You Don't Say: Conversations with The Loquacious Mr. Duane

Our pre-book series is coming to a close, so we’re reflecting and bidding farewell to Blake as he hunkers down and works on the duo's soon-to-be NYT's Best Seller. You also might be wondering: what's next for the Senator? Listen and find out!

Tom’s got the reigns and he wants (almost) all of YDS — Blake, Angel (Blake’s husband) and producer Sam — to answer his steaming questions about food, god, and colors.  

Tom was a capital O organizer back in his heyday, but can he organize his physical spaces, too? Blake isn’t so sure, and so a conversation ensues about how we arrange our lives and our priorities.

After Tom and Blake got into yet another fight about their (distracting) writing process, producer Sam Small hops on the mic to mediate and get to the bottom of their communication problems. 

Gay Devastation: Tom missed the Kylie Minogue concert because he had COVID, so, naturally, a conversation about all things healthcare and Luigi Mangione ensues. 

What was once the title of Blake’s radio show is now, unofficially, chapter one of the forthcoming memoir and the guiding question for this week’s episode. Words like “fairness” and “justice” were brought up, and incidentally so was “Cheney.”

Blake and Tom take their relationship to the next level on a work-cation in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

If Tom hadn’t gone into politics and Blake hadn’t been mean to his dad that one time, what would’ve happened? These hypotheticals, along with other major and minor decisions made when brought to a "fork in the road” are investigated — but not like scientifically. 

Blake's quest for more of Tom's stories continues. In an effort to remain on task, Blake asks Tom one question: if you could go back in time, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Tom interrogates Blake on his history ghostwriting for conservatives, Blake interrogates Tom about always being f***ing late. They make amends though, and continue their candid conversation about sex, love, and trauma. What does this all have to do with communication? I don't know ask your therapist, they're just two nice gays from New York. Actually, I do know — listen to find out!

Some things to know about our two hosts, Thomas K. Duane and his ghostwriter, Blake Newhem Valenzuela: they've both got trauma, they've had one or two crazy sexual escapes, and they're both "hot and hung." Listen to the very first episode of "You Don't Say" as they two dive headfirst into juicy conversations about sex, politics, and personal secrets. They defini...

You Don't Say features Blake Newhem Venezuela, a ghostwriter desperately trying to get into the head of Tom Duane, one of NYC's first openly gay and HIV-positive senators. But in order to get Mr. Duane's secrets, Blake must reveal his own — on air. Through a back-and-forth that’s as revealing as it is entertaining, “You Don’t Say” delves into the power of communication in all its forms...