Well, it turns out I don't know as much about Lady Godiva as I thought. This week James asks me to recollect as much as I possibly can about everyone in the theme song of the sitcom Maude, and ohhhh dear my memory is ... flawed. We also give our thanks to Joanne for some lovely ceramics, and discuss a time that Rent and Cats blended together. An...
2019-07-15 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week is caught between two extremes — the smart reference comedy of The Simpsons and the brutality of dramatic films about lives crumbling to pieces. Matt Fisher is the co-host of the podcast Ex-Rated movies, where he and his co-host and ex-boyfriend Ryan chat about films. 2019-07-11 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
What on Earth is Tyra Banks' new ice cream venture? We speculate about possible flavors this week on the podcast, and also reflect on the casting of a new Little Mermaid. James shares some news you can use about rickets, we learn a thing or two about Harvey Fierstein and Popeye, and exploding skirts. You'll also get an update on Neon Genesis Eva...
2019-07-09 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis episode is posting on the Fourth of July, and I’m going to celebrate America with a look back at one of my favorite early episodes of The Sewers of Paris — an interview from 2015 with director Wes Hurley, whose st...
2019-07-04 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostHello friends!
Well, we're really in the thick of it: hot weather, short shorts, and some well-earned vacation time after the exhaustion of Pride. I hope you had a good 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, and threw some bricks -- metaphorical or literal, whichever is appropriate.
Between the sultry sweaty days of July, I'l...
2019-07-01 21:24:45 +0000 UTC View PostThis week we're reflecting on what Pride means to us (for me, walking alongside a parade; for James, staying indoors). Also, we've seen Into the Spiderverse and Neon Genesis Evangelion at last, and we have thoughts! They are both strangely similar to My So-Called Life. I struggle to remember the name of someone who remembers everything, and Jame...
2019-07-01 16:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week has spent the last 25 years tapping into inner heroes — first on screen, and then in real life. David Yost played Billy, the Blue Ranger on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, portraying a teenager with attitude who saved the world every week. But in his private life, he struggled to accept himself and to resist the homophobia ...
2019-06-27 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostFans of What's-Her-Name will be pleased to hear that I am unable to remember the name of the actress from Harold and Maude (Ruth Gordon, I know, I know) and also I have a pretty tenuous grasp on the details of the story of Samson and Delilah. James envisions a world of bottoms, and later invents furries; and we both dispute the merits of various...
2019-06-25 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week is a man of intense confidence -- which seems like a prerequisite for the work that he does. Michael Fabiano is an opera singer, and also former baseball umpire, debater, and business student. Opera was a side-passion for him until a teacher told him that his talent was so great that he had a moral obligation to dedicate himse...
2019-06-20 10:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostWell folks I don't know what to say about this week's episode, and in fact I should probably say nothing at all because I can barely speak right now. As I recover from laryngitis, contributing as little as I possibly can to The Discourse, James takes the wheel with a musical medley and a tribute to Glenn Miller, or as I call him, "A. Marble." We...
2019-06-18 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week has noticed something funny about the way we each live our lives: we all fumble through life like we're the first one to have ever figured out how to live. And Walt Odets has had a lot of life; he's worked as a photographer, as a airplane pilot transporting priceless cargo, and as a psychologist working through the worst days ...
2019-06-13 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostWe're back! A new episode of Cozy Pants has what everyone's clamoring for: Fond memories of Butterball turkey commercials, wild speculation about a mall with an indoor ski slope and live rabbits, a rousing game of What's Her Name involving various Disney stars who may or may not be the same person, and my special bundle cave. Plus, in the latest...
2019-06-11 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week occupies some unlikely intersections. Michael Twitty is the author of the James Beard awarding-winning book The Cooking Gene, in which he explores the history of African American cuisine through his own family history and his Jewish faith. He's been on a lifelong exploration of those very different identities and others, seeki...
2019-06-06 19:53:08 +0000 UTC View PostHello friends!
Well here we are, approaching the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a milestone so monumental I barely know what to say other than to express my gratitude for the folks who refused to quietly disappear into the night half a century ago. Pride's not just a party and a protest (although it is also those things!) -- it's...
2019-06-05 21:16:55 +0000 UTC View PostWhat can you gain by giving yourself a fresh start? My guest this week is Noah Michelson, an editor at the Huffington Post. He's been lucky enough to give himself a couple of reboots in life, jumping from situations that were unsafe or unfulfilling to find something better once he wiped the slate clean.
We'll have that conversation in a mi...
2019-05-30 08:13:33 +0000 UTC View PostAs my time in LA draws to an end, we reflect back on the good times: A mallet that flew into an audience at a drag show, tooting on scooters, and of course a few bonus rounds of What's Her Name. On this week's episode I spill the T about DragCon and all the fabulous celebrities I got to meet & judge. I also talk about one of the most chaotic...
2019-05-28 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostHow do you balance time spent in your head with time spent around other people? My guest this week is Ryan Whedon, host of the podcast Ex-Rated Movies where he chats about films with his ex boyfriend. After searching for years to find the work that he loved, Ryan found his true joy on a sweaty dance floor, and now his passion project is mixing e...
2019-05-23 16:18:37 +0000 UTC View PostI've flown to LA this week and boy are my arms tired, as is the rest of my body because I have been keeping BUSY. (Hence the late episode this week -- apologies for that!) On this episode I recount the exhausting/fulfilling D&D adventure I've been on for the last few days, basically at an intensive school for seat-of-the-pants storytelling t...
2019-05-21 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis weekend, I'll be attending The Descent, a Dungeons and Dragons live event in Los Angeles. And so for this week's episode, we're diving into the Sewers archive with a conversation from 2016 featuring game writer David Gaider.
You may recognize his name as one of the co-creators of some of the most popular sci-fi and fantasy stories in ...
2019-05-16 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostBeware of caterpillars! On this week's Cozy Pants podcast, we're responding to a listener request for podcast recommendations; we're dissecting the first fifteen minutes of the Easter (?) movie Hop and my strange ideas about fertility; we're struggling to remember the name of Debbie Something, you know, Carrie Fisher's mother; and we're taking a...
2019-05-13 23:12:58 +0000 UTC View PostHow much searching does it take to find your passion in life? My guest this week is Bucky Flores -- before he was performing with Lady Gaga in the Superbowl, Bucky drifted through his early 20s, trying to figure out what he wanted out of life beyond menial jobs and going out drinking. Stuck in a small town with only a few options, it was a chanc...
2019-05-09 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHello friends!
At last, spring appears to be upon us, when as Lord Tennyson wrote, "a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." So, I hope your fancy is lovely all May long and beyond. I'll be traveling to Los Angeles this month to do some interviews and attend some live events -- if you're in town, I'll be hanging out at Music...
2019-05-08 17:01:17 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week is writer and psychologist Victoria Lee. She’s got a soft spot for villains — not just for the deeds they do, but for the emotions they feel and the creativity with which they solve problems. Understanding the difference in everyone’s perspective on good and evil informs the work she does today, conducting experiments to...
2019-05-07 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThere's some intrigue afoot, with The Crow and The Bluejay up to no good on the balcony. Those are not codewords. This week we discuss our great love of The Monkey King and even greater love for the his nemesis, a villainous lady who excels at side-eye. And we tackle perhaps the most horrifying chapter of Modelland yet, with some truly terrifyin...
2019-05-06 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostWe never get back the time we spend in the closet, so once queer people come out we often have to find time to make up for lost time. But if you could go back, and enjoy the things you wanted to, what would you give yourself permission to love? My guest this week is Marc Snetiker, senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. It's a role where he has t...
2019-05-02 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSorry we're a day late with Cozy Pants this week! I needed a little extra time to make up my mind about the Sonic the Hedgehog trailer, and whether it was sufficiently saucy (it was not). James quizzes me on the desirability of cartoon characters, and why I would decline to go on a date with Count Chocula. We get a LOT of terminology from Modell...
2019-04-30 19:25:14 +0000 UTC View PostMy guest this week has been through a lot -- growing up with caretakers who were processing a lot of pain, losing people he thought he could count on, confronting alarming mental illness, and learning far later than most people how to function in the world. Despite all that, Nico Lang's still here, still discovering what it means to be a functio...
2019-04-25 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHoppy Easter, friends! We're commiserating about cyberpunk this week, both the good and the bad (mostly bad). We just watched Ready Player One and I am ANNOYED about it, and also Solo. We realize that we don't have a lot of subtlety in our lives, and frankly I'm okay with that. I've discovered that Big Business is the most perfect movie ever mad...
2019-04-22 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHow do you reconcile two communities that have been at odds for as long as any of us have been alive? My guest this week is Ross Murray, Senior Director of the GLAAD Media Institute and the Naming Project, as well as a Lutheran Deacon. He felt from an early age that h...
2019-04-18 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostWe're back from some strange adventures! I went to a goth/industrial bar this week where I discussed, as you might expect, Barenaked Ladies and Japanese cologne commercials. James has returned to the world of The Addams Family, and also Emperor Palpatine's kicking booties. And Tyra seems to be playing an amusing prank on us all at this point. Pl...
2019-04-15 10:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post