Free Daily Podcast Summary
Cruising | Queer History and Culture: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jennifer McGinity
Conversations about lesbian bars, sapphic spaces, and beyond! Not sure where to start? You don’t have to listen in order! Pick your favorite city, space, or LGBTQ+ icon and dive in. Season 1 follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on their 2021 cross-country road trip to every lesbian bar in the U.S., sharing the stories of the humans that run these spaces and the humans that call them a home. Season 2 features 14 more spaces, chronicling the current lesbian bar resurgence AND taking you back in time to lesbian bars of decades past.In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces - from bookstores, to farms, to peace encampments and more!New episodes air every other Tuesday.
Latest Episodes
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- 4 days ago1h 11m
LIVE: Community Story Share (Northampton, MA / 06.01.26)
This episode was taped live at Sub Rosa: a queer bar and event space in Northampton, MA. We asked the local queer community to come out to celebrate the release of our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, and share stories about the queer/lesbian spaces that matter to them. And boy, did they! Tune in for stories across generations, including: - how Northampton became a hub for lesbians - first hand accounts of the lesbian bars of our past - queer sexuality and the spaces that nourish this - sapphic love stories - encounters with lesbian icons like Charlene and Holly Near - finding home in unlikely places - a live reading of the book's preface ... -You can now purchase our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, anywhere books are sold or at cruisingpod.com/book -Buy tickets and browse the schedule for our BOOK TOUR -Submit a story for our COMMUNITY STORY SHARE ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago1h 24m
Highlights From Our Lesbian Bar Road Trip
We're looking back on the past five years of Cruising with some of our favorite stories from lesbian bars across the country. This episode airs simultaneously with the release of The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, a book adaptation of the first two seasons of the podcast. So let's celebrate with a reflection on some of the stories that are now available for the very first time in print! Tune in for selections from: Wild Side West | San Francisco, CA - "Thank you for the planters, but I'm not leaving" Pearl Bar | Houston, TX - "The first time I saw my sister really come out of her shell" Lipstick Lounge | Nashville, TN - " All the people that touched my mom's life" Nancy Valverde | Los Angeles, CA - " Sh*t come, sh*t go, I'm gonna be myself" Charlene's | New Orleans, LA - " I came in the front door and I'm damn well going out that way" Les Pierres | New Orleans, LA - "We needed a place of our own" The Sports Bra | Portland, OR - "Ask for what you need" Hershee Bar | Norfolk, VA - " This place means something, and you need to know what it means" Femme Bar | Worcester, MA - "The biggest hype man I've ever known" ... -You can now purchase our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, anywhere books are sold or at cruisingpod.com/book -Buy tickets and browse the schedule for our BOOK TOUR -Submit a story for our COMMUNITY STORY SHARE ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- May 12, 20261h 28m
Organizer Meg Riley on living in a lesbian co-op, the history of radical resistance in Minneapolis, and the ICE surge
This week, we're digging into the rich history activism and resistance in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our guest, Meg Riley, is a political organizer, advocate, and Unitarian Universalist Minister. Meg first moved to the twin cities in 1976, where she very quickly started living in cooperative community housing and immersing herself in local lesbian activism. In 1981, Meg moved into what would become Sweet Willa - a cooperatively owned, lesbian home. Today, she still lives in Minneapolis, where she's settling into her new role as movement elder. Meg joins the podcast to discuss: -the ins and outs of community living with a bunch of lesbians -the local lesbian coffeehouse, bookstore, lez brunch, and more queer infrastructure -why so many sober people come to Minneapolis -the struggle to pass down leadership and knowledge to the next generation of queers -her experience with ICE and local mutual aid networks ... Buy tickets and browse the schedule for our BOOK TOUR Submit a story for our COMMUNITY STORY SHARE ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Apr 28, 20261h 2m
Activist Mandy Carter on war resistance, the Quaker tradition, and the search for her long lost siblings
Mandy Carter is a long-time Black lesbian activist and community organizer. Born in 1948, Mandy spent her childhood bouncing between New York state children's homes. While that came with exceptional challenges for a young person, it also allowed her the freedom to grow into exactly who she wanted to be, without the binds of familial pressures and expectations. For Mandy, that meant being a lesbian, a quaker, and a radical agitator (at one point in jail for 90 days). In this episode, Mandy shares stories of: -discovering the Quaker tradition as a teen -sleeping in central park and hitchhiking all the way to San Francisco -finding a home at Maud's Study -protesting the war in Vietnam -the impact of Harvey Milk's assassination -reconnecting with her brother after 50 years, and continuing to search for her sister to this day **Help us find Delores!!! It's been six decades and Mandy is still looking for her sister. Please share any leads with us at cruisingpod@gmail.com and help us spread the word by sharing our related posts on social media (@cruisingpod) ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Apr 14, 202657 min
Franco Stevens on the history of Curve Magazine, lesbian visibility, and extremely creative fundraising
Franco Stevens first made her mark on lesbian history in 1990, with the creation of Curve Magazine (at the time known as Deneuve, but we'll get into that later). Curve would soon become the most successful lesbian magazine in the world, committed to lesbian visibility, community-building, and documenting our history. Its pages have featured change-makers and celebrities from Melissa Etheridge to Jenny Shimizu to the cast of the L Word and everyone in-between. But it was, by no means, easy for Franco to get there. She joins the pod to detail: -coming out to her (then) husband as a teenage bride -raising money for the project when no one else believed in it -her controversial decision to display the word "lesbian" on the cover -bouncing back from a devastating lawsuit -the real reason Franco had to sell the magazine, and how she eventually bought it back ... Follow Franco on Instagram and Facebook Follow Curve Magazine on Instagram and Facebook Browse Curve's digital archive Watch Ahead of the Curve, the 2020 documentary about Franco and the magazine Browse the schedule for 2026 Lesbian Visibility Week (April 20-26) Learn more about the Curve Foundation ... Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Mar 31, 202638 min
Angeli Luz on creating the Lesbian Masterdoc and the backlash
Angeli Luz was 18 years old when she sat down to research, pen, and post the “Am I A Lesbian?” Masterdoc. Over a decade later, her work has withstood the test of time having reached millions of readers worldwide. The Lesbian Master Doc, for those that don’t already know, is a 30 page research paper asking the question that Angeli herself was parsing out at the time: How do I know if I'm a lesbian? What is the difference between actual attraction and compulsory heterosexuality (comphet) fostered by the world around us? In conversation, Angeli discusses: -the story behind the creation of the doc -going viral and the backlash that comes with that -what she would change about her writing if approaching it today -attention from celebrities like Reneé Rapp and Kehlani -discovering her own sexual identity and coming out, for a second time, as bisexual Read the full “Am I A Lesbian?” Masterdoc Follow Angeli on Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, or visit her website! Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Mar 17, 202653 min
Bernie Stark on women's softball, Title IX, and trans inclusion in sports
The Mary Vazquez Women's Softball League was founded in 1976 in Northampton, Massachusetts. A collection of lesbian feminists (Eileen Stewart, Jean Grossholtz, Susan Tracy, and Maryann Jennings) formed the league around their values of equity, inclusion, and community. Today, Sarah sits down with long-time player, and former league commissioner, Bernie Stark to discuss: -The league's history and origin story -Unique traditions, rules, and culture -The impact of Title IX on different generations of players -How the league decided to define "women's" softball and include trans athletes -Growing up in a traditional home as a girl in sports Explore the leagues website! Follow the league on Instagram! Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Mar 3, 20261h 3m
Activists Heather Booth and Martha Scott on their historic underground abortion network
They called it "The Service," the world has called them "The Janes" - this episode follows the story of Chicago's underground abortion network. From its 1965 inception, through their devastating police bust, and the eventual legalization of abortion on the federal level in 1973. Act I features Heather Booth, a Civil Rights activist who first founded the service and trained other women in her procedures and philosophies. In Act II we meet Martha Scott, a stay-at-home mom who decides to dedicate a bit of her time to a worthy cause, and ends up a central figure in the collective. Both women help paint a chilling picture of the time: including women's oppression, treatment in the medical industry, access to birth control, and the impact of "Our Bodies Ourselves." -Stream "The Janes" documentary on HBO -Order the book "The Story of Jane" by collective member Laura Kaplan Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook -Check out Cruising's Substack for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -Preorder our book, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -Support Cruising here! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by Joey Freeman. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
About Cruising | Queer History and Culture
Conversations about lesbian bars, sapphic spaces, and beyond! Not sure where to start? You don’t have to listen in order! Pick your favorite city, space, or LGBTQ+ icon and dive in. Season 1 follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on their 2021 cross-country road trip to every lesbian bar in the U.S., sharing the stories of the humans that run these spaces and the humans that call them a home. Season 2 features 14 more spaces, chronicling the current lesbian bar resurgence AND taking you back in time to lesbian bars of decades past.In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces - from bookstores, to farms, to peace encampments and more!New episodes air every other Tuesday.
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