Share the queerest thing you did this year by 6 December to be featured on the end-of-year special and for the chance to win a special gift (if you are based in the UK). Send an email or voice recording to queerlitpodcast@gmail.com by 6 December. I can't wait to hear from you!

Medusa, Medea, Artemis… we’ve all heard their stories before but what do they sound like when not told by (or centred on) men? Mara Gold, the sapphic scholar, is here to tell us all about these figures and about how there is always more than one side to a story and more than one reading to a myth. Come for the lesbian legends, stay for the witty witches and follow us @queerlitpodcast and @sapphic_scholar.   References Mara Gold’s Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men (2025) Mara Gold’s “Rebels Against the Tyranny of Men’: Women Performing Greek Comedy in Early Twentieth-Century Britain” in Women Creating Classics (2025)  https://mara-gold.com/ @sapphic_scholar Beyond the Binary Pitt Rivers Museum https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/beyond-the-binary Ashmolean Museum Rebellious Bodies audio tour  https://app.smartify.org/en-GB/tours/ashmolean-rebellious-bodies-tour?utm_campaign=ashmoleansmartifywebpage&utm_medium=webpagelink&utm_source=ashmoleanwebsite&utm_content=rebelliousbodiestour Smartify Hélène Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa” (1975) Femme fatale Gorgons Apotropaic figure Athena Hera Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind Madeleine Miller’s Circe Rosie Hewlett Pat Barker Madeleine Miller’s Circe Sirens Odyssey Durham Castle Hans Christian Andersen Selkie Demeter Penelope Medea Maenad Dionysus Bacchus True Blood Amazon Atalanta Nataly Barney Lesbos-en-Seine Artemis Double Slice https://doubleslice.studio/ Actaeon Callisto Zeus Aphrodite Jason Argonauts Glauce Suranne Jones Doctor Foster Gentleman Jack Children of Srikandi (2012) Hector and Hephaestus Radical Book Fair Lighthouse Books Edinburgh The Bookish Type Caper bookshop The Magicians Persephone Cassandra   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      What is sapphism? -      What is classical reception? How is this relevant to Mara’s work? -      What are the archetypes that Mara uses to structure the book? Which one are you most interested in and why? -      What does Mara say about Srikandi and Srikandi’s role in LGBTQIA+ activism in Indonesia? -      How can we draw on ancient myths for queer activism today? What does Mara say about this? What are your thoughts? -      Do you have a favourite figure from mythology or legends?  

Are you ready to descend into the weird world of queer Gothic writing, spooky sexology, and gay ghouls? Brontë Schiltz is an expert on all of these and so much more. We speak about the televisual Gothic and about several of Brontë’s favourite Victorian writers, including masc heartthrob Vernon Lee. If you’re into fun facts about blood transfusions and half-human, half-snake main characters, this episode is for you.   References: Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies Vernon Lee (1856-1935) Ali Smith Sarah Waters Televisual gothic A Ghost Story For Christmas M.R. James “The Dead Room” Mark Gatiss The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales Chris Baldick Nigel Kneale Matthew Lewis’ The Monk Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Jen Beagin’s Big Swiss Karl Heinrich Ulrichs’ Manor Sexology “Plain Reasons Against Sodomy” Horace Walpole John Addington Symonds Dracula George Haggerty’s Queer Gothic John Singer Sargent Clementina Anstruther-Thomson Affect studies Vernon Lee’s Hauntings “A Wicked Voice” “Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady” Megan Milks Ali Smith’s Hotel World Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies The Horse Hospital  https://www.thehorsehospital.com/events/miskatonic-televisualgothic   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      What is the Gothic? What did you know about the Gothic before listening and what did you learn from Brontë? -      How is the Gothic queer? -      Why is the Victorian period an interesting time to look at queerness? -      How does Brontë speak about queerness in relation to illness? -      What is your favourite spooky story?          

Are you ready to become a showgirl? Poet, scholar, and Swifty extraordinaire Stephanie Burt joins me to talk about Taylor Swift’s musical genius, queer fandom and relationship to femininity. There was simply too much to squeeze into one episode, so make sure to listen to part one first and hear all about the Gaylors, before switching to part two, to learn about Taylor's relationship to femininity, class and race. Stephanie will also tell you why she thought the “You Need To Calm Down” video was a big mistake… Follow Stephanie and myself at @notquitehydepark and @queerlitpodcast for even more content!   References Stephanie Burt’s We Are Mermaids (Greywolf Press, 2022) Stephanie Burt’s Super Gay Poems (2025) Stephanie Burt’s Taylor’s Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift (Basic Books, 2025) Stephanie Burt’s “Prayer for Werewolves” Poetry Unbound John Donne Katherine Philips Geoffrey Chaucer Walt Whitman Charlotte Mew Sarah Records Heavenly Tender Trap Blueboy Ella Darling Motown Carole King Dolly Parton “You Belong With Me” Red Reputation Miss Americana (2020) Lover Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road Gaylorism Gaylors and Hetlors “When Emma Falls in Love” “All Too Well” Joe Jonas Taylor Lautner Jake Gyllenhaal “Back to December” John Mayer The Life of a Show Girl Elizabeth Taylor Katharine Hepburn Ophelia Hamlet Julia Serano Frozen Mononormativity Evermore “Tis The Damn Season” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection “Christmases When You Were Mine” Crass Grace Petrie Taylearning podcast “Clara Bow” Britney Spears Miley Cyrus “You Need to Come Down” Adeem the Artist Journey to Fearless Lara Heimert @notquitehydepark Rachel Gold’s In the Silences Imogen Binnie’s Nevada X-Men Gold 30 D.A. Powell Team Dresch’s Captain My Captain Slater Kinney Heartbreak High Sex Education Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      How does Stephanie speak about the relationship between poetry, lyrics and music? Where does this become relevant in Taylor Swift’s work? -      What does the term ‘Gaylor’ refer to and why are there so many of them? -      We speak about sapphic forms in this episode. What makes a form sapphic for you? -      What is feminophobia and why could being femme be read as giving up power? How does this relate to trans femininity? -      What does Stephanie suggest about the representation of class in the “You Need To Calm Down” video? -      Why does Stephanie stress that Taylor knows that she is white? How does Stephanie describe Taylor’s engagement with race and the music of Black women? -      Does Taylor’s music speak to you? Why or why not?

Are you ready to become a showgirl? Poet, scholar, and Swifty extraordinaire Stephanie Burt joins me to talk about Taylor Swift’s musical genius, queer fandom and relationship to femininity. There was simply too much to squeeze into one episode, so make sure to listen to part one first and hear all about the Gaylors, before switching to part two, to learn about Taylor;s relationship to femininity, class and race. Stephanie will also tell you why she thought the “You Need To Calm Down” video was a big mistake… Follow Stephanie and myself at @notquitehydepark and @queerlitpodcast for even more content!   References Stephanie Burt’s We Are Mermaids (Greywolf Press, 2022) Stephanie Burt’s Super Gay Poems (2025) Stephanie Burt’s Taylor’s Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift (Basic Books, 2025) Stephanie Burt’s “Prayer for Werewolves” Poetry Unbound John Donne Katherine Philips Geoffrey Chaucer Walt Whitman Charlotte Mew Sarah Records Heavenly Tender Trap Blueboy Ella Darling Motown Carole King Dolly Parton “You Belong With Me” Red Reputation Miss Americana (2020) Lover Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road Gaylorism Gaylors and Hetlors “When Emma Falls in Love” “All Too Well” Joe Jonas Taylor Lautner Jake Gyllenhaal “Back to December” John Mayer The Life of a Show Girl Elizabeth Taylor Katharine Hepburn Ophelia Hamlet Julia Serano Frozen Mononormativity Evermore “Tis The Damn Season” The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection “Christmases When You Were Mine” Crass Grace Petrie Taylearning podcast “Clara Bow” Britney Spears Miley Cyrus “You Need to Come Down” Adeem the Artist Journey to Fearless Lara Heimert @notquitehydepark Rachel Gold’s In the Silences Imogen Binnie’s Nevada X-Men Gold 30 D.A. Powell Team Dresch’s Captain My Captain Slater Kinney Heartbreak High Sex Education Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      How does Stephanie speak about the relationship between poetry, lyrics and music? Where does this become relevant in Taylor Swift’s work? -      What does the term ‘Gaylor’ refer to and why are there so many of them? -      We speak about sapphic forms in this episode. What makes a form sapphic for you? -      What is feminophobia and why could being femme be read as giving up power? How does this relate to trans femininity? -      What does Stephanie suggest about the representation of class in the “You Need To Calm Down” video? -      Why does Stephanie stress that Taylor knows that she is white? How does Stephanie describe Taylor’s engagement with race and the music of Black women? -      Does Taylor’s music speak to you? Why or why not?

Our favourite feminist killjoy is back! Sara Ahmed joins me to talk about her brand-new book No Is Not A Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining. In her first ever (how special are we) public conversation about the book, Sara speaks about becoming a feminist ear and a complaint collector, sharing stories of her own complaints as well as those shared with her in community. Explaining how the power of complaining lies in creativity and collectivity, Sara shows why saying no is a powerful queer method.   References: Sarah Ahmed’s No Is Not A Lonely Utterance (Allen Lane, 2025) Sarah Ahmed’s The Feminist Killjoy Handbook (Penguin, 2023) Sarah Ahmed’s Complaint! (Duke, 2021) Sarah Ahmed’s What’s the Use (Duke, 2019) Sarah Ahmed’s On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life (Duke, 2012) Onomatopoeia Jean Porcelli Race Relations Amendment Act CARD Complaint Against Racial Discrimination Kennetta Hammond Perry’s London is the Place for Me: Black Britons, Citizenship and the Politics of Race (2018)  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/london-is-the-place-for-me-9780190909949?cc=gb&lang=en& Heather Love’s Feeling Backward Chelsea Watego’s “Always Bet On Black (Power)” (2021) https://meanjin.com.au/essays/always-bet-on-black-power/   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      What is a feminist ear? How might you become one? -      We speak about the role of energy in complaining. Where can energy come from or disappear to? To quote Sara: ‘puff, puff’ -      How does Sara define institutional fatalism and why might it be an illusion? -      What makes complaint a queer method? -      This is a question from Sara’s book: What is the first complaint you remember making? How do you feel about it now?

How many times have you watched the sweaty lesbian fever dream that is Love Lies Bleeding? As you might be able to guess from this episode, Michelle Devereaux and I have stopped counting. Michelle is a feminist film-philosophy expert who joins me to talk about Rose Glass’s super queer neo noir, the interplay of genre conventions and gender dynamics, and all the fun intertexts and easter eggs that we found in Love Lies Bleeding. Whether you’re into bodybuilding and gender transgression or lesbian romance against all odds, this episode is for you.   References Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding (2024) Devereaux, Michelle. "Suspicious Minds and Dead Bodies: Queer Romance and Skepticism in Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding." Film Quarterly 78.2 (2024): 24-32. Devereaux, Michelle. The Stillness of Solitude: Romanticism and Contemporary American Independent Film. Edinburgh University Press, 2019. Devereaux, Michelle.“‘A lot of people are creative’: Process, Perfectionism and the Everyday Sublime in Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up and First Cow”. Kim Wilkins and Bruce Isaacs, eds. A24: Culture, Aesthetics, Identity. Edinburgh University Press, 2026 (expected). Devereaux, Michelle.“Inherited Trauma, Postcolonial Scepticism and the Harmony of Voice in Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale”. Film-Philosophy and Australian Cinema. Saige Walton and Matilda Mroz, eds. Edinburgh University Press, 2026 (expected). Devereaux, Michelle and Lash, Dominic (eds.). Love, Desire and Stanley Cavell. London: Routledge, 2026 (expected). MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture: www.maifeminism.com Russian Doll Sofia Coppola Cavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Harvard University Press, 1981. Cavell, Stanley. Contesting Tears: The Hollywood Melodrama of the Unknown Woman. Harvard University Press, 1996. Comedies of Remarriage Screwball Comedy Out and Wild Sleater-Kinney Bristol Butch Bar Lindner, Katharina. Film Bodies: Queer Feminist Encounters with Gender and Sexuality in Cinema. Bloomsbury Academic, 2017. Bound (1996) The Incredible Hulk Kristen Stewart  Twilight Pumping Iron II: The Women (1985) Bev Francis David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) and Lost Highway (1997) Winkie’s Diner Lauren Berlant’s epistemic frenzy Teresa de Lauretis  mailto:michelledevereaux@bsky.social Instagram: @michelleldevereaux Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up (2022) Michelle Williams Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio (1996) Tilda Swinton Sean Bean   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: 1.      What is Love Lies Bleeding about and why does Michelle suggest it might be more about gender than about sexuality? 2.      How does Michelle describe Lindner’s ‘space of transgender potential’? Can you think of an example for this? 3.      Which genres does Michelle mention to discuss and describe Love Lies Bleeding? How are these genres queered in the film? 4.      What role does the setting play in the film? How might this relate to the ‘space of transgender potential’? 5.      What is your favourite lesbian and/or trans film and why?

If you can’t find me, I’m probably still browsing shelves of queer joy at Lighthouse, Edinburgh’s superb radical bookshop. The delightful owner Mairi Oliver took some time to chat with me about the long history of radical and queer bookshops that have come before and exist alongside this absolute gem of a queer space. We speak about queer spaces changing hands and transforming, rather than disappearing, about the magic of queer and trans book events, and about why radical booksellers are so important for local community.   References: Word Power Elaine Henry Constant Reader Bookshop Lavender Menace West & Wilde Sigrid Nielson Bob Orr J une Thomas’s A Place of One’s Own Jane Cholmeley’s A Bookshop of One’s Own Silver Moon Bookshop James Ley’s Love Song To Lavender Menace Naomi Klein Sara Ahmed Radical Book Fair Category is Books (Glasgow) Gay’s The Word (London) Housmans (London) Five Leaves (Nottingham) Alliance of Radical Booksellers  https://www.radicalbooksellers.co.uk/ Bread and Roses Award Jake Hall’s Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and Chaos N.S. Nuseibeh’s Namesake   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      Mairi speaks about how Lighthouse builds on a lineage of queer spaces. How do you feel about queer spaces transforming versus disappearing? -      In this context, we also speak about the higher expectations for queer spaces. Have you experienced this? Do you think queer spaces should be held to a higher standard? What is the effect of this? -      When we speak about the relationship between readers, booksellers and authors, Mairi makes some interesting points about how the role of writers is changing. What struck you as particularly important here? -      Mairi ends the episode with a note on the urgency with which we need to address current political discussions. How can books and bookshops help us do this?

What makes Hong Kong queer? Alvin K. Wong joins me to speak about how queer and decolonial thought can help us better understand Hong Kong and its relation to the Sinophone world, to Eurocentric queer theory, and to global protest culture. Alvin speaks about queer and trans photography, films and novels from Hong Kong and sprinkles in some excellent theory reading recommendations. Listen now to learn more about Hong Kong and why it is such a frequent site of (unruly) comparison.   References: Wong, Alvin. Unruly Comparison: Queerness, Hong Kong, and the Sinophone (Duke UP, 2025) Wong, Alvin. “Transgenderism as a Heuristic Device: On the Cross-historical and Transnational Adaptations of the Legend of the White Snake,” in Transgender China, ed. Howard Chiang (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 127-158. https://complit.hku.hk/index.php/faculty/alvin-wong/ akhwong@hku.hk Center for the Study of Globalization and Cultures Society of Sinophone Studies Michel Foucault Judith Butler Rey Chow Ackbar Abbas Umbrella Movement in 2014 Milton Friedman Roderick Ferguson José Esteban Muñoz Queer of colour critique Gayatri Gopinath’s Impossible Desires (Duke UP, 2005) and Unruly Visions (Duke UP, 2018) Emily Apter’s The Translation Zone (Princeton UP, 2006) Nelson Tang Chak-man’s Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? (2019-20) Ann Stoler Jacques Derrida Anjali Arondekar Wong Bik-wan’s Lienü tu 烈女圖 (Portraits of martyred women, 1999) Ma Ka Fai’s Long tou feng wei 龍頭鳳尾 (Once Upon A Time in Hong Kong, 2016) Lisa Lowe Scud Mak Yan Yan’s Butterfly Jun Li’s Tracey (2018) W v. Registrar of Marriages A Woman is A Woman Mimi Wong Chen Ran’s A Private Life   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      What happened on 1 July 1997? Why was 2019 a central year in Hong Kong’s history? -      Why is Hong Kong such a frequent site of comparison? What makes Hong Kong (seem) exceptional? -      What does Alvin observe about Eurocentrism in queer studies? Which other power dynamics does he put this in relation with? -      Alvin speaks about juxtaposing different types of texts. What does he juxtapose and why? -      Several of Alvin’s reading recommendations have been published in translation. How often do you read translated texts?  

Out with Kathy - A weekly show focused on the LGBTQ+ community, where everyone's welcome.

You know I love a queer bookshop and this Glaswegian dream of a queer space is absolutely delightful. Bug and Fin started Category is Books in 2018 to create the kind of space they were craving in their own neighbourhood. As the name promises, Category is Books has some exquisite shelving categories: from ‘Dyke Aching’ to ‘Trans Lit’ to the extensive poetry and theory sections, Bug and Fin show off their excellent taste on their shelves. In the recording, you can hear just how popular the shop is and how many people from near and far love to stop by for a browse and a chat. I’m telling you: this is a real treasure.   References: Dr Eamon McCarthy (new favourtite person)  Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities https://www.sgsah.ac.uk/ Section 28 Kelly Gardiner Adrian’s Bar Pluto Q Community Reading Room https://www.plutoq.com/ Hazel Jane Plante’s Little Blue Encyclopedia Sam Szabo’s Enlightened Transexual Comix Shola von Reinhold’s Lote   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      Why do we need specialist bookshops? Why did Bug and Fin want to open one? -      Why do Bug and Fin mention Section 28? Please look this term up if you are not familiar. -      What is your favourite category, section or genre in a bookshop? -      Why should you check Category is Books’ opening times before you go on your own queer pilgrimage there?  

What do transitions have to do with the nation state? More than you think! Ava Kim joins me to speak about how conceptions of gender are deeply (and problematically) entwined with the nation. Ava speaks about powerful examples of transition narratives from Chile, Vietnam and Argentina to illustrate this and gives us a sneak peek into her forthcoming book on trans genre.   References: Ava Kim’s Still / Life: Trans Genre and the Politics of Anti-Development (forthcoming) Ava Kim’s “The Future is Child’s Play” GLQ (2025) Davy Knittle Mellon Foundation Christoph Hanssmann Stem the Tide: Trans Liberation in an Age of Fascism Travesti Nyke Slawik Lucía Puenzo’s XXY (2007) Marlene Wayar Mauro Cabral Grinspan Winnicott’s space of play Paz Errázuriz Gina Apostol’s Insurecto Jessica Hagedorn’s Dream Jungle and Dogeaters Trans subterfuge Balangiga Sebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman/ Una Mujer Fantástica   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      Are you familiar with the term travesti? Please look it up and find a helpful definition. -      Which forms of transition does Ava talk about? How do they relate to one another? -      In how far is transition a narrative form? What does this have to do with the nation as a form? -      How does Ava define trans subterfuge? -      What are some of the connections between nation and gender Ava and I speak about? Can you think of others? Have you ever been affected by any of them?

Coming to you live from the Spoken Word stage at Out and Wild, the UK’s biggest festival for lesbian, bi, trans and queer women and those who are non-binary! This conversation with the delightful Leilah King has everything you could hope for: laughing, rhyming, swooning, and a whole lot of poetry reading. Tune in to hear Leilah speak about gender nonconformity in football, her journey as a neurodivergent performance poet, and how being half-Iranian affects her experience as a queer woman. CW: mental health, manic state, gendered violence   References: Midnight Picnics in Tehran (2019) We Are Hungry for Androgyny (2023) Polari Press Mary Oliver Sam Kerr Audre Lorde’s Zami Travis Alabanza John Steinbeck’s East of Eden The Grapes of Wrath Charles Bukowski Ivan Coyote’s The Tomboy Survival Guide James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room John Betjeman Philip Larkin Soft Butch Time of the Month Gay on Wye   Questions you should be able to respond to after listening: -      Leilah reflects on being a writer as well as a performer. How does performance affect her writing? -      What was Leilah’s open mic night called and why did she set it up? -      Who are some of the writers that have inspired Leilah? Who inspires you? -      Leilah speaks about her intersecting experiences of being queer, neurodivergent and half-Iranian. How does your queerness relate to other parts of your identity?  

Come along on this deep dive into Alison Bechdel’s new autofictional comic novel Spent, that will give you everything from Edward Gorey Easter eggs to Harriet the Spy content. Alison teaches me things about myself (I’m a bottom-up thinker. Who knew!) and reflects on what Alison, the character, learns from finally meeting the much beloved Dykes to Watch Out For on the page. Whether you are a fan of goats, wood chopping, reality TV or Virginia Woolf – this episode has something for every kind of anti-capitalist dyke.   References: Alison Bechel’s The Secret to Superhuman Strength Alison Bechel’s Fun Home Alison Bechel’s Dykes to Watch Out For Carmen Maria Machado Karl Marx’s Das Kapital The Guilty Feminist podcast Queer Eye Tidying Up with Marie Kondo Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Nicole Coenen Grant Wood’s American Gothic Edward Gorey’s The Unstrung Harp The Gashlycrumb Tinies T his Queer Book Saved My Life Jonathan Cape Foyles https://www.foyles.co.uk/events/cape-graphic-novels-mini-con Anna Trench’s Florrie Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy   Questions you should be able to respond to: -      What are some of Alison Bechdel’s most well-known texts? -      How does Alison reflect on intergenerational queer community? -      In a lesbian version of Queer Eye, what would the five lesbians’ areas of expertise be? -      If you could fictionalise a detail of your life, what would you invent for yourself?