Gays Reading

Jason and Brett talk to Hannah Murphy Winter and Billie Winter, the couple behind Queer Power Couples, as they delve into the essence of queer power partnerships, offering intimate insights into documenting this untapped element of queer history. They then talk to Ryan Fitzgibbon (A Great Gay Book, on sale May 21) about his curation of a time capsule featuring essays, poems, and photographs, immortalizing layers of queer history and rich tapestry of LGBTQ+ experiences. Hannah Murphy Winter (she/they) is a journalist who writes about queerness and policies that impact LGBTQ+ lives. Her work frequently appears in Rolling Stone. She lives in Seattle with her wife, Billie Winter, three cats they found in their shed, and their rescue dog, Pippin. The first person she ever recognized as queer was Spinelli from Recess. Billie Winter (she/her) is a photographer and videographer. She grew up in Queens, NY, and worked at Rolling Stone as a photo editor for fifteen years until she moved to Seattle and became an organic, regenerative farmer. She still has a crush on Cheetara from ThunderCats. Ryan Fitzgibbon is an artist and publisher. After beginning as a communication designer at IDEO in San Francisco, California, he founded Hello Mr. in 2012. Fitzgibbon self-published the magazine from Brooklyn, New York, before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma in January of 2020. In addition to organizing to protect LGBTQ+ rights and expanding HIV/AIDS care and prevention in Oklahoma, his work includes supporting the Black Wall Street Times through the production of multiple print publications, and the opening of their newsroom and storefront in Greenwood. Fitzgibbon is a 2021-2023 awardee of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In their 50th episode, Jason and Brett talk to Rachel Khong (Real Americans) about cooking eggs, mugwort baths, growing into the person who could write this book, and how friction allows for change. Rachel Khong is the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction, and named a Best Book of the Year by NPR; O, The Oprah Magazine; Vogue; and Esquire. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The Cut, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and Tin House. In 2018, she founded The Ruby, a work and event space for women and nonbinary writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission District. She lives in California. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In the April episode of their debut novelists series UPCOMING / UP & COMING, Jason and Brett talk to three new writers about their soon-to-be released books. Jiaming Tang (Cinema Love, May 7) talks about explaining his "accent" to people in Alabama; Melissa Mogollon (Oye, May 14) expresses her love of Rainforest Cafe; and Yael van der Wouden (The Safekeep, May 28) shares the secrets of erotic writing. Jiaming Tang is a queer immigrant writer. He holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, and his writing has appeared in such publications as AGNI, Lit Hub, Joyland Magazine, and elsewhere. He is a 2022-23 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer Fellow and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Cinema Love is his first novel. Melissa Mogollon holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA from the George Washington University. Originally from Colombia and raised in Florida, she now teaches at a boarding school in Rhode Island, where she lives with her partner and dog. Oye is her first novel. Yael van der Wouden is a writer and a teacher. She lives in Utrecht, Netherlands, and The Safekeep is her first novel. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Yulin Kuang (How to End a Love Story) about Lisa Frank fan fiction, underrated 90s rom coms, the struggles of watching cooking shows on TV, how she came to adapt two Emily Henry novels, and much more. Yulin Kuang is a screenwriter and director, whose credits include The CW’s I Ship It and Hulu’s Dollface. She was once fired from a Hallmark movie for being ‘too hip for Hallmark’ and is the adapting screenwriter of Emily Henry’s People We Meet On Vacation, as well as the writer/director of the forthcoming Beach Read film for 20th Century Studios. She lives in Pasadena with her husband Zack and their orange cat, Eloise. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Holly Gramazio (The Husbands) about how her life was changed by a misfiled library book, her strong convictions about jewelry, five finger shoes, and High School Musical 3. The Husbands is April's Read with Jenna book club pick. Holly Gramazio is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, and wrote the script for the award-winning indie video game Dicey Dungeons. Her recent projects include New Rules, a zine collecting essays about play during the pandemic, and a collaboration with artist Lawrence Lek on a game for his exhibition NOX. She’s particularly interested in rules, play, cities, gardens, games that get people acting creatively, stories that buy into a ridiculous premise and then really commit to it, and art that gets people interacting with their surroundings in new ways. The Husbands is her first novel. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Douglas Westerbeke (A Short Walk Through a Wide World) about the research that went into setting up his modern fairy tale, the impact of technology on storytelling, and the importance of staying curious. Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talked to Garrard Conley (All the World Beside) about how we reinvent ourselves when we challenge the status quo, the pros and cons of “adulting,” and making our own rules. Garrard Conley is the New York Timesbestselling author of the memoir Boy Erased, as well as the creator and co-producer of the podcast UnErased: The History of Conversion Therapy in America. His work has been published by The New York Times, Oxford American, Time, and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. Conley is a graduate of Brooklyn College’s MFA program, where he was a Truman Capote Fellow specializing in fiction. He is an assistant professor of creative writing at Kennesaw State University. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Tommy Orange (Wandering Stars) about dreams and spirituality, learn about sound engineering and roller hockey, and how understanding your history can shape your future. Come for special insider info about a character's playlist, stay for a Moulin Rouge debate. Tommy Orange is a graduate of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California. His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award. He lives in Oakland, California. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett take a break from talking to authors to answer your questions! Everything from choosing books and finding time to read to their experience and relationship to books as queer people. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Armistead Maupin (Mona of the Manor) about living in the world of Tales of the City for 50 years, inspiration for the character of Mona, a day in his life at nearly-80, shows he's seen in the West End recently, Bernadette Peters, and more. Armistead Maupin is the author of the Tales of the City series, which includes Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn, and The Days of Anna Madrigal. His other books include the memoir Logical Family and the novels Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener. Maupin was the 2012 recipient of the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Pioneer Award. He lives in London with his husband, Christopher Turner. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In the second installment of their debut novelists series UPCOMING / UP & COMING, Jason and Brett talk to three new writers about their soon-to-be released books. Lottie Hazell (Piglet, Feb 27) talks about working as a board game designer; Ursula Villarreal-Moura (Like Happiness, Mar 26) shares her stories writing fan letters; and Alexandra Tanner (Worry, Mar 26) tells real-life stories that inspired her book. Lottie Hazell is a writer, contemporary literature scholar, and board game designer living in Warwickshire, England. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Loughborough University, where she studied food writing in twenty-first century fiction. Piglet is her first novel. Ursula Villarreal-Moura was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She is the author of Math for the Self-Crippling, a flash fiction collection. Like Happiness is her first novel. Alexandra Tanner is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. She is a graduate of the MFA program at The New School and the recipient of fellowships from MacDowell and The Center for Fiction. Her writing appears in The New York Times Book Review, Gawker, and Jewish Currents, among other outlets. Worry is her first novel. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Bianca Bosker (Get the Picture) about the immersive approach to her writing, why we need to unlearn how to behave around art, developing new tastes, and the importance of context in the context of art. Bianca Bosker is the New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Best American Travel Writing, and been recognized with awards from the New York Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, and more. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Ijeoma Oluo (Be a Revolution) about actionable steps for making social change, the importance of diversifying where you get your information, doing your own research, outlining a blueprint for being the catalyst of change. Ijeoma Oluo is a writer, speaker, and internet yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race and, most recently, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among many other publications. She was named to the 2021 Time 100 Next list and has twice been named to the Root 100. She received the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and the 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award from the American Humanist Association. She lives in Seattle, Washington. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Mark Daley (Safe) about his new memoir chronicling a piece of his journey becoming an adoptive parent. They talk about some of the systemic issues within the adoption process, chosen family, and the impetus to telling this story. Mark Daley is a social activist, entrepreneur, and foster-turned-adoptive father. Daley has over two decades of experience in message development, communication strategy, and public policy, including as a communications director and spokesperson for then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked with more than thirty members of Congress, numerous governors, and other elected officials. He is the founder of One Iowa, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ equality organization, and TheFosterParent.com, a national platform to connect interested families with foster organizations. Daley lives in Southern California with his husband and three children. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Dolly Alderton (Good Material) about hetero optimism (yes, it's a thing), Geri Halliwell as a sexual awakening, Robbie Williams as... another sexual awakening, Nora Ephron (unrelated to sexual awakenings), and so much more. Grab your Zabar's mug and enjoy. Dolly Alderton is an award-winning author, screenwriter and journalist based in London. She is a columnist for The Sunday Times Style and has also written for GQ, Red, Marie Claire and Grazia. She is the former co-host and co-creator of the podcast The High Low. Her first book, Everything I Know About Love, became a top five Sunday Times best-seller in its first week of publication, won a National Book Award (UK) for Autobiography of the Year and was made into a BBC One TV Series. Ghosts, her first novel, was published in 2021. Dear Dolly, a collection of her agony aunt columns from the Sunday Times Style magazine, was published in 2022 and was also a Sunday Times best-seller. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Crystal Hefner (Only Say Good Things) about life following her time in the famed Playboy mansion, beauty standards and carrying the burden of how we want to be perceived in the world, and what she's discovering about herself now that she's on the other side. Crystal Hefner is a world-renowned model, advocate, and entrepreneur. A former Playboy Playmate, she now works to bring awareness to issues she is passionate about, speaking out on social media to her 10 million followers about body image, objectification, and beauty standards in the media. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

Jason and Brett talk to Kaveh Akbar (Martyr!) about his transition from poet to novelist, listening to your dreams, how language is a sense memory, parallels with the musical Pippin, and much more. Kaveh Akbar’s poems appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry collections: Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf, in addition to a chapbook, Portrait of the Alcoholic. He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 110 Poets on the Divine. He lives in Iowa City. New York Times Review HERE. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In the first installation of their debut novelists series UPCOMING / UP & COMING, Jason and Brett talk to three new writers about their soon-to-be released books. Christina Cooke (Broughtupsy, Jan 23) talks about how it took 13 years to write and publish her book; Daniel Lefferts (Ways & Means, Feb 6) shares how his novel emerged from a short story he wrote in college; and Rebecca K Reilly (Greta & Valdin, Feb 6) explains the unique publishing process in New Zealand, where her book has been a bestseller for over 3 years. Christina Cooke’s writing has appeared in The Caribbean Writer, PRISM International, Prairie Schooner, Epiphany: A Literary Journal, and elsewhere. A MacDowell Fellow, Journey Prize winner, and a Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award winner, she holds a Master of Arts from the University of New Brunswick and a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Christina was born in Jamaica and is now a Canadian citizen who lives and writes in New York City. Broughtupsy is her debut novel. Daniel Lefferts was born in upstate New York and now lives in Hudson, New York. He holds an MFA from Columbia University and has taught writing at Columbia and Rutgers. Ways and Means is his first novel. Rebecca K Reilly (Ngaati Hine, Ngaati Rehua Ngaatiwai ki Aotea), born 1991, is a Maaori novelist from Waitaakere, New Zealand. She has a BA (hons) in German and European studies from the University of Auckland and an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for 2019. Greta & Valdin is her first novel. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In the first episode of the new year, Jason and Brett discuss books they’re excited to check out in 2024. They’re joined by editor and author Jenny Jackson (who initially put The Rachel Incident on their radar—one of Jason’s Most Memorable 2023 Books!) Jenny talks about titles, some of which she served as editor, that she’s looking forward to this year. You’ll also find an Easter egg for an upcoming (unannounced) episode. Check out Jason's earlier interview with Jenny HERE. Jenny Jackson is a vice president and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. A graduate of Williams College and the Columbia Publishing Course, she lives in Brooklyn Heights with her family. Her debut novel Pineapple Street, a Good Morning America Book Club pick, was released in March 2023. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com

In the season finale of Gays Reading, Jason and Brett share not the "favorite" and not the "best," but their most memorable books of 2023. What makes a memorable book? Do any overlap? Check out this episode and prep for the new year by adding a whole bunch of books to your TBR. **BOOKS!** Check out the list of books discussed on each episode on our Bookshop page: https://bookshop.org/shop/gaysreading | By purchasing books through this Bookshop link, you can support both Gays Reading and an independent bookstore of your choice! Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content! Purchase your Gays Reading podcast Merch! Follow us on Instagram @gaysreading | @bretts.book.stack | @jasonblitman What are you reading? Send us an email or a voice memo at gaysreading@gmail.com