Debating Queer History in Bros and at the Library of Congress

Bryan Lowder is still out on book leave, but hosts Christina Cauterucci and Jules Gill-Peterson summon him back to discuss Bros, the gay rom-com of the moment. The film lingers on questions of queer history, shows what happens when a nerdy podcast guy dates a beefy gay bro, and is a fascinating meditation on what it means to be a cis gay man in a time of both progress and prosecution. (This segment lasts around 31 minutes if you want to skip ahead to avoid Bros spoilers.) Then they are joined by Meg Metcalf, an LGBTQ collections specialist at the Library of Congress, to discuss how the world’s biggest library is surfacing the plentiful LGBTQ resources that can be found in its building and in cyberspace. Finally, they add some new items to the gay agenda.

Items discussed in the show:

The Problem With Jon Stewart, “The Problem With Gender”

 “Why Jon Stewart’s Humiliation of an Anti-Trans Official Is So Important,” by Evan Urquhart in Slate

A new report from the Human Rights Campaign and Bowling Green State University

“Billy Eichner’s Curious Claims About Bros,” by J. Bryan Lowder in Slate

“Was Eleanor Roosevelt a Lesbian?” by Heather Schwedel, in Slate

The Library of Congress’ Collections Policy Statement for LGBTQIA+ studies

If you have a question for Meg, or other Library of Congress librarians, go to ask.loc.gov

Chronicling America, the Library of Congress’ database of historic newspapers

Gay Agenda

Christina: The episode of NPR’s Code Switch in which Kumari Devarajan profiled comedian and playwright D’Lo, who has a role in Bros

Jules: Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist, by Cecilia Gentili

This podcast was produced by June Thomas.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to [email protected].

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