I’m chatting this week with two guests: TV producer David Moor and historian Dr. Lee Arnott of the delightful podcast The Problematic Gaze [https://theproblematicgaze.buzzsprout.com/] — that’s “gaze” as in an intent stare, though they’re the other kind of gays as well. David and Lee both grew up in small towns where it felt like life would never begin, but the lure of London called them to greater, gayer things…as did their passionate fandom for a show about a strange man who suddenly appears to rescue humans from their mundane lives.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have a new one out about why the X-Men are so very gay. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] where we’re halfway through our watch-along of Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com]; and my email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

The Lure of London (Ep 356 - Dr Who/Lee and David)

My guest this week is the Reverend Joseph Peters-Mathews, the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick Episcopal Church in Lynnwood Washington. Joseph’s path to the clergy took him from the small-town South to New York City, along the way developing a love for musical theater that he puts to work in his sermons … and that inspired him and his husband to propose to each other.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have a new one out about why the X-Men are so very gay. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] where we’re about to start a watch-along of Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews; my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com]; and my email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay movies and TV. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

Feeding the Hungry & Getting Close to the Naked (Ep 535 - Next to Normal/Joseph)

I have two guests on this week’s Sewers of Paris, both of them connected to a secret society of mutants. JP Karliak is the voice of Morph on X-Men ‘97, among many other roles; and Anthony Oliveira is a writer of many Marvel comics, among many other books. I spoke to them both about why the X-Men hold particular importance for them — part of my research for a new video about the 2000 X-Men films. That video goes live this Sunday, August 31, 2025, and it’ll feature excerpts from my conversations with Anthony and JP. But I wanted to make my full conversations with them available for you to listen to here.

Watch my video about the X-Men films: https://youtu.be/ZhtkT0IeavA

Watch the video version of my conversation with JP: https://youtu.be/xkjMkk5wARM

Watch the video version of my conversation with Anthony: https://youtu.be/vBKeVctu-PM

Check out Anthony's comics: https://www.marvel.com/comics/creators/14145/anthony_oliveira 

Read his award-winning book, Dayspring: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713616/dayspring-by-anthony-oliveira/ 

Listen to Anthony's podcast, The Devil's Party, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/meakoopa 

Join him in Toronto for Dumpster Raccoon Cinema: https://anthonyoliveira.com/dumpster-raccoon-cinema 

Learn more about Queer Vox: https://queervox.org/ 

Follow JP on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jpkarliak/ 

Another great chat with JP about their work on X-Men 97: https://youtu.be/3OfYfwp_GUs 

More of JP's work: https://www.jpkarliak.com/ 

What makes X-Men so Queer? (Ep 534 - JP Karliak & Anthony Oliveira)

My guest this week is David Duffield, who simultaneously lives in the past, the present, and the future. David’s work as a historian excavates queer histories that had previously been withheld from public view. It’s a project that gives those of us alive today a connection to the lives of people who came before us. And it’s inspired, in part, by David’s connection to values he picked up from his love of science fiction.

Find David’s work at the Colorado LGBTQ History Project: https://lgbtqcolorado.org/programs/lgbtq-history-project/

The Words We Teach: TheWordsWeTeach.com [http://thewordsweteach.com]

The Denver Principles: https://thedenverprinciples.com/

GLBT Historical Society: https://www.glbthistory.org/

History Unerased: https://unerased.org/ 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. I have one coming up about the X-Men. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] where we’ve been watching the X-Men films; my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com]; and my email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay movies and TV. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

Thirst Trap Daddies (Ep 533 - Star Trek/David)

My guest this week is Jon Kinnally [https://jonkinnally.com], author of the new memoir I'm Prancing As Fast As I Can: My Journey From a Self-Loathing Closet Case to a Successful TV Writer With Some Self-Esteem [https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-m-prancing-as-fast-as-i-can-my-journey-from-a-self-loathing-closet-case-to-a-successful-tv-writer-with-some-self-esteem-jon-kinnaly/22172508?affiliate=14040&ean=9798888459508&next=t&next=t]. Jon knew from an early age that he wanted to entertain people, and he got his shot in the ‘90s when, barely making ends meet as a cater-waiter, he landed a dream job writing for a new show called Will & Grace … and suddenly found himself at the center of a phenomenon that made him feel like a star at a rock concert.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] where we’ve been watching the X-Men films; my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com]; and my email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay movies and TV. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

It was a Rock Concert (Ep 532 - A Star is Born/Jon Kinnally)

My guest this week is from the future. Sean’s the host of the TrekCulture podcast [https://shows.acast.com/trekculture], an expert on all things Star Trek, and his name is even the inspiration for a Star Trek character in one of the novelizations. That’s fitting, because it was a novel that helped point Sean in the right direction with his life — not a Star Trek novel, but the story of a gay teen in Ireland in the mid 90s. I was recently a guest on Sean’s podcast [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXz3b-eVadU], where we went deep on sci-fi, and now I’m thrilled to have him join me here.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — I’ve got a new one out about the movie But I’m a Cheerleader. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume] where we’ve been watching the X-Men films; my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com]; and my email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay movies and TV. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

Old Enough to be a Geek (Ep 531 - Star Trek/Seán)

You are almost certainly acquainted with my guest on this week’s episode — through the episodes he wrote of Will & Grace, Cybil, Frasier, and the show he helped create, The Chris Isaak Show. Bill was a theater guy who get his foot in the door of TV thanks to a few lucky breaks and some colleagues who recognized how funny he was, and he went on to play an important role in shaping TV comedy in the 90s. And now, after a break to raise two kids, he’s picking up where he left off. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume] at Patreon.com/mattbaume [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — I’ve got a new one out about the movie But I’m a Cheerleader. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume], my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com], and my free email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay entertainment. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

Your Secret Would be Out (Ep 530 - Planet of the Apes/Bill)

For this week’s episode of The Sewers of Paris, we’re trying something new — I’ll interview my guest, Christian Garcia, about the movies that changed his life. And then he’ll interview me about the media that shaped mine, for his podcast. Christian’s the host of That Ol’ Gay Classic Cinema [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-ol-gay-classic-cinema/id1652125150], which focuses on the golden age of Hollywood. And as you’ll hear… after years of thinking that he could only enjoy old movies by himself, creating the podcast brought him in contact with a community he never knew existed.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — I’ve got a new one coming this weekend about the movie But I’m a Cheerleader. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume], my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com], and my free email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay entertainment. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

The Great Movie Ride (Ep 529 - Turner Classic Movies/Christian)

On last week’s episode, I talked with comedian Tim Murray [https://timmurraycomedian.com/], co-star of the new show Wish You Were Queer [https://www.outtvgo.com/details/TV_SHOW/collection/6372716075112/wish-you-were-queer], alongside Michael Henry [https://www.mattbaume.com/sewers-shownotes/2018/10/18/theres-no-comedy-without-conflict-ep-197-improv] and Trixie Mattel. This week, we’re going behind the scenes to chat with the show’s producer, Frank Spadafora [https://www.instagram.com/frankspadafora/?hl=en]. Frank’s a former theater kid who realized that his real talent lay in wrangling his weird queer friends into making zany projects — sort of like Kermit the Frog, but very very gay.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — I just posted a new video about the twenty-year anniversary of Brokeback Mountain [https://youtu.be/lYA9NpjJU4w], and I’ve got a new one coming soon about the movie But I’m a Cheerleader. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume], my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com], and my free email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay entertainment. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

We Love Making Gay Sh*t (Ep 528 - Frank/Wish You Were Queer)

My guest this week is comedian Tim Murray [https://timmurraycomedian.com/], co-star of the new show Wish You Were Queer [https://www.outtvgo.com/details/TV_SHOW/collection/6372716075112/wish-you-were-queer], alongside Michael Henry [https://www.mattbaume.com/sewers-shownotes/2018/10/18/theres-no-comedy-without-conflict-ep-197-improv] and Trixie Mattel. The show follows two friends on a real road trip around the country, each week exploring a new city where they have just a few days to create a new stand-up show for each local audience. The entire series is streaming now on OUTtv. Tim’s entry into entertainment came from a very different genre from comedy — a childhood interest in horror. But as you’ll hear, making people laugh and making people scream isn’t as different as it might seem.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First — if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon [http://patreon.com/mattbaume]. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos [http://youtube.com/mattbaume] about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — I just posted a new video about the twenty-year anniversary of Brokeback Mountain [https://youtu.be/lYA9NpjJU4w]. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch [http://twitch.tv/mattbaume], my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! [http://gaysitcoms.com], and my free email newsletter full of stories about the making of gay entertainment. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com [http://mattbaume.com].

I Like Being Scared (Ep 527 - Scream/Tim Murray)

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?