Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast

This month, hosts Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder reflect on the painful impact of anti-LGBTQ violence and dig into the new possibilities for trans storytelling and filmmaking. First, they talk through their complicated feelings about one of the responses to the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs last month: Should queer people be organizing in self-defense, or even arming ourselves for protection? Then they are joined by actress Jen Richards who portrays Barbara in Framing Agnes, a new documentary, directed by Chase Joynt, which is centered on six trans people who were interviewed and treated at a UCLA gender clinic in the 1950s. The film combines reenactments of those interviews with contemporary conversations with trans actors reflecting on how the lives of the people they portray resonate with their own lives. Our own Jules Gill-Peterson has a central role in the movie as a historian and narrator.Items discussed in the show: Season 2 of The White Lotus Christina’s Slate piece, “I Think I Found Kyrsten Sinema’s Side Hustle” Framing Agnes Gay AgendaChristina: shopping gay, including at The Little Gay Shop and Adam’s NestJules: “Not a Transition: On Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica,” by Eva Pensis in the Los Angeles Review of BooksBryan has created a bespoke cocktail for Outward listeners: the Cuddle PuddleThe Cuddle Puddle2 oz rye1 oz ginger liqueur½ oz Fernet Branca or similarDash of orange bittersStir the ingredients for a long time over ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel.This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode was recorded before the Nov. 19 attack on Club Q. Outward stands with our queer family in Colorado Springs.This month, Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder discuss two major trans news stories from recent weeks. First, the New York Times’ latest article about trans kids and gender-affirming care, this time about puberty blockers and bone density, and how it plays into the ongoing, manufactured, and weaponized conservative panic about trans existence. Then they are joined by James Roesener of Concord, New Hampshire, who earlier this month became the first out trans man to be elected to a U.S. state legislature. They talk about why he ran and what he hopes to achieve. Finally, the hosts add some new items to the gay agenda.Items discussed in the show:The American Library Association Rainbow Round TableThe Lilly Pharmaceutical Twitter impersonationAMC’s new version of Interview With the VampireWorld Pride 2025 in D.C. “They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?” by Megan Twohey and Christina Jewett in the New York TimesMichael Hobbes’ Twitter thread responding to the NYT story“The NYT’s Big Piece on Puberty Blockers Mucked Up the Most Important Point About Them,” by Evan Urquhart, in SlateGay AgendaBrian: Queer for Fear on ShudderChristina: The Secret to Superhuman Strength, by Alison BechdelJules: Gossip Girl Fanfic Novella, by Charlie MarkbreiterThis podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryan Lowder is still out on book leave, but hosts Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson summon him back to discuss Bros, the gay rom-com of the moment. The film lingers on questions of queer history, shows what happens when a nerdy podcast guy dates a beefy gay bro, and is a fascinating meditation on what it means to be a cis gay man in a time of both progress and prosecution. (This segment lasts around 31 minutes if you want to skip ahead to avoid Bros spoilers.) Then they are joined by Meg Metcalf, an LGBTQ collections specialist at the Library of Congress, to discuss how the world’s biggest library is surfacing the plentiful LGBTQ resources that can be found in its building and in cyberspace. Finally, they add some new items to the gay agenda.Items discussed in the show:The Problem With Jon Stewart, “The Problem With Gender” “Why Jon Stewart’s Humiliation of an Anti-Trans Official Is So Important,” by Evan Urquhart in SlateA new report from the Human Rights Campaign and Bowling Green State University“Billy Eichner’s Curious Claims About Bros,” by J. Bryan Lowder in Slate“Was Eleanor Roosevelt a Lesbian?” by Heather Schwedel, in SlateThe Library of Congress’ Collections Policy Statement for LGBTQIA+ studiesIf you have a question for Meg, or other Library of Congress librarians, go to ask.loc.govChronicling America, the Library of Congress’ database of historic newspapers Gay AgendaChristina: The episode of NPR’s Code Switch in which Kumari Devarajan profiled comedian and playwright D’Lo, who has a role in BrosJules: Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist, by Cecilia Gentili This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Bryan Lowder is away, so hosts Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson are joined by the podcast’s founding co-host Brandon Tensley to talk about some new representations of LGBTQ people involved in the wide world of sports. First, they debate whether the new Amazon Prime take on A League of Their Own, starring and co-created by Abbi Jacobson, might possibly be too queer. Then they discuss the making of Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, the new Netflix documentary about a transgender pro skateboarder, with Nicola Marsh, who directed the movie, along with Giovanni Reda, and executive producer Alex Schmider. Finally, they add some new items to the gay agenda.Items discussed in the show:Race Deconstructed, Brandon’s newsletter at CNNA League of Their Own, on Amazon PrimeStay on Board: The Leo Baker Story, on NetflixSlate’s coverage of the Yummers debacleThe 2022 NLGJA Convention in ChicagoThe Transgender Issue, by Shon FayeGay AgendaBrandon: Listen to Rina Sawayama’s new album Hold the GirlJules: Follow actor, writer, model Hari Nef on InstagramChristina: Listen to Lauren Ober’s new podcast The Loudest Girl in the WorldThis podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, host Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder start the show with a Thots & Queries segment in which a listener asks about orgy etiquette. In a completely different party setting, they try to figure out what on earth is going on in the U.S. Congress, where legislators are debating marriage equality in the form of the Respect for Marriage Act. Then Northwestern University professor and journalist Steven Thrasher joins them to discuss his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide. Finally, they add some new items to the gay agenda.Items discussed in the show:Taylor Blake and her emu friend EmmanuelBeyoncé’s RenaissanceA shocking tweet from the official Log Cabin Republicans accountThe June 29 episode of Outward in which Mark Joseph Stern considered how the Dobbs decision might affect LGBTQ rights“Why Is There More Republican Support for Gay Marriage Than for Abortion Rights?” by Moira Donegan, in the NationThe Viral Underclass,, by Steven ThrasherLet the Record Show, by Sarah Schulman“An Uprising Comes From the Viral Underclass,” by Steven Thrasher in Slate, June 12, 2020 Gay AgendaJules: X, by Davey DavisBryan: The Sandman, on NetflixChristina: “We Failed,” by Eric Neugeboren, in the Texas Tribune This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder talk about two very different health stories. First, in the Thots & Queries segment, they respond to a listener who has questions about the ethics of moving to another country in an age of Supreme uncertainty. Then they talk with Harun Tulunay, a London-based sexual-health advocate, about his experience with monkeypox. He has been sharing his experiences with the disease, including the challenges of receiving a correct diagnosis. In New York City, the rollout of the monkeypox vaccine program was a disaster. Then they are joined by journalist Io Dodds to discuss her recent piece for the Independent: “ ‘Never Ask Permission’: How Two Trans Women Ran a Legendary Underground Surgical Clinic in a Rural Tractor Barn.” (Note, Jules was interviewed for the piece.)Items discussed in the show:Conjuring Kesha, on Discovery +“ ‘Never Ask Permission’: How Two Trans Women Ran a Legendary Underground Surgical Clinic in a Rural Tractor Barn,” by Io Dodds, in the IndependentGay AgendaBryan: “What Should a Queer Children’s Book Do?” by Jessica Winter in the New YorkerChristina: The Other Two, on HBO MaxJules: P-Valley, on StarzThis podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final Pride month special episode, Bryan and Christina talk with Slate senior writer Mark Joseph Stern. They assess what the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the case that swept away Roe v. Wade, might mean for LGBTQ rights. Should we be worried about marriage equality? Given Americans’ purported love of privacy, is there any way that the right to same-sex intimacy, protected in Lawrence v. Texas, might now come under attack? Mark helps the hosts find hope, slim though it might be, amid the cruelty of the Dobbs decision.Items discussed in the show:The episode of Amicus in which Dahlia Lithwick and guests discussed Dobbs (and Bruen).Season 7 of Slow Burn, about Roe v. Wade and the history of abortion rights in America.A special post-Dobbs episode of The Waves, with Christina and Cheyna Roth.“The Supreme Court’s Next Target Is Marriage Equality. It Won’t Be the Last,” by Mark Joseph Stern“The Lawlessness of the Dobbs Decision,” by Dahlia Lithwick and Neil S. Siegel.This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s story time, fam! This month, Bryan, Christina, and Jules talk about whether—and why—we still need Pride. Every Pride is someone’s first, and to get that fresh perspective, the hosts spoke with Sammie Bennett, who just celebrated for the first time in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They then talk about their own memories and feelings about the annual queer gathering.Thanks to Alicia DeMaio for our first "Thots & Queries" segment. Here’s the them.us piece she referenced.Items discussed in the show:“The Battle Over Gender Therapy,” by Emily Bazelon in the New York Times MagazineJules’ Twitter threadJules’ Substack responsePostmates’ “Eat With Pride” ad campaignLeo Herrera’s Instagram story about this campaignChristina’s Slate story about a U-Haul truck full of Nazis who headed to a Pride celebration in Idaho.New York City Drag MarchGay AgendaBryan: Buzzfeed’s roundup of “This Pride Month” memesChristina: KaftkoJules: Read a banned LGBTQ bookThis podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, in honor of Pride, we’re bringing you extra episodes of Outward.This week, hosts Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder dig into the big gay movie of summer 2022: Fire Island. Directed by Andrew Ahn and written by Joel Kim Booster, who also appears in the film, Fire Island explores the magic of queer spaces like the titular enclave—along with the class and race disparities that so often beset them. The film, which also stars Bowen Yang, Margaret Cho, and Conrad Ricamora, is a gay resetting of Pride and Prejudice. Does it succeed? The hosts discuss this, and much more, in spoiler-filled detail.This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, in honor of Pride, we’re going to be bringing you an Outward episode every week.Today, it’s a segment from a 2021 episode of Working, Slate's podcast about the creative process, in which June Thomas spoke with photographer Joan E. Biren, also known as JEB. In the interview, JEB discusses the creation, funding, and printing of her groundbreaking 1979 photobook Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, which was reissued by Anthology Editions in 2021. The Working episode was produced by Cameron Drews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices