My guest this week is Justin Sayre, whom you may know from the excellent Sparkle and Circulate podcast, or his delightful live show The Meeting of the International Order of the Sodomites. He always knew there was a big queer community out there, but he never quite felt a connection with it, so he decided to do something about that: by appointing h...
2017-06-15 06:00:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Have you ever proved yourself wrong? My guest this week is actor Tom Lenk, who appeared as Andrew on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Tom was convinced for years that he lacked the skills that seemed to come naturally to other actors -- and so he was terrified when cast in a show that demanded more of him than he thought he could deliver. Facing that chal...
2017-06-08 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
What did you rebel against when you were a teenager, and are you still rebelling today? This week's guest is Hamed Sinno, whose Lebanese upbringing afforded him only brief glimpses of gay culture and queer voices in pop culture. In college, he formed a band with some friends and discovered ...
2017-06-01 13:01:22 +0000 UTC View Post
How do you make up for lost time after spending years in the closet? My guest this week is journalist Adam Smith, who avoiding coming out for years because he felt that he needed to maintain a sort of sexual neutrality for the sake of his family. Now that he's finally experiencing the world as an out gay man, there's lots to explore -- which has me...
2017-05-25 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Have you ever been lucky enough to enjoy the sensation of villainy? My guest this week is Anthony Olivera, who you might also know for his incisive tweeting as Meakoopa. Anthony's always felt a sympathy for monsters and villains -- or at least, the figures assumed to be monsters and villains -- even before he was old enough to realize that he might...
2017-05-18 13:00:42 +0000 UTC View Post
My guest this week is Dave Holmes, who you might know from the podcast International Waters, or his articles in Esquire, or his book Party of One. I first saw Dave on MTV, in a proto-reality show competition to become a VJ back in the late 90s. On screen, it was clear that Dave was the most qualified, most knowledgable, and most engaging contestant...
2017-05-11 13:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Have you ever surprised yourself with what you were able to get away with? This week's guest is writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch, who's been slipping sly queer jokes into our entertainment since before some of us were even born. Starting out as a writer for great divas of the 1970s and then moving on to variety shows, the Oscars, and a notorious h...
2017-05-04 13:01:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Last week's guest was Jeffery Self, a relatively young actor and writer who's broken into the entertainment industry often on his own terms. This week, I'm speaking with Randy West, an industry veteran whose experience was vastly different. From sweet-talking his way onto sets to chasing big breaks with a single-minded determination, Randy learned ...
2017-04-27 13:00:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Do you have an inner performer lurking just below the surface -- or has your inner performer burst above the surface, resolutely refusing to ever be ignored? My guest this week is the fantastic Jeffery Self, who has for his entire life been every inch an entertainer -- whether forming a rebel theater troupe as a teen in his small southern hometown;...
2017-04-20 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
If making others happy makes you happy, what do you do when their happiness puts you in danger? My guest this week is Gordon Bellamy, one of the kindest and friendliest people I've ever met. For years, he went to great lengths to get along with people, even when he was sure those people would reject the real him. But of course, true friendship and ...
2017-04-13 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
How much thought have you given to what your secret identity would be if you were a superhero? My guest this week is Glen Weldon, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour -- a lively chat about books, music, movies, TV, and more. As host, Glen's renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of heroes and comic books. But for a long time, that comic geek was ...
2017-04-06 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Why is "gay" the word that the world seems to have picked to describe us? My guest Guy Branum has some thoughts on the topic, and on many more. You can see Guy as the host of "Talk Show the Game Show," debuting April 5 on TruTV, where celebrities compete to be the best guest on a talk show. There could be no better environment for Guy, a brilliantl...
2017-03-30 13:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Longtime listeners may remember way back in episode 4 of The Sewers of Paris, my guest Greg talked about picking up copies of an unofficial queer opera zine called Parterre Box in the men's room of the Metropolitan Opera. The publisher of that zine is this week's guest. James Jorden always wanted to direct, but when he first moved to New York the c...
2017-03-23 13:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post
How do you know when you're home? Is home a place you find, or a place you make? My guest this week grew up in the US, but never quite felt like he belonged. That all changed after a chance film screening, a lucky visit to a chat room, and a surprise visit to Ireland. After a lifetime of trying to figure out where he belonged, Ben took a gamble on ...
2017-03-16 13:00:44 +0000 UTC View Post
My guest this week started his musical career at a neighborhood friend's piano, hanging out and playing showtunes. These days he's doing pretty much the same, but he's accompanying Broadway stars and winning Tonys. Stephen Oremus worked on The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, Frozen, and 9 to 5, among many others, and was music director for the 87th Acade...
2017-03-09 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Imagine this riskiest thing you could do -- and then imagine what would happen if you did it. My guest this week knows something about taking a chance -- Kevin Allison is the host of the Risk podcast, a show where people tell true stories about the times they put everything on the line. It's a concept that came to him after he'd spent too many year...
2017-03-02 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Most gay men have had the experiencing of needing to decide just how open and honest we're going to be about our lives, even when that openness is difficult for some people to hear. This week's guest makes openness about difficult topics his life's work. Andrew Gurza is the host of the podcasts Disability With Drew and Disability After Dark, in add...
2017-02-23 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post
How do you cope when everything seems sad? And how do you move on and find happiness? My guest this week is Jason DeRose. His background in divinity school taught him pastoral care, and his career as a journalist taught him how to look difficult news unflinchingly in the eye. It can be tempting to let dark feelings become overwhelming, to let them ...
2017-02-16 14:00:52 +0000 UTC View Post
If, like me, you are a huge fan of Dan Savage's work, you've probably heard him speak at length about sex and love and news and politics -- but this conversation is going to be a little different as we dive into 8-track tapes, secret bike rides, family arguments, and a rule-breaking theater troupe where Dan ...
2017-02-09 14:00:38 +0000 UTC View Post
To what lengths are you willing to go to prove yourself? My guest this week is Caleb Nelson, who's had a lifelong fascination with game shows as a way to prove mastery and skill. As he got older, he discovered that despite always working hard to prove himself to others, he faced a far greater challenge when it came to believing in himself.
Hi Sewers of Paris patrons! Thanks once again for keeping the show going -- it means so much to me that you believe in the show and support it.
I'd like to get your thoughts on something pretty important: the show's logo. We're coming up on episode 100, and I'm thinking about changing the logo to 2017-01-30 22:26:41 +0000 UTC View Post
How will you make it on your own? This week's guest is Chris Schleicher, who moved to a big city all by himself with some dreams, some talent, and a determination to stop living for other people. He started his career inspired by sitcoms like the Mary Tyler Moore show, and now he makes sitcoms as a writer on The Mindy Project. Season 5 starts Febru...
2017-01-26 08:01:50 +0000 UTC View Post
My guest this week is Joshua Grannell, but you may know him as Peaches Christ -- the host of San Francisco's wild midnight mass shows and creator of outlandish drag exploitation films. Even as a kid, Joshua orchestrated elaborate halloween shows that his whole family got in on. And as an adult, he's crafted an entire media empire dedicated to expos...
2017-01-19 08:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
How far up your family tree would you have to go before the way your family lives became unrecognizable? My guest this week is Fazaad Feroze, whose parents grew up in shack in Guiana before moving to the United States. As you can imagine, assimilation into American culture wasn't always easy.
Also, check out the podcast Polygamer -- 2017-01-12 08:01:04 +0000 UTC View Post
When you look back on your life, who are the adults who were wiser than you realized at the time? My guest this week is NPR's Sonari Glinton. He grew up in Chicago, surrounded by amazing artists and curators who managed to steer him in the directions that were exactly what a little queer kid needed.
By the way, check out the podcast 2017-01-05 14:00:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello friends, and welcome to a special year-end edition of the Sewers of Paris. On this episode, I've invited some of my favorite gay podcasters to recommend their favorite entertainment of the year, from Lemonade to Difficult People and Moonlight and Reba. If you've been feeling down in the dumps about 2016, now's the time to take a deep breath a...
2016-12-29 14:00:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Have you ever experienced a Christmas miracle? My guest this week has. His whole life, Jose longed to experience a magical snowy wonderland like he saw on American TV specials -- not exactly an easy thing to find in Venezuela, where the one snowball he ever saw was scraped together from a frosty puddle and carefully passed from person to person.
...
2016-12-22 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Growing up as in atheist home, December was the closest I ever came to having a religious experience -- not because of actual religion, but the beauty of the snow and gifting and carols and lights just overwhelmed and transported me, years before I had any inkling that there was any kind of chur...
2016-12-15 14:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
How do you think you'd come across if someone made your life into a reality show? My guest this week is Ross Semple, who grew up in a sort of fishbowl where the presence of family was constant and privacy didn't exist. And so naturally the round-the-clock surveillance of reality shows resonated with him, particularly as the medium evolved and the t...
2016-12-08 14:00:26 +0000 UTC View Post
When it comes to costumes, some of us have a greater-than-average appreciation for layering. My guest this week is writer Steven Rowley, whose debut novel Lily and the Octopus is touching and familiar and funny. It is also one of the gayest stories he's ever told, after a career spent in what was a sort of disguise, writing rom-coms a...
2016-12-01 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post