This Queer Book Saved My Life

Fans of On Being and Los Culturistas love this 2024 GLAAD Media Award nominee for Outstanding Podcast. Featuring Carmen Maria Machado, Alison Bechdel, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Greg Louganis, Becky Albertalli, and so many more, guests from across the rainbow tell these authors how their books helped them overcome alienation, gender dysphoria, familial homophobia, and being outed. Essayist and Lambda Literary Fellow John Parker hosts the conversations with a gentle and energetic style, standing in as conversational partner for posthumous authors. Stay tuned to off-weeks which features new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven and The Gaily Show.

This Queer Book Saved My Life is a arts podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 142 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts This Queer Book Saved My Life, a arts show with 142 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  This Queer Book Saved My Life

  Our Lady of the Flowers with Patrick Doyle

  Aug 18, 202646 min

  This book opened a door and no one could ever close that door again. Today we meet Patrick Doyle and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet. PLEASE NOTE: This is an explicit book and so our episode is too. There is strong sexual content. Patrick Doyle writes queer fiction, ranging from romance to mystery to thrillers and science fiction to just plain fiction. His stories depict gay men facing the challenges of living and loving in today's world. His previous novels include Pierre and Bill , Beau's Dilemma , and Jordi's Day . His latest novel, Bill & The Kid: A Queer Family. A Troubled Child. A Secret. A Crime comes out on October 1, 2026. Our Lady of the Flowers is considered Genet's masterpiece. It is a lyrical portrait of the criminal underground of Paris and the thieves, murderers and pimps who occupied it. Genet approached this world through his protagonist, Divine, a male transvestite prostitute. In the world of Our Lady of the Flowers , moral conventions are turned on their head. Sinners are portrayed as saints and when evil is not celebrated outright, it is at least viewed with a benign indifference. Connect with Patrick website: patrickdoylewrites.com goodreads: @Patrick_Doyle Our Bookshop Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook Buy your copy of Our Lady of the Flowers here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780802130136 Become an Associate Producer! Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook Credits Host/Founder: John Parker Executive Producer: Jim Pounds Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard. Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson Quatrefoil Library Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1 Real quick: yes, you too can be a guest on our podcast! If you have a queer book that had a life-saving impact for you, then please visit thisqueerbook.com and fill out the form on the homepage! Looking forward to hearing back from you! Support the show

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  This Queer Book Saved My Life

  The Gaily Show: Isabella Tousignant’s The Uninvited Passenger

  Aug 11, 202641 min

  A new episode of This Queer Book Saved My Life drops August 18th! In our off weeks we air episodes from The Gaily Show. It's the only daily LGBTQ news and talk show in the US! John hosts it and it airs on AM950-KTNF (Minneapolis), WCPT 820 AM (Chicago), 92.7 FM WMDX (Madison, WI), plus weekly on NewsTalk WHMP (Amherst, MA) and Alternative Talk 1150AM KKNW (Seattle). In this episode, author Isabella Tousignant joins us to discuss her new memoir The Uninvited Passenger. In it she talks about current trans issues in the age of MAGA misinformation and hate, growing up trans but with no place to express it or a way to come out, coming out late in life, and the complications of staying married. Connect with Isabella and buy the book at: http://www.theuninvitedpassenger.com/ Watch on YouTube We're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshow Credits Host/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change ) Executive Producer: Jim Pounds Production and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950 Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950 Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy Erickson Real quick: yes, you too can be a guest on our podcast! If you have a queer book that had a life-saving impact for you, then please visit thisqueerbook.com and fill out the form on the homepage! Looking forward to hearing back from you! Support the show

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  This Queer Book Saved My Life

  My Daddies! with Dr. Helen Webberley and Gareth Peter

  Aug 4, 202651 min

  We have such an issue with: what should we educate children with? Today we meet Dr. Helen Webberley and we’re talking about the queer book that saved her life: My Daddies! by Gareth Peter. And Gareth joins us for the conversation! Dr. Webberley is a doctor, gender specialist, and medical educator with years of experience across medicine, science, sexual health, and gender identity. In 2015, Dr. Webberley supported a young trans boy who had been left without care by UK's National Health System. That’s when she founded GenderGP . The small medical service quickly became a lifeline for trans people across the UK and beyond. Now, her goals include developing training for healthcare professionals, improving legal protections for the trans community, and championing a global shift towards patient-led, rights-based models of care. Gareth Peter has had a career as a composer and lyricist for theater, with his songs performed on stage by West End and Broadway voices across the United Kingdom and internationally. He founded the Broadway School of Performing Arts, a part-time theater school, in 2004. In 2018, he was a top-ten Penguin Random House Write Now finalist. Recent books include a series with Scholastic titled This Book is Full Of , including This Book Is Full of Unicorns and this Book Is Full Of Bunnies . Gareth lives in Nottingham with his partner and his two wonderful adopted children. My Daddies! is a funny, heartfelt picture-book celebrating same-sex parents and shared story time, perfect for introducing children to the different kinds of family in the world today. Connect with Dr. Webberley and Gareth Dr. Webberley's website: helenwebberley.com GenderGP: gendergp.com Gareth's website: storywise.uk/gareth-peter Instagram: @gareth.peter Our Bookshop Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook Buy your copy of My Daddies! here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314591/my-daddies-by-peter-gareth/9780241405772 Become an Associate Producer! Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook Credits Host/Founder: John Parker Executive Producer: Jim Pounds Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard. Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson Quatrefoil Library Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1 Real quick: yes, you too can be a guest on our podcast! If you have a queer book that had a life-saving impact for you, then please visit thisqueerbook.com and fill out the form on the homepage! Looking forward to hearing back from you! Support the show

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  This Queer Book Saved My Life

  The Gaily Show: The Angels Came to Sodom in the Evening and Ilana Masad's July Book Recs

  Jul 28, 202646 min

  A new episode of This Queer Book Saved My Life drops August 4th! In our off weeks we air episodes from The Gaily Show. It's the only daily LGBTQ news and talk show in the US! John hosts it and it airs on AM950-KTNF (Minneapolis), WCPT 820 AM (Chicago), 92.7 FM WMDX (Madison, WI), plus weekly on NewsTalk WHMP (Amherst, MA) and Alternative Talk 1150AM KKNW (Seattle). In this episode, two former guests of This Queer Book Saved My Life joined John on The Gaily Show! Paul Russell talked about his upcoming novel The Angels Came to Sodom in the Evening which comes out on October 6, 2026. And it was the third Friday of the month, which meant author and critic Ilana Masad was back to share this month's queer book recommendations: Hotshot: A Life on Fire by River Selby I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Mac Crane The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi Ilana Masad is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and criticism whose work has been widely published. She holds a PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is the author of the novels All My Mother’s Lovers and Beings, as well as the coeditor of the forthcoming anthology Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor. https://www.ilanamasad.com/ Watch on YouTube We're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshow Credits Host/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change ) Executive Producer: Jim Pounds Production and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950 Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950 Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy Erickson Real quick: yes, you too can be a guest on our podcast! If you have a queer book that had a life-saving impact for you, then please visit thisqueerbook.com and fill out the form on the homepage! Looking forward to hearing back from you! Support the show

  ListenShow Notes
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  This Queer Book Saved My Life

  The Color of Summer with Mario Elías

  Jul 21, 202647 min

  As a kid I always wondered where do I belong? Today we meet Mario Elías and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: The Color of Summer by Reinaldo Arenas. Mario Elías is a multidisciplinary artist of Cuban and Syrian descent based in Chicago. His work spans fiction, nonfiction, photography, painting, and printmaking. His book Queering the Male Gaze reimagined masterpieces of the classical and modern canon through essays and self-portraiture, exploring often-overlooked queer and female figures who shaped them. He is the founder of The KindaSuper Project, a philanthropic initiative offering free photography and video services to underserved communities. His debut novel Beloved Disciples just came out earlier this spring. The Color of Summer is a Rabelaisian tale of survival by wits and wit and ultimately a powerful and passionate story about the triumph of the human spirit over the forces of political and sexual repression. This novel is the fulfillment of author Reinaldo Arenas' life's work, the Pentagonía , a five-volume cycle of novels that is his "secret history of Cuba." Reinaldo Arenas was born in Cuba in 1943. In 1980, he was one of 120,000 Cubans who arrived in the United States on the Mariel boatlift. Arenas settled in New York where he lived until his death from AIDS ten years later. His extraordinary memoir, Before Night Falls , was named one of the fourteen "Best Books of 1993" by the editors of The New York Times Book Review and has now been made into a major motion picture. Connect with Mario Elías website: kindasuper.com instagram: @kindasupermario Our Bookshop Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook Buy your copy of The Color of Summer: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780140157192 Buy your copy of Beloved Disciples : https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781612943374 Become an Associate Producer! Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook Credits Host/Founder: John Parker Executive Producer: Jim Pounds Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Troy Ford, Jonathan Fried, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, Sean Smith, and Karsten Vagner Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard. Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson Quatrefoil Library Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1 Real quick: yes, you too can be a guest on our podcast! If you have a queer book that had a life-saving impact for you, then please visit thisqueerbook.com and fill out the form on the homepage! Looking forward to hearing back from you! Support the show

  ListenShow Notes

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