Ever since podcasts swept the internet a few years ago, thousands of podcasters have flooded the web with their opinions on virtually any subject you can name – including quite a number of lesbians. Podcasts are, essentially, radio shows you can download and listen to any time you like on an mp3 player or computer. (They are not video blogs.)
Wading through the masses of podcasts can be daunting (and time-consuming), so AfterEllen.com has put together this list of the best and most popular lesbian podcasts around. We even asked the veteran podcasters what they would advise anyone who wants to start her very own lesbian podcast.
Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET, tune in to Denise and Donna as they hobnob with the lesbian gliterati, promote upcoming musicians and movies, and crack wise about everything from booze to the dreaded lesbian bed death.
AfterEllen.com: How/why did you start your podcast?
Denise: The concept was to create something that would bring lesbians info on new books, places, authors, films, websites, businesses – anything related to our world, and yet make it entertaining and easy to access. They don’t have to leave the house; they don’t have to subscribe to anything; they can just get on their computer, and there we are.
Donna: We realized it was a great way to make our show available to women everywhere. No one had to commit to being at her computer during the weekly live broadcast of the original show. This has allowed our listening audience to be worldwide and to grow constantly. Once a new listener finds us, she can hit the podcast archives and download past shows so she can feel caught up with us.
AE: Who’s been your best guest, or what’s been your most memorable show?
Denise: I’ll go in stages here. I think the most notable guest was Ilene Chaiken, the most fun is always Suzanne Westenhoefer, and personally, I think having Jane Lynch on the show was a thrill.
It’s really hard to choose which was most memorable – Carly Pope, Sharon Gless, Guinevere Turner, Daniela Sea, Jill Bennett, Cathy DeBuono – all wonderful guests, along with Julie Goldman and Kate McKinnon. It’s been great having such funny and talented women on the show.
Donna: Our best guest is always who we just had on last week! We have had unbelievable music guests: Bitch, Antigone Rising, Sophie B. Hawkins and a bunch of independent women artists Denise and I want everyone to hear about. Jen Foster, Nedra Johnson, Jamie Blake, Julie Schurr – the list goes on and on.
AE: Who would be your ultimate guest, living, dead or undead? Or all three?
Denise: I always thought it would be cool to have Oprah, Ellen and Rosie on the show, but when I see the response we get having the POWER UP execs Stacy Codikow and Lisa Thrasher on the show, it’s pretty much the same exhilarating experience, so I’m good with that!
Donna: Of course we’d love Rosie to stop by, and Ellen. Hillary? Maybe. We’d have to ask her our usual questions: “What are you wearing?” and “Are you getting a lot of poon lately?” So I’m not sure how long the interview would really last. Maybe we’d have to have Bill answer those?
My one dead guest would have to be Gertrude Stein. I have a lot of questions for her.
AE: What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to anyone who wants to start her own podcast?
Denise: When in doubt, go with a fart joke.
Donna: Don’t be afraid to do it. Get your friends to talk about it with their friends, and your audience will grow. The best thing about having a podcast available is that no two are alike.
AE: OK, what’s another piece of advice?
Denise: Be sure your mic is off when you’re bitching at your co-host.
AE: It’s L Word sweeps time! Who would you like to see as a very special guestbian on your show or theirs?
Denise: I guess Leisha Hailey is the logical answer, but a part of me would love to get the all the writers and producers in a room and just let the drama fly!
Donna: Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey. No, wait – Jenny and Adele, and then we’d try to tell them apart on the phone. No, wait – Rachel Shelley. Yeah, Rachel, that’s the one.
AE: Are there any podcasts you listen to?
Denise: Huge fan of 2 Homos!
Donna: We love those girls!
AE: You’re podcasting live from a boat when you realize that you’re not on a “luxury liner” – you’re on a haunted pirate ghost ship, and it’s sinking! What are your last words?
Denise: Save the rum!
Donna: I should have booked an Olivia cruise!
Yes, the Lesbian Mafia actually exists, and it’s headed up by Sandi T. in New York City. Very funny and quite R-rated, Lesbian Mafia has a slightly unpolished feel that’s absolutely part of its appeal.
AfterEllen.com: How/why did you start your podcast?
Sandi T: I started doing the show as an escape. I was going through some heavy challenges and was desperate for a diversion, but I’ve always wanted to communicate and connect with a larger audience than just my circle of friends/acquaintances.
AE: Who’s been your best guest, or what’s been your most memorable show?
ST:It was an honor to talk to Kate Clinton in such a personal way. She’s like the Sophia Loren of comedy – comic royalty if you will. I’m also really proud of the “Teen Show.” As far as podcasts go, it was pretty intense to put that out there, and so much fun too – the girls were amazing.
AE: Who would be your ultimate guest, living, dead or undead? Or all three?
ST: I haven’t pursued guests since Marga [Gomez], Lea [Delaria] and Kate. They really raised the profile of the show, and I could never really thank them for that. I can only be supportive of people I like, and complete the circle that way. Everyone was saying I should talk more, so I decided to step up and carry the show on my own with the regulars. Now I never shut up! See how monsters are created? Seriously, if I were able to have anyone on, I’d say Ellen.
AE: What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to anyone who wants to start her own podcast?
ST:I would tell them: Have something to say, be yourself, have a modicum of integrity about what you’re doing, and respect your audience. Podcasting, vlogging, internet radio, etc., is a wonderful way to express yourself without FCC regulations. This is a beautiful thing, but I’ve seen and heard some seriously irresponsible stuff being thrust out there.
Take a look at what’s happened to YouTube. If we don’t govern ourselves with some thought, at some point the government will. And please, don’t be one of those shows where you have to get s—-faced to press record. At least 25 percent – probably more – of your audience will be youth. Try to at least keep that in mind.
AE: It’s L Word sweeps time! Who would you like to see as a very special guestbian on your show or theirs?
ST: I’m mad about Parker Posey. I love everything and anything she does. I’d love to see her on a lesbian – series that is.
AE: Are there any podcasts you listen to?
ST: I listen to progressive talk radio. I’m a huge Randi Rhodes fan; she’s incredibly well-researched and funny as s—. Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder’s Majority Report was like crack to me, until Janeane left. OK, you said “podcasts” – I like Velvet Park‘s podcast, especially when it was audio. I also listen to I’m Going to Kill You [editor’s note: adults only!].
AE: You’re podcasting live from a boat when you realize that you’re not on a “luxury liner” – you’re on a haunted pirate ghost ship, and it’s sinking! What are your last words?
ST:“Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something!” – Pancho Villa
Girl Meets Girl is the weekly podcast from Siena and Toast, girlfriends who perform musically as MAKENA. Their show is decidedly upbeat, and they talk about everything from their relationship to their music to Star Wars. They’re also absolutely adorable.
AfterEllen.com: How/why did you start your podcast?
Makena: We started it with Toast geeking out on an iBook G4 laptop, trying to figure out how to do this podcast thing. The first thing we threw online was a silly little teaser about “Asian-American lesbians” talking about “being from Hawaii, living in SoCal.” We still do that, basically.
AE: What’s been your most memorable show?
M:It might be Episode No. 50, “A Femme & A Dyke Taste Vegemite,” when we had a live taste test of vegemite sent to us by Bernadette of www.podcastfanatic.com.
AE: Who would be your ultimate guest, living, dead or undead? Or all three?
M: Elvis.
AE: Do you have some sort of signature sign-off, à la Casey Kasem’s “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”?
M:Nope, but our “signature” might be all the outbursts of laughter that go on during our podcast, or all of our food talk. Being born and raised in Hawaii, we’re naturally foodies, even if we are vegetarians.
AE: What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to anyone who wants to start her own podcast?
M:Be yourself. Your podcast will never feel like work and it’s fun, easy and natural that way.
AE: OK, what’s another piece of advice?
M: Have a framework for your show so people know what they can expect, but also keep it loose enough so there’s room for surprises, and your listeners won’t get bored.
AE: It’s L Word sweeps time! Who would you like to see as a very special guestbian on your show or theirs?
M: Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls. C’mon, she’s got to be family, right?
AE: Are there any podcasts you listen to?
M:Right now: Oprah and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth web class.
AE: You’re podcasting live from a boat when you realize that you’re not on a “luxury liner” – you’re on a haunted pirate ghost ship, and it’s sinking! What are your last words?
M: Where’s my model in a bottle?
In this frequently updated podcast, Roxanne and Virginia, the titular two “homos,” spout off on just about anything: relationships, strippers and, yes, U-Hauls.
AfterEllen.com: How/why did you start your podcast?
Roxanne: Virginia has been an avid podcast listener for years. She hounded me for a while to do a podcast with her. Finally I relented. Now we have over 166 shows, and I am having a blast. Who knew she was right?
Virginia: I started listening to podcasts towards the end of 2005, and it was around the time that Adam Curry was telling people on every show that everyone should have a podcast and it didn’t matter what you wanted to talk about. He would go on and on about how all you needed was to be passionate about it. That was about all I needed. I spent the next year or so trying to talk Roxanne into doing it. I finally did wear her down and she said, “Fine, I’ll try it once.”
AE: Who’s been your best guest, or what’s been your most memorable show?
R: To me one of the funniest shows was “Stinky Comes to Town.” It was about a New Year’s Eve party Virginia and I attended. This woman had such bad B.O. that the cops at the party wanted Vicks to rub under their nose. This is what they do when there is a dead body.
V: “Stinky” is one of my all-time favorites, too, but the best guest we had, next to Roxanne’s mom, had to be her niece, Ashley. That was “Chick With a Dick.” We really needed the straight girl’s perspective on that one, and she brought it!
AE: Who would be your ultimate guest, living, dead or undead? Or all three?
R: The shallow person in me would say any hot girl would be great with me. Yet the political person in me would want to talk to Hillary and Barack to see where they want to take the country, because it is so screwed up.
V: For me it would have to be Gabriela Sabatini, the former tennis champion. I know I’m dating myself, but she was my ultimate heartthrob when I was a young lesbian.
The other person would have to be Roxanne’s grandmother, Betty, who is no longer with us. I hear stories about how she was a real pistol; she spoke her mind and she called everyone by nicknames she made up for them. Roxanne thinks I would have like her a lot. Really, I just want to know what nickname she would come up with for me.
AE: Do you have some sort of signature sign-off, à la Casey Kasem’s “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”?
R:We don’t have a sign-off. We just say “bye” at the end of every show. We have an opening, however: “2homos.com: It’s not a porn site, we just like the name.” We thought it was important to make that disclaimer because if you spell the number two out and type in “twohomos,” it really was a porn site when we started the show.
V: Our sign-off is kind of lame. It also happened by accident. When we did our first show we weren’t really sure how to end. We ended up just staring at each other for a second and then both of us just said “bye” and hit the stop button. That seems to have stuck.
AE: What’s one piece of advice you’d like to give to anyone who wants to start her own podcast?
R: Choose topics about things that you have experienced or that you have strong feelings about.
V: Stop thinking about it and just do it.
AE: OK, what’s another piece of advice?
R: Don’t keep dragging the show [out] for hours to hear your own voice. Keep the flow going and when it starts to lag, stop the show.
V: You don’t have to be “funny.” Just grab a topic and go with it. It can be about any subject at all, and there are no rules. Just have some fun!
AE: It’s L Word sweeps time! Who would you like to see as a very special guestbian on your show or theirs?
R: The drama geek in me I would love to see me in the show. I can be the psycho killer that kills Jenny.
V: I’ll appear as Roxanne’s alibi. As an added bonus, I’ll be the secret mistress who has an affair with Tasha.
AE: Are there any podcasts you listen to?
R: I like the Lesbian Lounge and Dyke Drama.
V: Dyke Drama is entertaining, and the hosts are very nice. I still tune into Adam Curry, Keith and the Girl and 1UP.com just so that I can keep up with my video games.
AE: You’re podcasting live from a boat when you realize that you’re not on a “luxury liner” – you’re on a haunted pirate ghost ship, and it’s sinking! What are your last words?
R: Damn it, Virginia! I told you that you get what you pay for.
V: But it sounded like such a good deal and the pictures on the website looked so nice. Besides, I thought you might be able to get a massage.
More Lesbian Podcasts
Dyke Drama: Niki Hutson and Evangeline Martinez weren’t able to find entertainment that really spoke to them, so they decided to make their own. Thus was born Dyke Drama. From politics to sex toys, Niki and Vangie have got a little bit of something for everybody in the LGBT community.
Out Loud: For several years now, Michelle Sinhbandith, aka Michelle Meow, has been hosting Out Loud Radio (formerly known as Shake). Out Loud, which can be heard on the radio waves in San Francisco and is part of Clear Channel’s Queer Channel Radio, is much more polished and slick than a homebound DIY podcast, but it’s the place to go for gay news and interviews with gay and lesbian personalities.
The Planet: Elka and K.C. bring you the best L Word fan podcast. ‘Nuff said.
Rubyfruit Radio: Rubyfruit Radio is short on the chitchat but long on the girls-only music. Tune in to catch independent female musicians, both queer and queer-friendly.
Wisecrack: If stand-up comedy is your thing, you’ll definitely want to check out Wisecrack from Logo, AfterEllen.com’s parent company. Download the podcast from iTunes and to hear lesbian comics such as Vickie Shaw, Marga Gomez and Suzanne Westenhoefer work the stage in West Hollywood.
