The Joke of Being Gay (Ep. 317 - Polyester & Arrested Development/Richard Day)

The Joke of Being Gay (Ep. 317 - Polyester & Arrested Development/Richard Day)
Matt Baume & Richard Day

Next week marks the anniversary of the original theatrical release of the film Girls Will be Girls, an otherworldly drag comedy by writer and director Richard Day. For today’s episode, we’re revisiting my 2016 interview with Richard, in which we talked about his time working on shows like Ellen, It’s Gary Shandling’s Show, and Arrested Development — and how he found inspiration from John Waters and comedians who mined comedy from the secret abnormalities of the suburbs.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris on Patreon — including recent new members George, Steve, Michael, Reesa, Bravo-Cube and Rory. If you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to patreon.com/mattbaume to join the folks who make the show possible.

And hey I want to let you know that I’ve started a new weekly newsletter for all the stuff I’m working on. You can sign up at mattbaume.com — each week I give you a little sneak peek into upcoming projects, little bits of weird fun cultural artifacts I’ve uncovered, and of course links to cute animal videos.

Also check out my YouTube videos for deep dives into queer pop culture history. I just posted a video about why San Francisco in the 1970s was one of the most exciting times in history to come out of the closet, by way of Harvey Milk and Cloris Leachman.

And I hope you’ll join me for regular videogame livestreams over at Twitch.tv/mattbaume every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon at 2pm pacific.

The Sewers of Paris Holiday Special Special: Catwoman, Eyes Wide Shut, Arianna Grande, and Gay Men's Choruses

The Sewers of Paris Holiday Special Special: Catwoman, Eyes Wide Shut, Arianna Grande, and Gay Men's
Matt Baume

Hello and welcome to the Sewers of Paris Holiday Special Special! In the spirit of the season, we’re diving back into the Sewers archives for my 2017 conversations with numerous past guests about their very favorite seasonal entertainment. We'll have an appreciation of Batman Returns from writer Anthony Oliveira, author of Lord of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling among many other works. There's a tribute to Snow Miser from Glen Weldon of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Performance artist Johnnie Jungleguts will explain why Eyes Wide Shut is his favorite Christmas movie. Videomaker & Dungeon Master Carlos Maza will bring us tidings of Ariana Grande and gay men's choruses. And there's lots more guests and lots more special -- we've got everything to fills your hearts with festive cheer at this, the darkest time of year. 

And a big thanks to everyone supporting the Sewers of Paris on Patreon. I could not make the show without all of you.

A few highlights from among my guests’ favorites:



The Queer Merman of London (Ep. 315 - The Little Mermaid/Sacha Coward)

The Queer Merman of London (Ep. 315 - The Little Mermaid/Sacha Coward)
Matt Baume & Sacha Coward

There are incredible secret stories hidden all around us if you just know where to look, and today’s guest knows where to look. Sacha Coward is a historian, escape room designer, and mermaid hunter in London who’s always had a passion for stories of myths and monsters. And as a museum professional, he now gets to explore those stories, discover new ones, and share them with the world.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris on Patreon — including recent new members Halcyon, AJ, Drew, and Katriona. I couldn’t make the show without you.

And hey I want to let you know that I’ve started a new weekly newsletter for all the stuff I’m working on. You can sign up at mattbaume.com — each week I give you a little sneak peek into upcoming projects, little bits of weird fun cultural artifacts I’ve uncovered, and of course links to cute animal videos.

And I hope you’ll join me for regular videogame livestreams over at Twitch.tv/mattbaume every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon for games and fun friendly chit chat. I do creative games on Mondays, weird games on Wednesdays, and furry games on Fridays. 

Also check out my YouTube videos for dozens of deep dives into queer moments on TV and film that changed the world. 


Sewers of Paris: Being Gay Was my Ticket Out (Ep 314 - Reruns/Taylor)

Being Gay Was my Ticket Out (Ep 314 - Reruns/Taylor)
Matt Baume & Taylor Cole Miller

You may think you love reruns, but this week’s guest lives them. Taylor grew in literally the most geographically isolated town in the lower 48 states, where his only connection to the outside world was syndicated TV. Fortunately, he had a ticket out, and found a way to create an entire career around investigating, studying, and teaching others about the magic of old TV shows.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick thanks to everyone who supports the Sewers of Paris on Patreon — including recent new members Tony, JaL, Patrick, and FunkyDiva. I couldn’t make the show without you.

And hey I want to let you know that I’ve started a new weekly mailing list. You can sign up at mattbaume.com — each week I give you a little sneak peek on what I’m working on, what’s coming up, little bits of weird fun cultural ephemera I’ve uncovered, and of course links to cute animal videos.

Also I hope you’ll join me for regular livestreams over at Twitch.tv/mattbaume every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon for games and fun friendly chit chat. And check out my YouTube videos for dozens of deep dives into queer moments on TV and film that changed the world.

A Telemundo Reaction (Ep. 313 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)

A Telemundo Reaction (Ep. 313 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
Matt Baume & Jose Gonzalez

Happy December holidaytime, listeners, I hope you’re able to celebrate and relax and revel and enjoy what has always been a weird time of year, now that we’re in the weirdest year of our lives. For this week’s episode, I wanted to bring you one of my favorite Christmas-themed episodes from the Sewers of Paris archives — a conversation with Jose Gonzales, who found an unexpected connection with his distant father through, of all things, the Arnold Schwarzenegger Christmas movie Jingle All the Way.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First a quick thanks to everyone in my Patreon community — including recent new members, Funky Dive, Patrick, Dillon, Michael, Kaeleigh, Barry, Ari, and Marcus. I couldn’t make the show without you.

And hey I want to let you know that I’ve started a new weekly mailing list. You can sign up at mattbaume.com — each week I give you a little sneak peek on what I’m working on, what’s coming up, little bits of weird fun cultural ephemera I’ve uncovered, and of course links to cute animal videos.

Also check out my YouTube videos for dozens of deep dives into queer moments on TV and film that changed the world. 

And I hope you’ll join me for regular livestreams over at Twitch.tv/mattbaume every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon for games and fun friendly chit chat.