Celebrate Pride Month with essential podcasts from voices in the LGBTQ community.
The theme of this podcast is that no matter who you are, or what you’re into, love is love and gay and non-gays can be friends. James Barr and Dan Hudson created the show as a way to address day-to-day issues which include homophobia, mental health, coming out and differences in perceptions while promoting equality, freedom and friendship. Their friendship started when Barr, who was friends with Hudson’s girlfriend Talia, started spending time together after Talia went abroad. Since the creation of the show, their friendship has been considered “one of the most fundamentally kind and funny podcasts in Britain” because of their mission of sending a positive message of hope and inclusion to listeners. Previous episodes have focused on transphobia which brought on Juno Dawson, author of “The Gender Games” and “This Book is Gay” to discuss Juno’s life since transitioning, to an episode about the discussion of the history of music for and by the LGBTQ community. Overall, the two are great together and showcase, at the end of the day, how we’re all the same, and at the same time, we’re all different.
Since 1988, This Way Out (TWO) has been a news outlet for the LGBTQ community, using storytelling to reach its global audience. The podcast, which is heard in over 150 local community radio stations around the world, focuses on culture and politics within the queer community. It has been a key source for me in obtaining accurate information that isn’t typically covered by most mainstream outlets. The show invites guests who can share a unique perspective on their experiences they face being queer. For example, the most recent episode I listened to featured a roundup about news in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It shared information and updates about a gay man making peace with Islam, undercover cops in Cameroon raiding the capital’s gay venues and Russia’s talks with the United Nations about purging LGBTQ citizens in the most Muslim-populated region in Chehnya. In terms of keeping up-to-date with the latest news surrounding the LGBTQ world, the podcast is the most definitive of its kind and each episode is roughly thirty minutes, the perfect length for a commute to work.
Hosted by Jaimie Kelton and Robin Hopkins, “If These Ovaries Could Talk” brings strong women in the LGBTQ community together by sharing what it means to raise children in a non-traditional fashion. Inspired by her experience with infertility, Kelton wanted to hear stories from other people who were experiencing similar problems, and what better way to hear other perspectives than creating a podcast that brings people together facing similar issues? Every week, the two, with occasional guests, discuss their experiences, setbacks and challenges they face raising a family. Though the topics can be tough, from discussions about same-sex couples having babies without donors or using a surrogate, the two hosts do a good job at keeping the atmosphere light while continuing to bring diverse voices that explore the LGBTQ family experience. This podcast is relevant at a time when there are limited podcasts that focus on non-traditional families.
So just to clarify – “Nancy” is a podcast not a person. For people wondering where the name derives from, it’s an old-school name for a gay man, though host Kathy Tu says it’s a bit irrelevant and fun. The name almost mirrors the mood of the podcast. It’s fun, authentic, and, for some, relatable. Hosted by Kathy Tu and Tobin Low, the two BFFs share conversations and stories, in a uncensored production, about the LGBTQ experience. To sum it all up, the show is as straightforward as it gets while giving listeners a sense of what it may feel like to be invisible, focusing on the intersections of LGBTQ issues, like what it’s like be queer in the workplace, and, ultimately, trying to find out who you are. It’s a show that serves as a platform for the voiceless and people that want to come out but are afraid to. The podcast has thrived through its storytelling mechanism, helping individuals not feel as alone or different.
