Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang - “Turn Up The Volume” (w/ Tourmaline)

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

When there’s a water trine on Las Cultch?! You know you gotta get into it! Matt & Bow are thrilled to welcome artist and author Tourmaline to the podcast to discuss her latest work, a stunning autobiography on Marsha P Johnson called Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson that is also a gorgeous queer history of New York. The three discuss Marsha’s originality and iconography, the history of Christopher St and the west village and how to maintain hope and joy in increasingly dark times for the queer community. Also, seeing Eddie Murphy films with dad as a kid, how jealousy can often be a great indicator, and immersion and world-building in art. Get Bowen to the Met Gala! Make Times Square horny again! Turn up the volume on your life! Shout it through the grapevine: Tourmaline’s incredible book is out May 20th, and Las Cultch is so lucky to have her this week!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart podcast. Ugh, we're so done with New Year, New You. This year, it's more you on Bumble. More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially that one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them. More of you dating with intention

because you know what you want. And you know what? We love that for you. Someone else will too. Be more you this year and find them on Bumble. The number one hit podcast, The Girlfriends, is back with something new, The Girlfriends Spotlight, where each week you'll hear women share their stories

of triumph over adversity. You'll meet Luanne who escaped a secretive religious community. Do I want my freedom or do I want my family? And now helps other women get out too. I loved my girls. I still love my girls. Come and join our girl gang. Listen to The Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fuelled nightmare.

Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war this year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes, we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Look, man. Oh, I see. Wow. Bowen, look over there. Wow, is that culture? Yes.

Goodness. Wow. Las Culturistas. Ding dong. Las Culturistas calling. Now, I have to really check in with you Las Culturistas. Ding dong, Las Culturistas calling. Now, I have to really check in with you because you are, as of two days ago, officially a New Yorker again. Yeah, it's now happened, happened. But I will say, the thing about moving is then you have to do that process,

and I can't believe what I'm finding in my closet. So one of my best friends, Melissa, came over and we went through all of my clothes and really, really, really said, does it spark joy? I guess we did like a Marie Kondo moment. You did the full Kamari. So much of my shit did not spark joy. It's okay. And I'm like, all this stuff that I was around didn't spark joy.

And it literally was, you'll find it weighs you down. Like, have you done like a deep, like donation moment? I do like a quarterly purge and it's still not enough. No, it's still not enough. Yeah. And I don't consider myself someone who like shops egregiously. I guess like we've all been made to be like,

I guess I need that just cause it's like, you hit a call to action and then you head out to card and it's in. You know what it is for me? It's like stuff you accumulate at things where they like give you a shirt. It's like, you accumulate at things where they like give you a shirt. It's like, oh, no, I need that Yankees Pride shirt. Oh, no, I need that that shirt that says like that niche phrase that I'm into this week.

I found a shirt the other day. What did it say? That I got from it was from the game show writers room. And it said, you want to fuck me Barbara I just like from notes on a scandal which literally there would have been one time to wear it and it's when we had Cape Blanchett on this podcast and I Didn't do it. So I gotta say thank you to the writers room of game show for that gift But it's gone it had to go in the Marie Kondo move. Hey, that's okay Now would you I'm gonna posit something. Now, would you, I'm gonna pause at something.

Okay. Would you be okay with me, let's say, looking at a shirt that says, you're Lisa Barlow, I care a lot for me too, shirt. Not that I've done this. Would you be okay with me disposing of that? I just got rid of it. That's okay.

And I thought to myself, because when you're on, like, I remember watching, I probably was watching Salt Lake City Housewives. She said, what was it? She said, she said- I care about me too. No, I feel for me too. I feel for me too, I'm sorry.

I feel for me too. I put you the quote. And at the moment I was like, wow, that's amazing. You go on, you know, whatever it is, like Etsy or whatever, and there it is as a shirt, and you say, well, I gotta buy that. You go on Redbubble, it's there. If you buy every piece of merch

that has a cute housewife saying, you're going to be living in shit. And that is rule of culture number 40. If you buy every piece of merch that has a cute housewife saying, you're going to be living in shit. And I've been living in shit. And I tell you, I can breathe again. I know. Isn't that nice?

Yes. And Quarterly, I'm going to pick that up from here. Quarterly is nice. And it's just nice to be back in New York when you have sort of dusted off the internal cobwebs for yourself. Like, I hope it feels fresh for you. We're getting some rain today. You know what? I was moving in the rain yesterday, and they had closed down my street because of a bicycle race. And I said, you know what, Matt? You wanted New York back.

You're getting it back. That's what it's all about. And I'm happy. I'm thrilled. I love my new place. It's still slowly coming together as it's the process, but like, returning to New York, we were just talking to our guest about this, because our guest is an iconic New Yorker. She has a prodigal return, as it were.

A prodigal return. In fact, yes, the new book is actually, it's not only very much the definitive, I would say, biography on Marsha P. Johnson, but also this book about... This is a queer history of New York. And that is something that I really loved about it. And we were just saying before we got on, like specifically this area, you know,

your Christopher Street, your West Village, your Stonewall area, like we have so much personal history there, and I'm so proud to have that history. And reading this book made me so proud. She has such a deep history with this book made me so proud. She has such a deep history with this part of town, truly. The definitive. Which, I want to talk about this because there's like a Nashville vacation over the West Village

that's happening right now, and I would love to talk about this. Oh, we should talk about it. We should. Our guest is a filmmaker and artist, one of the great queer archivists that we have. I reached out to her for the first time because I was reading Faggots and the Friends Between Revolutions and you wrote such a beautiful introduction to that. I was like, I have to reach out to her.

Like, this is one of the most beautiful pieces of queer writing that I've ever read. And I think I DM'd you. And then I was like, hi, I'm just like a fan. Like you wrote such a beautiful thing. And then when it was announced that you were writing like the kind of the first- The first ever.

The first ever Marsha P. Johnson biography. I got so excited and then I'm so glad this worked out so that you were on. Yes, the book is Marsha, The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson. May 20th. Which is just one of the most important icons we've had in our history and to know that such an exhaustive,

brilliant piece of writing now exists, it's just beautiful and we are so proud to welcome you to the podcast. Please welcome to your ears, Tourmaline! Hi! Hi! Thank you both for having me so much. Congratulations! Thank you!

Yeah, I'm really excited to dig into it. It's not just Marsha, it's that area. You bring it to life beautifully. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I have spent so much time on Christopher Street. I started going there as a teenager when I was at Columbia, taking that slow one train down. And that's where I found my people. That's where I found like queer, trans, gender nonconforming young people. Just taking up space. We were turning up the volume of our life. Like we were being all of who we were. And also we were getting, you know, noise and resistance. The people who lived there weren't into us,

the police weren't into us. And yet, similar to Marsha, that was just a jumping off point for turning up the volume more. So yeah. That's a beautiful way to put it though. Yeah, it's really beautiful. I mean, like, if you're lucky in life, like it's just a big opportunity to just like gradually if you're lucky in life, like, it's just a big opportunity

to just like gradually turn up the dial or have someone like knock it down and then you just keep turning it the other way. Wait, wait, wait, I need to know about the commute from Columbia down to Christmas. The one train commute. The one train commute, pre-iPhone. It was just long, you know, it was just,

but you know, I was saying before, like I live in Miami right now and I drive up to Disney World all the time, because that's like my place of peace. But commuting for me is a place where I find clarity. It's like I fall into the daydream. I fall into the imagination as an artist. Some of us have studios, but for me, like, New York City was my studio. And the subway train was my place of, like, rest and respite.

Yeah. I still get my best reading done on the train. I think I read most of the book on the train. Oh, my God. Yes. And it felt right. I did feel like it was connected and rooted in this whole, like, oh, like, I'm a citizen, a denizen of the city. Absolutely.

And, like, I am part, a denizen of the city. Absolutely. And like I am part of this grand fabric of people. And like you would pass literally the Sheridan Square stop. I would like be on the one and like pass Sheridan Square. I was like, it all happened upstairs. Literally. And Marsha, I have a dear friend, Augusto Machado, who was part of the Angels of Light,

Hot Peaches, early drag culture, right? And Augusto talks about how Marsha would be above the Christopher Street stop and be a symbol for anyone who, this is like the early 60s, right? 70s, a symbol for anyone who is coming from a place where they had to turn down the volume, right? When they saw Marsha, they knew all of them was welcome in that space. And that goes to what you're saying. It's like it happened right above us.

Yeah. Yeah. And as you ascend, it's like what you see. You see the vision. I mean, you write like so vividly about, you know, the time. Like in reading about the Stonewall riots, it, it's just, you forget when you're there now, or like maybe it's more top of mind now as things get more tense,

and over the past few years, things get more difficult. But it's so, you read about the violence in that area, but I associate it with so much joy, and it is all of those things. And you write so beautifully about like, Marsha's lack of correct recollection also speaking to the fact that That that she is in that way like a living document and it is all those things. Yeah, so it's really kind of It's important. I think to realize like as you walk around with that joy. It does hold that history

Yeah, absolutely and like trauma shapes that history. Yeah, absolutely. And like trauma shapes our memory, right? Like there's so many beautiful writings and teachings about how violence and trauma affect not just, you know, like how we feel about ourselves, but how we recall ourselves in our community. And so Marsha talked about that really beautifully. She talked about being lost in the music, right? There's this beautiful clip where she's being interviewed in the basement of a West Village

house and she's talking about being lost in the music ever since the 1969 Stonewall riots. And she couldn't remember what date, you know, at first she's talking about the 70s and then like 1963 and then she's like lost in the music, the Stonewall. And then she recalled Marvin Gaye heard it through the Gravevine, right? And that was the music playing on the jukebox when the police raided Stonewall. And so it's this beautiful malleable like kind of Piscean, she was a Virgo, but this Piscean way, you know? Are you? What was your? Pisces? I'm a Pisces. Scorpio. Scorpio. Cancer. Oh my god! The way that that always happens.

Oh my god. Ariana Grande was a cancer. Right, yes, literally. Oh my god. That's so funny. We find that. The water trine. That happens a lot.

Okay. Well, that took it to the next level. Her sort of reconceiving that moment is Pisious in the sense that it's just like, but you know what, because it's trauma shapes memory, but that memory for her, you write about how she kind of like conflates that with her birthday. Exactly.

And it's still joyful in this way. And it's a birthing too. Like Stonewall birth, a new era for her and so many, right? It was a moment where three articles of law, three articles of clothing, laws, right? The police were using these laws to repress and make small transgender, nonconforming people, right? I have a dear friend, Miss Major, who was also at Stonewall, trans elder, and she talks about, you know, you would get arrested just for going outside, right?

Marsha would be regularly picked up by the police, whether it was in Times Square or on Christopher Street, just by going outside. And what is so beautiful about that moment too is like she was reaching for a bigger sense of knowing that she mattered. And she did it from a place of turning over the table, right? When we're feeling really afraid, it can be so powerful to reach for anger, righteous anger, righteous revenge. And that was what Stonewall for her really was about. Yeah.

There's this thing that happens where injustice is happening right in front of you. Something bad is happening right in front of you. And there is just this like stasis and like being a bystander to those things. Someone needs to break that in order for anything to happen. And it like calls upon you to be like a brave person. And the fact that like,

there were obviously brave people before Marsha and before Sylvia and before anyone who was there that night. Of course. But it does just take this like, transcendence beyond yourself that Marsha was very tapped into spiritually to make you go, well, let's fucking, like, let's start the revolution. Because it's like also unbearable to live in a place of fear. Yeah.

Like it is, I've experienced this. I remember like in, you is, I've experienced this. I remember like in, you know, I've lived in New York for a long time and I had many different kinds of expressions in New York. Like sometimes the volume of my life, I came out of organizing, right? So welfare, healthcare, housing,

you know, police and prison issues. Those were the things that I was doing for a real long time before I became an artist. And it was so important for me to be with my community in that and we were doing campaigns and kind of raising visibility. But the volume of my life and my expression was really turned down. And it was this kind of dichotomy between that. And so I remember these moments where I was like, this is, I, how can I show up for other people

if I'm not gonna actually be the most authentic version of myself? It's so, it costs more for my soul to be fearful than it does to actually tap into my power and be exuberant. Totally. Yeah. Speaking of power, there's a line in this book which really, I had to read it many times

because it meant so much to me and I thought you put it so well. And I'm gonna, if I butcher it, you can correct me, but it's power can be wrestled out of someone who's wielding power thoughtlessly or carelessly. And it's something, I think it was speaking to the fact that like there was obviously, I mean, Stonewall was a riot. There was a breakout, but it's almost like the police

at the time didn't know what to do with it because then they were thinking like, wait, why exactly are we oppressing these people? What exactly, I know we're following and maintaining the rule of law, but why is the law what it is? Maybe that's worth questioning. Can you just talk about the connection

between those thoughts? Yeah, well, I think it's like when someone is tapped into who they really are, they have more power vastly and more clarity and better sense of timing than all of the people who don't. It takes, it severs your power, I think on a spiritual way and an energetic way to be pushing someone down relentlessly. And so the people who were plugged into who they were, like Marsha, and took that fearless moment, and were like, actually, this is not okay, are connected to a well of resource that shapes worlds.

And you saw it. So I think about that all the time. It's like, with everything that's going on right now, people who are trying to erase our lives have a real kind of like, they're not tapped in. At all, they're not tapped into who they are. And so when we meet that with an abundance of spirit, an abundance of connection to those that came before

and also those who are being pushed down, I think we have the resources. We do, because the oppressor is not dialing up the volume on their lives. That's what I'm saying. By oppressing. That's exactly right. Yeah.

But like we are kind of forced to, I'm saying we in this sort of general sense, like we, in our oppression, our only option is just to turn up the volume. That's exactly right. Even though despair is like the thing that's supposed to happen. Despair is supposed to be a transitional place for me. That's the thing that, in my queer experience

that I've learned. Are you saying that you, in your drives up to Disney World, are tapping into your spirituality? 100%. Literally, I'm listening to like my manifesting tapes. I'm like, you know, listening to like Laraji and my music and whatever. And it's that to me, I'm absolutely tapping into it.

What are you doing at Disney? Okay, so I'm doing all of it. But- Where are you most spiritually tapped in at Disney? Rise of the Resistance. Yes! Yes! Yeah, like literally.

It's art. It's literally art. I'm reading Walter's news biography right now, like halfway through, because honestly that… I want to make art like that. Yeah. I want and I hope and aspire that my art builds a world that people feel invited to. That's what the point of the book is.

It's like coming to Marcia's world that is expansive, where you get permission to actually be who you are. And so to me, I think about other people who create on that scale, you know, and that's really my desire is like to create culture and art on that scale, whether through a photograph, a film, a book, or like a theme park. I feel... Because you had an exhibit somewhere, So a photograph, a film, a book, or like a theme park. Because you had an exhibit somewhere, you just showed somewhere where it was like a portal, right? Yeah. So the Whitney Biennial was a portal.

And then also I have worked up with the Met in the Afrofuturist period room. And it's two photographs, two self-portraits. One where I'm floating in midair in a spacesuit. And the other where it's like I'm back in time in the 1800s, kind of evoking this early trans figure. Mary Jones lived on Green Street in Soho in the 1830s. And so the Afrofuturist period room is also like a portal, right? You get to step into a space that imagines that Seneca Village,

which preceded Central Park, still exists, right? It's this question of like, what if we got to live freely? that imagines that Seneca Village, which preceded Central Park, still exists, right? It's this question of like, what if we got to live freely? And then my hope is that people see in their own life, like, what if I act more freely, right? In this moment, in this moment, in this moment, so yeah. Do you think that, like, just to speak about, like, because we're talking about Disney, and now it's funny,

because we were just talking before we got on, like, they opened Epic Universe, and they used portals. use Your an annual pass holder Yes, totally They literally use portals like that's the language that they're using portals into worlds not lands not like bridges It's portals and there is something about immersion in the sort of um, you know, oh my god The girl who did the very long four-hour thing about Disney Oh, I watched that thing about Disney, the hotel.

Oh, I watched that. Yes, yes, yes. Her name. Lindsay something? No, no, no, no. She does all these long content videos. Yes, they're so good. I really love the hotel one.

The hotel one was great, and she talked about this concept of immersion. Yes. About how it really feels like as entertainment and as experiences and as technology goes on and on and on. I think this is kind of what Westworld was obviously getting at too. It's like the kind of final frontier of entertainment and enjoying these experiences.

The goal being like full immersion. What do you think that that is? Why do you think we're there? Well, I think, you know, for me, like I make art films, right? And, or kind of like short films. And so I always think about, this is going to sound strange, but the first, one of the first films I saw was Wizard of Oz, right?

And I think about this moment, right? Where it goes from black and white to technicolor. And it did something to my mind, right? It's a paradigm shift. And so I think immersion is really a paradigm shift. So I have a film, Salacia, that's at Tate Modern, and it goes from 1830s New York to Sylvia Rivera on Christopher Street along the Hudson River,

which she called the River Jordan. And I was hoping to evoke that Wizard of Oz feeling that is like black and white to technicolor because when I'm immersed in something, I'm seeing it differently. You are kind of hacking or editing your reality in a particular way. That almost speaks to Marsha P. Johnson's recollection of the time because she was fully immersed in the experience and so she cannot see it clearly because she is existing within it.

Whereas from the outside, there are of course facts about when Stonewall happened. But when you're immersed in the experience and therefore part of the atmosphere, you can't really be expected. And also there's some joy in that. And that maybe speaks to that. You're losing yourself into the moment. It's like when artists or a musician is performing on stage,

it's like you're fully there, you're fully channeling. The parameters change. The parameters change. And it says something about the fact that the collective recollection, collective recollection of Stonewall, of the riot, is that no one quite knows exactly what happened. But that's like, it's not just one person,

that's not just Marsha not being able to recall it, it's a bunch of people. It's a lot of people, because it's not, my friend Leah Lakshmi writes really beautifully about how Riots are not sane events. They're not Neuro-normative events you're in an altered state and I think that speaks to what you're saying is like You're not gonna have total recall. You're fully in this altered place. Yeah, there was not like a first brick exactly

Yeah, exactly Even though there were people who were first For shot glass. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Even though there were people who were first rippling out, like Marsha in the back room or Stormé or, you know, like Nova. There were people rippling, but these were popping off simultaneously. Yeah. You write so well in the book about the community that was built, not even around Marsha, but

just with like horizontally with Marsha, just sort of like there as a leader in this space. But it's like, it's really wild that it all is contained in the neighborhood or on Christopher Street. Like her whole life just kind of began in a way, like her parameters changed on Christopher Street at Sheridan Square. And then, you know, has this tragic, almost beautifully mysterious ending too. That's right, right on Christopher Street. Right on Christopher Street. And like, and then that's where everyone celebrated her life after, you know, they spread her ashes

at the river, like the fact that it's so local and yet so globally like impactful is always what's kind of crazy to me. Yeah. Like it happened right there. Like the start of queer liberation happened on that street where like there's McDonald's two blocks down or whatever. Yeah. And it used to be a stream. Like it was one of the longest streets in New York.

I kind of go into like the history of the city a little bit. And it was like a water us all being water science. It was a water pathway. Christopher Street was way hundreds of years ago and it had a flow and kind of like in a lyrical sense, it mirrored Marsha's flow. When I was writing the book at the end, I lived on Christopher Street.

I lived on Christopher and Hudson and it just, it was so trippy to experience how, you know, Marsha had a birth, a becoming right at Stonewall. And then there was a moment, you know, Marsha had a birth, a becoming right at Stonewall. And then there was a moment, you know, an ending, not the ending of her, but an ending of Christopher and Hunton in the water. And so it just is, it's so profound and how could it not raise these kinds of spiritual questions? Yeah.

I really do like believe that, and this is where I'll get Pysenian woo woo. But like there are places that just have energy. Like and I do think that that intersection has energy. Like there is an energy there. It is thick. You are more powerful there. I will always have such gorgeous memories. This is when Bowen and I were in our mid-20s. I was dating Henry Kapurski, shout out, and he would play the piano at the downstairs duplex. And we would go and Bowen would do

the most incredible performance of Lady Gaga's rendition of Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra. And I will just never forget the people coming up to the window and looking in, not knowing it would be you know, future superstar superstar, Bowen Yang. Literally. But like, it's just, there was something about it. Like, we were all performers there.

We were all stars there. Like, I remember that's where I started, literally I started the Christmas show there. Like, from 70 people upstairs. Like, and just seeing people go up and express themselves. And you are, Lend did that because of the history, even if you're not conscious of that. Because it's woven into the place. It's woven into the energy of the place. I think that's exactly right. My friend Randy, Randy's like 83 now, but he was...

Do you ever go to Julius? Yeah, of course. So he led the sit-in before Stonewall. Wow. At Julius, you know, like this was in 1965 or something like that. A few years before Stonewall, Julius was a straight bar that refused to serve openly gay people.

And he went there and he led, you know, borrowed tactics from the Black Liberation Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and he led this beautiful sit-in. And so there's all of these spots that pop off like that, so much so that it's not one place. It is an abundance of places creating a very particular vibe. Yeah, it almost feels like, in that it's like a true circle of queer bars and like a queer community, it does feel protective, almost like a witchy spiritual circle, you know what I mean?

Yes! It's like, anything uncouth or untoward, like it's like, yeah, it's just, it would feel like a true violation. We are protected there. And I honestly feel like the entire thing needs to be historically landmark. I fear for the duplex.

I do. I like, it bothers me to know that like, it's just a building that could get taken down because it's not it's not yeah Right, I think it's interesting too is You know like we are creating also the new places in that space when hundreds and hundreds of people showed up at You know in Sheridan Square, and we're like you cannot erase the T from the National Park Service websites or erase Marsha and Sylvia. Right. Exactly. I think we're creating, you know, it's like it was powerful then and it's powerful now.

And it's summoning force. Yeah. But then you can have it show up in any form where you either have hundreds of people show up at Sheridan's work or you have 15000 people show up at the Brooklyn Museum in 2020. That's exactly right. That was a moment where I have 15,000 people show up at the Brooklyn Museum in 2020. That's exactly right. That was a moment where I was like, oh my God, like this is how we show up now, because we always were like, it's so hard to like visualize what it was like back then

in the absence of like documentation or photography, but it's like the way it proliferates now is even more sort of functional because it's like anyone could see that from anywhere, that image anywhere, and then go there now or just know where to find their people or resources now. Which is probably most important. Hi, I'm Kristin Davis,

host of the podcast Are You a Charlotte? What we have all been waiting for. Sarah Jessica Parker is here. And she is sharing stories from the very beginning, like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot. Right. I have some memories I can fill you in.

And that you're going to fill me in. Yes. But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took to pick us up. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time. He said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way which I found really interesting. And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is the

human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are You a Charlotte? on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her until they didn't.

I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to deep cover, The Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar. I host a podcast called A Slight Change of Plans. I started this show because unexpected change comes for all of us, and there's no set playbook for how to deal with it. I have all of this psychological baggage that I'm carrying with me, and the last thing I want to do

is to pass that on to my daughter. So I have to figure this out. This puzzle of my trauma, I have to figure it out, and I have to figure it out now. Join me this season when I talk to Amanda Knox about her choice to reconnect with a prosecutor who helped put her behind bars. This is not about him. This is about me and what I am capable of giving.

And I know that I am capable of being kind to this man. And by God, I am going to do it and no one can stop me. Listen to a slight change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is your girl, T.S. Madison, and I'm coming to you loud, live, and in Color from the Outlaws Podcast. Let me tell you something. I broke the internet with a 22-inch weed. 22-inch weed.

22 inches. My superpower, I've got the voice. My kryptonite, it don't exist. Get a John. My podcast, the one they never saw coming. Each week, I sit down with the culture creators and scroll stoppers. Tina Knowles, Lil Nas X. Will we ever see a dating show for the love of Lil Nas X?

This is gonna show all my exes. X marks the spot. No, here it is. My next ex. That's actually cute, though. The Vern Cots. I have a core group of girlfriends that, like, they taught me how to love.

And Chaperone. I was dropped in 2020, working a drive-through, and here we are now. We turn side eye into sermons, pain into punchline and grief. We turn those into galaxies. Listen, make sure you tell Beyonce, I'm going right on the phone right now and call her. Listen to Outlaws with T.S. Madison on the iHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, honey. on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, honey. I was literally just thinking about how if there were, like, justice, they'd be reading this in high school. You know what I mean? And I just, I feel like I'd be remiss not to talk about, with you here, someone who's so involved in the literary and art community,

and like someone who's, like, you know, out here writing really important work about queer historical figures. If you could just speak to and talk about what you're seeing in terms of like attacks on these types of books and like things like that and the removal of these types of really important works that explain and you know, include people in people like Marshall P. Johnson's legacy. Well, we're seeing it from obviously the highest office, political office, right, with Trump's executive orders that are having a real material effect on our community.

You know, ever since the inauguration where he was talking about their official policy of two genders, right? I have a dear friend who tried to travel through the airport two weeks ago. I've had people, yeah. And she was, the TSA didn't allow her to enter because she has an X on her ID, a state issued ID, and they also wouldn't let her leave the airport. And so we're actually seeing these,

it's not just rhetoric, it's having a real concrete effect on our lives. It's also really affecting, I always wanna make sure we're including our trans siblings who are incarcerated. And so that it's having a huge effect on incarcerated people. And it's also affecting the classroom, right? And these institutions of art and creativity, we saw the National Endowment of Arts.

Today museums where my work is up, Mass MoCA just made an announcement that the NEA is withdrawing funding. So we're really seeing it in real time affect our political landscape. So many organizers of any size are losing out on all this NEA stuff. Bafo, I heard, is losing out on NEA stuff. A lot of these, the only way that I have known how to be present because of scheduling stuff and I literally can't even show up in any place outside of work right now. It's like, okay, like, Boppo is raising funds. Let's go there. Let's drop some cash there.

Let's drop some cash for the Dollamasion in August. Let's just plop some little windfalls wherever we can. We as in, like I'm trying to do that in the only way that I know how now, because it's like we cannot feel helpless in this moment. Exactly. Despair has to be a transitional phase. It cannot be the terminus. That's exactly right.

I think to me, you know, an organization that's near and dear to my heart is the Trans Justice Funding Project. So I've been raising funds for Trans Justice Funding Project, which funds, it gives funds to rural grassroots organizations throughout the south First-nation organizations which are really important places that are not necessarily just on the coast And so I always like to bring up. Yeah, I mean is it

How much of this do you have to sort of like hold in your in your mind like at any given time? I feel like you are in your work, you're so expansive and the people that you think about that I feel like there must be some weight to that. Yeah, I think part of it is, I've been doing this for a long time, right? And there are moments that evoke an incredible amount of grief.

Seeing loved ones die from lack of care or from violence is definitely like a part of my story. This moment, for whatever reason, I also feel tapped into a sense of hope because I have come to a place where I firmly believe the bigger the problem, the bigger the solution. And that solutions are created from problems. And that when we pivot our focus from not, it's really important to talk about the bad things going on, but also when we pivot to, well, how are we showing up in the world?

You were just doing that. I think that's really magnetic, compelling energy. More and more people are looking for who are the helpers. I think it was like Mr. Rogers, he was like, look for the helpers, right? I firmly believe that now. It's like, who are the helpers. I think it was like Mr. Rogers, he was like, look for the helpers, right? I firmly believe that now. It's like, who are the helpers in our community? We know things are so hard. And when I do that, I feel lighter, like I have a greater sense of clarity.

It's like when when I clean, similarly, I have a greater sense of clarity. And also when I'm looking for the helpers and looking for the solutions. And driving to Disney. Literally, honestly, driving to Disney. Tiana's Surprise Rats. Seven Dwarfs. I have yet to do Tiana's Biowadventure. Oh really?

It broke down when I was on the top. It stays breaking down. It stays breaking down. But it was really cool because we got to leave through the back door and see everything, which was, I mean, I love the backstage. Yeah. We were on Tower of Terror when it broke down Oh my god, we were high as a kite

We were high and we were like, uh and like they come they come out of like, uh, you know Like a hallway with flores like look lighting like hey, you guys have to come down and you literally walk down It was we were so high But it was hilarious cuz then we took an actual elevator down. An actual elevator down to the ground floor. We were dying. We were like, okay. Did it drop along the way? No drops.

No. All we did was rise. And so then there was that thing of like in your head when you're expecting one thing but then it never comes. So we kept like being like, uh. That was me and Tiana's. We stopped literally before the last drop.

Is that when Jennifer on the list is like up? Yes. Literally. See, I have to go see it for so many reasons. That's your co-star. I love that. Ugh, Jennifer is a legend. But it's like AOC on her Fight the Oligarchy tour.

One of the things she's been speaking to, and I do think it's so important, and it's something that I struggle with, you know, over the past six weeks, like, I find myself traveling a lot and doing some things that are making me happy and Taking opportunities and I there is like a degree of guilt because I every time I turn on the news. It feels like Devastation it feels like depression. It feels like more

Darkness encroaching but one thing she said was that you have to take your opportunities to feel joy I remember hearing that because it could be so easy right now to forget and then you forget what you're fighting for. Yeah and also when you, I have found, I don't know if you have, but when I'm in a more joyful place I have a greater capacity to show up for people in my life. It's like my, the plug is plugged into the electricity in my joy and so I can be channeling solutions more and when I'm just vibing in despair I don't necessarily lose that capacity but it shows that it's diminished, at least I can be channeling solutions more. And when I'm just vibing in despair, I don't necessarily lose that capacity, but it shows that it's diminished, at least for me.

Of course. And is this part of the imagination for the theme park, which is that is kind of the ultimate place for you. Okay, thank you for seeing me. Of course. No, you're part of the theme park, girl. Okay, fab. I mean, I'm from a young age,

and I do think it did come out of like honestly I think my obsession with it started when I was seven or eight. We were just talking about this because Bowen and I went to Epic Universe. They were kind enough to invite us to see it and we're going to be at the grand opening. Oh my gosh. And it's so exciting. May 22nd. May 22nd.

Yeah, something like that. So we're going to be there and we were being asked because they filmed us doing, they filmed us on the GoPro doing the Stardust Racers. Oh my god. So we were asked, we were online like about our experiences with Theme Parks and I said I've been a Universal Parks fan since I was seven or eight and I went on the Back to the Future ride. And I remember it, I didn't understand that immersive entertainment like that.

And I think it made me want to be creative. And I think that's why it's important. And that's why I get on my soapbox so much about them lowering those goddamn prices. Because families need to be able to experience that that is what Walt would have wanted, etc. But my thing is, it is really formative for a young kid. Like we went into the Super Nintendo world and my sister who's a grown ass woman walked in and has tears in her eyes and I'm like, yeah, imagine being a child. Exactly.

Like it's crazy. Those experiences are so special. Yeah. I can only go so often because of the Florida discount. Well, yes. Which is incredible. It's like, it's much more discounted. Everyone should have access to places of that, help them plug in their line to have a greater sense of like imagination. Yeah.

You know, there's this moment where I think it's Kevin Costner talking about riding the original Disney rides over and over and over again. My whole YouTube algorithm is theme parks. Yeah. Okay, me too! I'll just be on deck. So I'm like literally that's the only thing that comes up.

That's a good class. I mean listen to Alicia Stella's podcast. Shout out Alicia, you are amazing. Oh, Jenny Nicholson by the way has been in the room. Jenny Nicholson, we forgot her name. She's a legend. But like I'm at Bio Reconstruct looking at the, what's your algorithm? Okay, so it's all like epic, Disney, and then like manifesting.

That's literally all it is. Love. That's a great little trio. That's really good. They talk to each other too. They literally talk to each other because you have to, like for me at least, I have to imagine it into being. Right? And Marsha was doing that. I write a little bit about the hot spring hotels in Times Square.

These were hourly hotels where, you know, you literally would be arrested if you were a trans person expressing any part of your authenticity in Times Square. Right. Because they would assume it was solicitation. Exactly. And these laws actually stayed into the books. You know, 2020 was when the three articles. I was going to say, you know, Cuomo, former governor. Right I was going to say, you wrote about the former governor, right? And so Marsha, when they could hustle a little bit of money, they would rent these hourly hotels

and they called them hot spring hotels because whatever season it was, it was always really hot. But these were places where they would dream their life into being, right? They would have a little bit of relief from the police and violence on the street and they would ask each other again and again and again, like, what would it feel like to be able to move through the world with a greater sense of ease? Or greater sense of freedom? And so to me, those places, whether it's the hourly

hotel or a Disney theme park or epic, those are the places that we get to, at least for me, imagine a world where we get to show up more free and more playful. The site specificity is important because, I was gonna say, even the porn theaters in Times Square, would be places where they would just stay all day. Exactly. And just like, they would be in a little black box space, whatever, the world was at some remove,

so that they could access this imagination, this neutrality a little black box space, whatever. Like the world was at some remove. Exactly. So that they could like access this like imagination, spirituality a little bit better. And Samuel Delaney, I don't know if you've read, like Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, writes about it really beautiful. But you know, and also Marsha came from a place

of like kind of naivete, right? Like she was, you know, she was working at Child's Restaurant, so she was a waitress. And then she was befriending these street queens like Sylvia, who was 13, if you can only imagine. That's insane to think that. Literally. And then was going to these theaters and there's this interview where she's talking about, oh, like you won't lick that man's toes.

You know, she's her mind kept getting blown by this imagery and being like, oh, like I guess people are doing these things. So it was really powerful to like read that part. Yeah. It's a portal. It's a portal. It's a portal. And do you feel this way about children's literature?

Like our friend Julio was telling us, like he wrote this beautiful children's book and when I read it, like a book event with him, it was like, what inspired you to write children's literature? And he was like, it's the most politically powerful medium that we have. Yeah, so I also wrote a children's book that comes out the same day.

It's called One Day in June, and it starts with a caretaker with a little one on re-speech. I don't know if y'all go to Queerhaven Sanctuary. And then it goes up to Raquel Willis's speech at the Brooklyn Museum with 15,000 people. And it's really about channeling that frequency, just like a radio station of Marsha, and how she is in the everyday.

She's in the permission to be all of who we are. She's in, you know, worker who is giving her tips to someone who can't afford to buy their kid ice cream. She's in the dancing at Raoul's, she's, you know, or the club, you know, it's like all of this vibe is very available. And to me, in a moment when young ones, kids are being told really firmly

that either they don't exist, that their truth is wrong, and they need to change, or they're just, you know, turning the dial of their life and truth down. It was really important to have a book that's not that, right? That's where giving ourselves permission to play and to try new things and also to connect it to a history that is still so palpable. Yeah. Talk about this really interesting metaphor that I feel like you're returning to, which

is turning up the volume, adjusting to the frequency, like plugging in. It feels like you're describing life in a way, or just like, you know, the human experience in a way that is very like, that's a toggle or that can be like modulated in a sense. And in a way, I kind of, not in a way, I really do love that. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah. Well, I mean mean that's just how I've come to experience the world. Yeah that there is something underpinning all of our experience and whether you call that like God or the universe or source or joy Which is just another word for it You can readily tune to that wherever you are

And so a lot of times when you're feeling fear, the path of least resistance to that is to get really angry about the situation. That brings you closer to a feeling of clarity and joy and that frequency that's fully available. So to me, part of that is just like a basis of manifesting. And so there are people who are talking about manifesting or bringing things into the material. But I really believe that there is a Marsha frequency, you know, like a joy frequency that when we're feeling all of who we are and we're inviting all aspects of ourself into the room, we have a clear,

clear access to that. There's a really wonderful thing about listening to Marsha's voice that I found. I've pressed play on videos or there's footage of her in your film. Happy birthday, Marsha. Where I could just listen to her talk all day. She would have torn it up on a podcast. Literally. That's what I mean.

Literally. She's hilarious. She's so funny. I mean, she's so funny. Original. Original. And I was here yesterday because my friend Raquel Willis is doing a podcast about Marcia called Afterlifes. And she was talking about seeing these YouTube clips of Marcia that Randy Ricker was filming. And Marcia just has great timing. You know, she's like,

get your heart ready for heart failure to the film, right? And then she's like, and then I'll get the camera. You know, you're going to expire because of my outfit, and then I'm going to jack your camera. And it's just like these bits that she was always doing. And she modeled herself a lot of her performance work off of Billy Burke, who was the original Glenda. Exactly. And was a vaudeville actress. And so Marsha did this.

She was playing the dits. She was like the bimbo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She was playing the bimbo. And so Marcia did this. She was playing the dit. She was like the bimbo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She was playing the bimbo. And she was well aware. Like there was a moment when she was in the West End in London, the only time she really traveled from the US. And she was at Drill Hall, which is now Rata Studios.

And she was performing the dit and the audience didn't get it. Like people were writing like Marciacia must be having an off night because she's not quite hitting the notes. You know, or she's not really remembering her lines. But that was her persona. And she did it so well. And just one week before she died,

she said, I love when people think I'm just a Dits or a silly little street queen because I can work them out of their money. Like she was well aware from childhood. she was in a chorus with her brother Bob and her sister Jeannie in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and they used to go around to the neighbors and sing for money. And she would sing completely off key. And Jeannie Michaels is like, but they always gave her the money.

And it was because she was doing this on purpose. They love to see a little kid like go all over the scale. And they're like, oh yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. A true performer. A true performer.

Exactly. Yeah. Hi, I'm Kristin Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte? What we have all been waiting for. Sarah Jessica Parker is here, and she is sharing stories from the very beginning, like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot.

Right, I have some memories I can fill you in. And that you're going to fill me in. Yes, but then you forgot about it in the very long time they took to pick us out. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City Yes, but then you forgot about it in the very long time they took to pick us up. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time. He said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting.

And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. It is a human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are You a Charlotte? on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar.

I host a podcast called A Slight Change of Plans. I started this show because unexpected change comes for all of us, and there's no set playbook for how to deal with it. I have all of this psychological baggage that I'm carrying with me, and the last thing I want to do is to pass that on to my daughter. So I have to figure this out. This puzzle of my trauma, I have to figure it out and I have to figure it out now. Join me this season when I talk to Amanda Knox about her choice to reconnect with the prosecutor

who helped put her behind bars. This is not about him. This is about me and what I am capable of giving. And I know that I am capable of being kind to this man. And by God, I am going to do it and no one can stop me. Listen to a slight change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her until they didn't.

I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to Deep Cover, The Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, and I'm coming to you loud, live, and in color

from the Outlaws Podcast. Let me tell you something. I broke the internet with a 22-inch weed. The weed. 22 inches. My superpower, I've got the voice. My kryptonite don't exist. Get a job.

My podcast, the one they never saw coming. Each week, I sit down with the culture creators and scroll stoppers. Tina Knowles, Lil Nas X. Will we ever see a dating show for the love of Lil Nas X? This is gonna show all my exes. X marks the spot. No, here it is.

My next ex. That's actually cute, though. The Vern Cots. I have a core group of girlfriends that, like, they taught me how to love. And Chaperone. I was dropped in 2020, working the drive-thru, and here we are now.

We turned side-eye into sermons, pain into punchline, and grief, we turned those into galaxies. Listen, make sure you tell Beyoncé, I'm going right on the phone right now and call her. Listen to Outlaws with T.S. Madison on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, honey. Speaking of conjuring up the childhood memories, et cetera, we have to ask you the question. The central question of lost culture is this, which is, what was the culture that made you say culture was for me?

Like that formative element of whatever kind of pop culture or culture in general that made you you culture was for me. Like that formative element of whatever kind of pop culture or culture in general that made you you, you feel. Well, we talked about Wizard of Oz, but also with my dad, I went to matinee films because they were cheaper. And we saw literally like every single Eddie Murphy movie. Oh my God, that's so funny you say that. Really? My dad did the same thing with Eddie Murphy.

Oh my God. It was the only movie that he was like, we're getting in the car. And my dad kind of styled himself off of Eddie Murphy. And so, you know, it was all of it, right? But I remember Harlem Nights with Della Reese and those costumes and Richard Pryor and then, you know, later The Wiz with Richard Pryor and the Emerald Secret scene. But it was really those that humor. Yeah. And which I lost for a little while. But I remember that we were we went to have a good

time. We went to have fun. Yeah. And it was like everything Eddie Murphy. And so that really was like jealousy is a good indicator for me because it shows me what I want to be doing. And so when I'm like jealous about someone's career, it's not like I hope they don't have it. I'm like, I want to be doing that thing. That's huge jealousy. That's really important.

And so it's like I can remember being jealous, you know, as a little kid of all these people who got to act on stage. Yeah. You're like, I want to be doing that. You get it in your head like you hate them. You get in your head that you hate them. But you really just want to do what they're doing, but don't know how to do it. That's all that jealousy is.

And so to me, I was like, I can just remember being Harlem Nights, Beverly Hills, all of the Beverly Hills cops, Golden Child, all of them, where I was just like, I wanna be one of these people on screen having a ball. I was jealous of Raven for being in Dr end doctor do a little too. Oh my god Yeah, like she gets to play Eddie Murphy's daughter. I don't know why My dad put me in that car and said get in the car and we went to see nutty professor to

Oh my god, really? Mind-blowing The Clumps. Oh my god, really? Oh my god, really? With Janet Jackson. Janet. And I could tell it was for him. Yes, totally. But I had so much joy because my dad was sharing something explicitly with, and he never took

me to the movies. It was that and I told you, Good Burger. And Good Burger. Wow. But Eddie doing drag and so many movies. Yes, exactly. It was like mind-blowing as a child. It's mind-blowing.

Yeah, it really is. When did you grow up? I grew up in Roxbury, which is a part of blowing. Yeah, it really is. When did you grow up? I grew up in Roxbury, which is a part of Boston. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then also so cool that Mass Mocha, like that you're like, that's amazing. But okay, can we do an assessment as a group about the movie Norbit? Totally.

Yes. Because I saw it stowed out of my mind in high school and I'm yet to rewatch it and I'm nervous to revisit it because I'm like, is gonna be so this is gonna be so chaotic for so many reasons but is it worth like I'm like do I just like go home and watch Norbit sometime soon? I think so. I think so. He's a genius. He's a genius. He's a literal and he's also kind of ahead of the curve in a very particular consistent way where I feel like so much later you might be picking up something that you didn't see at first. Totally.

I feel like something though that like fucking sucks to have to tackle this type of thing. I feel like we're talking about a couple things where there are like, there's elephants in the room, right? There is an elephant in the room with Eddie Murphy's homophobia. There's an elephant in the room with Epic Universe having Harry Potter and the JK Rowling. Absolutely. I just wonder like how do you personally navigate that and filter that because I find myself having a really hard time with you.

Of course, these are in the past, et cetera, but yes. You know, it's interesting because when I say my dad really like styled George Gossett Jr. himself off of Eddie, like it was all of it. It was also the homophobia and transphobia, right? And he died in 2010. And in a similar way that I have a kind of like spiritual relationship with Marsha,

I have one with my dad where it is really easy to see now that people who are saying the most kind of like intense vile things also around HIV and AIDS, and you know, like it's all of it, right? Are either like not surrounded by our community, right? Which in in and of itself is you're missing out on such a blessing. Yeah. So that's like a place of, girl, like you are really missing out.

Yeah, it sucks for you. It sucks for you. And then also when people are doing that, it's so clear. No one who's feeling really good about themselves is consistently attacking another person. I just don't think I can't. I don't think that you can be in a place of joy and also be pushing against someone. She's not happy sitting in her house. That's what I'm saying.

On Twitter all day. And so to me, I'm like, I just have a place of I think I give Like maybe Eddie Murphy a lot of grace around. Okay, you were young and that's a long time ago Fame from a family that maybe I don't know I'm just like you're a famous young black person and all of a sudden Everything that you're saying is the talk of the town Sure, and so it's not like my dad who says homophobic things and then no one knows about, but it's everywhere.

And so to me, I'm like, oh, this is so sad for you. And also, I just, I don't know, I have such a warm spot in my heart around Eddie Murphy. And with JK Rowling, she seems so miserable. And I'm just like, what's going on there, girl? Like something is going on But JK Rowling, she seems so miserable. And I'm just like, what's going on there, girl? Something is going on because you are so going out of your way to attack my community when we're literally just being alive.

And then the celebration of the UK Supreme Court, I don't know if you all saw that. Yeah. It's disgusting. There's something so intense going on if a symbol of freedom, a symbol of expansiveness is causing such a knee jerk response that you have to go out of your way to attack it. And so I'm like, you are not connected to what I'm about. Right? Like you are, you can't be in a place of pleasure and happiness and joy when you're going out of your way to do that. And so with her, I'm just like, bless you on your journey. You're either going to figure it out now or like when you're immaterial and...

Yeah. I don't know. Immaterial. It's like my only... The only way I can rationalize it with her is that it's like, oh, you got so rich and famous off of writing this morality tale that your set of morals, your code of morals is sort of indisputable and it's the only thing, it's the only correct thing in the world. And that she, the mechanism by which she's putting down

trans people is by victimizing cis women in a way that is like more dire than what's, it's in a way that it's like not happening. It's like, it's fabricated. It's completely, all of it is fabricated, right? The fear is completely fabricated because the scary things that they're talking about aren't being committed or produced

by trans and gender nonconforming people, which are such a small part of the population and are like, we're just trying to live. This is a fabricated, like fear response to either not being able to figure out the economy, so you're blaming trans vids, or whatever's going on with JK, not being able to figure out her own stuff. And so to me, yeah, it's completely...

Did y'all go on to the Harry Potter ride? We did. Speaking of... The thing is, this is my... And I struggle with it. And my thing was like, you know what? I just thought about relatives that I have that now have really gone hard for Trump. And I can't recognize them from what they were when I was growing up. And the fact is, they're not the same person, but they will not take my memories of them

from when I was a kid. And so I kind of just said like, you know what? She is not gonna ruin this thing for me that like, again, made me want to be creative. Made me want to be who I am. I love that. And my thing is just like, I'm just not gonna let her have that. I'm not gonna let her cloud. That's right. Like ruin this like experience for me.

And the thing too is just like, you know what's great? The Dark Universe. Yeah, that's what I heard. The Dark Universe is amazing. And How to Turn Your Dragon to Universe, which we had a little bit, I've never seen the movies, I loved it. Totally, I love that. Okay, that's wonderful.

The Harry Potter thing is, I understand why they did it because it's such a cash cow. And I will say, the ride is actually kind of cunty because it's like Dolores Umbridge's trial. And I'm like, God damn it, why am I walking in here having thought feelings when it's like a trial ride? It's like, it's like so gay. You know what I mean?

It's like, you're walking in and it's like, she's on trial, we're gonna watch her be named guilty. And she catches free and then Mel Distant comes back and gives like a fierce performance and you're like, oh my god, JK, shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. That's honestly- But where are you at with it?

Will you go in there? I mean, yeah. You know- Because it's like, you would not be abandoning anything about your transness by going there necessarily. It wasn't a kind of revolution. It wasn't like people showing up to places where they're not wanted is kind of like,

not the revolutionary thing to do, but kind of like the thing that- It's transformative to be in a place where they're not up to speed with your beauty or your value or your worth or your deservingness. And to just not turn your dial to that, but to like, actually, I belong everywhere I go. And including this place that I love. Yeah. Especially as like someone who's like,

it's such a crazy moment in theme park history too. It's like the epic universe of it all, by the way, it is that good. Like the hype is so real. It's like the first time in 25 years that they've opened like a major theme park like that. And it's like, it's just what they've done with the theme park technology.

You're gonna be so good for this monsters on change ride like it's Really good and just like the story that they tell with that we've been joking about Victoria Frankenstein on this podcast for a year It's a queen. Oh my God. She's definitely a queen. She might be winning culture award. She's gonna win a culture award. Oh my God. Culture award. Oh my God. But it's a lot of fun.

And we are the ambassadors of Celestial Park. That's right. Of the Hubland. Of the Hubland. It's our official title now. I heard it was also like the Hubland's pretty chill. It's very chill. Yeah, and so it's like if you're overstimulated,

maybe you go to Celestial Park or whatever. It feels like Epcot in that way. Yeah, I was just at Epcot for the Flower Garden Festival. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. It felt like the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens with Guardians of Galaxy. I know!

The thing I was most gagged by were those bonsai trees. Yes, oh my God. 700 year old bonsai trees that are just out there. It's crazy. Oh my God. And then of course I love to go for food and wine. Yeah. I'll just go in there by myself and knock down some apps.

There you go. Have a day. Literally. Oh my god. They were in technical rehearsal when we did it. So I can tell there was some fog effects and some stuff turned off. But they're going to figure it out. I'm excited.

Does NUNUS kind of have this counter like counter force to it where it's like it makes you nostalgic because now because going to Epic made me want to like go to Universal and just go on the old rides or just go to Disney and go on the classic rides too and I'm just like oh this kind of opens it up to like everything for me where I'm like I want to do it all. Yeah honestly part of you know not to with Marsha is like part of when drag became so pop culture. I was so interested in the origins, right? Like, I don't know if you're familiar

with the Angels of Light, but they came out of the cockettes in the Bay, glitter beards, like so many of the looks that we're seeing these days came from like Marsha, Angels of Light, and also the Hot Peaches, right? These like early 60s, 70s performers. And so to me, I'm always about like that nostalgia. I'm a cancer, so like the nostalgia of it all.

But yeah, I fall into that. I went to Islands of Adventure for the first time when I was 16 in 2000. And it blew my mind. There was like the dueling dragons and all of that. And then I went... I hadn't gone back for so many years and I wasn't sure like, how's it going to feel? Is it going gonna feel comfortable?

Is it gonna feel safe? And the thing that I really was paying attention was like I remember when this when I was this year old and I was blown away and now it's like Evolved into this other beautiful thing capturing my imagination So I'm kind of like in between that that nostalgia and the wow Totally evolution of it all and like I think I went to like a La Mama show, like 10 years ago or something. And like, I think you like shed light on like the way

that like all these different theater communities were intertwined together, especially in the 70s. Or especially when Marsha was performing in them. So like, was it, was Hot Peaches and Angels of Light, was that coming from like Theater for the New City? No, like break it down for me. Yeah, so okay, so Marsha performed at Theater for the New City with the Angels of Light, was that coming from like Theater for the New City? Like break it down for me. Yeah, so okay, so Marsha performed at Theater for the New City with the Angels of Light.

So like by the Jane Hotel right now. And also La Mama and all of these really beautiful places. The Hibiscus came out of the Cockettes and Angel Jack. And so they really created something that had never been seen before right there performances included Like the enchanted miracle where a big storybook was on stage and for each new scene the page would be turned It was this like, you know Technology right this immersive experience that the audience was really getting into and Marcia did this really great thing of direct address with the audience

Yeah, she just let her riff. They let her riff. She was so good. She'd be like, hello, Sylvia. And there's this beautiful recording of Sylvia Rivera who I think a lot of times we just think of as an activist. But she's talking about seeing Marsha on stage dressed as a queen from a faraway land and going after this person who stole her lover and is just screaming at the top of the lungs, at the top of her lungs. And the audience is growing and getting more and more ecstatic.

And Marcia was plugging in the light for so many people in that moment. So I think that was that early kind of drag performance work was plugging in the light for the audience that was growing. Yeah. I love that you speak in this metaphor. Oh, yeah. Totally. That's such a great model for like, anyone would be so lucky to create a space where people go to plug in. Exactly.

You know what I mean? Exactly. And I think that's what culture at its best does. And that's what your podcast does. Like, you're both doing it all the time. I was watching episodes of Game Show. You know what I mean? Like, you're doing doing it all the time. I was watching episodes of Game Show, you know, I mean like you're doing it all the time. And you know like you've been like we're all doing it right?

Like I think that's what we're aspiring to do is like create spaces whether it's a podcast or a game show or SNL or a film where we're an art we're able to plug in and we're able to leave transformed. We're able to go from black and white to Technicolor. We're able to like go through the portal and experience something incredibly immersive and then be like, I can do that. I can do that and it doesn't have to stay right here. I can do it everywhere.

One of my favorite lines from any piece of art I've seen, I've heard over the past couple of years is there's this play, The Hills of California that's on Broadway now. I see it. And there's this beautiful part where she goes over to the piano, the character, and she says, you know, talking about music and talking about songs, she's like, a song is just a place to live for three minutes. Yes.

And I was just like, that's why music is my escape. And that connected to everything from when I was younger about that thing of like walking into this area where all of a sudden there was something else. It was just like, I think that that is another reason why a lot of queer people gravitate towards those theme parks. That's exactly what I know. Because there is a big gay community

because I think what I was saying earlier was I didn't realize it, but I needed a place to be that wasn't my own head or my own reality because there was this thing encroaching which was you don't belong here, you don't belong here, you don't belong here. And suddenly it didn't matter what the rules were in a world that's fake and immersive. And there was song is a place to live for three minutes. It's like when I feel like I want to escape whatever it is, I will put on a song that elicits a certain emotion

because in that emotion, it's also changing the reality. That's exactly right. And you're moving from sometimes a place of despair to a place of anger, to a place of optimism, to a place of hope, and then to a place of positive expectation and knowing that things are going to be okay. And that's the song's power.

Yes, or even if it's not escaping Yeah, I'm angry and I want to feel this at 15 out of 10 Yeah on kink is karma by chapel that's right You know what I mean like it's like I need to stop cuz I'm grieving I that's right. I need I want a party soul. That's that's right I want to feel like I you know I'm saying yes, it's like it's turning up the volume. That's exactly that emotion. Yeah I am curious to know like yeah, are you?

Done with New York for good or are you like totally so I moved to Miami because my partner is an environmental lawyer and She is that's where she's working. And there's, so I moved after 22 years. I was saying like, I hadn't left New York for longer than three weeks. You're a double lifer. But you did your time. I did my time.

And that's why I asked it. Yeah. I like, the time I left, the longest was, I was working for Dee Reese, who directed Pariah and Bessie and Mudbound and I was her assistant. Wow, wow. Great films. It was a great film. So I passed and Mudbound and I was her assistant. Wow. Wow. It was a great film.

So I offered Mudbound and you know, so I was in Louisiana and that was a really clarifying experience. And I came back to New York like, you know, ready to direct Happy Birthday Marsha part two. And I think I'm having a similar powerful experience where I'm so grateful for the artists and the organizers and the friends in Miami who are really received me so warmly. There's so much happening in that city that people are organizing around and are affected by. And also, I don't know, I do feel this is my home. Like my mom lives here and my siblings. So, you know, this is... It's home. Yeah.

Like you left the power base. Yeah. It's yeah. Exactly. It's but I live in this beautiful neighborhood of Miami called Coconut Grove. It's like a historically Bahamian community. Yeah. And it's so lush. And I feel it in my body. Like how much it makes sense. And there's like hundreds of peacocks walking around my neighborhood and my cat is so happy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, honestly, sometimes I feel like you just get used to a certain pace of life that

you realize it's unreasonable once you go somewhere else and just allow yourself to. It's like I needed to leave New York when I did. Yeah. And I was, I just, it's really interesting because I came back and what I've been saying to people that are like, oh, why did you come back? It's like, because the things you didn't like or don't like about New York are all kinds of things you can change. Like they're all individual. It's like everywhere else, it's like, you're going to have to deal with what it is. But New York is a lot more multifaceted. And you can have many more experiences there and many kinds of lifestyles there than I think I

thought. And so I think I needed to go away and have my shoulders drop to come here and understand how to drop them in New York City. Yeah, that's exactly right. Because you're on guard all the time and ready to go all the time and like, you know, got your armor on and you know, ready to go. But then you can come back and be like, now that I've like, as an adult, live somewhere else, I can be an actual adult here. That's right. Yeah.

No, it's that transition moment, so necessary. Yeah, truly. I did feel in reading the book though, like everything about my life in New York, it's like, you end with a thank you. You say thank you, Marcia. And the whole time, even before I got to the ending, I was like, I owe everything to this one person

who has been in like my consciousness for as long as I've've read up on queer history, but I'm also like, I cannot even begin to understand all the material things about my life that wouldn't be possible without her. Yeah, no, that's why I ended with Thank You, Marcia. It felt like, you know, I started learning about Marcia over 20 years ago, and it just felt like a gift.

So to know her in a particular kind of like spiritual sense and to get close to the people who I named who are still around here right now in a physical sense. And so, that's the spirit that I hoped to offer through the book. It's like, I received this gift. I would love to share this gift with everyone and take it how you will. But for me, it just, it felt really important to move through that spirit of generosity.

You've imparted that in such a huge way and like just down to like my own individual history. I know, and like Matt's too, with like, oh my God, like that Downstein, was it a sit-in or what would you call that? Yeah, so they, so Marsha and Sylvia. The dining hall. The dining hall.

Exactly. They occupied, they had an occupation in 1970, September of Weinstein Hall. They took it over, right? They were the street queens living in Washington Square Park and they were like, NYU, New York University is refusing to have gay dance parties in the heart of this, you know, haven for queer and trans people. That's not okay. We're going to take it over.

And it was this really beautiful moment where they were modeling what they dreamed up in those hourly hotels. They dreamed up a sense of connection and community. Marsha was making food. They were, you know, kind of modeling after the Black Panther Party, too, where everyone was invited to eat. And so they were just like creating the world that they wanted to live in. Sometimes we call that prefiguring the world

that we want, right? And they were doing that kind of prefiguration. Yeah. And they were in the basement. They were in the basement. Which is where the buffet dining hall was. When we went there, it was where you would go to like get your hangover omelet

Like the fact that like yes, that's where they were living It all like it all like start like a year after Stonewall This is where like this was like the the extension the continuation that was happening like where like I was like Yeah, my my home fries. That's exactly right 40 years later I would be bitching about the craft of writing. Literally. You know what I mean? But we wouldn't have gone to NYU probably, I think you were writing at the time,

also wasn't really even admitting a lot of queer students. Exactly. And we're there, we're there because of them. Yeah, and also they were doing these incredible, they were dreaming about things in the basement of NYU where y'all were hung over about like access to gender-affirming care, right? They were literally talking about access to medical care. They were talking about also for things that didn't directly affect them for, you know, cis women to have daycare so that they could attend college, for college to be free, for, you know, housing. It was really important for them to dream up because they knew that you two would come along

and be the beneficiaries of the dream and you wouldn't need to necessarily do the same thing. I think you write about this in the book where it's like their transness was the thing that like was able to confer like possibility onto like a huge, a mass group of people. Like the world. Exactly. The of people. Like the world. The literal world. I learned so much reading this. You did such a good job. Thank you for reading it and engaging in it.

This phase should be on the dollar. First of all, I want to live in that world. It's just amazing. And you did such incredible work, and I have to imagine that this was not easy. And it must have took years. Well, I was writing for five years, and then before that, it was like 15 years of research.

But it felt like a gift. Like it honestly felt. Every time I learned something new or I met someone who was grumpy and lived, you know, like, and who knew Marcia but ended the conversation really joyful. All of it, it just felt like a gift. But all of that is exactly what we were talking about earlier with like, you know, the lack of quote unquote correct recollection. It's like people are all the things. Exactly.

And that is what makes her not just, you know, someone who's a source on Stonewall and that area and that time, but she is that time. That's exactly right. it is all those things. And so we're gonna do, I Don't Think So Honey, but May 20th. May 20th, Marcia. Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast, Are You a Charlotte?

What we have all been waiting for. Sarah Jessica Parker is here, and she is sharing stories from the very beginning, like the time she forgot we filmed the pilot episode. I remember some things about shooting the pilot. Right. I have some memories I can fill you in. And that you're going to fill me in. Yes.

But then you forgot about it in the very long time they took to pick us up. I completely forgot about it. And she reveals what she thought when she read the script for Sex and the City the very first time. He said he wrote this like I was in his head in some way, which I found really interesting.

And does she think Carrie is too good for Mr. Big? She had inexplicable feelings. Got it. It is a human being that can't explain to her friends why somebody that might be beneath her is dictating the hunt. You can't miss this. Listen to Are You a Charlotte? on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Dr. Maya Shankar. I host a podcast called A Slight Change of Plans. I started this show because unexpected change comes for all of us, and there's no set playbook for how to deal with it. I have all of this psychological baggage that I'm carrying with me, and the last thing I want to do is to pass that on to my daughter. So I have to figure this out. This puzzle of my trauma, I have to figure it out,

and I have to figure it out now. Join me this season when I talk to Amanda Knox about her choice to reconnect with the prosecutor who helped put her behind bars. I have to figure it out and I have to figure it out now. Join me this season when I talk to Amanda Knox about her choice to reconnect with a prosecutor who helped put her behind bars. This is not about him. This is about me and what I am capable of giving. And I know that I am capable of being kind to this man.

And by God, I am going to do it and no one can stop me. Listen to a slight change of plans on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people.

Everyone thought they knew her until they didn't. I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person

that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to deep cover The Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. to you loud, live, and in color from the Outlaws Podcast. Let me tell you something. I broke the internet with a 22-inch weed. 22-inch weed. 22 inches.

My superpower, I've got the voice. My kryptonite, it don't exist. Get a John. My podcast, the one they never saw coming. Each week, I sit down with the culture creators and scroll stoppers. Tina Knowles, Lil Nas X. Will we ever see a dating show for the love of Lil Nas X? This is gonna show all my exes.

X marks the spot. No, here it is. My next ex. That's actually cute, though. Laverne Cox. I have a core group of girlfriends that, like, they taught me how to love. And Chaperone.

I was dropped in 2020 working the drive-thru, and here we are now. We turned side eye into sermons. Pain into punchline. like they taught me how to love. And Chapel Rome. I was dropped in 2020, working the drive-thru, and here we are now. We turned side eye into sermons, pain into punchline, and grief, we turned those into galaxies. Listen, make sure you tell Beyonce, I'm going right on the phone right now,

and call her. Listen to Outlaws with T.S. Madison on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, honey. Okay, I have something for I Don't Think So, Honey, and it involves my sister. Hey. You.

All right. This is, oh me. All right. This is I Don't Think So, Honey. This is our one minute segment in which we take one minute to rage. Rage. Rage. Something in the culture.

Matt Rogers has something. This is Matt Rogers, I don't think so, and his time starts now. I don't think so, honey. Why haven't they got my girl, Bo and Yang at the Met Gala? Oh, all good. My boy should have been at, no, I want the invitation in the mail for next year already.

You would have torn up a suit. You, tailored, Michael Fisher, at MJohnF. Scroll through. Look at my girl slaying every look you know, he's a fashion icon No, what was that the photo show you did with the Pikachu backpack? Oh, that was I'm Brian McGinley for New Yorker That was an award-winning photo shoot with award-winning styling and an award-winning Subject why is it my girl at the Met Gala? I want to see you my girl walking up the steps I want to see you my girl walking up the steps. I want to see him ignoring the press

If I'm never getting invited and I want to go to the Met Gala I understand this makes my chances of being invited much less I'll tell you his address. It's blibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibibib Don't get in trouble like Megan Thee Stallion did. I've seen Ocean's Aid. I know what's going on inside. You know what I mean? That is so... I don't need to go. I don't need to go to the Met Gala. I've seen Ocean's Aid. That's a Roloculture number 60. I don't need to go to the Met Gala. I've seen Ocean's Aid.

Literally. It's shocking. I thought you had... I just... Wow. Oh my goodness. Doesn't it just make sense? I feel like this would be so good for you too because it was all about suiting. What did you think of the Met Gala? I thought it was fab. Yeah, it was really great Yeah, great. Yeah. No, I think that to quote Marsha. It's like the party is wherever she goes

You're right. So the party was the party was at at your address last night the party was that my I had people over I invited you over how many people did you have over? It was just four of us. It was just me, Josh, Ben, Thomas. Oh, okay. But I was in the weeds moving again. You know how it is. We talked about it. But another time we'll hang out. Okay. Bowen Yang, do you have an I Don't Think So Honey? I have an I Don't Think So Honey.

I love to hear it. Okay. This is Bowen Yang's I don't think so, honey. His time starts now. I don't think so, honey make Times Square dirty filthy Pornie again. Yes, Times Square Times Square blue This is why Times Square is so important in the city. You need cross-class interaction in every great city That is how you engender solidarity. That is how you get people to work together to solve problems We can't be silent in our neighborhoods now. And I especially don't think so, honey. Another neighborhood, the West Village, being overtaken by these girlies who are like

just doing their silly little TikToks. Nothing wrong with that. It's just, it cannot be all the tone of that neighborhood anymore. That is a rich neighborhood in terms of history and wealth, let's say, but it's just, we need our neighborhoods to retain some of their authenticity. Times Square being all like M&M's store McDonald's

is funny and ironic. And I think there's a huge opportunity to make those spaces fun and crazy and absurd. Like let's make those like weird, sexy, horny places. You know what I mean? I catch me cruising at the Olive Garden, at the Madame Tussauds. And that's one minute. You know what I mean, I catch me cruising at the Olive Garden at the Madame Tussauds. And that's one minute. You know what I mean?

Like, wouldn't it be fun to just like make Times Square a little bit like, filthier again? Literally. Bring back the Barnum Theater. It'd be fun. Just make that fun. Because we used to work here all the time. Yeah.

Or down there like by the drama bookshop. Oh yeah. And it was like, I can see the bones of when this was, this had like character to it. Yes. You can still feel it. But it's like, but otherwise it's like sanitized and I was like, I can see the bones of when this was this had like character to it. Yes, you can still feel it. But it's like, but otherwise it's like sanitized and I'm like, no, but like it's still there. It's still there. Let's like, yeah, yeah, you can still smell the cum on the walls. It's like an old rose.

I can still smell the cum on the walls. Um, there you go. All right, so it's your turn. Tori, it's your turn. Okay. Do you have something? I have a little bit of a something. Okay. Let's let's blow it out to a lot of bit of a something. Okay, help me You know feel free to okay All right. Okay. So this is tourmaline's I don't think so honey her time starts now

Okay, I don't think so honey to this small time dreaming We are literally in a moment as the Empire is collapsing and our economy is dust to dusting that like we're all saying it's time to go after your dreams. There is no point carving out a small space on a sinking ship just for our survival. Now is the time to dream as big as the problems are. This is how we transform the world. Yes! Did it in 30. Did it in 30. She's a fucking writer.

She's a poetess. Said it in less words and more poignantly than we could ever. Yeah, I mean, something about you saying like big problems call for inspire big solutions. Like that's tea. I really feel that way. You know, like I really, really feel that way. And this is the this is the actual time. Exactly. And you can feel it, right?

Like we can feel this thing not working. It is so clear that this moment is illuminating how it's not lasting. So why not? Like why not be inspired to think of a dream that's a little bit bigger than the empire That's crumbling around totally like no what is there to lose. What is there to lose? Yeah, absolutely Literally nothing. I mean I think perks You've Really done something here. I mean, this is Marsha the joy and defiance of Marsha P Johnson

It is out May 20th and you would enrich yourself to read it. You don't have to be queer. You don't have to be a New Yorker. You don't have to be someone that's interested in history. You can be all those things and more. And you would get so much out of this. It's beautiful work. And we thank you so much for coming on the show.

Thank you so much for having me. It really means a lot. And it means a lot that you read and engaged the book and you so much for coming on the show Thank you so much for having me it really means a lot and it means a lot that you Read and engage the book and shared so much about how it affected you and your own stories And I'm just thinking about Marcia and you in the basement of Weinstein fall time traveling with the two drunk, you know up-and-coming girlies We did

Yeah, yeah When time is a flat circle, we did be there. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Congratulations being every episode with a song. We end every episode with a song. Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine? How much longer would you be mine? Well, you know, I'm realizing now, is that the melody?

I think I had it. This is like the one Marvin Gaye song that I don't know. I mean, you know, I used to know it because I used to do it on American Idol all the time. That's my little white gay ass. I love that. On American Idol all the time. It's always just some Clay Aiken singing it, you know what I mean?

Bye. Thanks. Yay. Thank you. So good. So good! That was so good! That was so much fun. Las Culturas is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Heart Radio podcasts.

Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bo Winyak. Executive produced by Anna Hosnier and produced by Becca Ramos. Edited and mixed by Doug Baim and Monique LeBorgue. And our music is by Henry Kipursky. The number one hit podcast, The Girlfriends, is back with something new, The Girlfriends Spotlight, where each week you'll hear women share their stories of triumph over adversity. You'll meet Luanne, who escaped

a secretive religious community. Do I want my freedom or do I want my family? And now helps other women get out too. I loved my girls. I still love my girls. Come and join our girl gang. Listen to The Girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fuelled nightmare.

Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levertown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes,

we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of 2B. We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There are so many stories out there.

And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content, the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple podcasts or ever you get your podcasts. You're listening to an iHeart podcast.