We Have Officially Entered A Golden Age Of Queer Women In Podcasting
Last year, we brought you a roundup of some of our favorite queer podcasts lighting up the virtual airwaves. Since then, a whole host of new podcasts by, for, and about LGBT people have emerged—including an unprecedented number of shows that highlight the voices of queer women.
While you're probably already familiar with some of the best-known ones—like Never Before, Still Processing, Queery, and Nancy—new podcasts from both big names and lesser-known (but equally brilliant) creators are emerging with such frequency right now that it can be hard to keep track of them all.
To help, we caught up with the creators of 22 of our favorite podcasts made by, for, or about queer women on a broad range of subjects—from queer identities, politics and social justice to music, yoga, food and personal finance—about what makes their shows unique and why folks should tune in. Here's what they had to say:
In this advice podcast, internationally recognized yoga teacher, body positivity advocate, and author of Every Body Yoga, Jessamyn Stanley dives into what living the “yoga lifestyle” looks like for those of us who don't fit the yogi stereotype of being straight, cisgender, thin and white.
“As a black, queer, southern person, I find it crucial to create conversation around topics that are relevant in the lives of my friends and family but which are often ignored in the mainstream," Stanley tells NewNowNext. "Upcoming episodes focusing on femme identity, polyamory, and queer identity in the American South are an opportunity to shed light on something beyond heteronormative and cisgender values."
This incisive advice podcasts features co-hosts MariNaomi and Myriam Gurba, two biracial, bisexual authors-visual artists-community organizers, who consult with special guests and respond to listener questions on a broad range of topics.
"Our show so far has focused on issues around bi-ness, relationship quandaries, and the creative process," MariNaomi tells NewNowNext. "My favorite episode is the one in which guest superstar Yumi Sakugawa led us on a guided meditation to set free our creative-block demons."
Gender Reveal explores our vast cultural notions about gender through interviews with nonbinary, transgender, and gender nonconforming artists, activists, and educators.
"Even explicitly queer podcasts (of which there are few) primarily center the voices of cisgender folks and occasionally binary trans folks," gender nonbinary host Molly Woodstock tells NewNowNext. "Gender Reveal, in contrast, focuses on the unique stories and experiences of nonbinary individuals, while also creating space for queer cis women and binary transgender guests. It's an opportunity for queer women to have their gender questions answered, to learn more about their gender non-conforming queer siblings, and hopefully also to hear their own experiences reflected."
In this humor, news, and pop culture podcast, co-hosts Carolyn Bergier and Sarah York invite special guests to "dyke out" with them on a broad range of topics. They once dedicated an entire episode dedicated to the subject of lesbians and hats.
"We created Dyking Out because we wanted to create something together that was both unapologetically gay and funny," Bergier tells NewNowNext. "And as comedians living in New York City, we know many diverse, hilarious LGBTQ performers who we knew would be up to talking about all things sapphic with us. We get a lot of messages from queer listeners who tell us how much they relate to our conversations about topics like breakups and friendships, but we also hear from straight men who enjoy hearing a point of view that they're never exposed to."
This podcast out of Portland features co-hosts Zahir Janmohamed and Soleil Ho, two food writers who find innovative ways to examine the intersections of race, class, gender, and food.
"Within a food media scene that is often really white, cis, thin, and heteronormative, Racist Sandwich makes and effort to seek out the stories of people who often don’t find their experiences with food and eating reflected or validated," Ho tells NewNowNext. "We’re an interview-based show, and I especially love talking to other LGBT folks about their relationships to food and art: Folks like chef Preeti Mistry, comics writer and editor Taneka Stotts, travel writer and activist Bani Amor, and food writer Ruby Tandoh."
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This interview podcast features the stories of queer people of color with the aim of promoting visibility and highlighting the community's resilience. Co-hosts Kristen McCallum and Lamika Young also crack their fair share of jokes and highlight the joy that's inherent in their work.
"Working in corporate America had done a number on my confidence and ability to stand tall, so I really wanted to find a way to reconnect with my truth—a space to talk through living, loving and thriving as a queer black woman without feeling censored or confined," McCallum tells NewNowNext. "I just wanted to laugh. Since then, I've gained a sense of purpose. Holding space for my community is a privilege that I don't take for granted, I'm honored that people trust me enough to share this journey with me."
The Queer Public Podcast[image src="wp-attachment://566157" title="queer-public-1517952359"]
Queer Public focuses on queer culture, politics, and identity through conversations, interviews, and stories that range from serious to sexy to hilarious.
"Queer Public was born out of a need to create media about the people not represented in the mainstream media, and for me that’s the queer community," creator and host Erin McGregor tells NewNowNext. "Queer Public is about people on the margins and in the places we wouldn’t normally think to look. My passion is telling stories about the nuances of queer lives. We’ve recently put the show back into production with more hands and support than ever before, and we’re releasing all new content in 2018!"
In Bad with Money, bisexual YouTuber, writer, and comedian Gaby Dunn tackles all things personal finance through funny but insightful interviews with experts, comedians, artists, musicians, actors, and even her parents and her boyfriend.
"Bad With Money is a financial podcast by someone who isn't an old straight, white man," Dunn tells NewNowNext. "I'm a queer woman that felt intimidated by my financial future. Marginalized people need money literacy more than anyone these services are usually aggressively advertised to. We're often ousted by confusing jargon and hyper-masculine imagery. My show focuses on this life-blood of society through a queer, female, sometimes socialist lens. Season three comes out in the Spring 2018, and a book version will be available at the end of the year."
One of the first and longest-running lesbian podcasts, The Lesbian Lounge Podcast, now in its 12th year, features two lesbian BFFs who share gossip, discuss the news, and conduct often-hilarious celebrity interviews.
"One of the main reasons The Lesbian Lounge Podcast has lasted as long as it has is because fresh, new LGBTQ people discover us every day," host Denise Warner tells NewNowNext. "We've got shows from 2017 and classic shows from 2008, yet it's always informational, always funny and always drawing new listeners."
Holy Swift features fiancées Krista Doyle and Kelly Boyles discussing Taylor Swift's entire discography with their friend, co-host and fellow super-fan Jessica Zaleski. While their love of all things Tay is apparent, they also don't shy away from delightfully entertaining side tangents.
"We knew that Taylor songs are just layers upon layers of meaning, so the only way to do her discography justice was to discuss one song per episode," Doyle tells NewNowNext. "As women in our late 20s and early 30s, we talk about Taylor in a different way than some of her younger fans might (we aren’t afraid to be critical of her), plus we have somehow ended up talking about our favorite sandwiches almost every episode, so there’s really something for everyone."
"We love television and we love queer women and we love when we can have both at the same time," co-hosts Nikki Tantum and Erica Chapman tell NewNowNext. "While the representation in the last year has certainly increased, the amount of queer female characters currently on television is still severely lacking. Each week in our show, and without taking ourselves too seriously, we're breaking down these queer characters and storylines by bringing you the good, the bad, and the gay of the queer fangirl's world."
On We Want the Airwaves, host Nia King's tries to figure out if her dream of making a living as an art activist is beyond reach, seeking advice from other political queer artists, trans artists, and artists of color who seem to have figured out how to make art and make rent without compromising their values.
"In the Bay Area, a lot of queer and trans people of color are being displaced, many of whom are involved in cultural and political organizing," King told NewNowNext. "I'm trying to document the impact queer and trans artists of color are having right here and now, because this is increasingly becoming a place we can't afford to live."
"This podcast provides other bisexual women and men with a lifeline to know they aren't alone, and to create more visibility in the community around the topic," co-host Angela Elmore tells NewNowNext. "When learning to embrace my sexuality there were precious few resources. We hope to be a part of the movement that changes this."
In this podcast, bi-coastal BFFs Leigh Holmes Foster and Ellie Brigida, who proudly identify themselves as "the lesbians you'd want at your potluck," tackle a broad range of topics related to lesbian experiences, representation and culture.
"We started Lez Hang Out because we wanted to make a podcast that centered the lesbian experience and perspective, and that would give people the chance to 'hang out with two lesbians,' Holmes Foster tells NewNowNext. "Ellie and I actually met through a shared love of a cappella, but we really bonded over a shared love of lesbian culture. In 2018, we're really looking forward to bringing more music to the show as well, and will be introducing original songs to our Lez-ssential movie recaps."
In this podcast, host Lynette McFadzen, who is also the president of the advocacy organization BiNet USA, speaks with guests from all walks of life about community, culture, representation, and a host of other issues that are relevant to the bi+ community.
"When I first came out five years ago, it was nearly impossible to find information and connect with my community," McFadzen tells NewNowNext. "I decided to start the podcast to make it easier for others to get information and support, and understand and accept their sexuality. It's a labor of love."
This audio drama podcast out of Belgium features an immersive new tale of lesbian romance in every episode.
"I create The Lesbian Romantic podcast to give queer women a brief escape: A weekly moment to sit back, smile and enjoy a romantic story they can relate to," creator Sigrid Dufraimont tells NewNowNext. "It’s different from an audiobook because I try to make the listening experience as immersive as possible. I’m also very proud of the podcast’s community. It’s an incredibly wonderful safe space online where listeners talk to each other every single day."
This music podcast features creators and co-hosts Jackatcha and Scantron (aka Lynn Casper), who are on a mission to promote queer visibility by sharing music, videos, podcasts, and events from hundreds of LGBT artists, including big names as well as artists working on a DIY, independent basis.
"I started Homoground in 2011 because I wanted to discover new music and share the music I was discovering with my friends," Casper tells NewNowNext. "It quickly expanded outside of my friend circle and I was soon receiving emails from bands all over the world wanting to be featured on my show. Homoground is the thing I wish I would have had access to when I was a teenager."
In Peepshow, co-hosts Jessie and PJ Sage explore the intersections of sex, art, culture, and social justice through interviews with porn stars, sex workers, artists, writers, scholars and activists.
"One of the reasons that we started this podcast was because, as part of both sex work and queer communities, PJ and I were surrounded by talented and dynamic women who had so much of value to say," Jessie Sage tells NewNowNext. “As a queer femme who is deeply steeped in queer and feminist politics, I work hard to both represent that perspective and to highlight the voices of the marginalized."
This comedy podcast features intimate, hilariously unfiltered conversations between queer comedians Matteo Lane and Emma Willmann, who made her TV debut on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2016 and played Beth in season 3 of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
"Even though I'm super queer and obviously proud of that, coming up vis a vis mainstream comedy mediums (read: lots of college shows in the South), I started to get hyper-conscious of the making of 'queer content I would have at a show,'" Willmann tells NewNowNext. "Which is ridiculous. When I teamed up with Matteo for this podcast, we wanted to do something counter to the idea that anything needed to be censored because it was 'too queer.' So we created a podcast with the premise, 'What do we talk about when no one else is around?' The result is a raw, no holds barred look inside our mental closet as gay comics working mainstream clubs, doing TV, and trying to juggle dating and romance with our intense, over-the-top personalities."
In this conversational podcast, co-hosts Kat Jetson, Valerie Anne and Bridget Liszewski take a break from smashing the patriarchy to chat about the feminist things that bring them joy.
"The way our podcast came about was so random," Valerie Anne tells NewNowNext. "Someone on Twitter noticed the three of us interacting and said she thought we'd make a good podcasting trio. We had a DM conversation about how funny it would be if we actually made a podcast, and started talking—mostly joking—about what we would even discuss. But then the jokes got a little more serious as we thought about how we would love to celebrate the women-led, queer, and/or feministy things we love together; a.k.a. the kind of things that brought us together in the first place. We thought up the name Feminist Thrilljoys, and the rest is history."
In the QueerWOC podcast, co-hosts Nikeeta and Money tackle the issues most relevant to queer women of color with the aim of facilitating community healing and empowerment.
"The QueerWOC podcast is all about uniting, igniting, and exciting the QueerWOC community," Money and Nikeeta tell NewNowNext. "On each episode we highlight and celebrate a badass queer woman of color of the week who does groundbreaking work in the community. Money, a marriage and family therapist, gives helpful mental health tips, and Nikeeta, a labor organizer and socialist, breaks down and demystifies common social justice and leftist jargon. We also talk about the highs, lows, and woes of dating and relationships as black queer women."
In Buffering the Vampire Slayer, co-hosts (and wives) musician Jenny Owen Youngs and Everyone is Gay CEO Kristin Russo discuss Buffy the Vampire Slayer one episode at a time.
"We launched Buffering the Vampire Slayer in September of 2017 simply because we love the show and wanted to share our love with the many other Buffy-fans out there in the world," Russo tells NewNowNext. "Two months later, the presidential election knocked us all to our knees. The message of Buffy—a strong, badass woman kicking ass and beating evil with the support of her friends and family—and the lens that we (as two queer women) bring to Buffy, would have always been important. But the way that our Buffering community holds tight to each other in this landscape has been remarkably powerful. Through Buffy we are smashing the patriarchy, creating safe spaces, and finding laughter and power in ourselves and each other. Hell yes."
The Bossy Show is currently on hiatus, but if you haven't tuned in yet, back episodes of this snarky political podcast co-hosted by Jill Gutowitz and Carmen Rios are well worth the download.
"We launched the podcast immediately following the 2016 election," Gutowitz tells NewNowNext. "I realized there were all these young girls, the same girls stanning pop stars on Twitter, who wanted to talk about abortion, equal pay, and other topics relevant to them and their bodies. So, each episode speaks to LGBTQ people and marginalized voices about real issues facing us and our country, and each guest represents that: Queer pop stars, LGBTQ YouTubers, and actors from our favorite TV shows. I wanted to give those voices, the ones who call Kesha 'mom,' a platform to talk politics the way we wanted to."
