look back at our first episode:On the first episode, hosts Christina Cauterucci, Bryan Lowder, and New America’s Brandon Tensley—along with a smorgasbord of Slate staffers—reveal their queer roots. Does it all come down to crop tops? Then, in the debut Straight Studies segment, Slate features director Laura Bennett helps us decide if straight, cisgender people have roots too. Then Alex Barasch joins the gang to talk about his Washington Post piece, “Biology Is Not Destiny: Seeking a Scientific Explanation for Trans Identity Could Do More Harm Than Good.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special bonus episode, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan are joined by John Paul Brammer of the Hola Papi column to offer some sex and relationship advice. They answer listener questions about asexuality and navigating intimacy, reconciling fantasies with reality, taking the first steps into queer dating, and reconsidering why you might not identify with a community you’re already a part of. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan break down exclusively gay moments in film and television, exploring why they can feel so craven, and if there’s any way to get it right. Then they interview Richie Jackson about his new book Gay Like Me, a letter to his gay son about the importance of being gay. They discuss the significance of Harvey Fierstein, growing up gay, and why queer identities are so essential. Then we close it out with a usual update to the gay agenda, looking at good versions of exclusively gay moments.We’ve got a Valentine’s Day advice show coming up with JP Brammer of the Hola Papi advice column, so send your questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at (929) 266-4914. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special bonus episode of Outward, Bryan and a guest panel of multigenerational gay men devote a whole hour to The Inheritance, a seven-hour, two-part play by Matthew Lopez that won many awards for its recent run in London and is currently dominating discussions on Broadway. There will be spoilers!While it’s length, ambition, and engagement with the AIDS crisis have invited comparisons to Tony Kushner’s “gay fantasia on national themes” Angels in America, The Inheritance’s driving concern is a bit more personal: If gay men think of ourselves as a community spanning generations, what happens when a huge swath of that community is lost to plague, the survivors deeply traumatized, and younger cohorts must therefore come of age and figure out what it means to be gay in the wake of a tragedy that shapes everything around us? Borrowing a line from E.M. Forester’s Howard’s End, on which the play is based, The Inheritance desperately wants gay men to “connect” across age and loss — but is that kind of connection really possible? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan welcome Rumaan Alam as the official third host of Outward. First, June Thomas joins the team to discuss the new L Word reboot, how it compares to the original, ways it’s stepped past it, and if any of the characters will actually become unlikeable. Then the trio go through an extended segment of prides and provocations of the decade with Andy Bowen, a consultant on queer and economic social justice issues. They tackle marriage equality, PreP, lesbian bars, and the savvy ways the LGBTQ community have navigated governmental bureaucracy. Then we close it out with a usual update to the gay agenda.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina and Bryan are joined again by writer and Slate advice columnist Rumaan Alam to talk about children. First, the team invites Slate executive editor Allison Benedikt to talk about the ways children learn about queerness and sexuality, what we can do to teach and be an example, and how kids often pick up this stuff without us. Then they interview clinical psychologist Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper about a recent case in Texas involving a trans child, the best routes for handling pre-adolescent trans care, and how affirming a child’s gender identity can really only help. And, of course, we’ve got our usual rounds of gay agenda and prides and provocations.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina and Bryan are joined by writer drag performer Pretty Rik E. After talking about Ellen and Big Mouth during Pride and Provocations, they jump into CNN’s LGBTQ town hall where nine different candidates discussed the queer aspects of their platforms. Then they unwrap some toys, giving Mattel’s new Creatable World dolls a spin to see what it’s like to play with a gender-neutral doll, and how it fits into a child’s gender-learning experience.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, and Bryan, and are joined by writer Rumaan Alam. After Pride and Provocations they talk about the news about searching for the gay gene and whether the endeavor has any positive use. Then they discuss McKrae Game, the conversion therapist who recently came out as gay and the difficulties of feeling pity and pain about this news at the same time. Then they close it out with a usual round of the gay agenda. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Brandon look at the debates that can sometimes divide the queer family. After the usual Pride and Provocations, they dig into three fights happening in our community, including how critical we should be of queer art, authenticity of queer artists, and what we should all think about Marianne Williamson. Then we hear an interview with the late gay and lesbian rights activist Jean O’Leary, thanks to our friends at the Making Gay History podcast. We close it out with the gay agenda before saying farewell to Brandon, who is heading off to a new job at CNN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Brandon immerse themselves in iconography. After a round of Pride and Provocations, we hear from a collection of queer Slate folks about who their icons are. Then the hosts explore major figures in their lives and what exactly makes an icon for different parts of the queer community. That is followed by an interview with Washington, D.C. drag king Pretty Rik E about the experience of drag and the influences straight male performers have on drag kings. And, as always, they wrap it up with a quick rundown of the gay agenda.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices