THE RED UMBRELLA DIARIES » Red Umbrella Diaries

In episode 53, Peter Bailey tells the story of his early years in New York, being a young man about town during the 1970s and 1980s. Peter Bailey has lived in Manhattan since 1970 and has been through hell and back at least twice. On his third trip, he’d like to go first class. He has recently completed a sex-for-sale tale. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

In episode 52 Guy Gonzales reads a story about a strip club he worked in during the 1980s getting raided by the police. He read this piece at the Law and Orderthemed event on June 2, 2011. From swabbing pools of disgrace to live sex acts on stage, outlaw artist/writer Guy Gonzales repeatedly penetrated the inner sanctums of smut. Though no longer on an intravenous of all-nite theaters, massage parlors, nude clubs and adult peep shows, the noir New Yorker continues to evoke the aesthetic of the broken mirror ball of that forgotten live-wire, the Deuce, the former 42nd Street, circa the 1980’s. Befriended by the brutal Mafia enforcer ‘Tommy Karate’ on a whirlwind of transgression, Guy navigated a gauntlet of undesirables reflecting that displaced period, and survived unscathed. Screw, Hustler, Vibe, The Village Voice, TimeOutNY, and New York Magazine, not to mention A+E Biography all chronicled his unusual experiences with articles and artwork. He is completing a memoir, PEEP MAN/DEUCE42, a gnawing exposition of detachment, on a debauched detour of an unforgettable Times Square. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

In episode 51 $pread magazine founding editor Rachel Aimee tells a story of a falling down strip club and its vermin problem. She read this piece at the Law and Order themed event on June 2, 2011. Rachel Aimee is a former stripper and a founding editor of $pread Magazine , a magazine by and for sex workers. She currently organizes regular Brunch and Bitch meetings and know-your-rights trainings for current and former strip club, peepshow, and bachelor party dancers in New York. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 50 (!!) features three-time Red Umbrella Diaries performer Dominick’s account of a New Jersey cop’s willingness to cross state lines, a great river, and several other boundaries to be with him. He told this story at the Law and Order themed event on June 2, 2011. ‘Dominick’ found his confessional voice as a regular at Dean Johnson’s ‘Reading for Filth’ series. Dominick draws on his own diaries kept during his three year stint as a sex worker, delving into such topics as his lost sugar daddy, the evolution of his dominant guido persona, the digital transformation of the sex industry, eighties music, ass health- and of course, the johns, in all their splendor. Since retiring from sex work, Dominick walks among civilians in NYC’s real estate industry- where the art of the sell is supreme. Dominick lives on the far West Side with his very understanding boyfriend. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 49 features Cayenne Doroshow telling a story about leaving her parents house, attempting to work the stroll, and getting tangled up with the cops and a reporter. She told this story at the Law and Order themed event on June 2, 2011. Cayenne Doroshow has dedicated most of her life to taking care of everyone but her, and she’s excited to share her talents with the world. She has been a social worker, and is an avid cook who is working on her first cook book. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 48 features Annabelle Xaah reading her manifesto at the Boss of Me event on May 5, 2011. Annabelle Xaah is a bookworm that pops out of the library every once in a while to strip dance and kick ass, in order to sustain a healthy cashflow. It’s all to keep the nutrition channeling uninterrupted through the wormy tunnels of her stomach and brain, where, unfortunately, the flow is always a matter of life or death. As a fifteen-year-old former runaway and survivor of a hundred secret senses, she thinks of herself as a dishonorably discharged war veteran of sorts: old, crippled, and angry. “Don’t ask me any questions – I’ll kill you. Can you spare some change?” She prides herself on being a bit of an oddball ascetic, working minimal hours at maximum wage, and not really giving a fuck when her bank statements begin with the word “danger” in red letters – in other words, she’s the laziest hoe in the world. She supplements her salary with a little dumpster-diving here and a little couch-surfing there, on the luxurious floors of her university library; because materialism stifles enlightenment, and property is theft – excessive amounts of it anyways – stiletto boots notwithstanding….All this trouble, for a room of one’s room, or just a carrell, a small space of peace to shelter the life of the mind, while making her way through that American system of contemporary debt slavery, AKA education. While Annabelle spends her weekdays reading about social justice and revolution, she takes a biting pleasure on the weekends in practicing the techniques of rebel warfare on her very generous little old slaves. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 47 features Hawk Kincaid performing spoken word at the Boss of Me event on May 5, 2011. Hawk Kinkaid is a well-known secret. Living in New York, writing when he isn’t exploring social psychology, art direction and clutter reduction. Known by other names in various cities like Zach, Alec, and Abel, he is an outspoken sexworker activist, supporter and organizer (founder of the HOOK program). His work has appeared in sundry literary publications and spoken word/poetry collections. Mostly, he just disappears a lot. More information is available at Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 46 features Jincey Lumpkin reading a story at the Boom and Bust event on April 7 2011. Jincey Lumpkin, Esq. is the founder and Chief Sexy Officer of Juicy Pink Box, a brand that is glamorizing lesbian sex by showing real lesbians in a chic way. The Daily Beast called her the “Lesbian Hugh Hefner”, Out Magazine recognized her one of the most influential gay people of 2010, and Time Out New York named her a “New York City Sex Icon”.   She chronicles her life as a pornographer in her column, “Naked Ambition” for The Advocate. Jincey is a former lawyer, a diva and a lover of breasts. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 45 features Cayenne Doroshow telling a story at the Boom and Bust event on April 7 2011. Cayenne Doroshow has dedicated most of her life to taking care of everyone but her, and she’s excited to share her talents with the world. She has been a social worker, and is an avid cook who is working on her first cook book. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 44 features Aimee Herman reading at the Price of Love event on February 3, 2011. Aimee Herman, a performance poet, has been featured on radio, at various poetry festivals, and erotic salons. She currently works as sections editor of erotica for Oysters & Chocolate. Aimee has facilitated numerous erotica writing classes and writing workshops that reconfigure the language of the body. She has been published by Cliterature Journal, InStereo Press, and can also be read in the anthologies, Oysters & Chocolate Erotic Stories of Every Flavor (NAL), Best Lesbian Love Stories (Alyson Books), and Best Women’s Erotica 2010 (Cleis Press). She is turned on by Canadians, women with curly hair, and peanut butter. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Apologies for the month-long lag between episodes! We’ve been moving house, and it’s taken up a lot more time and energy than we thought. For the next few weeks we’ll be posting multiple episodes of the Red Umbrella Diaries each week. There’s a lot of great stories to get caught up on! Episode 43 features Zawadi Nyong’o reading at the Boom and Bust event on April 7, 2011. Zawadi Nyong’o is an activist from Kenya who read from “When I Dare To Be Powerful”, about which she says “Five audacious women, five compelling stories and what promises to touch, move and inspire many women in Africa and beyond. “When I Dare to Be Powerful” is East Africa’s first collection of herstories of women engaged in sex work.  Women who dare to cross the line, share their journeys of subversion, transformation and rebellion.  Women who express their love, pain, joy and ambitions.  Women who embrace sexuality, celebrate diversity, and refuse to tolerate adversity.  Women who weave through sexuality and its connections with many aspects and faces of women’s rights. May African women continue to tell their stories and break the silence.” Download the whole set of stories for free here. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 42 features Billy Pelt’s performance from the Price of Love event on February 3, 2011. Billy Pelt is the lead singer of Billy Pelt and The Plaid Panthers, a cuntry and cabaret band based in the East Village and is the founder of the Grendel Socialist Music Theatre. He’s 5’10”, 160, 6.5c, versatile, bisexual and great in groups. He can be found on Men4RentNow.com #220965. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 41 features Richard Berkowitz talking about sex work and the invention of safe sex, plus reading from his memoir Stayin Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex, A Personal History. This piece was recorded during the No Justice, No Piece event for International Sex Worker Rights Day on March 3, 2011. Richard Berkowitz is the subject of Daryl Wein’s 2009 documentary, SEX POSITIVE, which tells his story: coming out as a gay man in the 1970s amid the sexual abandon of the times, becoming a sex worker in NYC before the dawn of AIDS and how that led him to become involved in the invention of safe sex for AIDS. In May 1983, Berkowitz co-authored “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic,” along with Dr. Joseph Sonnabend and the late Michael Callen. Their 40-page booklet is widely regarded as the invention of safe sex as we know it today even though at the time many gay men considered safe sex an attack on their sexual freedom. Berkowitz majored in journalism at Rutgers University, writing for the school newspaper and using his position as the film editor to promote LGBT and feminist arts and issues. He spent two decades writing to promote safe sex, culminating in his 2003 memoir, Stayin Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex, A Personal History. That book became the inspiration for SEX POSITIVE, which won the Grand Jury prize for Best Documentary at Outfest. http://richardberkowitz.com/ Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 40 features Rebecca Alvarez telling a story about the consequences of falling in love with a coworker at a sex toy store. This piece was recorded during the Price of Love event on February 3, 2011. Rebecca Alvarez is a Brooklyn-to-Philadelphia transplant who totes around a panache for BDSM, a devotion to kindness, and a seat at her table for all sweaty freaks. She emerged as a fledgling sex educator in 2004 with the women owned-and-run sex shop Babeland in New York City. She went on to write a sex column for the Indypendent newspaper and the Sex Herald. Her love/disdain for the written word was tested during her tenure as a bookmaker/letterpresser with Booklyn and as the host of the NYC-based small-press reading series Cup and Pen. Currently, she works as one-third of the pleasure-based sex education collaborative ScrewSmart and a gynecological teaching associate while earning her dual masters degree in Social Work and Education in Human Sexuality at Widener University. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.

Episode 39 features Melissa Ditmore telling a story about the prostitutes’ strike in Hawaii in the 1940s. This piece was recorded during the International Sex Worker Rights Day event on March 3, 2011. Melissa Ditmore has written and edited three books and numerous reports about sex work. For more about the history of sex work, check out her most recent book, Prostitution and Sex Work. Click here to listen in your browser. Live events and podcast are hosted by Audacia Ray. The audio in this episode was recorded and edited by David Beasley, with podcast bumper music by The Mercy Studio Project. Subscribe to the weekly podcast by RSS feed for a new episode every Sunday or on iTunes.