What if Paris and Berlin were the first great dyke bars*? In Episode Two of Our Dyke Histories, Jack Gieseking, Lillian Faderman, and Cookie Woolner follow the trail of queer women, trans patrons, and gender rebels from Harlem across the U.S. as well into the theaters and hotel parties of Black artists and performers in the U.S. We then head across the Atlantic to trace queer modernisms into the salons and show of Paris and cabarets and clubs of Berlin. This episode is brimming with Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, Natalie Barney’s infamous salon, and the urban legend behind Ma Rainey writing "Prove It on Me Blues" after getting bailed out of jail for lesbian pursuits. The 1920s to 1930s shimmer with both liberation and backlash. From Black vaudeville circuits and Bessie Smith’s private train car parties to the queer glamour of Paris’ Le Monocle, the episode captures the dazzling creativity—and the precarity—of queer life between the wars.

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Credits

Producer, Editor, Host, & Creative Director: Jack Gieseking

Co-Producer: Julie Enszer & Sinister Wisdom

Co-Producer & Co-Editor: Cade Waldo

Assistant Editor: Mel Whitesell

Social Media: Audrey Wilkinson

Interns: Michaela Hayes, Syd Guntharp, Sophie McClain, Paige LeMay, and Sarah Parsons

Consulting Producer: Rachel Fagen

Music: Our theme song: "Like Honey" by Kit Orion https://www.kitorion.com/

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