Queer As Fact

Today’s episode of Queer as Fiction, as chosen by our patrons, is on the 1926 play “The Captive”. Join us as we discuss the sale of violets, the padlocking of theatres and the diverse ways a story can be interpreted by audiences and critics. Thank you to our Patrons for voting on this episode! Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image description: A black and white photo of a theatre production of the Captive. Basil Rathbone and Helen Menken as Irene and Jacques face each other on lounge furniture.]

This week we're talking about the early 20th century American cook, socialite and transgender woman Lucy Hicks Anderson. Join us to hear about Lucy's determination to live authentically in the face of repeated court cases, the enduring love and respect shown to her by her community, and the greatest dinner rolls ever made. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image description: Black and white photo of Lucy Hicks Anderson, a middle-aged African American woman. She is facing the camera and wearing a large hat and a pale jacket.]

Join us for the first episode of Season 9 as we discuss the life and trial of 20th century Scottish aristocrat and farmer Dr Ewan Forbes. We'll be talking about how to transition in rural mid-20th century Scotland, an impressively bold legal defense strategy, and the perils of keeping lion cubs in your family home. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image: Photo of Ewan Forbes from 1952; he is a middle-aged man in a checked three-piece suit, smiling and talking to someone out of frame.]  

This week on Queer as Fact, we're talking about the 12th-century German nun and polymath Hildegard of Bingen. Join us for thorny theological questions, savage letters to the Pope and a medieval description of the female orgasm. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image: Medieval illustration of Hildegard in a nun's habit, writing. Red tendrils reach down towards her face. A monk is watching on.]

In today's episode of Queer as Fiction we delve into James Baldwin's 1956 novel, Giovanni's Room. Join us as we discuss 1950s gender roles, the French gay bar scene and the concept of a Manic Pixie Dream Gay. Thank you to our Patrons for voting on this episode!  Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image: Front Cover of the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Giovanni's Room, the 1956 novel by James Baldwin. It features the silhouettes of two men and the legs of a woman]

Today's episode is on the life and trial of early 20th century Australian transgender man Harry Crawford. Join us to learn what court records, newspaper articles and modern biographies can tell us about a century of Australian attitudes to transgender experiences. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image: Mugshot of Harry Crawford, taken by the New South Wales Police Department in 1920. It is a black and white photo Harry Crawford, a white man in a three piece suit looking at the camera with a serious expression.]

This week, Queer as Fact is talking about the Asexual Manifesto, published in New York in 1972. Join us for our first deep dive into ace history, a discussion of the place of asexuality in 1970s feminism, and one of the first ever mentions of ace pride. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.   [Image: 'Lesbian activists at Barnard provide labels', Off Our Backs vol. 3 no. 6 Feb/Mar 1973 - a young woman sits in front of a sign featuring various sexuality labels, including asexual]

Today's episode is on beloved 19th century author Louisa May Alcott. Irene, Alice and Jason, who between them have read the 1868 novel Little Women, watched the 2017 movie Little Women, and read a good number of Louisa May Alcott's letters, diaries and papers, discuss the times when fiction might be more honest than autobiography, the ways that gender identity and gendered social roles interact, and the appeal (or lack thereof) of cold baths. Thank you to our Patreons for voting on this episode! It was fun to research and record. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.   [Image: Portrait of Louisa May Alcott; Wikimedia Commons]

Today marks our first Queer as Fiction episode for the season, as we discuss the 1999 film, directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski, The Matrix. Join us as we explore the red pill, the blue pill, and everything in between.  Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. [Image: The movie poster for 1999 film The Matrix, featuring the characters of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus and Cypher]

This week on Queer as Fact we're talking about the Crow warrior and leader, Bíawacheeitchish, or Woman Chief. Join us to hear about Crow gender, fighting grizzly bears, and Bíawacheeitchish's four wives. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.   [Image: Illustration of Barcheeampe (Pine Leaf) from The Life and Adventures of James P Beckwourth (1856)]

Today, we're discussing 6th century Chinese general Han Zigao! Join us as we talk about his life, and various fictionalised adaptations of it. Learn a little about media censorship in modern day China, gender in Ming Dynasty theatre, and whether or not you can be too beautiful to be an enemy spy. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. (Image: the promotion poster for the 2016 movie Han Zigao. It depicts two men in period costume in a tent, underneath the text 韩子高 in gold lettering.)

Today we bring you our second episode on the 19th-century British military doctor Dr James Barry. Join us to learn about Florence Nightingale's desperate need for sunscreen, how to dress stylishly as a trans man in the 1800s and a mysterious black box.  Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

This week, Queer as Fact is talking about the 19th-century British military surgeon, Dr James Barry. Join us to hear about anatomy classes in the 1800s, James' scandalous relationship with the governor of Cape Town, and two bonus James Barrys! Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Today's episode is on Mexican nun, writer and polymath Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Join Irene and Alice to hear about the realities of life in a 17th century convent, poetry ranging from sweet to filthy, and one weird tip for teaching yourself Latin. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Today's episode is Beki, the queer language of the Philippines. Join us for some new queer vocab, a surprise cameo from a past episode, and to discover how a queer language went mainstream. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Queer as Fiction is back, and greener than ever, as we discuss the 14th century poem, recently adapted into a film by David Lowery starring Dev Patel, commonly referred to as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Join us for a discussion of colour theory, kissing games, gendered napping and yet more colour theory.  Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

We're back this week with the latest in our Roman emperor series! Today we're talking about the emperor Hadrian and his lover Antinous. Join us to learn about one of the most famous male-male couples of all time, the mystery of Antinous' death, and how to make your boyfriend into a god. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

This bonus episode is a recording of a live session from the Storytelling Podcast Week live program. Alice, Irene and Jason bring queer history to life, dive into behind the scenes of their favourite Queer As Fact episodes and answer your questions! Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

In today's episode, Eli and Alice review James Romm's new book, the Sacred Band, and we talk more generally about the Sacred Band of Thebes, an ancient Greek military unit made up of gay lovers. Featuring: Plato's Symposium, the power of gay love, and yet another instance of Queer As Fact coming up with an imaginary queer movie. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Following on from last week's episode on the 1980s UK activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, today's Queer as Fiction episode delves into the 2014 film adaptation of the historical events that led to LGSM.  Join us for a discussion of the film's presentation of politics, (more) hatred of Thatcher, and why Pride feels about three seconds away from being a musical at all times. Check out "All Out! Dancing in Dulais", a documentary made by LGSM and mentioned throughout the episode, here. Check out our website, where you can find out everything there is to know about Queer as Fact.  If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. If you'd like to support a queer-owned business, check out Proud Geek, an online specialist retailer of LGBT+ entertainment and media, offering a wide range of titles from the past 25 years.