Art has always been one of the most powerful ways humans make meaning, and for queer and marginalized communities, it has often been the only space where our full truth could exist.

In this episode, we'll explore how creative practice becomes a site of reclamation: how making art can help us process trauma, reconstruct identity, and insist on our own visibility. We want to hear about your work, your process, and what it means to you personally to create from an authentic place.

You can follow Maze at:

Instagram @hi.there.im.maze 

IG link: Maze Felix

And you can listen to us anywhere you get your podcasts and follow here:Socials: @unpackingthecloset Youtube: @unpackingtheClosetPod

#unpackingtheclosetpodcast #unpackingthecloset #lqbtqpodcast #queerpodcast #queerart #queerjoy

This episode goes into tender territory: the stories we hide, the shame we carry quietly, and what it looks and feels like when we finally let them out. We'll talk about the relationship between secrecy and identity, why shame thrives in silence, and how vulnerability, especially in queer and marginalized communities, can be one of the most radical acts there is. This won't be a heavy episode, we bring warmth and humor to even the hardest topics, but it will be real and honest.

Todays guest is Kyle Ridley an Emmy Award-winning TV journalist and former morning show producer. He is now host of The Tangle with Kyle Ridley podcast, where he unpacks the stories that don’t fit in a 5-minute segment. And in 2026, Kyle publicly shared his decade-long secret struggle with bulimia, one of the most under-discussed topics in men’s and LGBTQ+ health.

You can follow Kyle here:

Host: The Tangle with Kyle Ridley (2025 SpeakerCon winner for "New Podcast of the Year")

Founder: Ridley Media 

Instagram: kyleridley_

In this episode of Unpacking the Closet, Geri and Caitlin sit down with UK-based author, playwright, poet, and performer Kestral Gaian (they/them) for a conversation about the radical power of storytelling. Kestral is the author behind The Boy From Elsewhere and the editor behind Twenty-Eight, a groundbreaking anthology gathering voices from the Section 28 generation, the UK's original 'don't say gay' law that silenced LGBT+ youth for fifteen years.

This one is for every queer kid who ever looked for themselves in a book and came up empty. 🏳️‍🌈

🔗 Find Kestral Gaian: 

🌐 Website: www.kestr.al 

📸 Instagram: @kes.tr.al

🦋 Bluesky: @kestr.al

🐘 Fedi: @[email protected]

💬 This week's reflection questions:

• What's the first story where you felt truly seen?
• Whose voice has been missing from the stories you've consumed?
• What would change if you treated your own story as worthy of being heard?

Unpacking the Closet is hosted by Geri & Caitlin. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow us wherever you listen.

In this installment of our Solstice Series, we’re exploring Ostara and the spring equinox, the moment in the year when day and night stand in equal balance and the light begins to noticeably return.

In this episode, we unpack what we actually know about Ostara historically, including the 8th-century reference to the figure Eostre, and how modern pagan traditions have shaped the way the holiday is understood today. We also explore how the spring equinox has been marked across cultures, why agricultural societies paid close attention to this turning point, and what the season has symbolized throughout history.

From there, we gently examine the relationship between Ostara and Easter. Where do the overlaps come from? What is historically grounded, and what has grown through cultural storytelling over time? We talk about eggs, rabbits, fertility symbolism, and how seasonal imagery travels across traditions without reducing complex histories into simple narratives.

As always, we hold space for both research and reflection. Ostara, in modern spiritual practice, is often seen as a time of balance, renewal, and potential, not full bloom, but the quiet beginning of growth. We close the episode by inviting listeners to consider what balance looks like in their own lives and what might be ready to emerge this season.

Whether you observe the equinox spiritually, culturally, or simply by noticing the longer days, this conversation is about honoring the shift together.

Subscribe for more seasonal conversations in our Solstice Series, and follow along for Tarot Thursdays on our social channels.

In this episode of Unpacking the Closet, we sit down with romance authors Rena Sapon White and Ella Schaefer, co-authors of Christmas Pick and Sweet Talk.

We talk about what it means to write desire honestly, without softening it, straightening it, or explaining it away. From fantasy and flirtation to emotional intimacy and longing, Rena and Ella share how they approach writing women loving women in ways that feel real, hot, and deeply human.

This conversation is about storytelling, identity, and what happens when women are allowed to want, and write about it, fully.

🎧 If you love sapphic books, romance, and conversations that go deeper than tropes, this one’s for you.

Welcome back to Unpacking the Closet! This season is all about connection, collaboration, and the joy we build together.

In this opening episode, we introduce The Season of Connection and share why we felt called to shift toward community-centered conversations right now. The world can feel heavy and isolating. This season is our response. Instead of asking how we survive, we’re asking how we connect, how we build, and how we learn from one another.

This year, we’re welcoming authors, professors, actors, musicians, engineers, and other brilliant women and queer creatives into the conversation. Each guest brings a different lens, but the common thread is care, curiosity, and collective joy.

We talk about what listeners can expect this season, how collaboration deepens understanding, and why queer joy works best when it’s shared. We’re still continuing our Solstice Series and Tarot Thursdays on social media, grounding ourselves in ritual and reflection while expanding the circle.

If you’ve been here since Season One or you’re just joining us, this episode is an invitation: to listen more deeply, to celebrate community, and to remember that none of us are meant to do this alone.

Subscribe wherever you listen, follow us on social for Tarot Thursdays, and learn more at www.unpackingthecloset.com. You can also join our Patreon community for extended conversations and bonus content.

Thank you for being part of this community.

On February 17, 2026, a rare convergence of cycles aligns: the Year of the Fire Horse begins with Lunar New Year, an annular solar eclipse (“ring of fire”) occurs, and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) marks a seasonal transition in the Christian calendar. In this episode of Unpacking the Closet, we explore the history, astronomy, and cultural context of these events to understand how humans mark thresholds, renewal, community, and time.

We discuss:

• What the Year of the Fire Horse represents in the Chinese zodiac
  
• Why a solar eclipse and new moon share this date
  
• The historical origins and meaning of Mardi Gras
  
• How different calendars and cultures honor transitions
  
• What collective beginnings might invite us to reflect on in our lives

This isn’t mysticism, it’s history, astronomy, and seasonal awareness. Because understanding how we mark time helps us understand why it matters.

Follow us for more cultural, historical, and seasonal explorations. 

#YearOfTheFireHorse #LunarNewYear2026 #SolarEclipse #MardiGras #CulturalCycles

Valentine’s Day often arrives with unspoken rules: be partnered, be happy, be impressive, be chosen. But where did those expectations come from and who do they actually serve?

In this episode of Unpacking the Closet, Caitlin and Geri slow Valentine’s Day down. Grounded in history, cultural context, and the work of bell hooks, they explore how love shifted from a loosely defined feast day into a highly commercialized performance of romance. Along the way, they unpack the quiet politics of Valentine’s culture: who it centers, who it leaves out, and why so many people feel pressure, grief, or disconnection around this day.

This conversation makes space for queer love, disabled love, chosen family, friendship, and self-regard: forms of love that don’t always look marketable but have always been essential. Drawing from All About Love, the episode reframes love not as a feeling to prove, but as a practice rooted in care, dignity, and mutual growth.

This isn’t about canceling Valentine’s Day. It’s about loosening the script and asking what love looks like when it’s allowed to be real.

#LoveWithoutPrescription #QueerLove #PoliticsOfLove #UnpackingTheClosetPodcast

#bellhooks

In this episode of Unpacking the Closet, we continue our Solstice Series with Imbolc, an ancient Gaelic seasonal observance marking the quiet return of light.

Rooted in early Irish history and folklore, Imbolc arrives at the threshold between winter and spring, a time traditionally associated with preparation, care, and survival rather than celebration. We explore what historians and scholars can confidently tell us about Imbolc, its seasonal context, and its association with Brigid, while clearly distinguishing historical record from modern interpretation.

Rather than rushing toward transformation, this episode invites listeners to slow down, tend what’s beginning, and honor the unseen work of staying alive through winter: physically, emotionally, and collectively.

🔔 Follow Unpacking the Closet for more episodes exploring identity, culture, ritual, and joy

🌐 Visit us at www.unpackingthecloset.com

💜 Join our community on Patreon for bonus content and deeper conversations

#Imbolc #WinterSolstice #SeasonalLiving #FolkloreHistory #UnpackingTheCloset #CelticTraditions #RestAsResistance #SlowLiving #SeasonalReflection

The New Year is here, but instead of reinventing ourselves, what if we chose to return to ourselves?

In this cozy, reflective episode of Unpacking the Closet, we talk about why “New Year, New Me” culture is unrealistic, capitalist, and often harmful, especially for queer folks, chronically ill folks, and anyone who’s exhausted from trying to overperform their worth.

Together, we explore:

• 🌱 Soft resets vs. hard resolutions

• ✨ Gentle, attainable intentions rooted in authenticity

• 🔥 How to set goals without burnout or shame

• 🌙 Why cycles of rest are sacred (and necessary)

• 🌈 How queer and disabled communities uniquely approach self-growth

• 💛 What practices help us reconnect with who we already are

Plus, we share grounding rituals, low-pressure practices, and things you can simply stop doing this year, because sometimes the most powerful resolution is to release the stuff that was never yours to carry.

If you're craving a calmer, kinder approach to the New Year, this episode is your warm hug, cup of tea, and soft reset all in one.

🔗 Listen now & follow us everywhere:

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube → @UnpackingTheCloset

www.unpackingthecloset.com

✨ Support bonus episodes & join community rituals on Patreon!

#newyearsameyou #softreset #gentleresolutions #queerpodcast #lgbtqmentalhealth #chronicillnesspodcast #intuitivegoalsetting #sustainablehabits #newyearintentions #unpackingtheclosetpodcast