Feast of Fun : Gay Talk Show

Denise Chanterelle DuBois life seems right out of Narcos or Orange is the New Black- she was a cocaine dealer until she got caught with a kilo and went to prison for a surprisngly short time. Listen as Denise joins us to talk about her life as a cocaine dealer and why she handed out donut holes to the public to celebrate a major trans victory.

Celebrities are just like us except when they fall on hard times, they get a boat load of money for endorsing embarrassingly crappy products that makes their fall from grace even more spectacular. Today comedian Matt Brown joins us to take a look at the most ridiculous celebrity product endorsements ever.

Although we like to think of our LGBT spots as permanent places that will always be there, the reality is that they come and go. Today writer and historian Owen Keehnan joins us to talk about the Belmont Rocks, a very public space where LGBT folks hung out in the sun to find community and a little bit of love in the early days of the queer rights movement.

After growing up watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on TV as a teen, Gigi Goode’s dreams came true. Not only did she get cast on the show, she got to showcase her talent all the way to the season finale. Then the pandemic hit and instead of a non stop whirlwind tour of drag, Gigi’s at home on the internet like just all other queens shaking their hips, syncing their lips and hustling for tips. Today, Gigi Goode from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 12 joins us to talk about Voss Event’s Drive ‘N Drag, her first public performance since the pandemic shut everything down and her season of Drag Race wrapped up.

For much of history, the rich and powerful avoided the limelight because they knew once everyone knows your name and how rotten you are, the guillotine comes next. But then, something changed- “Keep my name out of your mouth” became “fake it til you make it" and fame and power became the ultimate goal. The rich hired publicists to capitalize on their image and now celebrity culture is another tool to keep terrible people in power. How did we get here? Today, gossip reporter Ben Widdicombe, joins us to talk about how celebrity culture is destroying everything, which he details in his new book: “Gatecrasher: How I Helped the Rich Become Famous and Ruin the World.”

With the exception of songs like Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” or Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” very few pop songs written as a tribute to LGBT folks have ever reached the top of the charts. But that doesn’t mean the songs that weren’t so gay to begin with couldn’t end up being the soundtrack at our favorite bars, drag shows or pride celebrations. Today, we take a look at songs that didn’t start out as gay anthems, but somehow the cover versions ultimately became LGBT legendary tracks.

This weekend, Lady Red Couture, a well known drag entertainer in L.A. and the co-host of the youtube talk show Hey Qween died at the age of 43. Jonny McGovern, who co-hosted the talk show with Lady Red, announced the news on social media saying "It doesn't feel real but the beautiful light that was Lady Red is gone. I love you baby. I will miss you every day." Please enjoy this encore presentation of our podcast with Lady Red recorded on 11.18.15.

Tom Goss joins us to play songs from his new album, “Territories” including his passionate new single “Regretting.” The music video for “Regretting” stars Mean Girls actor Daniel Franzese. "Regretting" is Tom and Daniel’s third music video collaboration after “La Bufadora” and “Quebec.” Listen as Tom chats with us about opening up his relationship and how it’s hard to make art during these difficult times.

The year 2020 has turned the world of drag upside down and round and round. With the drag world going through contortions it’s oddly fitting that super elastic Yvie Oddly would be the last drag queen before the ‘Rona Pandemic hit to be crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar. Today the wonderfully weird Yvie Oddly from RuPaul's Drag Race joins us to talk about doing drag during the times of Rona, the surprising criticism she got from fans and fellow contestants after being crowned and early days of drag.

Audiences are raving about Mucho Mucho Amor, the new documentary on the incredible life of Puerto Rican TV astrologer Walter Mercado. Today queer Latinx historian Larry La Fountain joins us to take a look at Mucho Mucho Amor and the life of Walter Mercado the bejeweled gender and sexually ambiguous superstar who meant so much to so many people around the world.

Today documentary filmmaker Jeffrey McHale joins us to take a look at why people still can’t stop talking about Showgirls all these years later. Jeffrey’s feature film debut, You Don’t Nomi, explores the themes of sexual violence, camp and outrageousness in Paul Verhovens films and interviews a wide variety of fans of this cult classic.

If comedy is born out of tragedy, then parody songwriters have a lot to work with in these trying times. Today comedian and parody song enthusiast Amanda Cohen joins us to look at some fabulous parody songs stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Amanda regularly hosts Flapper’s Comedy Clubs Speakeasy Comedy Showcase and moderates as a judge on I’m With Stupid – A contest between comedy songwriters Carla Ulbrich & Steve Goodie.

We always think of Canada, our neighbor to the north, as an idyllic place where fountains flow with maple syrup, moose roam freely and everyone is happy riding toboggans to work. But, just like the folks in the US of A, Canada has its own problems with race and police brutality. Joining us today is comedian Brandon Ash Mohamed, who as far as we know, is the only out gay Black comedian in Canada, to talk about his new comedy album, Capricornication, where he talks about growing up black and gay in the Great White North.

In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights law of 1964 does indeed protect LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination on the basis of sex. Today we take a look at the momentous Supreme Court Ruling extending employment protections to all LGBTQ people, and Chicago’s Drag March for Change, where thousands gathered to protest systemic racism in the gay neighborhood of Boystown..

In the comedy world, not everything is a laughing matter, especially when it comes to allegations of racism and sexual misconduct at one of the world’s most prestigious comedy institutions- Chicago’s Second City. Today comedian Rachel Hall who’s worked with Second City joins us to take a look at Chicago’s comedy scene and how Vogue Magazine’s Anna Wintour says perhaps she’s been too hurtful and intolerant and pledges to hire more black creatives and journalists.