Cruising | Queer History and Culture

Wildrose, located in Seattle, WA, has been around since its opening night party on New Year's Eve ringing in 1985. These are the stories of the humans that have called it home. Bryher Herak founded Wildrose, running the bar for fifteen-plus years while balancing a successful law career. Lamar Van Dyke ran a tattoo shop next door to Wildrose for eighteen years, and was of course a regular customer....

This is our full interview with Shirley J. Ever since visiting Nobody's Darling in Chicago, it was clear we had to get an interview with Shirley. Not only is she a regular there, but everyone refers to her as The Mayor of Nobody's Darling. It a fair amount of tracking down and persuading, but we finally got Shirley on the phone. We started by talking about her life as a young queer person in 1970s...

Walker's Pint, located in the Walker's Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI, is a lesbian bar with the motto "Be nice or leave." These are the stories of the humans that run it and the humans that call it a home. Bet-Z Boenning founded Walker's Pint in 2001. Lex has been bartending at Walker's Pint for 17 years, and says her friendship with Bet-Z is what keeps her there. And regular customers Annie...

Hi Listeners! Here's a quick message from the Cruising Podcast team. We hope you are staying safe and healthy as we wrap out 2021. We're off this week for the holidays and will be back on Monday, January 3rd with our exciting Milwaukee episode, featuring Walker's Pint. 'Til next year! Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast!  -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you he...

Nobody's Darling, in Chicago, IL, is a Black-owned, women-owned, and LGBT-owned craft cocktail bar. These are the stories of the humans that run it and the humans that call it a home. Renauda Riddle and Angela Barnes opened the bar in May, 2021, naming it after the Alice Walker poem, "Be Nobody's Darling." Shirley J has been a part of LGBT nightlife in Chicago since the 1970s, and is now affection...

This is our full interview with Lisa Cannistraci, the owner of Henrietta Hudson in New York City. Henrietta's is located in a space that used to be another lesbian bar called Cubby Hole. Despite sharing a name, that bar is completely unrelated to the Cubbyhole that is still running in Manhattan today, and that we covered in episode 01 of Cruising. Please enjoy, and reach out to let us know who you...

The Back Door is the only queer space within a 50-mile radius of Bloomington, IN. These are the stories of the humans that run The Back Door and the humans that have called The Back Door home. Nicci and Smoove founded The Back Door together in 2013, after meeting at a mutual friend's memorial in Bloomington. Verna Vendetta and Corvin Rose both got their starts as drag kings at The Back Door, but t...

We interviewed Lillian Faderman at the very beginning of this process, before covering any of the bars. Lillian is a longtime scholar of lesbian and LGBTQIA+ history. She published her first book on the subject in 1981, Surpassing The Love of Men. Her most recent book came out in 2018, Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death. Lillian has been going to lesbian bars since the 1950s. Thank you for listening...

Slammers is a lesbian bar in Columbus, OH known for their pizza and their motto, "all walks, one groove." These are the stories of the humans that run Slammers and the humans that call Slammers a home. Marcia Riley founded Slammers in 1993. Deb Gordon met Marcia in a paint store that same year, and has been her "wing-man" ever since. Bobbi Moore went from working in social work to managing a bar....

We have so many queer stories that don't make it into the main episodes. So, on our off weeks, we're going to start releasing some of our full interview tapes. This is the full interview with Deb Greenberg, the bartender from Cubbyhole. This was back in April, Cubbyhole had just reopened, and we actually weren't allowed to hang out inside because of COVID. That's why you're going to hear some traf...

A League of Her Own, or ALOHO for short, was founded in 2018. And yes, it's named after the 1992 film, A League of Their Own! These are the stories of the humans that run ALOHO and the humans that call ALOHO a home. Plus, the story of As You Are Bar, a new queer space opening soon in D.C.  Laurel has been coming to ALOHO since it opened: so frequently, the staff jokes they should put a plaque on h...

Henrietta Hudson is a “queer human bar built by lesbians.” These are the stories of the humans that run Henrietta Hudson and call Henrietta Hudson a home. Owner Lisa Cannistraci opened Henrietta Hudson in 1991 in the West Village, in the midst of her activism work with Act Up. Chef Evelyn Reyes joined the team this year, decades after running away to NYC from Puerto Rico as a teenager. Noelia disc...

Cubbyhole, Manhattan’s appropriately named hole-in-the-wall lesbian bar, has been around since 1993. These are the stories of the humans that run Cubbyhole and the humans that call Cubbyhole a home.  Hadley stumbled upon Cubbyhole for the first time one day after highschool. Deb Greenberg started working there after she came out at 45. Owner Lisa Menichino helped keep the bar open through 9/11 and...

Introducing Cruising Podcast! .Cruising follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on a cross-country road trip to visit the last lesbian bars in America and share their stories. What is a lesbian bar, anyways? Listen to find out and catch a sneak peak of our first stop in NYC.  Series premiering October, 2021. .Visit us at: www.cruisingpod.com, Follow our journey on Instagram...