46. A Husband is Unnecessary: Yoshiya Nobuko & Japanese Girls' Culture

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This episode has EVERYTHING: gay haircuts, yearning, rage against the patriarchy, they were *roommates*....let’s talk about the magical world of Yoshiya Nobuko, girls’ culture, and lesbian fiction in Taishō era Japan! Leigh is joined by guest host Erica Friedman, speaker, editor, researcher and an expert on all things Yuri. Yoshiya Nobuko was an extremely popular writer in 20th century Japan who lived with her beloved female partner for 50 years and her legacy continues today as “the Grandmother of Yuri.”. The tropes and storylines established in her writing can still be seen today in queer girls stories in and outside of Japan– get ready to learn all about modern Japan’s very own Sappho. After all, it’s all in the yearning. 

 Erica Friedman writes about Yuri anime, manga and related media on her blog Okazu, and can be found on Twitter as @okazuyuri, Bluesky as Okazu and @EricaFriedman@mastodon.social 

 Erica’s book By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga is the first in-depth study of Yuri in English.

Outline

0:00 Introduction
7:29 Socio-Historical Context
24:00 Who Were They? Bio Time
41:36 - 43:42 Content Note: discussion of WWII 
48:37 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Some More Socio-Historical Context
50:12 - 55:30 Content Note: discussion of pathologizing of homosexuality
55:30 - 58:00 Content Note: discussion of suicides in the news at the time
58:34 Word of The Week: “S Class”
1:06:56 Why Do We Think They’re Gay?: Yoshiya’s Life
1:17:47 Queer Themes in Yoshiya’s Fiction
1:21:30 -1:22:39 Content Note: brief reference to suicide
1:30:07 Pop Culture Tie-Ins
1:36:00 How Gay Were They?
1:37:15 Conclusion and Sign off

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

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BONUS 0.17. Dip Me In Honey & Throw Me to the Lesbians: Queer Feminist Restaurant History

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Anyone remember that pin & bumper sticker with the slogan that serves as the title for this episode? Well, I hope you’re hungry, because we’re talking lesbians and food in this interview with Dr. Alex Ketchum, Director of the Just Feminist Tech and Scholarship Lab, lecturer, and author, whose work integrates food, environmental, technological, and gender history. We talk about her latest book, Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, the first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. We dive into the ways these institutions provided spaces and community to tackle questions around the intersections between feminism, food justice, queer rights, and other social justice movements while serving as training grounds for women workers and entrepreneurs, as well as what the landscape of queer feminist restaurants looks like today.

You can order your copy of Ingredients for Revolution for 20% off (for U.S. readers) through University of Chicago Press, or through Concordia University Press for Canadian readers, and listen to the accompanying podcast, full of interviews with others in the food justice and feminism world, at TheFeministRestaurantProject.com

Where To Find Dr. Alex Ketchum Online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download

34. Queers in the Civil Rights Movement

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For today’s episode, Leigh is joined by return guest host, Aubree Calvin, to commemorate Black History Month by telling the stories of some folks who made contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s whose queerness has been overlooked or erased, and the ways in which the work done by Black activists was absolutely essential to the evolution of LGBTQ rights actions. Listen to hear about Freedom Rides organizer Rodney Powell’s epic takedown of Rev. Rick Warren, Ernestine Eckstein’s directions for the homophile movement, and Lorraine Hansberry’s thoughts on Eartha Kitt’s legs.

Our wonderful guest host for this episode, Aubree Calvin, can be found at www.aubreecalvin.com or on her podcast Southern Queeries. You can also hear Aubree in our episode on Sister Rosetta Tharpe!

Outline
0:00 – Introduction
5:12 – Main Topic: Queers in the Civil Rights Movement
5:27 – Socio-Historical Context
13:47 – 14:18 — Content warning: police brutality/violence mention
20:02 – Who were they? Bio Time.
31:13 – 34:21 – Content warning: violence mention
40:57 – Why do we think they're gay? 
1:01:46 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
1:24:56 – Content warning: suicide mention
1:28:01 – Fun Segment: Pop Culture Tie-In
1:22:25  – Main Takeaways and Final Conclusions
1:29:30 – How Gay were They?
1:35:59 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |   Download

27. Sappho: F*cking Superb, You Funky Little Lesbian

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At long last, hosts Gretchen and Leigh are going back to the beginning, to the OG lesbian: Sappho herself. Despite the dearth of information about her life and history, your hosts still find plenty to say about Sappho, her poetry, her legacy, and all the debate that’s circled around her for years. Find out what Leigh and Gretchen think about the many questions about Sappho and listen to fragmentary poetry filled with queer longing and other relatable feels like fire burning beneath flesh, wind crashing through mountain oaks, and…celery.

Outline

0:00 – Introduction
4:57 – Main Topic: The OG Lesbian Sappho
5:08 – Socio-Historical Context
13:02 – Who were they? Bio Time. 
23:42 – Sappho’s Poetry
56:12 – Fun Segment: Word of the Week
1:16:40 – Why do we think they're gay?
1:30:12 – How Gay were They?
1:33:48 – Closing and Where to Find us Online

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download