Queerly Recommended

Welcome to Queerly Recommended's Documentary Era! With the writer and actor strikes continuing in Hollywood, Kris and Tara have been digging into a lot of interesting and provoking queer documentaries.

Everything's about eras these days, isn't it? Tara is living in that kids-going-back-to-school era. Kris is entering a new professional era… and she might even be slipping into her third-person era. It's wild. Also, Tara gives Kris a big surprise.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Wish Me Away (2011) This week, Kris continues her long line of musical documentary recommendations with Wish Me Away. It tracks the story of Chely Wright, the first major country music singer to come out publicly as queer. Kris describes Chely's coming out as "a blaze of glory," something the star did intentionally and confidently, despite the negative repercussions.

From Tara: Freedom Uncut (2022) Spurred on by Kris's Wham! (Netflix) recommendation last episode, Tara recommends the documentary George Michael Freedom Uncut, which follows George Michael's career after Wham!. It paints the star's life, including his public and private successes and losses, as one defined by a sadness deeply felt, and his legacy of beautiful, timeless music.

Works/People Discussed

• Alone Australia (SBS)
• Eliza Lentzski's Winter Jacket Series
• RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under (WOW Presents Plus)
• Alone (History Channel)
• Maintenance Phase Podcast
• "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

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It's a big ole catchup episode this week. Tara's back from a botched vacation with tons of recommendations. Kris returns with boat problems and a bunch of excitement about the current state of (checks notes) foot…ball?

They check in on the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which most recently has taken the second season of A League of Their Own as a casualty (or that's what management claims, anyway). This isn't going to end anytime soon, folks, but we're in it for the duration.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Wham! (Netflix) This week, Kris brings a recommendation for the music lovers out there: Wham!. This documentary covers the popular band from their childhood friendship in the 1970s through to their megastardom in the 1980s, via archival footage and interviews with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Kris loved it and thinks you will too.

From Tara: All Man: The International Male Story Tara's officially recommending the documentary All Man: The International Male Story. It covers the full lifecycle of the highly sought-after, mail-order catalog International Male, from its very beginnings to how it all unravelled. You'll never look at contemporary men's fashion the same way again after watching this one.

Works/People Discussed

• Tagan Shepard
• A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime)
• Wynonna Earp (Syfy)
• Warrior Nun (Netflix)
• Alone (History)
• Alone Australia (History)
• Wytchwood by Alien Trap Games
• The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge (Netflix)
• Matteo Lane: The Advice Special (YouTube)
• Under the Stars with You by Jaime Clevenger

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Kris, aka "The Road Trip Warrior Audiobook Listener," and Tara have talked many times about their love of audiobooks. The right audiobook is a mix of the right story and the right performer. If you only have one, the project doesn't work. So, it's with great joy that we welcome two very special guests this week to talk about all things audiobooks.

If you've listened to a sapphic romance in the last 5 years, chances are good you've heard Lori Prince's voice. And if you listen to historical fiction, then you've probably heard Marisa Calin, too. Here's the other cool thing: Marisa and Lori are married to each other!

You know what narrators, readers, and writers also love to do? Laugh. There's a lot of laughing in this episode, probably because there's a lot of love here. Love for stories and how they reach out through our headphones, our speakers, or just the page itself, to connect us all together.

Like Kris, aka "The Pusher," is fond of saying, "Punch and roll, bitches. Let's go!"

Works/People Discussed

• SAG-AFTRA strike website
• WGA Strike Hub
• Interview with Adam Conover, member of WGA's negotiating committee (A More Civilized Age podcast)
• "AI is coming for your audiobooks. You're right to be worried." (Washington Post, August 16, 2023)
• Alison Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel and Madeleine George (audiobook)
• My Covid Romance by Gabra Zackman

About our guests

Lori Prince is an New York City based actor and narrator with over 25 years of acting experience. She has an extensive theatre background from Off-Broadway to some of the country's top regional theatres and you've probably seen her on TV. With over 150 audiobooks on Audible, she has become a go-to Sapphic Romance narrator with two Earphones Awards.

Marisa Calin is an Audie, Odyssey, seven-times Audiofile Earphones Award winning and SOVAS nominated audiobook narrator. She's had an Audible Best Audiobook of the Year, Apple Books Must-Listen audiobooks of the month, starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and books on YALSA's Amazing Audiobooks of the year list. She's also the author of Between You & Me, a queer YA coming of age novel which was selected for ALA's Rainbow Book List, and the writer of the film A Million Happy Nows, which won best feature at the first Clexacon conference.

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Kris celebrates the birth of her new book… baby. Book babies are a thing, right? The book is called Cherish. You should check it out when it drops in September.

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, Kris reveals the winning strategy to make it through the survival reality show, Alone. Tara and Kris discuss their troubled history with Mus musculus (the common house mouse), as well as the extent to which they will allow their home to be "hacked."

Programming note: the actors and writers unions currently on strike in the United States have asked for podcasts to not review or promote "struck" work, and we at Queerly Recommended stand with union asks. So until the strike ends you'll be getting fewer movies and scripted TV series from us, and more books, documentaries, video games, etc.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Nothing Compares (2022)

This week, Kris recommends the documentary, Nothing Compares, which details Sinead O'Connor's rise and fall in the public sphere, surrounding her infamous appearance on SNL when she ripped up a photo of the Pope. There is a lot to her struggle and her history that Kris didn't know before this documentary and she wishes she'd paid more attention sooner. Sinead O'Connor was a defiant, powerful, liberatory artist. The world is lesser without her in it.

From Tara: Blackward by Lawrence Lindell

Rounding it off, Tara recommends the graphic novel, Blackward by Lawrence Lindell, which will be released this September. It's about a group of black queer people trying to create community for themselves and others like them, and the challenges they face along the way.

Blackward is written in African American Vernacular English. If you are not familiar with it, check out this quick primer to better your reading experience of this wonderful book.

Works/People Discussed

• Crush by Ana Hartnett Reichardt
• Alone (History)
• Hack My Home (Netflix)
• The Last of Us (HBO)
• Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Venba (Visai Games)

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It's been a bit since Kris and Tara sat down together, so there's a lot of catching up to do! Kris reports back on her experience at the annual GCLS conference, as well as what to expect if you're a newbie. And Tara's been on vacation! Well, sorta. Some of it was working. She brings to the podcast tales of her hometown pizza and spending time with some of her many, many cousins. You have a favourite cousin, right? With all the pleasantries done, they dive deep into the oceans of backlogs and recommendations. Release the Kraken…of content!

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Carol (2015)

This week, Kris recommends the 2015 film that got all the sapphics excited: Carol. Having seen it before, Kris's recollection was that the movie was pretty boring. Thankfully she gave the movie a second chance (to settle a bet, as one does) and….yeah, it's a completely different movie now. That said, she does have a take that she doesn't think you'll see coming.

From Tara: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

This week, Tara recommends Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomedy. It's a difficult, challenging, and beautiful book that dives into Bechdel's childhood and her relationship with her father. There are books you read and then there are experiences you have with books. For Tara, this book is an experience.

Works/People Discussed

• Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS)
• Storm Crow Manor
• Glad Day Bookshop
• Alone, Season 10 (History)
• Suits (USA Network)
• A Lesbian's Guide to Women by Erica Lee
• The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay (Narrated by Abby Craden)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, Season Eight (Paramount+)
• Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, Seasons 1 + 2 (Cinemax)
• Hack My Home (Netflix)
• Siren: Survive the Island (Netflix)
• The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
• Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
• Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
• Letters Never Sent by Sandra Moran
• The Swashbuckler by Lee Lynch

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Hey folks, Tara here. Kris and I are taking a break this week because I left town for a working vacation just as Kris was heading home from GCLS when we would have normally recorded. So, we're rerunning one of my favourite interviews from my previous podcast, Les Do Books.

Ann Bannon is a keystone in lesbian literature and the impact of her lesbian pulp Beebo Brinker novels can't be overstated. Her books inspired generations of writers and readers who followed her and her historical perspective is both timeless and vitally important as today's political landscape grows ever more hostile to LGBTQ people.

Works/People Discussed

• Spring Fire by Vin Packer (Marijane Meaker)
• Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon
• Katherine V. Forrest
• Daughters of Bilitis
• The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (theatrical production)
• The Beebo Brinker Omnibus by Ann Bannon (Cleis Press)

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Every so often, Kris and Tara put out a call for questions on Twitter. Late this spring, publisher and author Salem West asked about one of the most important topics in queer media: the rise of legislation aimed at criminalising LGBTQ+ books.

So, of course they invited Salem to join them, along with John Copenhaver, author of the crime novels Dodging and Burning and The Savage Kind. Together, the four discuss the history of book bannings, the different effects felt by large and independent publishers, and how we can all push back against this tide of discrimination.

Works/People Discussed

• Ann Bannon
• Marijane Meaker
• Anyda Marchant
• Barbara Grier
• 1984 by George Orwell
• PEN America's resources about book bans
• "So, what are agents seeing in the era of book bans?: Book Censorship News, April 21, 2023" by Kelly Jensen (Bitch Media)
• Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevntion
• Raphael Lemkin

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A cliffhanger is resolved! Kris has turned in the ending for her book. Fingers crossed that her editor loves it.

This week, Kris and Tara do some deep dives. They discuss the horrors depicted in the new docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets. It's (hopefully) balanced by Tara's recommendation of the week, The Ultimatum: Queer Love, and all the speculation, gasps and laughter it's brought. Tara and Kris get into all the show's drama, so if you haven't watched yet and want to avoid spoilers, stop at 48:30.

Content warnings:

• Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets: Child abuse, religious trauma, sexual abuse (11:45 - 20:45)
• The Ultimatum: Queer Love: Narcissism and domestic violence 56:04 - 103:43

Official Recommendations

From Kris: The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone (Netflix)

This week, Kris recommends the Netflix documentary, The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone. It tracks the story of one transgender teen in Australia as she challenges the laws, affirms her gender, and becomes the adult she always wanted to be. Kris says this is something "everyone, straight or queer, should watch."

From Tara: The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix)

A first for Tara, this week she recommends a reality series: Netflix's The Ultimatum: Queer Love. Five couples are stuck between 'will they or won't they,' when it comes to getting hitched and they've decided to seek trial by television show, instead of pursuing couples counselling. It thrills us, it confuses us, it makes us laugh, but most importantly, according to Tara, "it demands to be discussed with as many people as possible."

Works/People Discussed

• Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets (Amazon Prime)
• Alone, Season Ten (The History Channel)
• Fast X (2023)
• Silo (Apple TV+)
• Ted Lasso, Season Three (Apple TV+)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, Season 8 (Paramount+)
• Diablo 4 (Blizzard Entertainment)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
• I Like To Watch with Trixie and Katya - Drag Queens Trixie & Katya React to The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Youtube)

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As loyal listeners know, Queerly Recommended tends to get recorded on Sundays in the middle of the day. It's a great time to record. There's no rush or hurry. There's plenty of time to make notes. It's ideal. But, sometimes the ideal is impossible.

So, sometimes we record on Monday. You know about our Monday sessions. They're a bit…different. Well, listeners, welcome to Tuesday! Kris is drinking something called Lemonade and Lavender and Tara is hung over from a provincial election. And that's before we get to the recommendations.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Queer Eye, season 7 (Netflix)

This week, Kris recommends the seventh season of Netflix's hit reality makeover show, Queer Eye. Do we need to describe this? As Kris herself says, you already know what this is. That first episode might be a bit rocky, but the boys and Jonathan are back and ready to deliver.

From Tara: Hannah Gadsby's Something Special (Netflix)

And from Tara, we have Hannah Gadsby's new Netflix comedy special Something Special. Tara adores Gadsby, from the huge mark they made on the comedy world with Nanette (which she describes as "an experience"), to the strong follow-up Douglas. Tara loves Gadsby's intelligence, the structure they bring to their work, and the precision. She also discovers that it's really hard to review comedy.

Works/People Discussed

• John Edward, psychic medium
• Jeopardy! Masters (ABC)
• The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix)
• Survivor (CBS)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, Season 8 (Paramount+)
• Mean Girls (2004)
• The Princess Diaries (2001)
• Sister Act (1992)
• The Final Table (Netflix)

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Greetings, stranger! Have you heard tell of this new literary hero? This publishing world pugilist? His very words conjure riches. Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood is his name.

Would you like to hear more? Well then, come. Sit! Warm yourself by the fire and listen for a spell. It's a tale as old as time. A story of anime and sapphic science fiction and…the internet!

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Queen Charlotte (Netflix)

This week, Kris recommends Queen Charlotte, the prequel to creator Shonda Rimes' Bridgerton. The main plot revolves around Queen Charlotte's rise to power from a young age, and while that "would be interesting enough," according to Kris, the real gem of the piece is the relationship between the royalty's secretaries, Brimsley and Reynolds. You know Kris doesn't recommend anything without chemistry, and these two have it.

From Tara: How to Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Some of us are called. Others are chosen. In Tara's case, she was reminded this week, due to the Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood of it all, that one of her favourite books of all time still exists. How to Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short novel told in the correspondence of two agents on opposing sides of a millenia-spanning Time War. Through these letters, they fall in love and have to decide if their love means more to them than the cause they've dedicated their existence to.

Works/People Discussed

• We're Here (HBO) - Congrats on the Peabody win, We're Here team!!!
• Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monáe
• This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
• Jeopardy! Masters (ABC)
• Air (2023)
• Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)
• RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, Season Eight (Paramount+)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (MTV)
• Queer Eye, Season Seven (Netflix)
• Strange World (2022)
• Loop Hero (Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series X/S)

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