Queer as Fact

The rainbow flag is the most recognisable symbol of queer pride and community. Listen to the second of our Pride Month episodes to learn about the origins of the flag and the life of its designer, self-described “gay Betsy Ross”, Gilbert Baker. If you enjoy this episode, consider supporting us on Patreon , checking out our merch , and following us on Twitter , Tumblr and Facebook . 

In honour of the 50th anniversary this month, we're covering New York's 1969 Stonewall Riots. Tune in for a story of queer resistance, featuring chorus lines, Molotov cocktails, and the birth of the modern gay rights movement. Sources

Season 3 of Queer as Fact will be starting on June 1st! Listen to this announcement episode to learn about the special content we'll be bringing out to celebrate Pride Month, new and exciting ways to support the podcast, and the winner of our book giveaway! Visit our Patreon to learn about the rewards we're offering or visit our Redbubble to check out new Queer as Fact merch!  

Today's episode is on Mexican singer Chavela Vargas. Listen to learn about her influence over the traditional Mexican music scene, her relationship with the famous artist Frida Kahlo and how it's never too late to start an international music career. Sources

Today's episode is on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones. Listen in as we discuss how queer representation changed from page to screen, the ways medieval fantasy interprets historical reality, and what the deal is with that shaving scene anyway... Please note that this episode contains swearing, mentions of sex, sex work, sexual violence and rape, sla...

Today, we're talking about the life of Marsha P Johnson, a trans activist most famous for her involvement in the Stonewall Riots. We touch on topics including STAR, an organisation supporting homeless queer youth which Marsha co-founded, the possibility that Marsha was asexual, and what queer fashion looked like in the 1960s! Sources

Today we are talking about Fanny Park and Stella Boulton, two transfeminine people who were the subject of a sensational trial in Victorian England. Tune in to hear about drag balls, whether pornography counts as an academic source, and the intersection of trans and gay history.

Today's episode of Queer as Fiction covers the 2002 novel Fingersmith, written by famed queer author Sarah Waters (three time nominee for the Man Booker prize), as well as its 2016 film adaptation The Handmaiden, directed by South Korean mastermind Park Chan-wook. Join us as we discuss the differences and similarities between 1930s Japanese-occupied Korea and Victorian England, depictions of lesbi...

Today's episode is on queer activist, drag performer, and gay superhero Stormé DeLarverie. Join us to hear your hosts discuss the history of drag performance, Stormé's short-lived career as a circus performer, and an obituary we can all aspire to. Sources

Today's episode is on Julius Caesar! Join us for a discussion of Caesar's dress sense, old men yelling at clouds, and our theories on what did happen in that bedroom in Bithynia two thousand years ago. You can also check out our introduction to male sexuality in ancient Rome . Sources

Happy New Year! Today we bring you a very special episode of Queer as Fiction, covering not one, but three queer, historical films from 2018. Join us as we discuss depictions of mental illness in Vita & Virginia, trans representation in Colette, and historical accuracy in Bohemian Rhapsody. Time-stamps for each film: Vita & Virginia: 00:42 Colette: 20:00 Bohemian Rhapsody: 48:21 Note this episode...

Today we are talking about the frontman of Queen, Freddie Mercury! Tune in to learn about Freddie’s college antics, his rise to fame, and his many, many cats. December is AIDS Awareness Month, and Freddie lived with HIV for the last years of his life, dying in 1991 of AIDS-related illness. We encourage you check out these links for resources in the ongoing fight against AIDS: The UN's 2018 World A...

Back in October, we promised that if our episode on Oscar Wilde reached 2000 downloads, we would try milk punch - the drink Oscar and his fellow queer poet Walt Whitman shared when they met in 1882. Today, we bring you the fulfillment of that promise, as well as an announcement about what's coming up for Queer as Fact!

We are back from our hiatus with an episode on the bisexual Israeli poet, Yona Wallach. Join us as we visit Tel Aviv's 1960s gay scene, learn about gender in Hebrew, and read some of Yona's most controversial poetry. Sources

This is the second part of our two-part episode on Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde! We're talking about the latter half of Oscar's life, including the wittiest comedy in the English language, the tumultuous relationship between Oscar and Alfred Douglas, and Oscar's trial and imprisonment. Listen to Part 1 here .

It's time for our much-anticipated episode on Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde! Today we're covering the first half of Oscar's life, from his birth in 1854 to the publication of his homoerotic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1891. Tune in to hear about his rise to notoriety, his scandalous fashion choices, and whether he and Walt Whitman ever had sex.

Today's episode is on the erotic pottery of the Moche people of 1st to 7th century Peru. Tune in for skeleton sex, dragging bad scholarship, and the possibility of a third gender in ancient Peru. Sources [Image source: Janusz Z. Wołoszyn and Katarzyna Piwowar's "Sodomites, Siamese Twins, and Scholars: Same-Sex Relationships in Moche Art" in American Anthropologist, Vol. 117, No. 2 (2015), p.288]

Today's episode is on the 19th-century Chinese poet and playwright Wú Zǎo. We'll be reading queer love poetry, talking about gender, and discussing the relatable experience of drinking wine while reading sad books. Sources [Image: text from Wú Zǎo's play Qiáo Yǐng]

Today's episode is on Billy Tipton, well-known jazz player and transgender man.  Tune in for a man who could play the piano and the saxophone simultaneously, a nude portrait featuring an erupting volcano, and more dogs than you could possibly wish for! 

Today's Queer as Fiction episode is on the famous 1982 epistolary novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple. Join us for a discussion about intersectionality, what qualifies as good representation and the critical reaction to the novel since its publication. 

What does it take for a painting to ruin a friendship, initiate a court case, and change the Australian art world forever? Tune in to this episode on the Australian artist William Dobell and his controversial win of the 1943 Archibald Prize for portraiture to find out! (Image: William Dobell, Self Portrait, 1932.)

This week we have our first ever collaborative episode, where we meet with our fellow queer history podcast History is Gay to compare queer slang in Australia and the USA. Join us as we talk about lavender linguistics, Gilette blades, and our favourite ways to say we're queer. You can find History is Gay on Facebook , Tumblr and Twitter , and check out more of their episodes on their website , or...

In this episode, we're talking about the early-20th-century Spanish poet and playwright, Federico García Lorca. Join us as we discuss Federico's relationship with Salvador Dalí, 19-year-old Jesus Christ's fights with his parents, and the mystery surrounding Federico's death.

Today's Queer as Fiction episode is on the 2007 novel and 2017 movie Call Me By Your Name. Join us as we chat about Jewish identity, whether or not this is really a gay movie after all and, of course, the controversial age gap. Please note that this episode contains swearing in a quote - our apologies for not including it in the content warnings! Sources  

Today's episode is on the godmother of rock and roll, gospel singer Rosetta Tharpe. Join us to learn about Rosetta's rise to fame, mad guitar skills, and the invention of everything from the tour bus to stadium rock. Also, Queer As Fact has a sponsor! Have a listen to pick up a discount code for Sudio Sweden headphones.  Transcript available here Sources