Queer as Fact

Happy Halloween! Today's episode is on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. Join us to discover whether this book is all about Oscar Wilde, what really went down between Jonathan and Dracula in that castle, and pay homage to certified train fiend and greatest character of all time, Mina Harker. If you would like to listen to our episode on Bram, it can be found here! Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky.

Welcome to the longest episode of Queer as Fact yet! In today’s podcast we’re talking about the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker. Join us to read Bram’s intense fanmail to Walt Whitman, discuss his complex relationship with masculinity, and meet a pet monkey. Also featuring a guest star appearance by Oscar Wilde! We’ll be following this episode up on the 1st of October with a companion episode on Dracula. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: Black-and-white photo of Bram Stoker, a bearded man wearing a suit and tie. Source.]

Today's episode is on gendered pronouns in Mandarin! Join us for a journey through thousands of years of Chinese language, featuring paleo-pronouns, neo-pronouns, and the complexities of expressing gender when your phone has a limited character set. For those of you who would like a visual to go along with the Chinese characters we discuss in this episode, they are 他 (masculine/neutral tā), 她 (feminine tā), 牠 ("cow-tā"), 祂 ("God-tā"), and X也 (gender-neutral tā). This episode was originally released on our Patreon in 2025.  Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: calligraphy of gender-neutral form of the Mandarin pronoun tā (X也)]

Today's episode is on queer representation in museums - what it looks like, what queer people want it to look like, and how we can get there. This episode was originally released on our Patreon in 2024. It is based off Alice’s Masters research, which you can read here. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: The original rainbow flag on display in the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archive in San Francisco, USA. Source.]

Today's episode is on the Iraqi singer, Masoud El Amaratly. Join us as we visit the unique marshlands of southern Iraq, hear what may be the oldest known recording of a trans person, and learn about mustarjil, the traditional transmasculine identity in Masoud's Ahwari culture. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: Pencil sketch of Masoud, an Arab man wearing a yashmagh (headscarf) with agal (cord). Source]

This Queer as Fiction episode is on Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu’s 2018 lesbian romance film, Rafiki. Join us for a rich exploration of Kenyan culture through the lens of the director’s self-titled “Afrobubblegum” genre, the real-world ramifications of releasing a lesbian film with a happy ending in a country where homosexuality is criminalised, and a DJ named after an Australian cartoon character. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: A poster for the film Rafiki, featuring the two leads, Samantha Mugatsia and Shiela Munyiva. It specifies that the film was an Official Selection “un certain regard” at Cannes Film Festival.]

Today's episode is on Hwarang, a group of elite youth in first millenium Korea who have come to simultaneously represent nationalism, masculinity, and gay love. Join us to learn about the most talented and beautiful men in the Korean Peninsula, enjoy some historical song lyrics about gay love, and hear us discuss about the challenges of approaching queer history across cultures and centuries. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky.   (Photo: statue of Hwarang at Hamyang Middle School, taken by HappyMidnight CC BY-SA 3.0, )

Today's episode is a nice light-hearted look at something near and dear to many sapphic hearts - Subaru!  We take a look at WHY lesbians loving Subarus is such a stereotype, what the car company did to encourage this, and laugh at some pretty saucy innuendos.  This episode was originally released on our Patreon in 2024. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky. [Image: A black and white Subaru ad featuring the caption "Loves Camping, dogs and long-term commitment. Too bad it's only a car"]

Today’s episode is on the South African performer and hairdresser, Kewpie! Join us to learn about queer life in Cape Town’s coloured community under apartheid, find out how you can get your hair done at 3am, and hear about a prize-winning Marie-Antoinette costume. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky.

Today's episode is on the Catterick skeleton, the excavated remains of person buried in 4th century CE Roman Britain, identified by archaeologists and the press as a 'transvestite'. Join us to hear about what a bead found in the ground can tell us about gender in local jewellery trends, how press reactions to the skeleton have changed over time, and a bonus ancient Roman board game interlude. This episode was originally released on our Patreon in early 2024. Some statements, such as those about Eli's thesis progress and the current state of the scholarship, may be outdated. Check out our website, where you can find our sources, as well as everything there is to know about Queer as Fact. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us on Patreon, checking out our merch, and following us on Instagram, Tumblr and Bluesky.