You and Your Peacocks are Ridiculous (Ep 430 - Salome/Ben Miller)

My guest this week is Ben Miller, co-author and co-creator of the Bad Gays book and podcast. Ben was headed for a career in international relations until he realized just how out of place he was in that role. It was a lucky encounter with a historical communist leader who helped him course-correct, and now he helps lead the largest queer archive in the world while enjoying his passions for opera and some of the most infamous queer villains in history. We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, a couple quick reminders, starting with a heads-up that I hope you’ll join me for weekly livestreams over on Twitch! Every Sunday afternoon we watch and talk about classic episodes of television, great movies, and occasionally old commercials that have a way of sticking with you. Lately we’ve been doing a watch-along of one of the greatest comedies ever made, Some Like it Hot. The livestreams are every Sunday at noon pacific over at twitch.tv/mattbaume. And I also have a Some Like it Hot video coming your way soon on my YouTube channel. It’s the behind the scenes story of the making of the film that helped change movies as we know them, including the incredible backstage drama that threatened to destroy some of the lead actors’ lives. That’s coming your way soon at YouTube.com/mattbaume. And if you haven’t yet, take a look at my new book about the history of queer characters on sitcoms, Hi Honey, I’m Homo! — available now wherever books are sold. It’s the book that Dan Savage called “a triumph” and said “everyone should read this book.” So you should! Go to gaysitcoms.com to get a copy and request a personalized signature. Big thanks to everyone who makes all my work possible on Patreon — visit patreon.com/mattbaume to support Sewers of Paris and get patron-exclusive benefits.