Podcast appearances and mentions of caleb gallo

You may know Brian Jordan Alvarez from the killer horror film M3GAN or from his web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Most recently, Brian created and stars in the FX comedy series English Teacher, a refreshingly hilarious original that follows a high school teacher navigating personal and professional life in Texas. It's critically acclaimed and canonically GAY! This week, Brian schools us on the series AND talks about the work of filmmakers that inspire him, including Pedro Almodóvar's  ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER.  Plus, one deep cut of Brian's viral internet spiritualist, the one and only Marnie T. Then Jordan has one quick thing about Timo Tjahjanto's  newest action film The Shadow Strays. It's out today on Netflix!***With Jordan Crucchiola and Brian Jordan Alvarez.

Steffan and Gavia review (and recommend!) the critically acclaimed new sitcom English Teacher, created by Brian Jordan Alvarez, who you may know from The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Alvarez stars as a gay teacher working at a Texas high school, in a comedy that satirizes the chaos of American politics and the generational divide between elder millennials and Gen-Z.

On this week's show, the hosts revisit Beetlejuice (1988), the seminal film that marked Tim Burton's arrival onto the scene as a sort of grim fairy tale teller. 36 years later, the director and much of the original cast return for its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a surprisingly sincere tale about the nature of death and grieving. Or, is it a total mess?‌‌ The hosts discuss. Then, the three dive into English Teacher,‌‌ a hilarious new FX‌ series in which Brian Jordan Alvarez (previously known for online comedies like The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo)‌ plays Evan Marquez, a high school English teacher in Austin, Texas. Finally, chat podcasts (like the one you're listening to right now)‌ are like dating and improv – to work, they necessitate a certain level of chemistry, intimacy, and vulnerability. The hosts are joined by New York Times culture critic Reggie Ugwu to discuss his recent piece, “What Makes Good Chemistry?‌ For Chat Podcasts, It's Fundamental,”‌ as well as the Gabfest's early days, the hosts first impressions of one another, and how they went about building their own unique rapport.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Julia joins last week's productivity discourse and widens its scope, and the hosts discuss the nature of “hacking life” and how our relationship to productivity reflects current American ideals.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana:‌ A‌ spice shop that's been in the news:‌ Penzeys Spices, in Pittsburgh. Check out Helen Rosner's 2018 piece on the shop for The New Yorker, as well as Penzey's sweet and spicy Cake Spice. Steve: Howard's End, a novel by E.M. Forster. Julia: A‌ two-parter:‌ (1) The single best piece of criticism about Avatar:‌ The Way of Water, performed by English Teacher cast member Jordan Firstman (it's the second slide in the Instagram reel). (2)‌ Season 8, episode 5 of Frasier entitled ‌“Taking Liberties.”‌ Victor Garber is a hilarious guest star – this is Frasier at his best. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's show, the hosts revisit Beetlejuice (1988), the seminal film that marked Tim Burton's arrival onto the scene as a sort of grim fairy tale teller. 36 years later, the director and much of the original cast return for its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a surprisingly sincere tale about the nature of death and grieving. Or, is it a total mess?‌‌ The hosts discuss. Then, the three dive into English Teacher,‌‌ a hilarious new FX‌ series in which Brian Jordan Alvarez (previously known for online comedies like The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo)‌ plays Evan Marquez, a high school English teacher in Austin, Texas. Finally, chat podcasts (like the one you're listening to right now)‌ are like dating and improv – to work, they necessitate a certain level of chemistry, intimacy, and vulnerability. The hosts are joined by New York Times culture critic Reggie Ugwu to discuss his recent piece, “What Makes Good Chemistry?‌ For Chat Podcasts, It's Fundamental,”‌ as well as the Gabfest's early days, the hosts first impressions of one another, and how they went about building their own unique rapport.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Julia joins last week's productivity discourse and widens its scope, and the hosts discuss the nature of “hacking life” and how our relationship to productivity reflects current American ideals.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana:‌ A‌ spice shop that's been in the news:‌ Penzeys Spices, in Pittsburgh. Check out Helen Rosner's 2018 piece on the shop for The New Yorker, as well as Penzey's sweet and spicy Cake Spice. Steve: Howard's End, a novel by E.M. Forster. Julia: A‌ two-parter:‌ (1) The single best piece of criticism about Avatar:‌ The Way of Water, performed by English Teacher cast member Jordan Firstman (it's the second slide in the Instagram reel). (2)‌ Season 8, episode 5 of Frasier entitled ‌“Taking Liberties.”‌ Victor Garber is a hilarious guest star – this is Frasier at his best. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Friends at Film Camp

Welcome to episode 6 of "Then, A Moment"! A podcast where two life-long storytellers talk about stories! On this episode, Pavi and Colin break down "The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo." Caleb Gallo is a 2016 comedy web series following Caleb Gallo (played by Brian Jordan Alvarez) and his group of friends as they explore the complexity of relationships. The series was directed, produced, written, and edited by Brian Jordan Alvarez. Your Hosts: Pavi Proczko is an audiobook narrator (Defiance of the Fall, Edens Gate), Writer (Brugum's Labyrinth, The Nightly), Actor and Singer (Chicago Shakespeare theater, Paramount Theater, Chicago Fire), and Game Master (D&D). Colin Funk is a Childhood Development Expert (Erikson Institute), Teacher (Stages Chicago), Actor and Singer (Porchlight Music Theater, Metropolis Theater), and Crafter (knitting, cross stick, Embroidery, watercolors). “With our unique lenses, we talk about a specific piece of storytelling each episode: What works? What doesn't? And the magic moments of story!” Pavi & Colin are married and live in Chicago. ❤️ Be sure to SUBSCRIBE and FOLLOW us for more! @Thenamomentpod

Brian charges a few cents, Ed fights off evil monsters, and E is just watching YouTube.

DemonBot is very excited for Mikey and Roxy to review M3gan, a film about a misunderstood robot who just wants the best for her humans. ----- M3gan (2022) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760708 Stream on Peacock with subscription https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-movies/m3gan ----- Referenced This Episode EA Cancels Secret Titanfall Game https://www.polygon.com/23581952/ea-cancels-titanfall-sequel-again-monsters Evil Dead Rise (2023) Red Band Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwfK0OvBdfs Killing Me Softly (2012) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764234/ Fleishman Is in Trouble https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11527058 Geeks Who Drink at the Alamo Drafthouse Los Angeles https://www.geekswhodrink.com/venues/1988221784/ Missing (2023) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10855768/ Women Talking (2022) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13669038/ Plane (2023) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5884796/ My (Very Honest) Disney Wish Review from Bright Sun Films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw8T3TTvKIk The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c5YuuMWXzg&list=PLjC3m4eVvQKNW6iKDrGTQWn4POvlKt5Tg ----- Scary Basement is part of the Super NPC Radio Podcast Network. Support us and all their other shows at https://www.patreon.com/supernpcradio ----- Scary Basement on Twitter https://twitter.com/scary_basement Scary Basement on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/scarybasementpod/ Hosts: Mikey McCollor on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/secretblimp and Twitter at https://twitter.com/secretblimp Roxy Polk on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/redmageroxy and Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/redmageroxy  Post-production and editing by Darryl Mott

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (dir. Brian Jordan Alvarez) is an absurdist romp through the lives of several West Coast Gays(tm) as they navigate romantic relationships and busy lives as working actors. Join Hal, Autumn, and Z as they discuss the construct of marriage, the importance of setting healthy boundaries in relationships, and how in the motherfuck Malcom's eyes could possibly be that blue. Thanks to EnoffMusic for our theme song.Additional TW for this episode specifically: there is an ableist slur in this episode, and we talk about it. There's also a lot of drug talk. Alternative titles for this episode include: "Sitting in the Bathtub Being Depressed", "Caleb Gallo's Cousin Marlin :)", "Nobody Has Any Weed".

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (dir. Brian Jordan Alvarez) is an absurdist romp through the lives of several West Coast Gays(tm) as they navigate romantic relationships and busy lives as working actors. Join Hal, Autumn, and Z as they discuss the true purpose of humanity (having ones tiddies out and eating fruit), the proper way to approach a couple for a threesome, and the definition of a poem. Thanks to EnoffMusic for our theme song.Additional TW for this episode specifically: the theme of this episode is "What is racism?". Alternative titles for this episode include: "Billy Busts It Down Sexual Style", "Len is Still a Rapper", and "Caleb Gallo Has a Story About a Bowl of Condoms".

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (dir. Brian Jordan Alvarez) is an absurdist romp through the lives of several West Coast Gays(tm) as they navigate romantic relationships and busy lives as working actors. Join Hal, Autumn, and Z as they discuss healthy polyamory, Dirty Dancing as a metaphor for throuples, and the fact that you should really talk to your boyfriend before you kiss your best friend. Thanks to EnoffMusic for our theme song. TW for this episode specifically, this episode is about infidelity.Alternate titles for this episode include, "Billy's Right, Calebl's Wrong, Billy's High", "Motel Art and the Virgin Mary", and "Big Bent"

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (dir. Brian Jordan Alvarez) is an absurdist romp through the lives of several West Coast Gays(tm) as they navigate romantic relationships and busy lives as working actors. Join Hal, Autumn, and Z as they discuss this series' interest in deconstructing formative wokeness, process for converting to Catholicism, and all that beautiful foreshadowing.We'd like to thank Enoff for our theme song; you can find his work over on EnoffMusic on Instagram.Alternate titles for this episode include, "We Are All in Love with Mike Wake", "Defenestration Obligation" and "Throuple Foreshadowing".Blanket content warning for this entire season: this is a show about microaggressions and sexual themes. These will be discussed. TW for this episode specifically, we talk a lot about drugs and impaired driving in the beginning

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (dir. Brian Jordan Alvarez) is an absurdist romp through the lives of several West Coast Gays(tm) as they navigate romantic relationships and busy lives as working actors. In this first episode, join Hal, Autumn, and new host Z as try to figure out whether or not we're actually supposed to like any of these characters, and Autumn wonder what is going on.Blanket content warning for this entire season: this is a show about microaggressions and sexual themes. These will be discussed. Alternate titles for this episode include: "Caleb Gallo is a Bad Person", "Being Straight is a Lot Like The Atlantic Ocean", and "Poser Jorts".Oh, also this episode contains major spoilers for the series finale of How I Met Your Mother for some reason. Enjoy

Welcome to Okay But Is It Gay?, a podcast that's usually about gay movies you probably haven't heard of! We're bridging the gap between season 2 and and season 3 (coming this summer!) with a little dip into web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (2016). Join Hal, Autumn, and returning guest host Z as they try to figure out just what the deal is with this delightful little show!

See full show notes HERE.This week we give an update on what we watched last week (it's a funky mix), dive into the creation and wonder that is web series from the mid 2000s, and then look at the newest movies added to all streaming services. The web series we chat about are The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, Quarterlife, Broad City, Awkward Black Girl.Next week, we're going to be talking about Licorice Pizza. It's in theaters now if you want to see it (we recommend the theater experience for this one if you're comfortable doing so right now). If not, it isn't a very spoil-able movie and we have a lot of thoughts either way.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Stephanie Koenig, the writer-director-producer-star & editor of the feature film A Spy Movie, an action movie parody which recently dropped on You Tube. She talks about coming up with the idea while hanging with friends on a bench in Marina Del Rey, mining her Mission Impossible: Fallout obsession for tropes to skewer, doing her own stunts and how she strikes a balance between scripted moments and improv. She also talks about the no-budget Do-Everything-Yourself process of making A Spy Movie--and previous projects like The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo and Stupid Idiots--and how creating her own stuff has empowered her, opened doors in Hollywood and even made auditioning more fun. Other topics include: acting in the upcoming Paramount + series The Offer about the making of The Godfather, her love of snow, being recognized at Gay Pride from her web videos and that time she and her Spy Movie collaborators Bryan Jordan Alvarez, Chris Riggi and Michael Strassner took way too many buckets of fried chicken onto a cramped tour boat in Alaska. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YziovxOn6kE  

Does having a bigger budget make a movie better? More importantly, does having a bigger budget make a movie gayer? In this episode, Deah and Merryana make a list of LGBT films with multi-million dollar budgets and investigate the hypothesis once posed by the great Freckle from 'The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo' - that sometimes things that are expensive are worse. Pre-order 'This All Come Back Now', the anthology Merryana is published in, here: https://www.uqp.com.au/books/this-all-come-back-now Please consider supporting GayV Club on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gayvclub Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates: https://twitter.com/gayv_club https://www.instagram.com/gayv_club/ Episodes with closed captions can be found on our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/gayvclub Texts mentioned: Moonlight, Dallas Buyers Club, Portrait of the Lady on Fire, Bound, Colette, Capote, The Handmaiden, Pain and Glory, Carol, Frida, The Imitation Game, Brokeback Mountain (and The Wedding Banquet), The Favourite, The Danish Girl, Mulholland Drive, Love Simon, Milk, Green Book, Behind the Candelabra, The Hours, Battle of the Sexes, Atomic Blonde, The Birdcage, Power of the Dog, Rocketman, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Bruno, Bohemian Rhapsody, V For Vendetta, Deadpool, Interview With the Vampire, The Old Guard, Birds of Prey, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Deadpool 2, Cloud Atlas, Alexander, Troy, Eternals.

Hello and Happy AAPI Month! Rhea shares her plans for immersing herself in AAPI culture (including her own Filipino heritage), Destiny gives an Animal Crossing: New Leaf update, and we discuss The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo and the recent Mortal Kombat movie!

This week, the Winchesters do Oktoberfest, Supernatural does film grain in HD and a freshly rehymenated Dean works triple time to do the monster mash on Ride or Die - S4E05 - Monster Movie! Recs: Pru - Studson Studio Youtube Channel Waldorph - The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (youtube)

Ibland känns det som att media skiner sitt ljus på specifika personer när de vill ha queer representation. Goldy har funderingar kring vilka uppoffringar som offentliga queerpersoner behöver göra för att få synas. Vi pratar om Lil Nas Xs senaste hit och hur han verkligen med den bara sa Fuck You till den "städade bögen"-rollen. Link är fortfarande påverkad av stressen som nuvarande debatter kring transpersoner skapar, så pass upp på känslor!Veckans tips;Link rekommenderar att kolla in humorserien The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo på Youtube. Goldy berättar om kontroversen kring Pink Panteress låt Break It Off och Adam Fs låt Circles.Vår mejl: hej.menvisst@gmail.comVår instagramInbjudan till våran discordLinks instagramGoldys instagramLinks GoFundMe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a terrifying craze creeping up on your children, no - it’s not pool, it’s ‘Reefer Madness!’ Whether you’re a fan of the green stuff or not, this musical is an incredible send-up of B-Movies and American politics and has some stonking star turns in its movie adaptation. We talk all about Kristen Bell’s dancing chops, whether this show should be performed in high schools and give some home truths about the world of weed. Support the Show ➤ Reefer Madness (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack & Original Los Angeles Cast Recording) iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES We can’t recommend the film adaptation of Reefer Madness enough! If you haven’t seen it - get that sorted! If you’re a real fan then you should probably check out the source material for the musical. Jimi recommends the colorized version for some extra spice. Father Ted was very much a revolutionary comedy show in the UK. They have incredible commentary on how protest culture can create its own furore with The Passion of St. Tibulus What’s harder, trading a blue chicken for a Biggoron Sword? Or a paperclip for a house? This guy tells one side of the argument here. If you’re interested in seeing Kristen Bell’s dancing chops check out this clip from the movie featuring Neve Campbell of all people! Also if you want to see a wonderful side of Kristen Bell check out her Hot Ones interview (then fall into the YouTube hole of Hot Ones videos) Ana Gesteyer truly has some pipes. Here’s her singing her rendition of ‘One Mint Julep.’ Jimi made too many references in this episode. Here is episode one of The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Remember you can come chat to us about the episode on Twitter and Instagram @jimandtomic! Or if you wanna pop OFF then jump into our email inbox at jimandtomic@gmail.com! Or come join us on the discord! A Meryl-ly Quiz Question As far as we can tell, Meryl Streep’s turn as the Witch in the movie version of Sondheim’s Into The Woods was her second role in one of Steve’s shows. What was the first? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuesday light me up! In the most iconic Secure The Gag episode to date, we're joined by actress, model, vaudeville chanteuse, FRECKLE (The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, Search Party, Wine Country, The Gaze: No Homo)! If you're looking for a psychedelic podcast experience that dives into one of the greatest minds of our generation, look no further. Freckle loves you. Nathan and Freckle discuss Freckle's artistic upbringing, acting theory, Caleb Gallo, what it's like to be a meme, and Freckle's upcoming album. Remember that sometimes things that are expensive are worse and that Freckle loves you!!  Freckle's Work That's Discussed:  The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo Best of Freckle Compilation  Macarena Monday Meme Freckle Loves You + Grindr Sandra Bernhard Throwback Thursday Secure The Gag is a queer comedy podcast hosted by comedian and writer, Nathan Pearson. Tune in every Monday as Nathan interviews funny queers about their infamous online videos, bits, and success.    Nathan (@nathankpearson) is a queer comedian and writer from Atlanta who now lives in Brooklyn. He's known for his gay infused characters online and amassed followers from his viral “Guy Fucks His Bully's Dad” piece as a part of UCB's Characters Welcome. As someone who went off online with very specific gay humor, Nathan wants to sit down with other queers to discuss their funny moments that took off. Secure The Gag is part of the WUSSY Podcast Network hosted by WUSSY Mag @wussymag Hosted by Nathan Pearson @nathankpearson Produced by Jon Dean @jondeanphoto Edited by Megan Pope @megspope Podcast Art created by Beardy Glasses @beardy.glasses Podcast Music by DJ Helix @1djhelix  Follow @SecureTheGag

Happy pride month everybody! This week we begin with the best YouTube comedy series ever made! If anybody is able, we are asking for donations to Miss Major’s retirement fund https://fundly.com/missmajor

Gird your loins. Quintuple-threat Brian Jordan Alvarez (Will & Grace, Special, Get Shorty, The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo) sits down with me to talk about my favorite "sick day" movie, The Devil Wears Prada.

Dennis visits the L.A. home of Matthew Lynn, creator of the new TV series The Third, which is about a romantic relationship between three gay men living in Palm Springs. He talks about the two triad relationships he's been in that inspired the story, the pros and cons of being part of a throuple, the various reactions of people in his life and why it sucks to be the person sleeping in the middle of the bed. He also talks about his Southern Baptist background, going through electroshock conversion therapy, being rejected by his family when he first came out, reconnecting with his family more recently and the longing for surrogate families in the LGBT community. He also discusses how he got the project made, shooting and living in Palm Springs, why he moved back to L.A. and working with Brian Jordan Alvarez on The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Other topics include: his past as a radio deejay for a Christian music station, what he'd pursue if he had to change careers tomorrow and how Celine Dion made him gay.  www.dekkoo.com          

Is it possible for something to be both perfect AND good queer representation? Apparently so! Does anyone have any GOD DAMN WEED!? It's a week late but we dig into the 2016 web series The Gay And Wondrous Life Of Caleb Gallo! Sorry for the delay and the fact that Madeline is recording from the International Space Station.

April was our most downloaded month ever. Thank you to our listeners! Jeff and Will discuss their upcoming travel schedule. They will be at the Romance Writers of America national conference, Podcast Movement, Dreamspinner’s Author Conference and GayRomLit. Jeff reviews Top Secret by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy and Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Jeff interviews Casey about her debut novel. They talk about the inspiration for Red, White & Royal Blue and the impact the 2016 election had on the story.  In addition, they discuss the recently announced movie adaptation, what got Casey into writing romance and what she’s working on next. Complete shownotes for episode 187 along with a transcript of the interview are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. Here’s the text of this week’s book reviews: Top Secret by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. Reviewed by Jeff. I’ve been a huge fan of Sarina Bowen’s for some years now. Her Understatement of the Year is among my favorite books of all time and I also love Him and Us which were co-written with Elle Kennedy. Sarina and Elle are back with their first m/m romance in three years with Top Secret. They’ve written an extremely satisfying enemies to lovers romance that sizzles but also has some extremely sweet parts as well. Keaton’s a college junior from a privileged family whose been with his girlfriend since high school. For her birthday, she announces that she wants a threesome. After brief thought Keaton agrees. He lives in a frat house where one of his frat brothers is Luke. Luke basically keeps to himself barely gets along with anyone in the house. Luke’s a townie, going to school on an academic scholarship and as a despicable mom and older brother who only want to take advantage of him. He lives in the frat because it’s cheaper than a dorm and he’s running for president because that means free room. Keaton looks to an app to help find the right guy for this birthday present. He signs in as LobsterShorts and soon ends up talking to SinnerThree. Once SinnerThree finds out it’s Keaton’s first three way, he wants to make sure Keaton would be cool with him in the mix and to start considering what the rules would be. SinnerThree even gives sexy homework. This gets Keaton thinking because he’s buried his feelings about guys for a long time. Of course, SinnerThree is Luke, who lives right across the hall. What makes this book work so extraordinarily well is the two sides of Luke and Keaton we see between their public personas and their chats on the app. Luke wants to escape the town and the life he’s known growing up. He strives to excel in school so he can get the high-paying job and never be reliant on anybody again. Meanwhile, Keaton knows he’s got all the privilege but he also chafes at the expectations that his family and friends put on him and he keeps all that to himself because it’s what he’s supposed to do. When they’re chatting as SinnerThree and LobsterShorts the conversation occasionally drifts from figuring out what Keaton’s boundaries actually are to discussing their realities and what they want out of life. Their emotional shields fall away. The way Sarina and Elle transition from sexy to sweet and back again is perfect. Of course, the night finally comes and Keaton and Luke find out they’ve been talking for weeks. The night doesn’t go as planned, but they don’t stop exploring their sexual feelings or sharing closely guarded secrets. Both guys have great growth as Keaton comes into his own, embracing his true sexuality and the career he wants after college. I’m particularly happy this wasn’t a gay-for-you story but rather about a young man figuring out who he is. The battle for Luke is about his sexuality at all–he’s proudly bisexual. He can’t fathom that anyone could love him because of his terrible family. He’s been so battered by them, that he’s hesitant to accept help from anyone because it would surely come with strings. Thankfully, even though Keaton bungles quite a few things with Luke, he also works to make it right. It’s a credit to Sarina and Elle that they have created such fully fleshed out characters who evolve so much through the story. I was invested in so much more than the romance because I wanted these guys to find their way too. The motley crew of frat brothers also brought some great depth to the story as they were a mix of those who were genuinely kind and others were douchey. The parents were also an interesting contrast between Luke’s trailer trash and Keaton’s very well-to-do. Keaton’s father and mother are far more than meets the eye too. I don’t want to get into spoiler territory, but I have to call out them out too. It’s an example of Sarina and Elle creating multi-dimensional characters. Another extraordinary part of the story for me was how the black moment played out. A lot of stuff goes down and there were plenty of opportunities to cheapen the story. The way the last twenty percent of the book played was perfect even while it provided me with quite a few moments of stress. We’re headed into summer and this book is perfect for vacation reading. I highly recommend Top Secret by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Reviewed by Jeff I knew this book would be exactly right for me. I have a thing for the royal trope and the idea of an American first son and a British prince getting together made this a must read. What I didn’t expect was how Casey McQuiston elevated the material putting this enemies to lovers romance on the list of my all time favorites. Alex Claremont-Diaz is the first son. Henry is the prince. They have secretly crushed on each other for years. They developed an enemies vibe at the Rio Olympics when they had a less than good encounter, especially from Alex’s point of view. Move forward to today and a near international incident set off by the two at a royal wedding. As part of PR disaster control, a story is created that Henry and Alex are actually the best of friends. After some forced outings to appease the press they start talking to each other more and get past their public personas. One of the things that makes this story works so well is Casey has created an alternate history that many of us would like to see. Claremont took office from Obama so the Trump nightmare never happened. And it’s wonderful that her son is Mexican-American given the current hate filled climate around immigrants. There’s even a couple of lines in the book about how it’s not lost on Alex that there are some people who hate that a Mexican-American took the job of first son. Alex and Henry talk a lot about the lives they want. They’re both expected to meet family obligations and be leaders for their countries–it’s not really what they want though. The texts, emails and phone calls as Alex and Henry reveal more and more of themselves are absolutely priceless. At times funny and others heartbreakingly honest, they talk about how they feel trapped. As the first sparks of romance blossom between them their enemy side is quite fiery as they have rage filled kisses before succumbing to the fact that this is something that they both desperately want. The back-and-forth between sweet romance and the slightly angry romance enhanced the story as they fight against their feelings. The reality stays firmly rooted throughout the story and I loved that. Sometimes the royal trope, as much as I enjoy it, is far more fantasy than reality. It’s part of what makes the trope so good–that chancea prince might be your neighbor. This world could exist–a prince and a member of the first family. Casey gives them all the trappings, including secret rendezvous’s that are partially orchestrated by their security teams. Of course, as must happen the romance is horribly revealed and damages them both. The guys had to really work for the happy in this book, which makes the ending so sweetly satisfying. There were a lot of ways the end could’ve played out, but I can’t imagine one that would’ve been more perfect than what Casey gives us. I haven’t felt as overall thrilled by a book as I have by Red White & Royal Blue in quite some time. It reminded me of reading Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and the wonder of such rich, vivid characters in a charming story that deserves to be real. Casey captured not only an America that I desperately want to live in but a romance that was everything that I ever wanted. I could gush on and on about this book, and will more in the upcoming interview. For now I’ll leave this by saying that I beyond highly recommend Casey McQuiston’s Red White & Royal Blue. This interview transcript is sponsored by Dreamspinner PressDreamspinner Press is proud to publish Hank Edwards and Deanna Wadsworth’s new book Murder Most Lovely. Check it out, and all the new mystery and suspense titles from your favorite authors like Amy Lane, KC Wells, Tara Lain, and Rhys Ford, just to name a few, and find a new favorite author while you’re at it. Go to dreamspinnerpress.com for everything you want in gay romance. Jeff: Casey, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. Casey: Thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited. Jeff: So, before we got to this segment, I spent a ton of time just going over “Red, White & Royal Blue” as being one of the best things I’ve read this year and one of my top books maybe in the “ever” category because it’s everything I needed in a romance with the prince trope and essentially royalty in the U.S. with the first son. And, I mean, Alex and Henry are so awesome. Tell us what your inspiration was behind this book? Casey: Yeah. So I first started…actually, it’s weird. A couple of days ago, I was going through my Timehop which shows you, you know, what you tweeted two, three, four years ago, and I realized that, a few days ago, which is April 13th, was the day that I tweeted, “Hey, I just had this idea for a book.” And it took me back to that moment of the exact lightning strike moment when I knew what I wanted to write. And this is a question we’ll get into later, but it was one of many attempts at a book I had started and none of them had really taken hold of me like this one did. So it was early 2016, I was obsessively following the presidential election, which, you know, we all were at the time with a lot of optimism. And, at the same time, I was reading two books. I was reading “The Royal We,” which is by Heather Morgan and Jessica Cocks, and it’s basically almost a novelization of Will and Kate with a bunch of different things changed about it. So I was reading that. And I was also reading a super dry Carl Bernstein Hillary Clinton biography, which was a fun little juxtaposition. And I had this idea in my head of I want to do… I’ve seen so many sub-versions of prince charming trope, but I feel, as a queer person, I’ve never seen one that seems the most obvious to me, which is, you know, what if, he wasn’t the perfect, going to produce a million heirs, prince, you know. And then on the other side, I was I loved “Chasing Liberty” when I was growing up and “My Date with the President’s Daughter” and I was really into the idea of a rom-com starring this rebellious first kid, and I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to do first, and I was like, “Wait a minute. If I put them both in the same story, I don’t have to pick.” So, honestly, it was me being indecisive that led to that decision. And on a wider scale, a bigger scope, I just really was looking for the perfect, fun escapist tropey rom-com that was so undeniably fun that the fact that it was also queer wouldn’t keep it out of the mainstream, you know, because a big thing that I want to do as an author and as a queer person is push those stories into the mainstream and be like, hey, you know, it’s kind of what they say in “Love, Simon,” everybody deserves to have a great love story, you know. And so everybody deserves to have a big shiny tropey, fun rom-com, you know. So, yeah, that was kind of where it came from for me. Jeff: And there is so much rom-com-y goodness floating in this book. I think you pulled a little bit from everything. Without giving spoilers, because there could be some depending on what you pick for this, what are the rom-com moments that just sticks out for you as one of your favorites among all of them? Casey: Wow, that’s a good question. I have pulled so many tropes from so many of my different favorite rom-coms. But there is this one thing that I love in every rom-com which is the gratuitous karaoke moment, which is actually if you ever watch “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” it’s a song on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” like “Shake Me Up.” Okay, yeah, that. So it’s like “27 Dresses” does it, and “10 Things I Hate About You” does it where it’s like somebody gets up and sings a song in front of a bunch people for no reason. And it’s like, “No, this doesn’t happen in real life, but it’s super fun.” And so writing the whole karaoke scene, which I don’t think is a spoiler, that was so much fun for me because I was, you know, as musical theater kid in high school, we all were, and so I got to be so indulgent with that, and it was such a blast. I loved it. Jeff: I think you picked a great one right there because you’re right, there is that moment. There’s even that movie, which of course I’m blanking out on right now, that was like…it was a Rebel Wilson movie earlier, I think this year, that she’s, like, there’s always the karaoke moment that she ends up trapped in the karaoke moment in her own little thing. Casey: I love the karaoke moment. Jeff: That says a lot about people, the songs they pick. Casey: It does. It’s character shorthand for sure. Yeah. Like when Bea gets up and sings “Call Me” by Blondie in the book I’m like, “This is what she’s about, you know.” Jeff: Yeah. There have been so many accolades on this book before it even got published. I mean, we were reading about it, I think in “Blush” almost two months ago now. What’s resonating so much with all these pre-readers? Casey: God, you know, I mean, just to start off, I’ve been, completely blown away by the response to it. When I wrote this book I was like, “This is so niche.” It’s a queer political rom-com with royal elements. And also we talk about gerrymandering in it, and I was like, “This is so niche,” no one’s gonna care, no one’s going to publish it. I was like, “I’m going to try and query this for a month, and then I’m just going to self-pub,” you know. And the fact that people have engaged with it so much and that it has gotten, I think three-star reviews now which is just blowing my mind completely, so beyond grateful for those. It’s just been so staggering and incredible. But, I don’t know, I think that right now the world is really depressing. We live in a world right now that is at times literally on fire, you know. And it is so important to have these little oases or moments of respite and little escapist things because when I first started writing this book, I’m so neck deep in the news cycle and I really couldn’t finish it until I pulled out of it because I realized that wasn’t what it needed to be. It didn’t need to be mired in all of the negativity and all of the darkness that was going on in the world. It needed to be this spark of hope, you know, that would kind of feel… I think about when Obama won re-election in 2012, and I was with my friends. I was in college at the time and we went out on the balcony, and popped a bottle of $60 French champagne, and I think about how I felt in that moment and I was like, “I want this book to feel like that moment,” you know. And I think that a lot of people have been missing that feeling. I think that we have so few things, especially when we look at the political sphere right now, to be excited about and to be hopeful about. And I think that we’re all just nostalgic almost for when we had hope. And I think that what this book does is it lives in the space of being here and now and still having hope, you know, and I think that’s really resonating with people. And then I also think that people are just excited to see…we’re seeing it with Helen Hoang and Jasmine Guillory who are writing romances that are integrating, you know, neurodiverse characters and just racially diverse characters. I think a lot of people are tired of seeing, you know, the same two straight white cisgender, neurotypical people falling in love, you know. And so I think that people are hungry for something that’s different in rom-com that can show that different types of people can have that same big, huge, escapist magical love story. So that’s kind of where I think it comes from. Jeff: You noted that you started writing this in 2016, essentially before the election happened. Do you think you would have written the same book had Hillary won? Casey: That’s a great question. And the book I had planned to write before the election went the way that it did was a different book. There were so many threads that I ended up dropping. I, at one point, had…and this was before anything about Russia had come up. I, at one, point had… a Russian double agent involved in the campaign and I was like, “This is too unrealistic. No one’s going to buy this. I’m cutting this,” you know. And now I’m like, “God…” But, yeah. I mean, it definitely…I think it would have been more lampooning the Democratic Party…not that I have anything against the Democratic Party as someone who is registered as Democrat, but it would have been more of “Veep” style, you know, that we’re all on the same side here, so we’re going to send each other up kind of thing. And instead it’s still very tongue in cheek, and it still has that “Veep” side to it, but it needed to have more of…. it needed to be less cynical, basically, you know, because I don’t think that we can really afford a lot of cynicism right now beyond what, you know, roasting the President on Twitter is cynical, I guess. But, yeah, I think that there are certain things that happen in the plot that never probably would have been explored if the results of the election had gone differently because I don’t think I would have felt as much of an urgency to put those into the story. So, yeah, it definitely would have been different. It definitely would have been a lot different. But the President was always the same. President Claremont was the same character from the moment I came up with the idea for the book. She’s like Tami Taylor, from “Friday Night Lights” meets Wendy Davis, the politician from Texas, meets a tiny bit of Selina Meyer from “Veep” and probably every strong female in my life, you know. So, yeah, long story short, yes, it would have been different.  Jeff: One of the things I like about it so much, and you touched on this a little bit, is that it’s not two white guys getting together because Alex is Mexican-American. And certainly given how things have played out under the current administration, having that element in the White House as first son, it says a lot. And Alex comments on this, you know, periodically as he’s kind of going through things and how that aspect of his heritage plays into things. Did you have that set early on or did that kind of manifest as we saw how immigrants were being treated post-election and even during the election cycle for that matter? Casey: Sure. Well, the minute…it kind of was, like, the plot itself that informed what Alex would be because, like I said, the first character I came up with was the president and everything kind of formed around her. And I’m from Louisiana, and I have this huge chip on my shoulder about democrats, and liberal people, and progressive people in red states because I was one for so long. I live in a purple-y state now. But, you know, I feel they’re so often written off and discredited, and I can probably count on one hand the number of actual presidential candidates who came and campaigned in my hometown, which is the capital of Louisiana. And people just don’t see anything worth investing in. So I wanted to do a southern Democrat. I didn’t think that a Louisiana Democrat was that realistic, so I did a Texas Democrat. And from the minute I knew she was from Texas, I was like, “Well, it would make sense for her to have married a Mexican man, or a, you know, a first or second generation Mexican man.” And it just kind of went from there where I was, like, “You know, I really do like that idea of that.” I spent so much time in Texas, I know so many people from Texas, I know so many Tejanos and people… it just made sense to me. And then, you know, the more that the rhetoric kind of got really vitriolic about Mexican immigrants around the election, I was like, “Yeah, fuck you. Actually, I am gonna put some Mexican people in the White House.” Yeah, that’s what’s gonna happen. I did as much as I could with it. Obviously, I’m white, and I did a ton of research, I talked to a ton of Mexican friends of mine, and especially Tejano first or second generation people. And then what I’m really excited about with the movie is that we have the opportunity to bring in more people on the creative side who are Latino who can offer more of that voice, that can go farther than I could go with it and that can explore more things with it. So, yeah. It just felt really natural to me, he’s from Texas, of course, he could be half Mexican. That’s just so typical there. So, yeah, it was a very natural progression of the character for me. Jeff: And in a weird twist, I’m actually interviewing you from Dallas. Casey: Yes, I know. I was just thinking about it. That’s so funny. Yeah. I feel like that’s appropriate. I feel the stars aligned to have you interview me from Texas. Jeff: And finish the book while I’m in Texas. It was kind of crazy. Casey: Yeah. That’d be so appropriate. I’m really excited because my second tour stop is in Austin, and I’m so excited. I haven’t been to Austin, like, a year or two, and it’s just feels so right to go back with this book. So I’m so excited. Jeff: There is a ton of history in this book. Henry goes into a lot of history of the monarchy. And one of the things I loved is in the emails that Alex and Henry are trading, they end up and quote a lot of literature or other letters of historical people. How much of that was in your head, and how much was “I need to go off and do a ton of research?” Casey: So, for me, a lot of…when I was talking about… there’s parts where after Alex starts figuring stuff out, he starts, like, develops independent research of, like, let me remediate myself on queer American history, and reconnect with it, which I think is something that a lot of queer people in their 20s do. Especially for me when I was 20, 25, and then I started to figure myself out, I was like, “Wow, I need to know the first thing about my own community.” And so I went back and really read a lot and educated myself. And so a lot of the American history, American queer history was stuff I was already familiar with because that’s something that I felt was my responsibility to learn in the past. But, yeah, I definitely didn’t know a lot about queer British history at all. And so that was a lot of reading for me, a lot of, you know, finding history threads on Twitter, and then okay, I’m gonna go look up all these stories individually, and find out what’s the real truth, because things get twisted online. But, yeah. The letters kind of started with…and this is gonna date when I started writing this, but I was really coming off the “Hamilton” high, you know, which I think we all were in early 2016. It was like, “Oh, man, I’ve been mainlining Alexander Hamilton history for six months, you know.” And, you know, I was really interested… I love all of Hamilton’s love letters with Eliza, but there was also his letters with Florence that were really fascinating to me, and I had started looking into that and that was how I found this book called “My Dear Boy” by Rictor Norton. And I found that because I was researching the Hamilton Lawrence letters, and that was where I found a lot of the letters that are featured in the emails. And then I also was looking into Virginia Woolf, and Eleanor Roosevelt, and all those figures from history who also have a lot of archive letters that are very interesting. And, yeah, honestly, it was almost…I had a blast with it because it was just a queer history, like Easter egg hunt. And, you know, I intentionally did that in the book because I pictured this book…I pictured it being something that a lot of people at different points in their journey with queerness would read, and I would want…let’s say some 19-year old who’s just figuring things out, and they don’t really know anything about queer history, I’m like, “Well, here’s the name of something that you should go look up.” “Here is ‘Paris Is Burning,’ go watch it,” you know, kind of thing. And so it was, it’s really, a bunch of sneaky history lessons. I’m a nerd, and I was like, “You should know this, too.” But, yeah, I had a blast doing that. And then just research, in general, was just so much fun. I spent so much time poring through the royal collection archives online, just for throwaway jokes and stuff. I was a journalist for six years before I quit to do this full time. And so, yeah, I’m a huge nerd and I love historical context for everything because that’s just what I’ve been wired to do for so long. So, yeah, that’s kind of where it all comes from for me. Jeff: And my musical theater geek self loves that “Hamilton” had a play in that because I kind of felt that I was reading some of it’s like, “This seems very ‘Hamilton’ in some ways that they’re using this.” Casey: I battled with myself over whether “Hamilton” was a thing that existed in this universe, and if I should mention it in the book, and I was like, “I’m not gonna,” because it’s still so fresh and I feel it’s gonna date the book a lot. But it’s definitely, like, there’s this undercurrent of we’re doing colonial rap battles under the text, you know. Jeff: That’s one of the things I like about this so much is that it is current revisionist history, you know, because, I mean, most of it, and this doesn’t get to a spoiler, most of it is leading into the 2020 election, with Claremont being President in the here and now and having succeeded from Obama. Yeah, its current revisionist history. It’s very interesting how that plays itself out. Now, I think we mentioned that this is your first book that’s out there in the world. What got you into writing romance and specifically m/m romance? Casey: I mean, I have always consumed all types of media and this is my one sacrilegious answer that I give in interviews which is I’m really more into movies and TV than I am into books, and that is the most media that I consume. It’s not what I write, I’m not a screenwriter, I’m not good at that type of writing, but it is where I pull most of my influences from, and what I consumed the most as a kid, I mean, unless you count “Harry Potter,” which everybody read… Jeff: Which does very much exist in the “Red, White & Royal Blue” universe, which I also love. Casey: Oh, yeah, very much so. But what I engaged with about all of those things was the relationships in them. I’ve watched “Lost” and I was like, “I don’t care about Dharma, or the clues or what this island actually means to the polar bear,” I was like, “I care about that everybody’s gonna end up together that I want to end up together in the end, you know,” and it was always like that with everything I watched. I’ve watched “Buffy,” and it was always about that for me. It was like, “This is cool, mythology is cool, whatever, but, like, Spike,” you know. And it really that was just what grabbed me, and so I knew that was what I was always gonna wanna write. And I tried to write other genres. Every other book I tried to start writing was young adult, magical realism, or young adult fantasy, which is clearly not my genre. And I tried a bunch of different false starts in those genres, and it didn’t pan out for me. And this was, like I said, the first time, I had an idea that completely grabbed me. And I think, like I said earlier, I gravitate to writing queer fiction for the same reason that straight people gravitate to writing straight fiction which is that I’m a queer person, and it’s my experience, it’s what I know. I didn’t really come into this book with an idea of what the gender should be more than what the story would be and it formed around that because I didn’t think that the story would take on all of the same qualities. If it was two women, you know, I thought that it would be a little different tone. I felt if it was two women there’d be a porn parody within 15 minutes of it coming out, you know. And so it’s just, there’s just different ways that lesbian couples and gay men couples are perceived by the world I felt, and for this story it made more sense with two men, and I also wanted to do that prince charming trope sub-version. And so it just kind of told me what it wanted to be. But my next book is…it’s about two women, and it’s a completely different story. And so, yeah, I really…honestly, it’s just me trying to make queer rom-coms a mainstream thing more than anything else. Jeff: More power to you. And, so far, it looks like you’re doing a great job with that. Casey: Thank you. Thank you so much. Jeff: This question may not have a good answer based on what you just told us about your kind of TV and movie thing, but are there authors who influence you? Casey: Well, yeah, I mean there are definitely authors that influence me. I loved Oscar Wilde growing up which is, you know, I was 15, my sisters, I remember being at my sister’s college graduation with highlighter and sticky tabs going through “The Importance of Being Earnest.” So, yeah, I did my term paper in high school on “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” and I was like, “This is straight behavior.” But, yeah, Oscar Wilde was a huge influence on me. The “Harry Potter” books, yes, of course, they influenced me. I read a lot of non-fiction and a lot of memoirs actually because I love the voice of them, and I think that’s what helps me to have a good narrative voice. So I love Carrie Fisher’s writings, I love…Nora Ephron’s memoirs are all incredible, Mary Karr. Let’s see, what else. I’m looking at my bookshelf right now. What else do I read? Jane Austen, obviously, the classics of romance, you know. And then more recently, my favorite author right now is Taylor Jenkins Reid. “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is my favorite book I’ve read in the past couple years and definitely has earned a spot on my all-time faves shelf. And so that’s definitely… And I loved how she does a lot of…she does a lot of what we call in journalism alternate story formats, so epistolary style things that are threaded into the book, which is something that obviously I really love too. And then yeah, that’s…I mean, I read a lot…at least I read a lot of non-fictions like Rebecca Traister and Roxane Gay, those are those are all my faves. But then I pull from a lot of a lot of TV and movies. The biggest influences on this were “Veep,” “Parks and Rec.” There is this web series called “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo” that I love, and it’s so millennial absurdity that it really kind of like… there’s a shout out to it in the book because they play the song, “Loco In Acapulco” by The Four Tops in that show, and I put that in the book. Yeah. So I’m kind of all over the place. I have a lot of influences and a lot of things that kind of all feed into what comes out of my brain. Jeff: So let’s talk movie. You hinted that a little bit ago. Amazon and Greg Berlanti picked this up before, you know, again before it’s even published out to the world. What was your reaction when you first heard that that was a done deal? Casey: Well, I mean, it was so many stages of reaction because what people don’t see behind the scenes is that the process is crazy. It starts with I have a Hollywood agent, and she sends it out to people and then one producer expresses interest and then more producers can if they want to, and then it turns into you’re on the phone with, you know, such and such from whatever huge production company, and it’s like, “I’m not qualified to do this.” And you talk to those and you pick your producer, and that’s how I picked Berlanti. And I was just really excited to even have a chance to work with them because I’ve loved so much of their work, not even just looking at “Love, Simon,” and going back to “Political Animals” which was a six episode series that’s on Netflix. It’s got…honestly, I have to say one of my touchstones too because it’s got Sigourney Weaver is the president in that which is just amazing, and they’ve got Sebastian Stan as one of the president’s kids, and he’s very tortured, and recovering from addiction, and he’s gay, and he’s Sebastian Stan so he’s crying, you know, and very beautiful. But, yeah. So I just knew that he had the range for it and I also knew that based on “Love, Simon” that production company had the chops to get an unapologetically queer rom-com into the mainstream. But also it was on a personal level, I just remember going to see “Love, Simon” in the theater and that was probably a week after I signed my book deal. And I showed up with an entire eight-inch Jimmy John’s sub in my purse because I knew I was going to cry and I like to eat my feelings. So it was literally me alone. I had to drive 15 minutes out of my city because I was living in Louisiana at the time to find a theater that was playing it, and it just me alone in the theater with my sandwich and was just weeping to Jennifer Garner, you know. And I just remember getting in my car and thinking if my book could make people feel half as seen as I just felt by watching that movie, then I will be so, so happy. And so I’d have the chance to do, to kind of pay forward what that feeling was for me to the next round of people, especially queer people, meant so much to me. And then yeah, Amazon, they just care so much about the project. They’re so passionate about it. They want it to, you know, really…they’re actually really invested in diversifying what is in the market, and taking some risks, and doing projects like this. And it’s just so incredibly mind-blowing, and it really doesn’t feel real yet to have people want to invest those kinds of resources in a story that I wrote. More than anything, I’m just so excited about what it could represent and what it could mean to people. I think about like…and not to at all compare the histories of these communities, but I think about “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” and what those movies meant to have as big cinematic events geared around a demographic that wasn’t usually catered to by the mainstream, you know, and what it meant for those people and what it represented for the future of storytelling for different groups. And I like the idea of being able to make any kind of similar impact with movie is incredible. And I really hope that we can do that, and I really hope that it can be the beginning of a lot more queer rom-coms, you know. So, yeah, it’s amazing. I’m so, so humbled, and amazed, and really excited to see what comes next with it. Jeff: As you were writing, I think all authors tend to cast their books to some degree. Do you have in mind, and knowing this is totally separate from anything that Amazon and Berlanti might do… Casey: Sure. Sure. Jeff: …do you have in mind who Alex and Henry are, at least in your head, as you were writing if you had to assign them an actor? Casey: Well, it’s so hard because…and this is kind of an indictment of the state of Hollywood and that is slowly beginning to change, but there really aren’t a lot of young Latino actors out there choose from, you know. And so it was… there really wasn’t a definitive Alex in my head because I have looked and looked and it was so hard to find someone that fit. And that’s what’s exciting to me about the movie is I think that we will get a chance to kind of give a star making role to some young unknown Latino actor, which would be amazing, and I would love to do that. And Henry is just very elusive. There’s five million charming white British men, but in my head, he’s just so specific-looking, and I have not yet found anyone that matched him. But the parts that were, I think, easiest for me to assign an actor to were like… I always pictured Daniel Day-Lewis as Richards with like the silver foxy and then, Ellen Claremont in my head from day one has been Connie Briton. And then, I mean, Rafael Luna in my head is Oscar Isaac for sure, you know. Jeff: Oh, yeah. I like that. Casey: There’s some characters that I came up with the character first and then tried to figure out what they looked like, and there are other characters where… with Rafael Luna I was like, “I want a character who looks like Oscar Isaac. What’s he going to be?” you know, and that was kind of how that came to be. But, yeah, I’m really excited casting is going to be so much fun, and I’m very excited about it. And I’m really, really excited about just getting to see, you know, what we can do for some…I think there’s gonna be a lot of unknowns in the lead roles, and that’s going to be amazing because they’re going to be able to really step into and embody those characters without it being distracting, like, “Oh, that’s like so and so. I look at them and all I see is the character they played in ‘Game of Thrones’ or whatever.” Yeah. so I think that’ll be, you know, a fun thing. But, yeah, that’s kind of it for that. Jeff: Do we get to see more of Alex and Henry in the future do you think? Casey: I think that I would not rule that out, and that’s all I can really say about that. Jeff: Sure. Casey: Yeah. I think that that would be amazing. I would love to do that. Jeff: And you mentioned your next book is going to be a female pairing. Casey: Yeah. Yeah. So it’s completely different from this. It’s a much smaller scope of a world. It’s just a girl who moves to New York, and she’s from the south. I don’t think I will…I don’t know if I will ever write a protagonist that’s not from the south because that’s just so deeply ingrained in me and in my voice. But she’s from south, she moves to New York, and she kind of stumbles into this roommate situation where it’s just sort of ragtag band of misfits kind of thing. And she develops this huge crush on this hot chick who’s on her subway commute every day. And it’s kind of based on the idea of that way that you fall in love with something on public transit for like 20 minutes, and then you step off, and it’s like they never existed anywhere other than the train. They’re just there for 20 minutes, and you never see them again. But the thing is that she sees this girl every single time she’s on the train. And there’s kind of a twist as to… I will say there’s some light rom-com-y style time travel shenanigans that happened, and the girl on the train is not exactly everything that she seems. And so the whole book is about their relationship and at the same time trying to figure out what’s going on with this girl. But it is rom-com, and it’s super fun, and, of course, it has a gratuitous karaoke moment. Jeff: Excellent. Casey: Well, it’s more of like there’s a gratuitous karaoke moment, and there’s a gratuitous drag show moment. Yeah, so, range. But I’m really excited it. I’m hoping…I mean, obviously, we haven’t set a date for it yet, but it is super, super personal, book of my heart for me, and I’m really excited for people to read it. Jeff: Fantastic, definitely looking forward to that. Casey: Yeah. Yeah. It’ll be awesome. I’m excited. Jeff: What’s the best way for folks to keep up with you online so they could track your progress with what’s up with Alex and Henry and also the new book and everything else? Casey: Yeah, Twitter for sure. I’m kind of been taking a step back lately because since we announced the movie my notifications have been busted, you know. But, yeah, I’ll definitely be back on more especially during tour. I tweet out playlists and a lot of little trivial information like their birth charts and things like that on there, and then also Instagram. That one is more for like I’m here for this tour date kind of thing. So yeah, those are my big two ones. It’s casey_mcquiston on Twitter, and then casey.mcquiston on Instagram. Jeff: Very cool. Well, we will put the links to all of that in the show notes. Casey: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Jeff: “Red, White & Royal Blue” comes out on May 14th, and we wish you just continued success because it’s been so much already and look forward to seeing the movie and everything else that comes from it. Casey: Yeah, thank you so much. I’m so, so grateful, and it’s been so much fun. So thank you so much for having me on.

We used to let the big networks tell us what to watch. At 7:00pm we watched this, at 8:00pm, that. They told us when to laugh and what should make us feel sad or stressed out. But welcome to 2019, where with platforms like Youtube and Instagram there’s no limit to what can be created and shared on a massive scale. So what effect does that have on a creator, when it’s no longer the networks who evaluate your worth, but the viewer? I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Stephanie Koenig, an actress living in LA who uses these platforms to make people laugh while she works her way to the big screen. This episode is proof that as long as you’re consistently connecting to your big picture goals, even just 1 hour a day is enough to make that shit happen. By the way, when you’re finished listening to this episode, drop everything and watch every single second of Stephanie & Brian’s content, much of which is referenced in this episode: Stupid Idiots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ho-GN_kK4A The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYXQzlKXzpk Stephanie Koenig on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KellynStephanieHumor Brian Jordan Alvarez on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bjalvo Instagram: http://instagram.com/stephaniekoenig

In the HIGHEST rated episode to date, Allison and Gaby “puff, puff, pass” along their knowledge by demonstrating how to gently turn down a friend during this week's International Question. Then, the duo get swept off their feet by the talented and effervescent Brian Jordan Alvarez (The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo; Will & Grace). And, if you haven't guessed it already, this week's Topix is all about weed. More than your average stoner talk, Gaby and Allison dissect what it means to normalize the stigma associated with marijuana and its role in the prison industrial complex. No one was high during the making of this episode. (We think.) Follow Just Between Us on Instagram at @jbupodcast, and email your International Questions to justbetweenuspod@gmail.com. Listen to Just Between Us Ad-Free on Forever Dog Plus: http://foreverdogpodcasts.com/plus FOLLOW JUST BETWEEN US: https://www.instagram.com/jbupodcast JUST BETWEEN US IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST: https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/just-between-us/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the HIGHEST rated episode to date, Allison and Gaby “puff, puff, pass” along their knowledge by demonstrating how to gently turn down a friend during this week’s International Question. Then, the duo get swept off their feet by the talented and effervescent Brian Jordan Alvarez (The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo; Will & Grace). And, if you haven’t guessed it already, this week’s Topix is all about weed. More than your average stoner talk, Gaby and Allison dissect what it means to normalize the stigma associated with marijuana and its role in the prison industrial complex. No one was high during the making of this episode. (We think.) Follow Just Between Us on Instagram at @jbupodcast, and email your International Questions to justbetweenuspod@gmail.com. This episode is sponsored by Kendra Scott Jewelers (www.kendrascott.com code: BETWEENUS), the National Partnership for Women and Families (www.nationalpartnership.org/StandTogether), Openfit (text JBU to 303030), Stitch Fix (www.stitchfix.com/JBU), and Smile Direct (www.smiledirectclub.com/podcast code: BETWEENUS).

In this week’s episode—the first one of Season 4—we’re talking about changes!   Today’s episode is sponsored by Ori, a new size-inclusive brand that designs clothing that is MADE FOR various shapes and sizes, from size 10-32. We have a special discount code just for the Fatmily! head over to wearori.com/saf for 15% off your first order (the discount code will be automatically added to the cart when you visit that URL)   Today’s episode is sponsored by Papier, a website where you can order beautifully designed, personalized stationary and get it delivered super quick—straight to your home. Go to papier.com to see their full collection and save 15% on your first order with code SHESALLFAT. Papier offers free delivery in the US on all orders over $75.   We are an independent production. If you’d like to support the work we do,  you can join our Patreon by visiting patreon.com/shesallfatpod. When you pledge to be a supporter, you’ll get all sorts of goodies like our Patreon-only Facebook Group and extra content. If you are interested in the perks available to our Patrons but you are not able to afford the monthly contribution, apply for our Patreon Scholarship! If you are a member of the Fatmily interested in becoming a sponsor, contact us here.   Need advice? Email/send voice memo to fyi@shesallfatpod.com. Follow us! Twitter / Instagram / Get updates! You can find us on:Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, PlayerFM, and CastBox. Need something else? Check out our site: shesallfatpod.com   In this episode:   I’m obsessed: Solange’s new album /  Ori / Greta / CYG / Sophie’s pillow / The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo  / Family Secrets / Chronicle Speaks     Tip Jar: Listen to Strong Feelings Podcast   Active Discount Codes: Rosmarino Candles: Get 20% off + free shipping on your first order with code SAF Undersummers: SAF listeners can use code... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're changing things up a little on This Movie's Gay! Today, we watched all five episodes of the YouTube series "The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo" in one sitting to simulate a full movie! It was fantastic! On top of discussing Caleb Gallo, we chat about E.T. fingertips, James tearing down walls of conformity, smoking fictional tobacco, child actors all grown up, the funny things about quarters, why we don't live a fun filled life, Corwyn's role at James' wedding, visual arts, if a boy kissing a boy could ever be done for strictly hetero reasons, & more! Find out about all of our sister podcasts (that James also co-hosts) by heading to www.MLMPod.com! Follow us on Twitter @ThisMoviesGay! Give us recommendations for movies! Learn more about Saltbox Theatre, the theater company Corwyn works with, at SaltboxTheatre.org & follow them @SaltboxTheatre! Listen to James' other podcast Mostly Speakin' Sentai with his co-host/best friend/life partner Nicole! They are an irreverent look at the Super Sentai series, which is the Japanese source material for Power Rangers. Follow the podcast @MSSPod on Twitter & Facebook as well as Instagram @MSSPodcast. You can listen on the app you're listening to This Movie's Gay on! James co-hosts the podcast I'll Get There with his buds Courtney & Monse! Also check out "What The Hellmouth?!" with James, TC, & Anissa to hear them talk about anything but Buffy the Vampire Slayer on a Buffy podcast. These podcasts can be found on what ever podcast app you're listening to This Movie's Gay on! Check out James' rap music! Find Marsh Land Monster on YouTube, SoundCloud, & Facebook!

Actor Brian Jordan Alvarez sits down with Cameron to discuss making The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, what “perfect” can mean, and sobriety. This episode is sponsored by Kopari (www.koparibeauty.com/QUEERY) and Zola (www.zola.com/QUEERY).

Join Emily Maesar on a journey through TV. It's time to talk about something I never shut up about in real life... webseries! From Buzzfeed shows to That Gay Shit™, let's get down to business! Music: "Buffy Theme" Nerf Herder Twitter: @SyndicatedCast & @emilymaesar Patreon: goo.gl/89eMyP Webseries mentioned: The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo: https://youtu.be/YYXQzlKXzpk The Guild: https://youtu.be/grCTXGW3sxQ Husbands: https://youtu.be/nEpiB4BCqXQ The Outs: https://vimeo.com/39287297 The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: https://youtu.be/KisuGP2lcPs Tabletop: https://youtu.be/X9QtdiRJYro Buzzfeed Unsolved: https://youtu.be/xkW3rMkxvqY Buzzfeed's Worth It: https://youtu.be/2GZrPR5Ajrs The Try Guys: https://youtu.be/AwFNSmO9pbg

Few series make it more than a handful of years; even fewer make it into double digits. This week, the WWE celebrated 25 years of Monday Night RAW, and that is a milestone worth reflecting upon. We may not be regular wrestling viewers here at The Televerse, but thankfully friend of the show Cory Barker of TVGuide.com is, and he came back on the podcast this week to talk WWE RAW and wrestling on TV with us for an extended spotlight.Before that, however, Noel and Kate talk through some of the week’s more memorable episodes. First we look at the week in comedy and reality, including the premieres of The Detour and Drunk History, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s Apology Race, a double episode of The Amazing Race, and the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars. Then we move over to the genre offerings, including the premiere of Counterpart, Star Trek: Discovery, The Flash, Supergirl, and the latest Darin Morgan offering of The X-Files. How did trying to keep up with Trump work for the Full Frontal crew? Has Star Trek: Discovery gotten overly twist-reliant? And which host is surprisingly fluent in the complex backstories of ‘90s and early ‘00s WWE? This and more on the latest episode of The Televerse.Note: The webseries Kate was referencing in the opening discussion is The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. Check it out on creator and star Brian Jordan Alvarez’s YouTube channel.Spotlight: 25 Years of WWE RAW with Cory Barker (1:16:56)Our Week in Reality and Comedy The Detour premiere (6:27) Drunk History premiere (12:34) The Good Place (14:37) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (22:32) The Amazing Race (27:10) RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars premiere (34:00)Our Week in Genre Counterpart premiere (49:12) Star Trek: Discovery (53:03) The Flash (59:14) Supergirl (1:01:53) The X-Files (1:09:24)Music Featured: “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj; “Barracuda” by Heart

Jonathan and Sergey are joined by Ken Kirby, star of the YouTube show "Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallo". We'll chat on what it's like to star on a YoutTube show. PLus Jonathan and Sergey delve into the debate about YouTube Red.

With (American) Thanksgiving on the early side this year, TV opted to celebrate with viewers instead of taking the week off. First up this episode, Noel and Kate dive in with the comedies, including Thanksgiving-themed episodes of Bob’s Burgers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and shake-up-filled episodes of Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Then we move on to the drama and genre offerings, including the premieres of She’s Gotta Have It, Godless, The Punisher, and Marvel’s Runaways, a Billy Joel-tastic Arrow, and the long awaited (or dreaded) return of Mon-El to Supergirl. Afterward, it’s time for one more check-in on our 2017 TV resolutions to watch more streaming series (Kate) and anime (Noel). How are our latest explorations of these mediums panning out? Listen in, then reach out with your thoughts on the week’s TV and our latest resolution viewing, Danny the Manny and The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, and Recovery of an MMO Junkie and TWOCAR!.2017 TV Resolution Check-in #5 (1:13:06) Danny the Manny The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo Recovery of an MMO Junkie TWOCAR!Our Week in Comedy Bob’s Burgers (11:47) Brooklyn Nine-Nine (15:48) Jane the Virgin (18:09) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (23:15)Our Week in Drama and Genre She’s Gotta Have It Season 1 (35:46) Godless premiere (39:46) The Punisher Season 1 (44:54) Marvel’s Runaways premiere (47:12) Arrow (56:47) Supergirl (1:00:16)Music Featured: “A Diagnosis” from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; “Priestess” by Pumarosa; Recovery of an MMO Junkie Theme song

NOTE: This episode was recorded before Kai Cole's article was published, detailing the toxic infidelity and gaslighting committed by her ex-husband Joss Whedon. In today's episode, we say that its Episode 30 a lot when its actually Episode 29. We also catch up and geek out - mostly about recording our first live episode and all about Nine Worlds Geek Fest. Hamish also spills the beans about his time in Latvia! Also featured: The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, The Adventure Zone Finale (maybe we'll stop talking about it now? Maybe?), Sonic Mania's Fandom Roots, Netflix's Corridor-Fighting Defenders and the definitely-not-Red-Dwarf story of Wolf359. We also preview our upcoming "spin-off" podcast exploits! Today’s episode is sponsored by Beastly Beverages, Fandom and Fantasy Luxury Hand-Blended Loose Leaf Tea - and Tea Related Geeky Paraphernalia. Get free shipping when you spend £20 or more by using the offer code "BeverageBeast" at BeastlyBeverages.com Our audio and theme music provided by Graham Waller at grahamwaller.com. If you want to get in contact, you can do so via Twitter @BoxNotIncluded, Email at BoxNotIncluded@gmail.com or on Tumblr @BoxNotIncluded. We also have a Facebook Group - just search for Box Not Included!

This week we’re feeling summer jams (2:15), The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (5:10), and Lost City of Z (9:45). We then talk about trailers coming out of Comic-Con (12:45) and our reactions to Dunkirk (24:35). Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FeelingItPod Leave a review on iTunes: http://apple.co/1PXfRMS

Alexi is joined by actress, comedien, professional muse, talent and gender fluid inspiration: Freckle. Freckle currently stars on the Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (available on YouTube), Jordan Firstman’s film “Call Your Father”; and can be seen in Brian Jordan Alvarez's upcoming movie “Everything Is Free”, as well as Season Two of Search Party on TBS, and the soon to be released Grizzly Bear music video alongside Busy Phillips. Alexi and Freckle talk gender pronouns, coming of age, acting, gender fluidity, Eckhart Tolle, American Idol auditions gone by, trans advocacy, gender non binary and neutrality, identity, self help, doing the internal work, self acceptance, finding your place and purpose, homophobia, vigilance, shame, being a performer, the fact that we both went to the same high school, parents, friends, lovers, relationships, dating, souls, monogamy, jealousy, passion, internal spirals, tv, movies, gay men, lesbian women, bisexuality, debunking stereotypes, insta stories, self love, doing the internal emotional work to be happy and healthy and so much more! Follow Freckle on Instagram @AuntFreckle

This week on Bag Ladies this racism BS is at an all time high! We start with a man in Portland, Oregon who has been charged with a hate crime for following an Black American Muslim couple for 20 blocks and threatening them, Shia LaBeouf was mildly entertaining before but now straight up problematic, and we talk about our fellow Dominican Sammy Sosa and his new face? WE’RE CONCERNED, SOMEONE TEXT SAMMY AND SEE WASSUP? For Baggage we’re discussing marriage, is it outdated and even in our future? Let us know your thoughts! We’re putting in our bags two extremely entertaining youtube channels and Estephanie is interpreting dreams again! As always the links are down below and let’s continue the conversation on twitter! See you all next week! Portland Hate Crime: http://bit.ly/2uBeSg9 Shia LeBeouf is WACK: http://bit.ly/2t8N1zB Sammy Sosa: http://bit.ly/2uw5JVj HissyFit Youtube Channel: http://bit.ly/2uskg4N The Gay & Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo: http://bit.ly/2uvL0kp Follow us @: Twitter: Bag_Ladiez Tumblr: bgladiez.tumblr.com Gmail: bgladiez@gmail.com Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bgladies

Erin McGathy, John Butler, John Finnemore and Rachel Parris join host, Dave Holmes for an episode packed with Brexit, embarrassing stories of failed romance and Dave doing a Brummie accent. Erin McGathy is taking her show Love You Loudly to the Edinburgh Fringe in August and recommends Maria Bamford's Netflix show Lady Dynamite. John Butler is the director of The Bachelor Weekend (The Stag in the UK) and the upcoming movie Handsome Devil. John recommends web series, The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo. John Finnemore's BBC Radio show John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is currently in its fourth season. John recommends Mackenzie Crook's TV series The Detectorists. Rachel Parris wants to plug her Jane Austen improv group Austentaceous, you can also catch her in the BBC show, Murder in Successville. Rachel recommends the new Radio 4 sketch show Expenses Only. And finally, Dave Holmes is on Twitter @DaveHolmes and hosts his live quiz show, The Friday Forty at LA’s Meltdown Theatre on the second Friday of every month. Dave's new book Party of One is out now. We're doing a live International Waters taping at the London Podcast Festival in September. Buy tickets here. You can let us know what you think of International Waters and suggest guests through our Facebook group or on Twitter. Written by Sarah Morgan and Riley Silverman. Recorded at GuiltFreePost in London by John Purcell Shackleton and at MaxFunHQ in Los Angeles. Produced by Jennifer Marmor and Colin Anderson.

Dennis visits the Los Feliz apartment of actor Brian Jordan Alvarez, the creative force behind the new web series "The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo." Brian talks about the origins of the show, how he got the money to make it, using iPhones to record sound, and the themes of sexual and gender fluidity that are explored in the show.  Brian also talks about working on "Jane the Virgin" and the Logo sketch show "Gay Skit Happens," flying to New York to audition to "Saturday Night Live," and how to make a web video that goes viral. Other topics include: growing up in Tennessee, his obsession with science, getting sober, his favorite porn, vision boards, working as a go-go dancer and vogueing behind the eyes.