Our very special guest this week is none other than celebutante-turned-celebrated author James St. James! He is bringing us real life behind-the-scenes story time about the New York Club Kids scene of the late 1980’s-1990’s. We find out all about the inspiration behind some of his fascinating looks including Leigh Bowery, Divine, John Sex, Diane Brill, John Waters, Billy Beyond, Sister Dimension, to name a few. As it turns out, James St. James is the originator of the indelible lunch box as an accessory….so thank you James. We ask him all about his book Disco Bloodbath, which became the movie Party Monster (2003) starring Macaulay Culkin as Club Kid King Michael Alig… and Seth Green portraying James St. James. The book and film are all about James’ relationship with Michael, and the culmination of Michael’s undoing resulting in the death of his roommate and drug supplier, Angel Melendez. Listen in to find out all about Culkin and Green’s process in the making of Party Monster (2003) and get a master class from James St. James on authoring your own great works! We love James St. James! 

We get into the weeds with Calpernia Addams about how language can change, casual activism, and reflect on fighting and surviving the queer liberation. Calpernia shares some of her experiences growing up in a strict fundamentalist Christian cult and her journey coming to adulthood serving in the military as a combat medic in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Then she tells us all about how Navy lesbians contributed to her post-service glow up! 

Calpernia gives us an insider perspective on Hollywood casting of transgender, gay, and lesbian roles and she tell us about the work of her production company Deep Stealth Productions with Andrea James. We ask her about the film Soldier’s Girl (2003) which portrayed the 1999 hate crime murder of her real life boyfriend PFC Barry Winchell at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, USA. 

This episode has it all: sex, murder, splatter, gore… and Hollywood lore! We ask Bruce LaBruce all about Death Book, a shocking selection of his performances, actions, film production stills and photography. He tells us about a new retrospective he has in the works. We discuss several of Bruce’s films including his new release “Saint-Narcisse” (2020), and spoiler alert, it’s a twincest re-telling of the Narcissus myth, with very recent showings in Berlin and Munich and we can’t wait to see it. We find out more about the vision and process behind Hustler White (1996), a film co-created with Rick Castro which explores the seedy underbelly of the world of sex for hire and taboo fetish, or what Bruce calls a cut rate version of Sunset Boulevard. We talk about the origin of the queercore movement and the punk zine “J.D.’s” and the queer zine scene. Bruce shares some hot inspirational memories from The Stud and Club Uranus days.

You probably know him from his work with Madonna on the Blonde Ambition Tour and bringing Vogue to the masses. Luis Xtravaganza is a vogueing pioneer. He has his own podcast called Werque, and a monthly vogue workshop he plans to bring back in Los Angeles and Palm Springs. Luis tells us all about how he first started shaking it to Iris Chacón in front of the TV and later as a performer at the New York ballroom and dance scene where he was a member of the House of Xtravaganza. Luis recounts times spent with Madonna on tour and preparing for the MTV music video awards, and the making of the film Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), and Madonna’s support of his own work. We find out about ‘Bitchiest Bunch’ drag bunch happening outdoors every Sunday at Luis’ show club, Oscar’s Downtown in Palm Springs. Listen in for a really fun time catching up with Luis Camacho Xtravaganza!

We have the EGOT of awards show writers! It’s Bruce Vilanch! You might know him from the 90’s reboot of Hollywood Squares, or his contributions to Bette Midler’s shows such as “Clams on the Half Shell” or “Divine Madness.” He has been a recurring guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, but we have him all to ourselves this week.  

We talk to him about The Fabulous Allan Carr, and he gives us some insight into working with Allan on the infamous 1989 Oscars. He tells us all about the good stuff that got cut from the show and what inspired some of the cringier moments.

Mink Stole delights us with a walk down memory lane, telling us all about working alongside Divine in John Waters’ cult-(now)classics such as Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, and Serial Mom.

Listen-in for a sweet conversation about Cookie Mueller as we discuss the book “Edgewise: A Picture of Cookie Mueller” by Chloe Griffin with contributions by the people who knew Cookie her best including Mink Stole. 

CHRISTEENE! tells us all about living in New York, spending time with creative friends, and making some new music with folks like Roddy Bottum, Fever Ray, and John Grant. We hear about going on tour with Peaches (the famous one) and working with audiences in the UK. Then we talk about internet call-outs and getting to the bottom of being a human being. We discuss Heklina’s favorite memory of CHRISTEENE. Here’s a hint: it involves the Queen Mary ship and Murder She Wrote! This episode is straight outta Jessica Fletcher’s a-hole!