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mattbaume

mattbaume

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mattbaume posts

Nothing Went Fine (Ep. 144 - Les Miserables)

According to the FBI, my guest this week was involved in one of the largest fraud schemes in history -- the nearly half-billion dollar failure of the National Heritage Life Insurance Company, which had 26,000 elderly policyholders. While Michael Blut...

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Update: Changes to Patreon Fees - never mind, lol

Hello Sewers of Paris patrons!

Monday I let you know that Patreon was planning to make changes to the way that they process credit card fees. But today, ...

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Changes to Patreon Fees (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Patreon is no longer making this change. I've written a new post about what this means for The Sewers of Paris: https://www.patreon.com/posts/update-cha...

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Surrounded by Death and Drugs (Ep. 143 - Sina Grace & Iceman)

My guest this week set out to answer a simple question: how do you live a content life? Sina Grace is the comic author and illustrator behind autobiographical books like Self-Obsessed, and Marvel's current Iceman series. A few years ago, he reached a...

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Everything is Queer (Ep 142 - Matt Rogers)

Where do you learn where you belong? My guest this week is Matt Rogers, half of the comedy team behind the Las Culturistas podcast. Matt's upbring...

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A Britney-Whitney Gay (Ep. 141 - Best Little Whorehouse in Texas)

When it's hard to find the words you know you need to say, can you use someone else's? This week's guest is actor and producer Emerson Collins, whose new film A Very Sordid Wedding View Post

A Sandbox of Weirdness (Ep. 140 - Jamie Pierce)

How do you balance a need for solitude with a need to collaborate? This week's guest is Jamie Pierce, an actor, comedian, and dancer who's no stranger to career changes. Several years ago, he decided to transform his work and his  life after an ...

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Everyone Should Have Secrets (Ep. 139 - Imitation of Life)

What are the secrets you're carrying around, and what would happen if you dropped them? This week's guest is Tim Kirkman, a storyteller with a knack for exploring the things people don't say. His film Lazy Eye is about confronting secret loves, and h...

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Bonus Episode! The Lost Treasure of the Neverglades

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Sewers of Paris! Last weekend some familiar friends and I hosted a fundraiser for Seattle Children's Hospital, bringing together a group of gays to play a custom made Dungeons and Dragons adventure for a...

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Putting Your Body Through a Car Wash (Ep. 138 - Spirited Away & BDSM)

If you could step out of your body and look at yourself from the outside, how unfamiliar would you look? It's impossible to evaluate yourself with complete impartiality, but my guest this week has found ways to get as close as possible. Professor Ali...

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Underground Culture (Ep. 137 - The Smiths & To Kill a Mockingbird)

How do radical movements for justice become mainstream over time? This week I'm talking to two guests: the first is Walter Naegle, the surviving partner of Bayard Rustin; and the second is Matt Wolf, who made a documentary short about Walter entitled...

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Royalties and a Husband (Ep. 136 - West Side Story & Eric Marcus of Making Gay History)

Is it a problem that there's "sex" in "homosexual"? My guest this week is Eric Marcus, a writer and journalist who often found himself called upon to represent the model gay man on shows like Good Morning America and The O'Reilly Factor. For years, E...

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I Always Thought Your Father was a Bit of a Poof (Ep. 135 - Sonnet 20)

What are the things you're not telling people -- and what's stopping you? My guest this week is Will Kostakis, author of award winning young adult novels and the upcoming book The Sidekicks. Growing up, Will and his best friend were as close as frien...

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Tina Turner Realness (Ep. 134 - Proud Mary)

What's it like to go from a fan to a friend? This week's guest is Tony Moore, who hosts celebrity interviews on his show Loungin' with Tony. For years, he looked up to actors and entertainers as role models. And he found that the more he worked along...

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How to be Awesome (Ep. 133 - Terry Pratchett)

We all know life's short, so how do you make the most of the time you've got? My guest this week is Scott Flashheart, comedian and host of the podcast Probably True. He grew up i...

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The Priests of Hollywood (Ep. 132 - Designing Women & Gone with the Wind)

What are the excuses you make for not doing what makes you happy? It's so easy to come up with reasons that NOW is the wrong time to launch into that project or hobby or career change you've always wanted. So where do you find permission to make a ch...

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Super Extra (Ep. 131 - Gabriel Fontana & Britney Spears)

How much are you willing to do for love -- and how much can love do for you? This week's guest is Gabriel Fontana, who grew up in violent crime-ridden Brazilian ghettos before escaping to Sweden, where he rose to pop stardom as the winner of a Swedis...

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Bonus Episode: Dungeons and Drag Queens

Welcome to a special bonus episode of The Sewers of Paris! 

A few days ago, some amazingly talented drag queens and I got on stage for a live show called Dungeons and Drag Queens. We played a custom-made Dungeons and Dragons adventure in front...

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It's F*cking Tough to be Reasonable (Ep. 130 - Suikoden 2)

If you were to form a band of adventurers, what role would you want to serve -- fighter or healer? My guest this week is Carlos Maza, who knows how to put up a verbal fight as the host of insightful explainer videos for Vox.com. But off camera, the r...

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Glitter and be Gay (Ep. 129 - Julie Andrews)

What hidden worlds are waiting to be found right under your nose? My guest this week is Kevin Clarke, who grew up in a divided Berlin, so close to the wall he could hear the police threatening to shoot people who came too close. He was eager to leave...

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The Doctor's Wife (Ep. 128 - The Witches)

What are you willing to sacrifice for your freedom? My guest this week is Australian-Icelandic comedian Jonathan Duffy, who's found a way to laugh through good times and bad, whether serving as Creative Director for Iceland's entry into Eurovision......

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I am Militantly Vulnerable (Ep. 127 - Sailor Moon)

What's the future you want to see? My guest this week is drag queen Gilda Wabbit, who experienced a strange moment of internet fame thanks to a photo of her riding the subway in full drag next to a Muslim woman. What that photo didn't capture was Gil...

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Sewers of Paris: Swept Away by Dracula (Ep. 126 - horror films)

We're noted from time to time on this show that many gay men hold a special place for horror in their hearts. But that's only a fraction of the story with this week's guest. Jeffrey Schwarz has made a lifelong study of film, starting with an early jo...

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Everything but the Snakes (Ep. 125 - Worship songs)

What's the project of your life? My guest this week is Josef Krebs, who's done a lot of thinking about the impact he can have on the world, whether through the evangelical church in which he grew up, or the world of theater where he eventually found ...

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Luxury Music for Surplus People (Ep. 124 - Madonna & Prince)

What makes you feel ugly, and do you try to hide it or highlight it? My guest this week is Thomas HÃ¥rdell, a Danish student-teacher and musician. Growing up, he was told to blend in like a stalk of wheat, and to avoid standing out like an oak tree -...

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Going to Face the Dragon (Ep. 123 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

We usually talk on this show about the entertainment that's changed the lives of gay men, but this week we're also talking about how gay men have changed entertainment. My guest is television writer Drew Greenberg, who's written romantic scenes betwe...

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Elizabeth Taylor is my Higher Power (Ep. 122 - Hillary Clinton)

We all have our sources of security -- it could be a career, a home, a relationship, a circle of friends. How would you handle the loss of all of those things? This week's guest is Ryan O'Connor, co-host of the outstanding LadyWatch podcast. A few ye...

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We've Cornered the Market on Mermaids (Ep. 121 - Joel Kim Booster)

When did you first escape your bubble? We all start life protected by adults, looked after and shielded from the harsh realities of the world. Some of us burst out of it as fast as we can, and others like to pretend they never have to leave. This wee...

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Anita Bryant, God Bless Her (Ep. 120: Gore Vidal)

What's the difference between an end and a beginning, and are they sometimes the same thing? My guest this week is Albert Williams, a longtime queer artist and activist who's seen the queer world transform over the course of his life. Throughout that...

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He Found Out my Secret - (Ep. 119: Matchgame & Press Your Luck)

This week's guest is Mandel Ilagen, but it's not the first time his name's come up on the show. He's a ringleader of a group of gays who are obsessed with game shows -- you might remember past guests Louis Virtel and Randy West describing Mandel's ho...

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