My guest this week had his big screen debut alongside Adam Baldwin and Matt Dillon in 1980; made a career getting gays online with PlanetOut in the 90s; and today work for TED Talks, bringing together who are doing, as he describes it, some of the weirdest work in he world. Tom Reilly’s had a lot of jobs, and one of the constants has been figuring out new ways to bring audiences along for an unpredictable ride.

We’ll have that conversation in a moment. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume. [https://youtube.com/mattbaume.]

And if you’re doing some holiday shopping right now, just a reminder that my book Hi Honey I’m Homo makes an excellent present — you can get it in paperback, ebook, and audiobook at gaysitcoms.com [https://gaysitcoms.com]. And I’ve activated gift memberships on Patreon — so you can give someone access to literally hundreds of hours of bonus videos starting at about $21 for an entire year. That’s at Patreon.com/mattbaume [https://Patreon.com/mattbaume] .

The Weirdest Possible Fellowship (Ep 548 Flipper/Tom)

For this week’s Sewers of Paris, I’m chatting with four Oz superfans about their intense connections to films like The Wizard of Oz, books like Return to Oz, and adaptations like Wicked. These conversations are all part of my new video about Oz and queer culture [https://youtu.be/n9IXq5MwG5Q] that just went live on YouTube — check that out at YouTube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] . In this episode, you’ll hear from writer and artist Terry Blas about his childhood traveling between Idaho and Mexico, which felt very similar to Dorothy’s journey; you’ll hear from writer Josh Trujillo about his youthful obsession to Oz collectibles; from YouTuber Emma McMahon about the positive lessons she picked up from Wicked, before she even knew she needed to hear them; and Oz scholar Dee Michel about his surprising historical discoveries about Oz and queer culture.

Dee Michel: https://www.deemichel.info/ [https://www.deemichel.info]

Josh Trujillo: https://www.joshtrujillo.com/ [https://www.joshtrujillo.com]

Terry Blas: https://terryblas.com/ [https://terryblas.com]

Emma McMahan: https://www.mcmahan.media/ [https://www.mcmahan.media]

Emma’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mediaprocessingchannel/ [https://www.youtube.com/@mediaprocessingchannel]

Watch Emma's video about Wicked's stage-to-screen adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWZ1nB1mNy0

The Wonderful Queerness of Oz (Ep 547 - Terry Blas, Josh Trujillo, Emma McMahan, and Dee Michel)

To mark the recent release of the second Wicked film, for this week’s episode we’re revisiting my 2020 interview with Dee Michel [https://www.deemichel.info/], author of the book Friends of Dorothy: Why Gay Boys and Gay Men Love the Wizard of Oz. Dee’s book is an in-depth examination of queer Oz fandom, which for him has its roots in happy memories of watching the movie with his dad. Dee grew up in the 1950s with the threat of the red scare looming over his family — his parents met at a Communist Party meeting, and there was the constant threat that the family would be exposed. Added to the general chaos of the time was the discovery that his father was gay, and Dee’s own struggle to find his place in the world.


And before we get to that, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] coming this weekend about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

Fairies and Mortals Can't Get Married (Ep 546 The Wizard of Oz/Dee)

I am delighted to welcome back a friend of the Sewers, film critic and holiday aficionado, Linoleum Knife [https://www.instagram.com/linoleumcast/?hl=en]’s Alonso Duralde [https://www.instagram.com/alonso.duralde/?hl=en]. His book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/have-yourself-a-movie-little-christmas-9781493087440/], is now out in a revised and updated edition, gathering even more expert recommendations for holiday films to enjoy this season and year-round. We chatted about how Christmas movies have changed since he wrote the first edition of his book, fifteen years ago, and what the future of holiday films might be. And also why he’s been baking Christmas cookies all year long.

And before we get to that, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] coming at the end of this month about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

Give Yourself a Little Pleasure (Ep 545 - Christmas film noir/Alonso Duralde)

The second of the Wicked films comes out later this month, and so for this week’s episode we’re jumping into the Sewers archives to hear my 2017 chat with Tony winner Stephen Oremus, who was the music director for Wicked on Broadway and conducted the orchestras for the two Wicked films. He was also music director for the Academy Awards, taught Idina Menzel how to sing “Let it Go,” and worked on everything from Book of Mormon to Avenue Q to 9 to 5. Not bad for a kid who started his musical career by sneaking out of the house to sing showtunes at his best friend’s piano.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8]. And I have a new video coming later this month about The Wizard of Oz. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

And throughout November, join us for Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

It Makes Every Gay Bone in my Body Vibrate (Ep 544 - Broadway/Stephen Oremus)

My guest this week is Trung Le Nguyen [https://www.trungles.com/], author of the new graphic novel Angelica and the Bear Prince [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/604737/angelica-and-the-bear-prince-by-trung-le-nguyen/]. Trung’s books emerge from his lifelong love of fairy tales, some of them quite dark, and also his fascination with people figuring out how to take care of each other. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8]. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume]. And throughout November, join us for a week of Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume — leading up to a new video at the end of the month about why that film has always held particular importance for the gays.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

Janky and Dark: (Ep 543 - Maurice Sendak/Trung)

My guest this week has been giving a lot of thought lately to what he was born to do. Wellington Love is one of the producers of the new documentary I Was Born This Way [https://iwasbornthiswayfilm.com], which tells the story of Archbishop Carl Bean. That might not be a household name, but you’re certainly familiar with his work and the people he’s influenced — from his pioneering activism around HIV/AIDS, and also his musical career and the disco anthem that inspired Lady Gaga’s Born this Way. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a heads up that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8]. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

And to celebrate the occasion, we’ll be watching the 1970s parody, Young Frankenstein, on Twitch — and following along with the screenplay, comparing the very funny script to what made it to the screen. Join me for that this Saturday and Sunday at noon pacific at Twitch.tv/mattbaume [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume].

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

I Was Born This Way (Ep 542 - Bewitched/Wellington)

My guest this week is Jim Farmer [https://www.artsatl.org/author/jim-farmer/], festival director of Atlanta’s Out on Film [https://outonfilm.org/] fest. Jim’s a longtime arts reporter in Atlanta, though he got his start in journalism doing just-the-facts newsgathering — a beat that bored him to tears, until he decided to take the reins and create his own career doing what he loved.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a reminder that for the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale, the iconic director behind many classic Universal horror films. This weekend we’re watching Whale’s Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. That’s at Twitch.tv/mattbaume [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] this Saturday and Sunday.

And also a reminder that I have a new YouTube video [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8]. And I have a new video coming later this month about James Whale and Frankenstein. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. 

It Scared the Sh*t out of Me (Ep 541 - Halloween/Jim)

Now that we’re in October already, it’s a fine time to reflect on the uncanny grasp that horror has in the hearts of so many queer people. So for this week’s episode, we’re heading into the Sewers archives for a chat with director Jeffrey Schwarz, for whom horror is just one small slice of the story. Jeffrey’s made a lifelong study of film, starting with an early job editing the documentary The Celluloid Closet, right up to today with documentaries about people like Divine, Vito Russo, and horror icon William Castle. I chatted with Jeffrey back in 2017, when he was about to debut a documentary about the flamboyant producer Alan Carr — a fitting subject, since as a young gay man, Jeffrey found kindred spirits in people who, like him, reveled in intensity and excess. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a reminder that I have a new YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] out about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8]. That’s available now at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

And also! For the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale, the iconic director behind 1931’s Frankenstein and many other classics. Join me every Saturday and Sunday on Twitch for movies like The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, and of course Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. This weekend we’ll be watching clips from the 1994 film Gods & Monsters, and examining how closely that fictional account of Whale’s life follows the reality. That’s at Twitch.tv/mattbaume [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] this Saturday and Sunday.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume].

Swept Away by Dracula (Ep 540 - Frankenhooker/Jeffrey)

My guest this week is writer Mark Waddell. His novel, Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/761622/colin-gets-promoted-and-dooms-the-world-by-mark-waddell/], comes out next week on October 7 — a queer story about an office worker whose career advancement involves world-ending consequences. There’s an autobiographical edge to the story, since in his real life Mark had a dream job going back to childhood… and it was only after he achieved it that he realized just how harmful his dreams were, and decided to leave it all behind to become a writer.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a few announcements: As I’m sure you know, I make YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about iconic movies and TV shows, and I have a brand new video out now about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman [https://youtu.be/ZtGKiiNfai8] — and how it was made in defiance of the film industry, in defiance of Ronald Reagan, and in defiance of multiple fascist dictators. That’s available now at youtube.com/mattbaume [http://youtube.com/mattbaume].

The topic of next month’s video is the iconic 1931 Frankenstein film and its maker, James Whale — and in his honor, for the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale. Join me every Saturday and Sunday on Twitch for movies like The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser, and of course Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein. These films helped define a century of scary movies, and they are incredibly queer. It all starts this Saturday October 4 at noon pacific at Twitch.tv/mattbaume [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume].

It Was Really Dark and Kind of Scary (Ep 539 - The Neverending Story/Mark Waddell)

Revealing stories about the books, movies, tv, music and more that have changed the lives of gay men. Each week, a guest plucks a piece of entertainment from their past, and answers the question: how did it change your life?

Matt Baume

Shows