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In this Margin Notes episode of the #amwriting podcast, host Jennie Nash talks with book coach and author Stuart Wakefield about approaching marketing as a creative project by making joyful “artifacts” that expand a story world rather than simply asking readers to buy a book. Wakefield shares his creative background, a past period when his creative practice stopped, and how he now immerses himself in projects tied to his latest novel, All Hands on Dick, set in 1956 aboard the cruise ship SS Celestial. Stuart describes the book's comedic, queer, mid-century influences and its characters, explains creating items like a 3D-printed ocean liner and a hand-cut 10-inch vinyl record featuring AI-assisted big band songs, and discusses building an animated music video. Nash also previews upcoming episodes with Wakefield on using the Blueprint method to develop a series, as he launches his trilogy A Gay Odysea.#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Connect with Stuart* Visit his book coaching site* Read his books* Watch his music videoTranscriptJennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Jennie Nash, and you're listening to the #amwriting podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most. Hi, everyone. This is Margin Notes, the part of the podcast where we're talking about the big decisions writers face in their work or creative lives.I'm here today to talk with Stuart Wakefield about making marketing a creative project. And you've heard from Stuart before. He has coached on the podcast, and we'll link to that episode in the show notes. He also will be in episodes to come, which we'll talk about in a moment, and Stuart is a fascinating individual who's had a long career in all kinds of things, including TV writing, playwriting, a long stint in IT.What? [00:01:00] And, and now Stuart works with me at Author Accelerator, and he runs his own book coaching business at thebookcoach.co. Welcome, Stuart.Stuart: Thank you for having me, Jennie. I'm really excited to talk to you today.Jennie: I'm excited too. This is such a, such a interesting topic. So the reason this came up is that Stuart launched a new book, which he'll tell you about in a moment, which is part of a series, which he'll tell you about in a moment, and I started seeing out on social media just all this really fun content that he was producing.And obviously then I would get to talk to him at work, and I- he just would have so much joy, and then he would say, “Oh, let me show you this other thing.” And when I talk about fun content, I'm talking about, like, music videos, cartoons, animated [00:02:00] little shorts. He wrote a song. He, he's writing a music video. He 3D printed a ship.He printed a vinyl record. I mean, it's bonkers. And so I just wanted to dig into this about what are you doing, and why is it creating so much joy, and what can we learn from it? So that's what we're here to talk about.Stuart: Oh, oh, oh. Right. Okay. So, so in, in my creative practice, I have always enjoyed... You know, I started acting when I was five, um, so I've always been in kind of around the theater, even when my kind of IT career and project management career was all kind of going on.So I've always enjoyed that. I, um, started a, a- A degree in fashion design. Um, after a year at art college, I, you know, carried on acting and then had a break in 2003. Uh, if I'm really honest with you, I had a breakdown and- Yeah ... m- [00:03:00] my creative practice just stopped. And about six years later in 2009, I started writing.And you know, I've always been a creative person, and I've always been a storyteller, and I tend, but I tend to do it in a very short, concise way. So the shortest piece of fiction I've sold was 50 words.Jennie: That's short.Stuart: Right. Okay. So I, um- Have had like a, a side art project. It's called The Queer Historian of Emotional Truths.Um, and there is a website that sits with that, and the idea is that the queer historian has found artifacts, um, and he is curating those and sharing those on the website, and they might be voicemails, they might be found photos, found objects. And when I got my... So I really love that kind of very small to- storytelling, those, those really poignant moments, [00:04:00] as opposed to great big, long stories.Um, I recently s- sold a story to Divine Femins- Feminine Publishing as well, um, which is again, it's cozy sci-fi, but it's very much the small kind of human moments.Jennie: Right.Stuart: And I found that after writing this book, I became so invested in the world that I wanted to do small art projects that kind of lived within that world.So that's where this has come from. I, I don't see it as marketing. I see it as telling those smaller stories within that wider world that really convey the joy that not only have I got from writing that, that work, but I think lives on after the reader closes and reads that last, that last page and then closes the book.Jennie: Well, this is why it's so exciting and inspiring to me, because so often when writers talk about marketing or think about marketing, they're thinking [00:05:00] about, “Buy my book. Buy my book. Buy my book,” and that's not at all where you're coming from. I suspect... Well, with this current project, it's, it's brand new, but I suspect that that's where it's gonna go, right?That it's impossible to imagine sh- that you're gonna share all these creative acts and artifacts and not get people... I was gonna say on board, but that's gonna be like- The, it's a- ItStuart: is set follow... It's set on board a, a ocean liner. Right. So on, on board is great.Jennie: Right? Like the, how could those two things not happen?That, I guess what I'm getting at is I, I often think that the results people want don't usually come from the path that they think is gonna get them there. Right. The results come from doing the work you love, writing the story you want, and in your case, making this a creative project. Do you- Yes ... do you think that's [00:06:00] true?Stuart: Yeah. You know, very much so, and I was discussing this with a marketing book coach, uh, Rebecca Grogan.Jennie: Mm-hmm.Stuart: Highly recommend her to any romance writer. So that's beckythebookcoach.com, and, you know, we got talking about creative projects and how much I don't really like marketing. I always thought it was a very British thing not to like marketing, but the more and more US writers I, I meet and fellow coaches, again, you know, marketing can feel like something unsavory.Jennie: RightStuart: And what I really want to do is show people these cool things I've made and invite them very much into the world. Because what I do in any of my creative writing projects, I have objects that represent what I'm writing on my desk. So, um, I have a book that's set in 1907, so I got [00:07:00] artifacts from, from that time.I have a book that's set, well hopefully coming out in a few months, which is, uh, set in Madrid in 1958, and one of the characters works in a print shop. So I have wooden blocks, wooden printing blocks that spell out this character's names. So-Jennie: Oh,Stuart: that'sJennie: so cool.Stuart: So as I switch from project to project, I bring those things and put those onto my desk, and I just find it helps me get into that head space-Jennie: YeahStuart: and that emotional connection.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: So because I still have a, a very strong emotional connection to what it is that I've just published, and I know there are two more books coming, I really wanted to sit and kind of immerse myself in that world. And the first object I created was this 3D printed ocean liner, because that has what has been sitting on my desk while I've been writing this first book.Jennie: So when you say you 3D printed it, how did you go about [00:08:00] that?Stuart: Okay, so I-Jennie: Oh, and, and let's just describe, since people can't see it. It's, it's about like eight inches, 10 inches? Uh, yeah, yeah. So- And it's... Is it made of plastic?Stuart: Yeah. So it's 3D printed, uh, so it's kind of a, a resinous kind of plastic that's- Yeahjust melted as it comes through the head. And yeah, so I found, uh, a model online, and then I... My comput- my computer modeling is not great. It's one of the few things that I'd see that I don't really, you know, have a skill at. So I contacted a friend and said, you know, “Can you modify this for me? Um, can you change the name on the side of the ship?”‘Cause the model that was already there, um, had a different name. And yeah, you know, we, we worked on the look and the feel, and then when we were ready, we found someone else to, to actually print it up. So for me, it's just a lovely object, and I know I'm going to be able to take it to book fairs. There's one coming up at the end of September- So I have little [00:09:00] wooden life rings, we have ship's rope, I have a reception bell.Um, so all of these artifacts, again, when s- if somebody comes to my stand at the book fair, they will be walking into the world of the SS Celestial.Jennie: That's so fun. Okay, so let's, let's talk about the, this, the ship and what happens on the ship and the story and the whole thing, ‘cause it's just too much fun.So it's, um, set in 1956 on a cruise ship. The name of the book is called All Hands on Dick, and it is currently out. So why don't you tell us about first All Hands on Dick, and then the series that it, um, begins?Stuart: Okay. So All Hands on Dick follows cruise director Dick Dockery, and Dick is one of those people that puts the passengers' needs before his own.So, and he is very good at his job But on the voyage from New York to Bermuda, [00:10:00] a slightly seedy kind of underground guy with a reputation called Van Valentine boards the ship. And Van very quickly identifies that what Dick is doing, that he's fulfilling everybody's needs but his own. So throughout a...It's very much a comedy of manners. So throughout that and some farcical moments and lots of beautiful sub-stories, um, Dick eventually learns that being needed is not the same as being loved.Jennie: Very, very, uh, profound message in a very fun setting. So some of the other characters, tell us about some of these other characters.Stuart: Okay. So we have, uh, newlyweds, uh, Buck and Kitty Devereaux. And Buck seems very nervous in his marriage, so one of the kind of mysteries is what is Buck hiding? And then eventually we start to learn that actually Kitty might be hiding some- something as well. We have [00:11:00] Aurelia Cashmere, who is a sort of a, a grande dame, I guess.She, she's first class. Um, she has come on board with a secret that she's going to reveal something when they get to Bermuda. We have, uh, Tony's sidekick, uh, Bunny Marlowe. We have a steward who seems to know everything called Tony Two Towels. We have a light-fingered magician called Pip Larkin. Um, and- ThisJennie: is just so great.And you s-Stuart: And then lounge singer... Sorry, then we have a l- a lounge singer called Rex Devereaux. Uh, and he has a on-off affair with his piano player, Joey Lamplight.Jennie: Okay. So you shared with me that, um, you loved The Love Boat, the, the TV show, right? Oh,Stuart: it's one of my... It, it's just fantastic. And I, I tell you what happened, I love the movie An Affair to Remember-Jennie: Mm-hmmStuart: with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant. [00:12:00] And you know, I was... My mom loved kind of ‘40s, ‘50s movies. So she kind of introduced me to those when I was growing up, ‘cause I was born in the early ‘70s. So you know, sh- I was kind of weaned on, on movies by watching those. And I loved watching The Love Boat, and more recently...I say recently, it's a few years old now, but the movie Down with Love, uh, with Renee Zellweger.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: And I watched that and it reminded me of the Doris Day, Rock Hudson kind of sex comedies.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: So the vision for All Hands on Dick and the series that it fits into, um, very much came from those, those influences, and the love of, of the, all of those things.Jennie: Well, and it has that, and has that feel. So we'll talk about the whole series in a minute, but some of the other things that you made artifacts that you made, uh, well, there was a song and then there was a record, [00:13:00] and then there was a music video. So how much time have you spent making all these things?Stuart: I, I, I think, I think that wh- what, what happened was, I, I, I'd finished the book and I w- I was, I, something had happened.I think, I think an old Drifters song came up on my, um, Irene's, uh, list, and I'd been listening to... We have a, a TV, um, advert that's on in the UK that, uh, has the song, um, Beyond the Sea.Jennie: Oh, sure, sure.Stuart: It's Bobby... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I was, “Oh, okay.” So I knew that Rex, the lounge singer, one of his storylines is that there's a song that he can't sing.Jennie: Oh.Stuart: It is too emotional for him, and he's desperately trying to get his career back on track and, but there's this one song that he just cannot sing, but it's one of the most powerful songs that could potentially bring his [00:14:00] career back. And I'd been thinking about songs and, you know, again, my mom was just a very, very funny wom- woman and, you know, we would make songs up together.And I wrote some jokey lyrics, uh, called, for a big band number sung by Bunny, called Everybody Needs Dick. And, and, you know, uh, you, the lyrics are, are, you know, a bit silly here and there, but, uh, I just had fun with it.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: You know? So none of this was planned. Um, now I know some people are gonna be really anti-AI, and I, I totally get that, but this was for my personal consumption.So I put those lyrics into an, a, an AI and said like, “Can you write a big band, you know, backing track to go with this?” Just as an experiment, and what came out just really took me by surprise. So-Jennie: It's amazing. I mean, it sounds like a fully produced Andrews Sister song.Stuart: Yes, yes. Love The [00:15:00] Andrews Sisters.Yeah. And then I got thinking about Rex's song, and I thought, “What kind of avoidant thing would Rex sing?” So I wrote some lyrics for that and, um, again, put it into the same AI, AI, and it came out with a couple of versions, and one of them immediately made me start to cry. Oh, no. And I thought, “Okay, if I have an emotional connection to this song, then I need to do something with these tracks.”So I'd been kind of living in the world of the SS Celestial, which is the, the ship that the story is set on, and got to thinking about kind of souvenirs and, and would the ship sell souvenirs, and what kind of things might they sell? And I thought, “Okay, if I'm gonna have an object that's all my own, then as my kind of reward for finishing the book,” I thought, “wouldn't it be great to have a vinyl record?”So then I get into researching how much music can you get on, you know, a seven-inch, a 10-inch, [00:16:00] 12-inch record. Settled on a 10-inch record because, um, Rex's song is six minutes. It won't sit on the seven-inch. Then I had to do my research. You know, were 10-inch singles available in the US in the 1950s? Turns out they still were.Um, then I got to designing the record covers and the labels. I found a company in, uh, the, in London who handcraft. So rather than press a record, they hand-cut it.Jennie: Oh,Stuart: wow. Um, found a company to do that. And yeah, you know, a week later I had in my hands a, a, a 10-inch record, and that is just for my personal consumption, but, you know, I will share that on,um, you know,uh, social media. I will play parts of the record on social media. And yeah, that's where I kind of got to in there, and I just wanted to share with people like, “Oh, look, I made this cool thing.”Jennie: Yeah, yeah.Stuart: And-Jennie: I mean, it's so cool, and [00:17:00] when... We'll share, hopefully, uh, uh, cover a picture of the, um, m- the, uh, record so, in the show notes so people can see.But when, when you share it and talk about it, again, you're just filled with so much joy, like a kid. Yeah. Like, “Look at this.” Yeah. “Look at what I made.” And that has to feel really good, right?Stuart: It, it really, really does. And, and, you know, my family, immediate and wider, are going through some really difficult times at the moment.We started kind of March last year, and, um, I won a, a, a grant from the Arts Council here in the UK to, to really help me kind of zone in on my playwriting.Jennie: Right.Stuart: And a full-length play that I've written is, it's very dark, and it deals with some very dark kind of, uh, themes and issues. And a friend of mine had said to me, she said, “There's something wrong with you.There's, [00:18:00] there's, like, this little light that has gone out.”Jennie: Oh.Stuart: And she said, “I think you should get back to writing comedy.” Um, when I wrote for TV, that was comedy. Um, my last full-length novel, you know, had lots of comedic stuff going on. Um, and she's like, “Why don't you, you consider going back to comedy?”She'd read a lot of my writing when I was doing my master's degree, and she said, “I, I really think you need that, that kind of lift.” So when I was thinking about what to write, I was like, “Okay, I need to do something that, that just really sits with me.” I'm not... You know, writing a novel is a big commitment, and you need to be around people that you kind of really love.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: And I wanted these people to- So many queer stories I think are written from a place of trauma.Jennie: Mm-hmm.Stuart: And I really wanted a group of people who had relatively low stakes threat, but [00:19:00] could really live and breathe in their environment and find joy. And that's exactly as passengers are disembarking at the end of this, this book, that's, you know, there is hope and there is joyJennie: And I imagine that's what you want your reader to feel.Stuart: Um, uh, a- absolutely. I've absolutely written it for people who, you know, to take on a take on a cruise- Right ... or read on the beach. And, you know, I think it's fair to say that, you know, politically and, um, literally the world is on fire, right?Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: Yeah. You know, we're seeing huge fires all over, you know, we're seeing political, just appalling political stuff.And I, and I just thought I, I need this story and I need these people, and I think other people out there need just some fun and some joy and some lightness.Jennie: So tell me about, um, right before we r- started [00:20:00] recording, you said you were almost finished with the music video. Tell me about that.Stuart: Right. Okay. So, uh, Everybody Needs Dick is a huge, joyous, big band number, and I was creating a little short animation to go on, um, social media, and also I wanted the challenge of learning something new from an IT point of view.Jennie: Mm-hmm.Stuart: And it kind of grew, ‘cause I was putting some music to the, the reel on Inst- on Instagram, and I just thought, “Hmm, this could... Like, I really like the results of what I've been able to animate here. Like, maybe this could be something bigger.” And I used to work for Turner Broadcasting Systems, which is now, like, part of Warner Brothers Discovery.Was there for about three years working mainly on the Cartoon network side, and I did some work with the animators of The Amazing World of Gumball, which is a very [00:21:00] popular show, um, in the US, and I kind of thought, like, maybe there's something in this. Maybe I could put all of the Everybody Needs Dick story into, like, an MGM musical number.Jennie: Right.Stuart: And like, so again, it, it captures the look and the feel and the tone of the joy of the book as well. So I'm 40 seconds away from finishing. It takes about an hour to get 14 kind of decent seconds. And I... But I'm, I'm exhausted, but what's keeping me going is watching it over and over again and feeling emotional, feeling that emotional connection to the relationships that are developing, even just through the video i- itself.Jennie: Right. AndStuart: what- So again, for me, it's just immersive.Jennie: What, um... When you approach Something like that, and you, you know, obviously we're all, uh, learning, if any of us listening use AI for [00:22:00] various things, we're all learning as we go d- because it's so new. How do you approach the technology side of it? Like, in addition to the creative part, you have to figure things out, right?Figure out how to do it.Stuart: Yeah. I mean, you know, I spend a lot of time engineering prompts for all different sorts of things. So for my own writing, um, I have a prompt that runs through my chapters and looks at all of the nasty habits that I have.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: And I was talking to another coach the other day, and I was like, “Let me, let me just do a quick word count.”And that search, that, um, AI prompt, is 9,510 words.Jennie: Wow.Stuart: So I might have spent a long time working on that, that prompt, but it really helps me sit back, look at my chapters, really understand what's working and what's not working, and then from my past mistakes and patterns of writing, it helps me see those and that I've fallen back into to some of those [00:23:00] habits.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: So, you know, I, I like to think I'm relatively good. Um, but again, some of the graphics that I was using on Instagram were... They were by real people.Jennie: Yeah.Stuart: And I thought, “Well, that's not really the kind of look I'm after. I'm kind of after that... For the, for the video, I'm after that mid-century American illustrated look that is somewhere between J.C.Leyendecker's illustrations of the sort of ‘20s, and the illustrations that you would expect to see in an American magazine in the mid-'50s.”Outro: Right.Stuart: So I worked and worked and worked, you know, with an AI tool on getting the look right, and then locking that look in. Then I was able to take the images from Instagram and say, “Okay, what would those character models look like if they were in dr- had been drawn in this style?”So again, we worked through those looks, um, you know, how smooth their skin was, what the kind of folds in their clothes should look like. [00:24:00] You know, we did a lot of work on that, and then it was really down to the things that I kind of learned at Warner Brothers and watching the extras on DVDs about storyboarding, um, the animations, and then really teaching myself the best way to use, um, the AI that I was using to get the best kind of effects out of it.And I- So it sound- You know... Hmm.Jennie: It, it sort of sounds like play.Stuart: It is. It really is. And I, you know, I, I love learning. I loved learning to be a book coach. I'm always doing some kind of course, whether it be creative or, you know, to do with writing. And, you know, I like a challenge, and teaching- Yeah ... me this new technology, I mean, I'm 54, and, you know, there's always that risk that the kids are gonna com- going to kind of overtake you.Jennie: Sure. Uh,Stuart: but I'm very curious about the world. You know, I l- I like my K-pop. I'm very excited today ‘cause Hatsize, you know, new EP is out. Um, I've had many a conversation with a 13-year-old who's just shocked that I know anything about K-pop- ... [00:25:00] let alone I'm kind of into different bands. So, you know, I'm interested in, in pop culture and learning new technologies and, you know, it has been a huge, huge challenge for me to do this.But again, it's playing in this world, and I've also noticed as I'm doing these other creative projects, because I'm still mentally in the world, some of the stories for the later books are, are coming to me.Jennie: Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about the series. At what point did you decide that All Hands on Dick was going to be a series?Stuart: Pretty much from the beginning. I-Jennie: Okay ...Stuart: I, I... So the series is called A Gay Odyssey, and that's- AndJennie: it's, I have to spell it. It's- Yeah ... O-D-Y-S-E-A.Stuart: Yes. So it- it's A Gay Odyssey, and I call it, like, a naughty cal adventure. So- So, you know, I, I very much saw this as the ship as a [00:26:00] container.Jennie: Mm-hmm.Stuart: Okay? Quite literally.Right. But also like a story engine.Jennie: Right.Stuart: So I thought this is, this is a world in miniature, and I wanted to have one overarching love story that covers all three books. But like The Love Boat, I wanted that episodic nature to it as well, because I knew I wanted to bring in different characters and different crew.So A Gay Odyssey is, it's a trilogy of mid-century American queer romantic novels that also examine, uh, the life we live as performance as well as the life we live in private.Jennie: Mm-hmm. So that's where the, the lounge singer and the piano player, the literal- Yeah ... performers and the magician, as well as the just regular people who are performing different roles and things.Ab-Stuart: a- absolutely. You know, Buck is, is performing kind of the dutiful husband, and that's clearly not what's going [00:27:00] under, on under the surface. And, you know, Kitty is very much wanting to go out, you know, understand what's w- I want to say in quotes, “wrong with him.”Jennie: Right.Stuart: And yet Kitty starts to believe that actually she might not entirely be the person she thinks she is.So again, it's, some of it's around self-discovery, um, and some of it is just how you move in the world when the world is telling you you shouldn't be who you are. I mean, it's coming off the back of the Lavender Scare- Mm-hmm ... in the US, um, that Eisenhower signed in 1953 where queerJennie: people-Stuart: I'm not familiar withJennie: that.Stuart: Oh, okay. So I think it was Order 105410or s- or, or something. But Eisenhower signed it, signed it in 1953, and it basically meant that nobody, no gay man or lesbian could work in a federal job.Jennie: Oh, I, I was not aware of that.Stuart: So, you know, thousands and thousands of people were put [00:28:00] out of employment in the US. Wow. So it's coming off the back of that Lavender Scare, um, and it was very much treated like they were a security risk.Jennie: Wow. Um, I'm not gonna get really deep into the series because you and I are gonna do a deep dive on, uh, series development. Um, and for our listeners, Stuart is obviously, um, I would say one of the world's foremost experts on my blueprint method. H- how's that for a title?Stuart: That's very kind of you.Jennie: Um, he teaches it, he coaches it, he holds the high bar for certification that we have at Author Accelerator around the blueprint and other things.But one of the things that he has really done is, is to do a very deep dive on understanding how to use the blueprint [00:29:00] to develop a series, and how you think about one book, how you think about the whole series, the, the order of things, the, the way this tool can be used in this way, and his work on this is, uh, blew me away truly.So I've asked Stuart to come back onto the podcast, and we're going to do a series of two, uh, podcasts, where in one we're gonna talk about the overview of how to use the blueprint to develop a series, and it can be any genre, uh, any- Mm-hmm ... fictional genre, and then we're gonna do a second podcast on ... Now I can't remember what it was, but I think it wasOh, the story engine, and you, and you referenced that with, for your series, the, the ship and, and this container and how to develop a story engine. [00:30:00] And this will also all lead to a special offer to work directly with Stuart on a series, so, um, using the blueprint. So all of that, I'm making all these big promises.I hope they all come true.Stuart: They will. They will.Jennie: Um, all of this is just, uh, laying the groundwork for, for folks who are interested in designing, developing, building a series, and, um, doing it with somebody who has this incredible creative and playful mind, and you can get a sense of the way Stuart thinks and, and works and, um, of the things that he makes.Uh, can you tell us, Stuart, w- if people wanna read All Hands on Deck right now, where can they go? If people wanna find you, and how on earth can they see and hear all this cool stuff you've made? Tell us all the things.Stuart: Okay. [00:31:00] So, uh, in terms of, obviously you can find me at thebookcoach.co. On Instagram, I'm Mr.S Wakefield. Um, so that's where you'll be able to see where I share the cool things that I've made. Um, and then in terms of buying, I mean, all good bookstores. I've already had some, some podcast listeners of mine send me pictures of them holding their, uh, books in, you know, American bookstores, which is fantastic to see.Uh, so yeah, you know, everywhere that you can buy a book. It's not just Amazon, boo, hiss. Um, you know, you should be able to get it in all, all, you know, good, good bookstores.Jennie: Excellent. So, uh, say your, say that Instagram again, just so people can hear.Stuart: Uh, it's Mr. S Wakefield.Jennie: Okay, great. Well, um, we have much more to talk about, and we, and we will be talking about, but this was just so fun to hear your process and this, um, this sense of marketing as a [00:32:00] creative project.And it'll be really fun to follow along and check in with you in our next episodes about where all of this stands as well.Stuart: Great. Thank you.Jennie: Thanks for joining us, Stuart.Stuart: Okay. Take care, Jennie. Bye.Jennie: And for our listeners, thanks for listening. Now let's get back to work and finish what matters mostOutro: The hashtag amwriting podcast is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their [00:33:00] work This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Before Robert Neville, vampires wore capes, slept in coffins, and hypnotized you from across a candlelit room. Richard Matheson looked at all that gothic nonsense and said "nah" — and gave us a vampire epidemic caused by bacteria instead of curses. This week, Elton cracks open Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954), the book that swapped Transylvanian castles for a fortified house in Compton and turned the last man on Earth into the actual monster of the story.GET THE BOOK FROM AMAZON HERE!⁠⁠FROM AN INDIE BOOK STORE HERE!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BECOME AN Elton Reads A Book A Week CONTRIBUTOR HERE:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Elton Reads A Book A Week Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me A Coffee!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SOCIAL MEDIA!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This is the LINK TREE!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Discord server!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EMAIL: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠eltonreadsabookaweek@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The following section is reserved for the people, places, things, and more that Elton probably offended in this episode--THE APOLOGIES SECTION: Elton would like to apologize to the following people, places and things: The Edge, cheese, expletives, beards, beardless warriors, Kentucky, necks, every person, place and thing that I mispronounced. Also,...f**k racists.A special thanks to Diedrich Bader and Jenna Fischer for their inspiration.Also, inside this episode:Who Richard Matheson was, from a Brooklyn childhood obsessed with Dracula to writing 16 episodes of The Twilight Zone and inventing the modern zombie movie by accidentA deep dive through 4,000 years of vampire folklore — Mesopotamian Ekimmu, Greek Lamia, Serbian corpse panics, and the actual Austrian government report that introduced the word "vampire" to Western EuropeThe Great New England Vampire Panic: the real, deeply unsettling 18th–19th century American history of families exhuming dead relatives, burning their hearts, and drinking the ashes to cure tuberculosis — including the notorious case of Mercy Brown, the story that likely inspired Dracula itselfHow Matheson pathologized the vampire myth — stakes, garlic, mirrors, and crosses all get a biological explanation via Vampiris BacillusThe book's tangled DNA of 1950s Red Scare paranoia, "white flight" suburban anxiety, the Lavender Scare, and academic arguments over whether the vampires are really about repressed sexuality, class, or hardwired evolutionary fearAlso: the show hires its first-ever joke writers on spec, and it goes about as well as you'd expectWhether you know I Am Legend from the book, the Will Smith movie, or just osmosis, this episode digs into why Matheson's take on the vampire still crawls under readers' skin 70 years later — and why "normal" was always just a fragile agreement everyone could break at once.Book discussed: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954) Runtime segments: Author biography · History of the vampire myth · Book analysis & literary criticism · Segment 3: The Last Man on Earth

What kind of man doesn't drink, avoids women, and prefers the company of other strange men in the park? Gene Fowler Jr.'s I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) plays the alien-infiltration premise with surprising melancholy and remarkable restraint for a film with such a lurid title. Mike, Bill Ackerman, and Ben Buckingham dig into the film's overlapping readings — Cold War paranoia, the Lavender Scare, queer coding, and a feminist critique the film simultaneously makes and undermines. They also take on the 1998 UPN TV remake directed by Nancy Malone and Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife (1999), tracing how the same essential story mutates across four decades of American anxiety.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

What kind of man doesn't drink, avoids women, and prefers the company of other strange men in the park? Gene Fowler Jr.'s I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) plays the alien-infiltration premise with surprising melancholy and remarkable restraint for a film with such a lurid title. Mike, Bill Ackerman, and Ben Buckingham dig into the film's overlapping readings — Cold War paranoia, the Lavender Scare, queer coding, and a feminist critique the film simultaneously makes and undermines. They also take on the 1998 UPN TV remake directed by Nancy Malone and Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife (1999), tracing how the same essential story mutates across four decades of American anxiety.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

Have you heard of 'Tail-Gunner Joe' McCarthy and the Red Scare?  What about Roy Cohn?  These two not only kicked off the Red Scare where they pursued supposed communists in Government and later the military, but also went aafter gays under the theory that they were 'moral perverts susceptible to blackmail.'.  Despite no evidence appearing that even one of these people were blackmailed outside the movie Clue (which is complete fiction), thousands of employees were fired between 1953 and the 90's when gay employees were forced out of government positions or fotced to live lives undercover simply because of who they loved.  We cover the history of the lavender scare, people who were targeted because of it, a similar case in England where Alan Turing,  the father of Artificial Intelligence was convicted of gross perversion for his relationship with another man and was chemically castrated which led to the unraveling of his brilliant mind.  All this and more in this, this is why we celebrate PRIDE because we need to remind ourselves just how bad it's been for the LGBTQ during our lifetimes episode of the Family Plot Podcast.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/family-plot--4670465/support.

For decades, queer New Yorkers lived inside a hidden city. Beneath the neon lights of Greenwich Village and behind the blacked-out windows of Mafia-run bars, communities formed under constant surveillance. Police raids, undercover officers, secret government files, public humiliation, and the fear of exposure shaped everyday life during one of the largest campaigns against queer Americans in U.S. history. This week, we explore the Lavender Scare in New York City, the hidden geography of queer survival, the bars and streets that became battlegrounds, and the people who refused to disappear quietly.Be sure to Subscribe, Rate, & Review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Audible!Support the show by becoming a sponsor on our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.Patreon.com/NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NYMM Merch! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.NYMysteryMachine.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a strange and/or paranormal story?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share it here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Don't forget to follow us on all the socials:Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | TikTok:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@nymysterymachine.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | X:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠--THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:PRINTFUL: Design your own merch, apparel, and accessories by heading to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.printful.com/a/nymysterymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AUDIBLE: Get a FREE 30 Day Trial by heading to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.AudibleTrial.com/NYMysteryMachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RIVERSIDE.FM: Looking to record podcast, but need software? Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://riverside.fm/?via=nymysterymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Cold War Series, #2 of 4.  During the Lavender Scare, the US government fired hundreds (but possibly thousands) of civil servants for being gay or lesbian, ostensibly because of a Communist-panic in which Americans were convinced a homosexual could be blackmailed into giving up state secrets to those rascally Soviets. Turns out, though they weren't particularly successful at it, the Soviets did try to use sex scandals of all kinds to cultivate spies from the “West” -- including, but not limited to, queer Westerners traveling or working in the USSR. The “honeypot” entrapment was a coercive measure used on all sides of the Iron Curtain to try and get state secrets. And while there's no morality in spy games, the true story of the men used by the KGB to try and tip the scales in the information race of the Cold War is pretty sad--but also a useful window onto the Soviet attitudes toward same-sex desire, the unique relationships of queer citizens to their respective countries, and the messed-up games that characterized the US-USSR struggle for world dominance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hear from acclaimed author, essayist, and critic Thomas Mallon, whose novel Fellow Travelers (2007) inspired an opera and a SHOWTIME® miniseries. With exacting attention to historical detail, Mallon's novel brings to life the shameful era in the early 1950s known as the Lavender Scare, during which gay and lesbian federal employees were systematically expelled from government service. More recently, Mallon also published The Very Heart of It (2025), a collection of journal entries during his literary coming-of-age during the AIDS crisis in New York City. Reporter Katie Campbell, creator and host of the KUOW Book Club, joins Mallon for a lively discussion on these works and the lessons they hold for our own time. Thomas Mallon's eleven books of fiction include Henry and Clara, Fellow Travelers, Watergate (a Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Up With the Sun. He has also written volumes of nonfiction about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One's Own), letters (Yours Ever,) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine's Garage), as well as two books of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact). A collection of his personal journals, The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994, was published by Knopf in June 2025. Mallon's work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and other publications. He received his Ph. D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College. His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the National Book Critics Circle citation for reviewing, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, for distinguished prose style. He has been literary editor of Gentlemen's Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2012, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An eight-part dramatic adaptation of his novel, Fellow Travelers, is now streaming on Showtime/Paramount+, and an opera based on the novel has had over a dozen productions throughout the United States. He is Professor Emeritus of English at The George Washington University and lives in Washington, D. C. Katie Campbell is an editor and reporter for KUOW.org. She has covered a variety of local topics, including Seattle politics, elections, and the arts. She also co-hosts KUOW's weekly arts podcast, Meet Me Here, highlighting the local literary scene and visiting authors. In 2024, Katie created the KUOW Book Club, featuring stories and authors from the Pacific Northwest. Katie's picks have included classics, like Timothy Egan's The Good Rain, and recent hits, like Sonora Jha's The Laughter. Katie's interviews with the featured authors have given readers a chance to hear from some of the most talented writers in the region. All readers are invited to join the KUOW Book Club by signing up for the newsletter at kuow.org/books. Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism, a P-Patch gardener and an auntie. Find her on Bluesky: @katiecampbell.bsky.social

James Kirchick joins Ron Steslow to discuss his book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington (01:55) Why he wrote the book (06:43) The interwoven political history and gay history in Washington (14:33) The melting pot of the gay community and why it was seen as a  threat (19:55) The trope that whatever is bad must be gay (31:51) The Lavender Scare  (35:53) The tension between the gay  loyal foot soldiers of Ronald Reagan and courting the religious right  (49:00) What was challenging about writing the book  You should read Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington: http://bit.ly/3wgiORk Follow James Kirchick and Ron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkirchick https://twitter.com/RonSteslow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our next episode drops on February 24th! In our off weeks, we air episodes of The Gaily Show. It's the only daily LGBTQ radio news and talk show in the US. John conducts a lot of author interviews on there!In this episode, we're talking about US National Security with Lucas F. Schleusener the Executive Director of Out In National Security. Also, a recent guest of This Queer Book Saved My Life! We get into the ban on transgender servicemembers, Lavender Scare 2.0, and how the Trump administration's actions are damaging relationships with our international allies.Connect with Lucas and Out in National Security at their website: https://www.outinnationalsecurity.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutInNatSecBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/outinnationalsecurity.orgWatch on YouTubeWe're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshowCreditsHost/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change)Executive Producer: Jim PoundsProduction and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy EricksonSupport the show

Luke Schleusener, Co-Founder & CEO of Out In National Security (ONS) talks to Mike and Kyle about US national security, the second Lavender Scare, healthcare (or lack thereof) of Veterans Affairs, the trans military ban, and even Greenland. Learn more about Out in National Security at http://outinnationalsecurity.org/ or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/outinnatsec/. In this episode: News- 1:49 || Main Topic (National Security)- 18:42 || Guest (Luke Schleusener)- 20:42 || Gayest & Straightest- 1:04:31 Buy our book, You're Probably Gayish, available right now at www.gayishpodcast.com/book! Each chapter dissects one gay stereotype ranging from drugs to gaydar to iced coffee. It's also available as an audiobook on Audible, Spotify, and more. If you want to join Mike and Kyle on their 2027 Mexican Riviera cruise, visit www.gayishpodcast.com/cruise to sign up. Make sure to check Gayish as the podcast you're attending for. On the Patreon bonus segment, Mike and Kyle talk about (hating) ICE. If you want to support our show while getting ad-free episodes a day early, go to www.patreon.com/gayishpodcast.

To recognize No Name-Calling Week, Mike and Kyle talk about bullying! More specifically, the history of bullying, the LGBT data on school bullying, LGBT bullying by closeted gays including the Lavender Scare, LGBT bullying laws, and whether it actually gets better. In this episode: News- 5:32 || Main Topic (Bullying)- 18:06 || Gayest & Straightest- 1:17:49 Buy our book, You're Probably Gayish, available right now at www.gayishpodcast.com/book! Each chapter dissects one gay stereotype ranging from drugs to gaydar to iced coffee. It's also available as an audiobook on Audible, Spotify, and more. If you want to join Mike and Kyle on their 2027 Mexican Riviera cruise, visit www.gayishpodcast.com/cruise to sign up. Make sure to check Gayish as the podcast you're attending for. On the Patreon bonus segment, Mike tells Kyle more about the It Gets Better project. If you want to support our show while getting ad-free episodes a day early, go to www.patreon.com/gayishpodcast.

This week Bryan is upset over his short haircut, and Erin's back from her trip to Italy where she got her fill of truffles and was made fun of by flight attendants because of her hairstyle. Erin covers how women are exposing the "bro-coding" algorithm on LinkedIn by changing their gender marker from female to male and seeing an increase in their reach and visibilty on the networking platform. Bryan discusses the modern day Lavender Scare and how right-wing influencers and government officials are on the hunt for "woke" government employees and policies and firing people for how they identify. For additional hours of bonus content visit www.patreon.com/attitudesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the Lavender Scare, a roughly forty-year period in history (spanning from the late-1940s and into the early-1990s) in which thousands of government employees lost their job as part of a federal anti-gay policy. Under Executive Order 10450 issued in 1953, it became a legal policy to remove all known gay men and women from federal service because it was believed that homosexuals have a proclivity for weakness and would therefore pose a threat to national security if they remained in their positions within the government.We all know about Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare that he set off with his infamous congressional speech about the list of communists he claimed to know worked for the government. But alongside that scare, lesser known than that scare, was the Lavender Scare. As Senator Alan K. Simpson later wrote of it, “The so-called ‘Red Scare' has been the main focus of most historians of that period of time. A lesser-known element and one that harmed far more people was the witch-hunt McCarthy and others conducted against homosexuals.” And while McCarthyism is generally associated with the 1940s and 1950s, the Lavender Scare went far beyond that with one federal employee telling about his experience in 1980! Jamie Shoemaker was called into his boss' office at the National Security Agency in 1980 where “...they said ‘we understand you're leading a gay lifestyle. And I remember saying, ‘well, I didn't think I was leading it, but yes, I'm gay.'" He was then placed on leave for four months while his bosses hemmed and hawed about what they were going to do…all to eventually fire him for his sexual orientation…nearly thirty years after the Executive Order had first been put into place!I find this topic to be fascinating – and also, obviously, brutal and disgusting – but fascinating because it is a lesser known part of history…and yet it is wrapped up in the larger picture of a very well known part of history; that being, McCarthyism and the Red Scare.Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!THANKS FOR LISTENING!- Rachel and LeahEditor: Alex PerezCopyright: The Hashtag History Podcast

Laurel is back for episode three of season six! Join Kt and Laurel as they jump into the tumultuous era of McCarthyism, exploring the rise and fall of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and the widespread fear of communism in America. Grab some snacks, libation of choice and join your favorite stoner history sisters in the Smoke Circle as we discover the impact of the Red Scare on American society, the Lavender Scare's hidden history, and the lessons we can learn from this period.~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠Email—hightailingthroughhistory@gmail.com⁠ ~~~~~*Mentioned in the Stories:Constitution and the Smithsonian Under Attack—https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/constitution-trump-congress-website-removed-b2804095.htmlhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/smithsonian-removes-trump-from-an-exhibits-impeachment-display-but-says-its-temporaryhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-amplifies-attacks-on-out-of-control-smithsonian-museums-for-including-negative-parts-of-american-historyhttps://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500550/smithsonian-trump-reviewWhen McCarthy Defended Nazis—https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/senator-mccarthys-nazi-problem-180975174/ Episodes mentioned in the show—The Night Witches EpisodeThe Lavender Scare Episode ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/mccarthyism-red-scarehttps://www.history.com/articles/joseph-mccarthyhttps://www.britannica.com/event/McCarthyismhttps://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/censure/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm#:~:text=The%20select%20committee%20unanimously%20recommended,constitute%20a%20basis%20for%20censure.%22https://www.historynet.com/fact-from-fiction-joseph-mccarthy-the-tail-gunner/https://www.biography.com/political-figures/joseph-mccarthyhttps://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/mccarthyism/~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Laurel is back for episode three of season six! Join Kt and Laurel as they jump into the tumultuous era of McCarthyism, exploring the rise and fall of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and the widespread fear of communism in America. Grab some snacks, libation of choice and join your favorite stoner history sisters in the Smoke Circle as we discover the impact of the Red Scare on American society, the Lavender Scare's hidden history, and the lessons we can learn from this period.~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠Email—hightailingthroughhistory@gmail.com⁠ ~~~~~*Mentioned in the Stories:Constitution and the Smithsonian Under Attack—https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/constitution-trump-congress-website-removed-b2804095.htmlhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/smithsonian-removes-trump-from-an-exhibits-impeachment-display-but-says-its-temporaryhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-amplifies-attacks-on-out-of-control-smithsonian-museums-for-including-negative-parts-of-american-historyhttps://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5500550/smithsonian-trump-reviewWhen McCarthy Defended Nazis—https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/senator-mccarthys-nazi-problem-180975174/ Episodes mentioned in the show—The Night Witches EpisodeThe Lavender Scare Episode ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/mccarthyism-red-scarehttps://www.history.com/articles/joseph-mccarthyhttps://www.britannica.com/event/McCarthyismhttps://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/censure/133Joseph_McCarthy.htm#:~:text=The%20select%20committee%20unanimously%20recommended,constitute%20a%20basis%20for%20censure.%22https://www.historynet.com/fact-from-fiction-joseph-mccarthy-the-tail-gunner/https://www.biography.com/political-figures/joseph-mccarthyhttps://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/mccarthyism/~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Host | Matthew S WilliamsOn ITSPmagazine  

This week on the Troika we complete our short, interruption-filled foray into "The Lavender Scare," a time in America where the US government used laws, and moral and nationalistic fear-mongering to preclude a certain group of people from being safe, employed, or legally American. No, not now, but more like 30-50 years ago. But, also now, yes. Enjoy while we still can :(

Although the Hays Code and Lavender Scare served as a deterrent to queer representation in cinema, many filmmakers still found ways to include queer themes into their works. In his new book Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness, film historian Michael Koresky collects examples of these early queer projects and helps provide context to their development. Detailing the use of queer innuendos and development of Hays-code approved stereotypes, the book shares how films like The Children’s Hour and Rebecca served as some of the earliest examples of LGBTQ-themed cinema. Joining us to discuss their book, early films with queer themes and the filmmakers behind them, is Michael Koresky, author of the new book Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness. ‘Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness’ is out now, click here for more information. Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency!

Happy Pride month, Happy Juneteenth! This week on the Troika we begin a multi-part discussion about "The Lavender Scare,' when several government officials(some of which who were gay themselves) decided that gay government employees who were not as powerful as them should be fired because how dare they! Or something like that - Steve explains it better if the other Steve would stop talking. Enjoy!

Before “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” and rainbow capitalism, there was the Lavender Scare—a government-backed witch hunt targeting LGBTQ+ federal employees as threats to national security. In this episode, we uncover how Cold War paranoia collided with homophobia, turning queerness into a crime of patriotism. From surveillance and mass firings to one man's fight that helped spark a movement, we trace the eerie parallels between 1950s propaganda and today's anti-trans legislation and drag bans. History doesn't repeat—it legislates.

Julie on Women's Hour https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0029zcy Lesbians and the lavender scarehttps://daily.jstor.org/lesbians-and-the-lavender-scare/Full article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26857562?mag=lesbians-and-the-lavender-scare&seq=1LGB suicide riskhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14587815/Lesbian-gay-bisexual-twice-likely-self-harm-suicide.htmlhttps://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/mentalhealth/bulletins/selfharmandsuicidebysexualorientationenglandandwales/march2021todecember2023Murder in the Valleyshttps://www.skygroup.sky/article/sky-announces-gripping-true-crime-series-on-the-biggest-criminal-investigation-in-welsh-history-murder-in-the-valleyshttps://www.nowtv.com/watch/asset/murder-in-the-valleys/iYEQYZaTURDhwXD32M5WkbAsexuals againhttps://www.gaytimes.com/life/my-life-as-an-aceflux-asexual-person/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thelesbianprojectpod.com/subscribe

Before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and rainbow capitalism, there was the Lavender Scare—a government-backed witch hunt targeting LGBTQ+ federal employees as threats to national security. In this episode, we uncover how Cold War paranoia collided with homophobia, turning queerness into a crime of patriotism. From surveillance and mass firings to one man's fight that helped spark a movement, we trace the eerie parallels between 1950s propaganda and today's anti-trans legislation and drag bans. History doesn't repeat—it legislates.

In February/March 2026 Seattle Opera premieres a new production of Fellow Travelers, an opera (based on the novel by Thomas Mallon) with music by Gregory Spears to a libretto by Greg Pierce that premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016. Jonathan Dean introduces this beautiful new American opera, a love story set against the historical backdrop of McCarthy's witch hunts and the Lavender Scare in 1950s Washington, DC. Musical examples from the world premiere recording of Fellow Travelers, conducted by Mark Gibson and featuring Aaron Blake as Tim, Joseph Lattanzi as Hawk, Devon Guthrie as Mary, Tayla Lieberman as Lucy, Marcus DeLoach, Vernon Hartman, Paul Scholten, and Christian Pursell in other roles, with the orchestra of Cincinnati Opera.

A new episode in our special limited series featuring owners/staff of LGBTQ bookstores drops next week on April 15th! In our off weeks, we air a recent episode of The Gaily Show which John hosts for AM950 Radio. The Gaily Show is one of the only daily LGBTQ news and talk shows in the country.In this Thinking Clearly, Thinking Queerly episode, attorney Dr. Tim Jon Semmerling joins us to share his experiences in GTMO as a gay-American: death-penalty-defense, working with al-Qaeda defendants charged with the crimes of 9/11, and confronting the one of the most powerful institutions in the world -- the U.S. Department of Defense. His writing shows that the Lavender Scare may not be entirely extinguished, but rather homophobia remains among the government's worst urges today.Watch on YouTubeWe're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshowCreditsHost/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change)Executive Producer: Jim PoundsProduction and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy EricksonJoin us April 10 at 6pm at Brooklyn Public Library! An evening of queer first loves, first queer heartbreaks, friendship, finding oneself through writing, and just a little bit of internet stalking with Mia Arias Tsang and Chloé Caldwell. Free and RSVP: bklynlib.org/this-queer-bookSupport the show

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson discuss Christina's latest Slate article, The New Lavender Scare, which highlights the experiences of queer and trans federal employees grappling with the threat of retaliation, job loss, and a chilling political climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe for full episode The MAGA attack on government jobs, takeover of government agencies, and purge of supposed “DEI” and “woke” professionals has a long history in the US. Julian uses old-timey newsreels, biographies, and events in the public record to trace the lines from 1919 to today, making stops at the so-called Red Summer's “race riots,” Red Scare communist panics, Hollywood Blacklist, and Lavender Scare that fired thousands for being presumed gay. Unrelated to any of this completely useless and repressive paranoid bigotry, actual Soviet spies were being apprehended and prosecuted—even then everything was not on the level. The prosecutors had their own hidden skeletons and shady bedfellows, even as they claimed the patriotic moral high ground. At the heart of this history is a lineage of men who never let truth get in the way of gaining, and wielding, power and cruelty. Julian uncovers a surprisingly direct lineage of dirty-tricks demagogue succession, from Woodrow Wilson to A. Mitchell Palmer, to J. Edgar Hoover, to Joe McCarthy, to Roy Cohn, to Roger Stone, to our current president. Editorial Note: The Paul Robeson clip that starts the episode is a re-enactment by James Earl Jones for the Zinn Education Project. It uses the transcript of Robeson's 1956 appearance before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi listeners — Beatrice and Artie are currently on parental leave. (We were planning to be able to telegraph the announcement more this week, but "baby death panel" had other plans, and came early!). While we're away, we'll still have episodes in the feed, like today's episode; a mix of some old favorites we haven't revisited in a while and some unlocks. We'll be back as soon as it's safe and reasonable for us to do so, because with everything going on right now we want to make sure we're here for everyone. We also want to thank each and every one of you, because without support from our patrons it wouldn't be possible for us to take this kind of time. So if you can, now is a great time to support the show at patreon.com/deathpanelpod — either by becoming a patron or increasing your membership. This episode was originally released for Death Panel patrons November 27th, 2023. Original episode description: Beatrice and Jules speak with Melissa Gira Grant about the history of the Lavender Scare, the anti-gay campaign that overlapped and ran in parallel with the Red Scare, how it shaped the politics of gender and sexuality today, and whether we're experiencing a new Lavender Scare today or if instead the Lavender Scare never ended. Find our book Health Communism here: www.versobooks.com/books/4081-health-communism Find Jules' new book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny, here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny Death Panel merch here (patrons get a discount code): www.deathpanel.net/merch As always, support Death Panel at www.patreon.com/deathpanelpod

James Kirchick joins Ron Steslow to discuss his book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington (01:55) Why he wrote the book (06:43) The interwoven political history and gay history in Washington (14:33) The melting pot of the gay community and why it was seen as a  threat (19:55) The trope that whatever is bad must be gay (31:51) The Lavender Scare  (35:53) The tension between the gay  loyal foot soldiers of Ronald Reagan and courting the religious right  (49:00) What was challenging about writing the book  You should read Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington: http://bit.ly/3wgiORk Follow James Kirchick and Ron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jkirchick https://twitter.com/RonSteslow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are entering a new Lavender Scare era. Please call your representatives.

Crime & Punishment Episode #4 of 4.  In the late 1940s and 1950s, alongside the better known “Red Scare” that targeted alleged internal political enemies - American Communists - the US government led a crusade against gay men and women in the military and civil service. During the “Lavender Scare,” thousands of people were fired or forced from their jobs, dishonorably discharged from the military, and denied positions in the US government because of their sexuality. And those policies were enforced for decades - through “liberal” administrations, and the federal decriminalization of same-sex sex in 2003 - with life-ruining, and life-ending consequences for tens of thousands of Americans. And since we're basically reliving this awful period in history because Republicans believe that a time of queer persecution, women as second class citizens, and segregation and racism is America's “great” era, we better know the history so we can know how to fight.  Bibliography Allan Berube, Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II (University of North Carolina Press, 2010).  Julian Carter, The Heart of Whiteness: Normal Sexuality and Race in America, 1880–1940 (Duke University Press, 2007).  Josh Howard, The Lavender Scare, (Alexander Street Films). John Howard, Men Like That: Southern Queer History, (University of Chicago Press, 1999). David K. Johnson, “The Lavender Scare: Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Civil Service,” PhD Diss, (Northwestern University, 2000). E. Patrick Johnson, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (University of North Carolina Press, 2008) Elizabeth L. Kennedy and Madeline Davis, Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community (Routledge, 1993). Anna Lvovsky, Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle over Urban Gay Life before Stonewall, (University of Chicago Press, 2021). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we're joined by Lisa Cordileone and Shaan Dasani, the visionary executive producers behind Crazy as a Loon, a film inspired by a dark and often-overlooked chapter of American history: The Lavender Scare. In 1953, during this unsettling period, LGBTQ+ government employees were targeted and persecuted, deemed security risks to the country due to the belief that their identities made them morally weak and vulnerable to blackmail.Lisa and Shaan bring their personal perspectives to this powerful story that transcends history, addressing universal themes of resilience, family, and the pursuit of peace.Lisa's background as an actor and producer fuels her passion for amplifying LGBTQ+ voices, celebrating underrepresented historical figures, and mentoring new talent in filmmaking. Shaan, an actor and filmmaker, contributes a deeply human lens to storytelling, emphasizing shared experiences that foster empathy and understanding.In this episode, you'll learn:The inspiration behind the short film and how it sheds light on The Lavender Scare while exploring timeless human struggles.How Lisa and Shaan's lived experiences as LGBTQ+ creatives shape their storytelling.The challenges and rewards of using film to bridge societal divides and promote empathy.Tips for creating narratives that prioritize authenticity and inclusivity.Through their filmmaking, Lisa and Shaan remind us of the enduring power of storytelling to illuminate history, celebrate diversity, and inspire change.Links:Crazy as a Loon Updates: https://www.instagram.com/crazyasaloon.shortfilm/Lisa Cordileone: https://www.instagram.com/lisa.cordileone/Shaan Dasani: https://www.instagram.com/shaandasani/Become a part of our community on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diversity_beyondthecheckbox/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/diversity-beyond-the-checkbox-podcast/Our Website: https://beyondthecheckbox.com/Hosted by award-winning business leader, best-selling author, investor and co-founder of The Diversity Movement, Jackie Ferguson.Production by Earfluence.

[Originally released 11/22]Maggie Haberman is, of course, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who's covered the political rise of Donald Trump for the New York Times...and her book, CONFIDENCE MAN: The Making of Donald Trump & The Breaking of America became an immediate best seller. In this conversation, Maggie dives into all things Trump...from his formative influences in the New York City of the 70s and 80s, to his political ascent, time in the White House, her take on the likelihood of another Trump run, what a Trump White House restoration would look like...and much more from perhaps the most authoritative voice on the Trump political phenomenon. IN THIS EPISODE…Maggie breaks down the influences that explain Trump's political persona…The member of Congress with whom has had a decades-long feud…Maggie talks Trump's ethos of “hate as a civic good”…Why Trump never wanted to be Mayor of New York City…Maggie talks the rise of Trump as a credible candidate in 2015…How Trump leveraged Twitter so successfully…Maggie on the connection between Trump and the National Enquirer…How Trump has recently lost allies among the conservative media…Why Trump as the “deal maker” fell flat in the White House…Maggie's thoughts on Trump's various legal entanglements, old and new…How Maggie thinks about the challenge of covering candidates who lie…Maggie's instincts on a Trump 2024 campaign…The faces Maggie would expect to see around Trump in a second term…What it's like to have 1-on-1 conversations with Trump…What's surprised Maggie most about Trump's behavior over the past year…The status of Trump relationships with names like Giuliani, McConnell, Bannon, Roger Stone...Some of Maggies favorite books and authors covering NYC politics...AND avenging angels, Bill Barr, Wayne Barrett, birtherism, Mike Bloomberg, E. Jean Carroll, catch-and-kill, the Central Park Jogger, Hillary Clinton, Michael Cohen, Roy Cohn, James Comey, conspiracy theories, convention speeches, covfefe, Andrew Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, Ron DeSantis, the Dobbs decisions, Meade Esposito,  the favor economy, Fox News, Stanley Friedman, Ric Grenell, Sean Hannity, instinctive racial paranoia, Andrew Kirtzman, Ed Koch, Jared Kushner, the Lavender Scare, Rush Limbaugh, low-interest federal loans, Donald Manes, John McCain, McCarthy acolytes, Mark Meadows, Andrew Meier, Robert Morgenthau, Rupert Murdoch, Muslim bans, Jack Newfield, NewsMax, Richard Nixon, OAN, George Pataki, Kash Patel, David Pecker, permanent enemies, Jeanine Pirro, Vladimir Putin, John Ratcliffe, rejecting objective reality, Seth Rich, rubber chicken dinners, Eric Schneiderman, Doug Schoen, Time Magazine, transactional media, Allen Weisselberg, white noise…. & more!

Back in the 1950s, America was very afraid of Soviet spies and communist sympathizers infiltrating the government and destroying the United States from within. And there were actual spies sharing secrets with the Soviets. But concern soon gave way to paranoia, and a political witch-hunt began, with a self-serving senator from Wisconsin leading a very misguided and ultimately anti-American and embarrassing Red Scare that destroyed the lives of many. If you are able to give extra support this holiday season, please consider supporting the annual Bad Magic Giving Tree by purchasing a digital amazon gift card and sending it to givingtree2024@badmagicproductions.comWe are accepting gift cards starting now through November 21st!Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch-related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard? Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast.Sign up through Patreon, and for $5 a month, you get access to the entire Secret Suck catalog (295 episodes) PLUS the entire catalog of Timesuck, AD FREE. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. 

In this episode of 92NY Talks, join Emmy nominees and stars of Showtime's Fellow Travelers, Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, as they discuss the making of the show with Extra's Tommy DiDario. From LGBTQ history to love and relationships to the devastation Lavender Scare of the 1950s, they'll share behind-the-scenes insights and personal reflections about this powerful, acclaimed series.   The conversation was recorded on August 15, 2024 in front of a live audience at The 92nd Street Y, New York.

It's an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Neil J. Young, co-host of the Past Present podcast, to discuss his recent book Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right. Then, she speaks with Hal Singer, economics professor at the University of Utah, to discuss some of Kamala Harris' recent economic policy proposals. First, Emma runs through updates on Israel's expanding offensive in the West Bank, major polling bumps for Dems, the first Harris/Walz interview, Trump's Q invocation, Trump's would-be assassin, Biden's major victory over drug prices, SCOTUS' continuing attacks on student debt relief, Brazil vs. Elon Musk, Cornell's labor action, and corruption in journalism, before parsing through the overwhelming threat of every type of violence that Palestinians face in the West Bank. Neil J. Young then joins, diving right into the roots of the gay Republican movement in the Cold War-era Lavender Scare, an overwhelming attempt by US federal, state, and local governments to criminalize, surveil, and punish queer Americans, be they politicians, military, police, or just every-day citizens, leading up to a 1978 ballot initiative from the religious right in California to ban queer people from teaching in public schools that saw an overwhelming organizing effort from gay Republicans to shoot down the initiative and prove that they belong in the GOP, a belief that took root among white gay men in San Francisco, before taking off nationally. Moving forward, Young then looks to the major role played by California Governor and US President Ronald Reagan over the outset and evolution of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in pushing rhetoric and policy that sought to otherize and demonize the homosexual “lifestyle” as the root of the crisis, and helping to launch a period of severe backlash to the social progress of the 1960s, particularly among the right. After expanding on the role of the public school system, and specifically the targeting of public school teachers, in right-wing attempts to marginalize and exclude queer folks, Neil and Emma walk through some of the major parallels we see with the challenges facing queer Americans today, wrapping up with the importance of understanding the immense stakes of this moment within its historical context. Professor Hal Singer then jumps right into the story of the US fight against inflation over the last few years, tackling the roles of price gouging and a corrupt rental market in exacerbating this economic crisis, including an expansive conversation on RealPage's landlord price-fixing suit, and the absurd arguments that economists and elites used to obscure these root causes. Next, Professor Singer and Emma walk through the recent economic proposals from the Harris campaign that focus on these particular issues and what they mean within the context of the transition between Biden and her administrations, before briefly challenging the focus on anti-trust as a tool to prevent price gouging, and wrapping up the interview with an assessment of Biden major victory in drug price negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry, and how Harris can expand on and learn from that win. And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they watch JD Vance and Tim Walz make clear the party divide on unions, Royce White insults the “cuck mentality” that won Trump his first campaign, and JD Vance's cousin, BD, gives a peak behind the ol' country curtain of JD's campaign. Kari from New York unpacks RFK's myriad problematic beliefs, Jamie from ME on Gen-Z and Biden, and Mike Huckabee on Trump's prescient assholery, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Neil's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo212887554.html Check out the Past Present podcast here: https://www.pastpresentpodcast.com/ Follow Hal on Twitter here: https://x.com/HalSinger Donate IF YOU CAN to friend of the show Mohamed Aldaghma's Gaza Bakery project to help displaced families: https://www.gofundme.com/f/gaza-bakery-feeding-displaced-families Check out the LIMITED EDITION Vergogna shirt on the MR shop!: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/collections/all-items/products/the-majority-report-vergogna-t-shirt Check out Tony Y, who designed the Vergogna shirt's website!: https://linktr.ee/tonyyanick AND! Check out Anne from Portland's website for HER Vergogna t-shirt! 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Go to https://shopify.com/majority now to grow your business–no matter what stage you're in.   Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Sunday on PBS News Weekend, devastating Midwestern floods are putting a spotlight on the condition of America's aging dams. Then, how the sports world is taking on a new opponent: climate change. Plus, the hidden history of the Lavender Scare, when thousands of federal workers were forced out of their jobs just because they were gay. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

On this final day of Pride Month, the next installment of our "Hidden Histories'' series isn't about an individual, but a phenomenon: how the anti-communist paranoia that gripped Washington at the dawn of the Cold War led to an often-overlooked chapter in LGBTQ history. John Yang speaks with Marc Stein, a history professor at San Francisco State University, to learn more. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

One day in late April 1958, a young economist named Madeleine Tress was approached by two men in suits at her office at the U.S. Department of Commerce. They took her to a private room, turned on a tape recorder, and demanded she respond to allegations that she was an "admitted homosexual." Two weeks later, she resigned.Madeleine was one of thousands of victims of a purge of gay and lesbian people ordered at the highest levels of the U.S. government: a program spurred by a panic that destroyed careers and lives and lasted more than forty years. Today, it's known as the "Lavender Scare."In a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are again in the public crosshairs, we tell the story of the Lavender Scare: its victims, its proponents, and a man who fought for decades to end it.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! I recently came across this story about something called “The Lavender Scare.” I was like omg… first of all, what a beautiful name. Sounds nice, what is it? And turns out, it was a government sponsored witch hunt, hellbent on ruining the lives of millions of gay people in America… and nobody really talks about it. If you were targeted in the Lavender Scare, your life was over. Pack your bags. You're moving back to Oklahoma. I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History.  Want some cool Bailey Merch?  Shop Dark History Merch: https://www.baileysarian.com _______ You can find the Dark History podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, and every Thursday here on my YouTube for the visual side of things.  Apple Podcast- https://www.apple.co/darkhistory Dark History Merch-  https://www.baileysarian.com _______ FOLLOW ME AROUND   Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d  Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: cases4bailey@gmail.com  Business Related Emails: baileysarianteam@wmeagency.com Business Related Mail:  Bailey Sarian  4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300  Burbank, CA 91505

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comNeil is a writer and historian. He used to be a contributing columnist at The Week, and he now co-hosts the “Past Present” history podcast. His first book was We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics, and his new one is Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right.For two clips of our convo — on when the Postal Service snooped on gay men's letters, and Trump's growing support among gays and lesbians — pop over to our YouTube page. Other topics: growing up a gay kid in a Baptist family in central Florida; college at Duke then Columbia while living in NYC for two decades; how gays are a unique minority because they're born randomly across the US; the Best Little Boy in the World syndrome; the libertarian tradition of gay activists; the Mattachine Society; the obscure importance of Dorr Legg and One magazine; the Lavender Scare; the courage of Frank Kameny; how “privileged” white men had more to lose by coming out; the fundraising power of Marvin Liebman; his close friendship with Bill Buckley; the direct-mail pioneer Terry Dolan; Bob Bauman's stellar career in the GOP until getting busted for prostitutes; Michael Barone; David Brock; Barney Frank's slur “Uncle Tom Cabin Republicans”; the AIDS epidemic; how the virus sparked mass outings and assimilation; gay groups decimated by the disease; why gay Republicans wanted to keep the bathhouses open; John Boswell's history on gay Christians; my conservative case for marriage in 1989; the bravery of Bruce Bawer and Jon Rauch; the early opposition to marriage by the gay left and Dem establishment; HRC's fecklessness; the lies and viciousness of gay lefties like Richard Goldstein; Randy Shilts despised by fellow gays; Bayard Rustin; war hero Leonard Matlovich; how DADT drummed out more gays from the military than ever before; Clinton's betrayal with DOMA; the peerless legal work of Evan Wolfson and reaching across the ideological aisle; how quickly the public shifted on marriage; the Log Cabin Republicans in the early ‘00s; Dubya's marriage amendment; his striking down of the HIV travel ban; PEPFAR; Ken Mehlman; Tim Gill; Kennedy's opinion in Obergefell; Gorsuch's opinion in Bostock; Buttigeig's historic run; the RNC's outreach to gays in 2019; Jamie Kirchick's book; Caitlyn Jenner; the groomer slur; the conflict between homosexuality and transness when it comes to kids; Tavistock; and the new conversion therapy.Coming up on the Dishcast: Eli Lake on Israel and foreign affairs, Kara Swisher on Silicon Valley, Adam Moss on the artistic process, George Will on Trump and conservatism, Johann Hari on weight-loss drugs, Noah Smith on the economy, Nellie Bowles on the woke revolution, Bill Maher on everything, and the great Van Jones! Please send any guest recs, dissents, and other pod comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Jonathan Rauch of the Brookings Institution joins to discuss the most openly totalitarian period of American history: the Lavender Scare. And to point out that there are still people alive who suffered through it, and what restitutions can be made.   Article at The Atlantic: “The U.S. Should Apologize to Gay People.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/lavender-scare-gay-people-public-service-erasure/677236/

This week, the Outward hosts discuss Fellow Travelers, a new historical drama from Showtime that takes us into gay D.C during the Lavender Scare of the 1950's. Bryan, Christina, and Jules dive into the sex and the sexual politics of the show and answer the most important question, were people really that hot in the 1950s? Pride and Provocations: All the Only Ones Your Kid is Trans. You Live in Texas. There Are No Good Options LaundryTok with Melissa Pateras Gay Agenda The Risk it Takes to Bloom Pride Flag: Birth of a Rainbow Email us at: outwardpodcast@slate.com Podcast production by Palace Shaw.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One day in late April 1958, a young economist named Madeleine Tress was approached by two men in suits at her office at the U.S. Department of Commerce. They took her to a private room, turned on a tape recorder, and demanded she respond to allegations that she was an "admitted homosexual." Two weeks later, she resigned. Madeleine was one of thousands of victims of a purge of gay and lesbian people ordered at the highest levels of the U.S. government: a program spurred by a panic that destroyed careers and lives and lasted more than forty years. Today, it's known as the "Lavender Scare." In a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are again in the public crosshairs, we tell the story of the Lavender Scare: its victims, its proponents, and a man who fought for decades to end it.

Helen James grew up in a military family — her great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, her father in WWI, and her uncles in WWII. So when she enlisted in 1952, she felt like she belonged. Shortly after, she realized she was being watched. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. Listen back through our archives at youtube.com/criminalpodcast.  We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices