<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;My guest this week is director &lt;a href="https://savrodgers.com"&gt;Sav Rodgers&lt;/a&gt;, whose new film is &lt;a href="https://www.chasingamydoc.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Chasing Chasing Amy&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. It began as an exploration of the origin of the infamous ‘90s rom-com, but in the process of making the documentary, interviewing folks, and digging deeper into the movie’s message, Sav uncovered some surprising truths about himself — ones that he was reluctant to include in the documentary, but eventually realized … he had to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Here’s a link to the online premiere of &lt;em&gt;Chasing Chasing Amy&lt;/em&gt; on December 15, 2024, with a special introduction by Kevin Smith and a Q&amp;amp;A with Sav &amp;amp; Riley Rodgers: &lt;a href="http://watch.eventive.org/chasingchasingamy/play/6747ce291f64c511e374f759"&gt;https://watch.eventive.org/chasingchasingamy/play/6747ce291f64c511e374f759&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick reminder — this month we’ll be hitting the 500th episode of &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;! And to celebrate, I’m doing a special Q&amp;amp;A episode, answering questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — about the podcast, about pop culture and queer history, or just for recommendations — please send it along to at &lt;a href="mailto:matt@mattbaume.com"&gt;matt@mattbaume.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith, and TED Talks

My guest this week is director Sav Rodgers, whose new film is Chasing Chasing Amy. It began as an exploration of the origin of the infamous ‘90s rom-com, but in the process of making the documentary, interviewing folks, and digging deeper into the movie’s message, Sav uncovered some surprising truths about himself — ones that he was reluctant to include in the documentary, but eventually realized … he had to.

Here’s a link to the online premiere of Chasing Chasing Amy on December 15, 2024, with a special introduction by Kevin Smith and a Q&A with Sav & Riley Rodgers: https://watch.eventive.org/chasingchasingamy/play/6747ce291f64c511e374f759

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick reminder — this month we’ll be hitting the 500th episode of The Sewers of Paris! And to celebrate, I’m doing a special Q&A episode, answering questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — about the podcast, about pop culture and queer history, or just for recommendations — please send it along to at matt@mattbaume.com.

Stories Only I Could Tell (Ep 498 - Chasing Chasing Amy/Sav Rodgers)

<description>&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;My guest this week is pop culture writer Frank DeCaro, whose latest book is &lt;a href="https://amzn.to/49pfHJh"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania under the Mirror Ball&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Frank grew up in disco’s heyday, which he experienced through teenage disco parties in the New Jersey suburbs. He also experienced the anti-disco conspiracy that sent the genre into a sort of musical witness protection program for the following decade or two. We talked about the conspiracy among music critics to suppress disco in the ‘70s — and why disco’s outlived those who tried to squash it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Also, just a quick reminder — this month we’ll be hitting the 500th episode of &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Pari&lt;/em&gt;s! And to celebrate, I’m doing a special Q&amp;amp;A episode, answering questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — about the podcast, about pop culture and queer history, or just for recommendations — please send it along to at &lt;a href="mailto:matt@mattbaume.com"&gt;matt@mattbaume.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

disco, new wave, and a little Ethel Merman

My guest this week is pop culture writer Frank DeCaro, whose latest book is Disco: Music, Movies, and Mania under the Mirror Ball. Frank grew up in disco’s heyday, which he experienced through teenage disco parties in the New Jersey suburbs. He also experienced the anti-disco conspiracy that sent the genre into a sort of musical witness protection program for the following decade or two. We talked about the conspiracy among music critics to suppress disco in the ‘70s — and why disco’s outlived those who tried to squash it.

Also, just a quick reminder — this month we’ll be hitting the 500th episode of The Sewers of Paris! And to celebrate, I’m doing a special Q&A episode, answering questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — about the podcast, about pop culture and queer history, or just for recommendations — please send it along to at matt@mattbaume.com.

The Glamour Injection I Needed (Ep 497 - Disco/Frank DeCaro)

<description>&lt;p&gt;Before we get to this week’s episode, I have a question for you. And that question is … do you have any questions for me? I ask because we’re coming up on the 500th episode of &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt; next month, and to celebrate I’m going to be doing a special Q&amp;amp;A episode where I answer questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — whether it’s about the show, or for recommendations, or about pop culture and queer history — please send it along to at &lt;a href="mailto:matt@mattbaume.com"&gt;matt@mattbaume.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also, a head’s up that may be of interest: This week sees the release of Part 1 of &lt;em&gt;Wicked&lt;/em&gt; — a musical inspired by &lt;em&gt;The Wizard of Oz&lt;/em&gt;. And although, when I initially heard about the film, years ago, my first reaction was “oh, there’s no way that’ll be any good” … folks, I’ve seen it, and it is, in fact, very good. So to mark the movie’s release, I’m releasing special episode of my companion podcast, &lt;a href="http://socastpod.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Matt’s So-Cast Pod&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, where we talk about the strange parallels between the musical &lt;em&gt;Wicked&lt;/em&gt; and the TV show &lt;em&gt;My So-Called Life&lt;/em&gt; — both written by the same woman, Winnie Holzman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And also, on this week’s &lt;em&gt;Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, we’re diving deep into the archives for a chat about why &lt;em&gt;The Wizard of Oz&lt;/em&gt; has had particular resonance for gay men ever since the book was first published over a hundred and twenty years ago. My guest is Josh Trujillo, who was so obsessed with Oz that as a kid he attended Oz conventions, and discovered that they served as a sort of meeting-place for older closeted gay men who felt unable to meet in public or in bars.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We spoke back in 2015 — it was the third-ever episode of this podcast! So my apologies that the audio quality is at times a little peaky. Nevertheless I hope you’ll enjoy this trip back in time.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The Wizard of Oz and its many strange descendants

Before we get to this week’s episode, I have a question for you. And that question is … do you have any questions for me? I ask because we’re coming up on the 500th episode of The Sewers of Paris next month, and to celebrate I’m going to be doing a special Q&A episode where I answer questions from listeners. So if you have anything you’d like to ask — whether it’s about the show, or for recommendations, or about pop culture and queer history — please send it along to at matt@mattbaume.com.

Also, a head’s up that may be of interest: This week sees the release of Part 1 of Wicked — a musical inspired by The Wizard of Oz. And although, when I initially heard about the film, years ago, my first reaction was “oh, there’s no way that’ll be any good” … folks, I’ve seen it, and it is, in fact, very good. So to mark the movie’s release, I’m releasing special episode of my companion podcast, Matt’s So-Cast Pod, where we talk about the strange parallels between the musical Wicked and the TV show My So-Called Life — both written by the same woman, Winnie Holzman.

And also, on this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’re diving deep into the archives for a chat about why The Wizard of Oz has had particular resonance for gay men ever since the book was first published over a hundred and twenty years ago. My guest is Josh Trujillo, who was so obsessed with Oz that as a kid he attended Oz conventions, and discovered that they served as a sort of meeting-place for older closeted gay men who felt unable to meet in public or in bars.

We spoke back in 2015 — it was the third-ever episode of this podcast! So my apologies that the audio quality is at times a little peaky. Nevertheless I hope you’ll enjoy this trip back in time.

Gay Men's Catnip (Ep 496 - The Wizard of Oz/Josh)

<description>&lt;p&gt;My guest today has experienced reality TV as both a viewer and a participant. Growing up in Australia, Antony’s window to the world was watching American daytime talk shows like &lt;em&gt;Oprah&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Ricki Lake&lt;/em&gt;, where he’d occasionally catch an episode with queer guests. But it was after he moved to Hong Kong that he discovered a queer community that felt like home — and then when a friend invited him to appear on a dating show called &lt;a href="https://youtu.be/cCr64BHcWjQ?si=eRWvqEkMw2ckj_FK"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Boyscation Too&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, he decided to try becoming one of those queer TV personalities he caught glimpses of in his youth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We’ll have that conversation in a minute. And by the way, if you want to watch Antony’s dating show experience, &lt;a href="https://youtu.be/cCr64BHcWjQ?si=eRWvqEkMw2ckj_FK"&gt;all episodes are now streaming free on YouTube with English subtitles&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also, if you’re enjoying &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon. And you may also enjoy my &lt;a href="http://youtube.com/mattbaume"&gt;YouTube videos&lt;/a&gt;, my weekly livestreams &lt;a href="http://twitch.tv/mattbaume"&gt;on Twitch&lt;/a&gt;, my book &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;Hi Honey, I’m Homo!&lt;/a&gt;, and my free email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at &lt;a href="http://mattbaume.com"&gt;MattBaume.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

talk shows in America and dating shows in Hong Kong

My guest today has experienced reality TV as both a viewer and a participant. Growing up in Australia, Antony’s window to the world was watching American daytime talk shows like Oprah and Ricki Lake, where he’d occasionally catch an episode with queer guests. But it was after he moved to Hong Kong that he discovered a queer community that felt like home — and then when a friend invited him to appear on a dating show called Boyscation Too, he decided to try becoming one of those queer TV personalities he caught glimpses of in his youth.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. And by the way, if you want to watch Antony’s dating show experience, all episodes are now streaming free on YouTube with English subtitles.

Also, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon. And you may also enjoy my YouTube videos, my weekly livestreams on Twitch, my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!, and my free email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.

I Didn't Have Anything to Lose (Ep 495 - daytime TV/Antony)

<description>&lt;p&gt;My guest today is Chad Anderson, host of the &lt;a href="https://redcircle.com/shows/graymalkin-lane-the-podcast"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Graymalkin Lane&lt;/em&gt; podcast&lt;/a&gt;. Chad grew up in a home that was not exactly a happy place to be, for a variety of reasons — among them, the rule that everything always had to look as though everything was fine. His one escape: Comic books, and despite being forbidden to read them he found a way to amass quite the collection. For decades, he felt the pressure to hide a lot about himself — and when he finally realized, after kissing another man, that it was time to come out, it was hard to envision how to write the next chapter of his life. Fortunately, by that point he was something of an expert when it came to &lt;a href="https://www.marvel.com/comics/creators/1072/chad_anderson"&gt;stories of liberation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, if you’re enjoying &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon. And you may also enjoy my other projects, like my podcast about the 90s TV series &lt;a href="http://socastpod.com"&gt;&lt;em&gt;My So-Called Life&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://youtube.com/mattbaume"&gt;my YouTube videos&lt;/a&gt;! Plus, check out my weekly livestreams &lt;a href="http://twitch.tv/mattbaume"&gt;on Twitch&lt;/a&gt;, my book &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;Hi Honey, I’m Homo!&lt;/a&gt;, and my free email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at &lt;a href="http://mattbaume.com"&gt;MattBaume.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

X-Men, Nick at Nite, and Mormonism

My guest today is Chad Anderson, host of the Graymalkin Lane podcast. Chad grew up in a home that was not exactly a happy place to be, for a variety of reasons — among them, the rule that everything always had to look as though everything was fine. His one escape: Comic books, and despite being forbidden to read them he found a way to amass quite the collection. For decades, he felt the pressure to hide a lot about himself — and when he finally realized, after kissing another man, that it was time to come out, it was hard to envision how to write the next chapter of his life. Fortunately, by that point he was something of an expert when it came to stories of liberation.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon. And you may also enjoy my other projects, like my podcast about the 90s TV series My So-Called Life, and my YouTube videos! Plus, check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch, my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!, and my free email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.

They're Lying and That's Not Real (Ep 494 - X-Men/Chad)

Revealing stories about the books, movies, tv, music and more that have changed the lives of gay men. Each week, a guest plucks a piece of entertainment from their past, and answers the question: how did it change your life?

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