Bad Gays

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Philip Johnson Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Philip Cortelyou Johnson may be more responsible than anyone for the shift from Modernism as a new way of living to Modernism as an elite bauble. Born into immense power and privilege, he was a deeply committed elitist, and dilettante fascist, who used his money and connections to whitewash his youthful (and ongoing) embrace of Hitler in specific and far-right politics in general. As a key curator and preacher of the Modernist gospel in the United States, he was central in divorcing the style from its egalitarian political aspirations. In response to criticism, he said: “I am a whore. Very well paid.”

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SOURCES:

Fixsen, Anna. “The Power and Paradox of Philip Johnson.” Metropolis, December 3, 2018. https://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/philip-johnson-biography-mark-lamster-interview/. Goldberger, Paul. “A New Biography of the Architect Philip Johnson, the ‘Man in the Glass House.’” The New York Times, December 20, 2018, sec. Books. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/books/review/mark-lamster-philip-johnson-man-in-the-glass-house.html. Johnson, Philip, Robert A. M. Stern, and Kazys Varnelis. The Philip Johnson Tapes: Interviews by Robert A.M. Stern. 1st ed. New York: Monacelli Press, 2008. Kaiser, Charles. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. 1. Grove Press ed. New York: Grove Press, 2007. Lamster, Mark. The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century. First edition. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2018. Ravenscroft, Tom. “Bjarke Ingels Meets Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro to ‘Change the Face of Tourism in Brazil.’” Dezeen, January 17, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/01/17/bjarke-ingels-jair-bolsonaro-brazil-president/. ———. “Criticism of Jair Bolsonaro Meeting Is ‘an Oversimplification of a Complex World’ Says Bjarke Ingels.” Dezeen, January 23, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/01/23/jair-bolsonaro-bjarke-ingels/. Schulze, Franz. Philip Johnson: Life and Work. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Stern, Mark J. “‘The Glass House’ as Gay Space: Exploring the Intersection of Homosexuality and Architecture.” Inquiries Journal 4, no. 06 (2012). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/651/the-glass-house-as-gay-space-exploring-the-intersection-of-homosexuality-and-architecture. Wainwright, Oliver. “‘Norman Said the President Wants a Pyramid’: How Starchitects Built Astana.” The Guardian, October 17, 2017, sec. Cities. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/17/norman-foster-president-pyramid-architects-built-astana. ———. “The Despot Dilemma: Should Architects Work for Repressive Regimes?” The Guardian, January 27, 2020, sec. Art and design. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/27/despot-dilemma-should-architects-work-for-repressive-regimes-bjarke-ingels. Wortman, Marc. 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War. First edition. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016. ———. “Famed Architect Philip Johnson’s Hidden Nazi Past.” Vanity Fair. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman.

Elmyr de Hory Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

A fraud and liar of epic proportions: a dashing art forger whose difficulties selling his naturalistic work in the Modernist-dominated 20th century art market, and experience of persecution as a gay Jew in Central Europe during World War II, fueled the creation and sale of millions' worth of fake Picassos, Matisses, and other masterpieces: some of which are still hidden in major collections and museums.

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SOURCES:

Forgy, Mark. The Forger's Apprentice: Life With the World's Most Notorious Artist. Scott's Valley, CA: CreateSpace, 2012.

Keats, Jonathon. Forged: Why Fakes are the Great Art of our Age. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Martinique, Elena. 'Elmyr de Hory - The Story of the Most Famous Forger in Art History.' Widewall.Ch, June 19, 2019. https://www.widewalls.ch/elmyr-de-hory-art-forger/

Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

Barney Frank Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

On the "complicated" side of "evil and complicated" that makes up our show's motto, we present the story of the gravely-voiced Congressman who blazed trails for gay political involvement at the highest levels of power in Washington, only to spend the latter part of his career selling out the left to finance capital and excluding trans people from fights for non-discrimination legislation. Whip-smart, funny, and always ready with a biting comeback, Barney Frank came to embody the transformation of the Democratic Party away from the working class and towards a suburban party preoccupied with shallow diversity rather than true racial and economic justice.

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SOURCES:

Aloisi, James. “Louise Day Hicks: ‘You Know Where I Stand.’” CommonWealth Magazine, October 16, 2013. https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/012-louise-day-hicks-you-know-where-i-stand/. Battenfeld, Joe. “Barney Frank Resurfaces, to the Dismay of Bernie Sanders.” Boston Herald, January 29, 2020. https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/01/28/barney-frank-resurfaces-to-the-dismay-of-bernie-sanders/. Chotiner, Isaac. “Barney Frank Is Not Impressed By Bernie Sanders.” Slate Magazine, March 30, 2016. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2016/03/barney-frank-is-not-impressed-by-bernie-sanders.html. Cottle, Michelle. “Bailout.” The New Republic, December 3, 2008. https://newrepublic.com/article/62857/bailout.
Dayen, David. Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street’s Great Foreclosure Fraud. New York, NY: The New Press, 2016. ———. “Bank Deregulation 2.0 Is Here.” The American Prospect, July 18, 2018. https://prospect.org/api/content/eaadfd42-4d07-5e1f-b580-4b75f1860cc4/. ———. “Dismantling Dodd-Frank -- And More.” The American Prospect, February 6, 2017. https://prospect.org/api/content/da53d9a4-10ff-57f6-97d0-a09f91c8cbd4/. Dedman, Bill. “TV Movie Led to Prostitute’s Disclosures.” The Washington Post, August 27, 1989. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/tours/scandal/gobie2.htm. Frank, Barney. “My Life as a Gay Congressman.” Politico Magazone. Accessed April 13, 2020. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/barney-frank-life-as-gay-congressman-116027.html. Geismer, Lily. Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014. Henwood, Doug. “Radio Commentary, July 15, 2010.” LBO News from Doug Henwood (blog), July 16, 2010. https://lbo-news.com/2010/07/16/radio-commentary-july-15-2010/. Molloy, Parker. “What Barney Frank Still Gets Wrong on ENDA.” The Advocate, October 1, 2014. http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/10/01/op-ed-what-barney-frank-still-gets-wrong-enda. Schleier, Curt. “Barney Frank on Being Barney, Not Bernie.” Times of Israel. Accessed April 13, 2020. http://www.timesofisrael.com/barney-frank-on-being-barney-not-bernie/. Sirota, David. “A ‘Grand Bargain’...For K Street.” HuffPost (blog), December 8, 2006. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-grand-bargainfor-k-stre_b_35853. ———. “Four Reasons to Oppose the Bush-Obama Request for Another $350 Billion Bailout.” Common Dreams. Accessed April 13, 2020. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2009/01/13/four-reasons-oppose-bush-obama-request-another-350-billion-bailout. Toobin, Jeffrey. “Barney’s Great Adventure.” The New Yorker, January 5, 2009. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/01/12/barneys-great-adventure. Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

Lord Castlereagh Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

The Anglo-Irish aristocrat, politician and statesman Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry: better known, like Bjork or Madonna, by his mononym - Castlereagh. A Whig politician, he was hated by the populations of both England and Ireland for his support of vicious repression against liberal, reformist, and radical politics and activism. Lord Byron put it best: "Posterity will ne'er survey / A nobler grave than this: / Here lie the bones of Castlereagh: / Stop, traveller, and piss."

Like our show? Support us, buy cute shirts, and check out past episodes at www.badgayspod.com/

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SOURCES:

Ackroyd, Peter. Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day. London, UK; New York, NY: Random House, 2017. Bew, John. Castlereagh: A Life. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2012. Hyde, Harford Montgomery. The Strange Death of Lord Castlereagh. London, UK: Heinemann, 1959. Kiernan, Victor. The Duel in European History: Honour and the Reign of Aristocracy. London, UK: Zed Books Ltd., 2016. Norton, Rictor, ed. “Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England,” January 15, 2020. http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/nineteen.htm. Thompson, E. P. The Making of the English Working Class. London, UK; New York, NY: Penguin, 1991. Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

James Buchanan Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

The United States of America's first gay – and worst – President. This bumbling slaveholder collaborated with the Confederacy, promoted the racist Dred Scott decision at the Supreme Court, and cohabited in Washington with a dashing Alabama Senator who, in the words of President Andrew Jackson was the "Aunt Nancy" to his "Aunt Fancy."

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Like our show? Support us, buy cute shirts, and check out past episodes at www.badgayspod.com/

Sources:

Baker, Jean H. James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857-1861. Macmillan, 2004. Balcerski, Thomas J. Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King. Oxford University Press, 2019. Buchanan, James. Inaugural Address, March 4, 1857: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/march-4-1857-inaugural-address Katz, Jonathan. Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality. University of Chicago Press, 2001. Watson, Robert P. Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal, 1789–1900. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

Nikolai Yezhov Mar 24, 2020

Show notes

A man variously known as the “Iron Hedgehog” and a “malignant Dwarf”, but also as charming, courteous, and, most importantly “a good party man,” a man who held the position of the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs - the head of the NKVD during Stalin’s Great Purge - Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov.

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Like our show? Support us, buy cute shirts, and check out past episodes at www.badgayspod.com/

Deutscher, Isaac. The Prophet Outcast: Trotsky, 1929-1940. London: Verso, 2003. "Gay in the Gulag." Libcom. https://libcom.org/history/gay-gulag Getty, J. Arch, and Oleg V. Naumov. The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. Getty, John Arch, and Oleg V. Naumov. Yezhov: The Rise of Stalin’s “Iron Fist.” New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008. Lewin, Moshe. The Soviet Century. London: Verso, 2005. Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. London: Hachette UK, 2010. Weston, Fred. "From Emancipation to Criminalization: Stalinist Persecution of Homosexuals from 1934." https://www.marxist.com/from-emancipation-to-criminalisation-stalinist-persecution-of-homosexuals-from-1934.htm Whyte, Harry. Letter to Joseph Stalin, May 1934. https://www.marxist.com/letter-to-stalin-can-a-homosexual-be-in-the-communist-party.htm

Iowa Caucuses Special: Pete Buttigieg Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

With special guests Mac Folkes and Edna Bonhomme (@jacobinoire), Ben explores the life story, politics, and cultural phenomenon of Pete Buttigieg. From his resume-polishing early life to his racist record as Mayor to his recycling of stale right-wing attacks on progressive policy, we look at how longer-term trends in gay life and culture, including the split of the "mainstream" wealthy and white gay rights movement from multiracial struggle, have influenced both his politics and the broad audience they have found.

== Update, 8 March, 2020 ==

We are devastated by the recent death of Mac Folkes, one of our two guests on this episode. A legend of the scene, a devoted friend, and a fierce fighter for justice. Rest in power.

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SOURCES:

Mayor Pete editing his own wikipedia: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/pete-buttigieg-wikipedia-page-editor.html

On his early life and childhood: https://apnews.com/47fc3e167cd64488b16890c8973bb208

On his time at Harvard, including quotes from his memoir, Shortest Way Home: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/all-about-pete

Andrew Sullivan on Rhodes Scholars: https://books.google.de/books?id=cIdMpKduSmkC&pg=PA108&dq=andrew+sullivan+rhodes+scholars&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

On McKinsey, and its business model and recent scandals: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/world/africa/mckinsey-south-africa-eskom.html, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/business/mckinsey-puerto-rico.html, https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/02/mckinsey-company-capitals-willing-executioners)

On Mayor Pete's secretive record at McKinsey: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey-clients

On Mayor Pete's record on housing and environmental racism: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/mayor-pete-buttigieg-south-bend-gentrification, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/22/south-bend-poor-say-democrat-pete-buttigieg-left-them-behind.html

On the firing of Darryl Boykins: https://theintercept.com/2019/09/20/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police/

On the shooting of Eric Logan and protests in June 2019: https://wsbt.com/news/local/probe-of-eric-logan-shooting-could-revive-scrutiny-of-buttigieg, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/briannasacks/mayor-pete-buttigieg-protesters-heckled-south-bend-police

On the community/police events Mayor Pete skipped to campaign: https://theintercept.com/2020/01/23/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police-oversight-fundraisers/

On the recent protest at a campaign event in which Mayor Pete asked the protestor to 'respect the format': https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/1221198787466665986/photo/1

On Mayor Pete's changing position on Medicare for All and attacks on proposals for universal social programs: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/16/buttigieg-tweet-medicare-for-all-048745, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/467478-buttigieg-i-never-believed-in-medicare-for-all-that-ends-private-insurance, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/us/politics/buttigieg-sanders-warren-free-tuition.html

An article on the campaign's treatment of staffers of color that came out too late for us to include in the episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/us/politics/buttigieg-campaign-black-hispanic-staff.html

On allegations the campaign faked Black support for its racial justice proposal: https://theintercept.com/2019/11/15/pete-buttigieg-campaign-black-voters/

Christmas Special: Colonel Victor Barker Dec 25, 2019

Show notes

For a special episode, Huw is joined the writer and filmmaker Juliet Jacques to discuss Colonel Victor Barker.

As a military nurse, ambulance driver, kennelman, horse trainer, fascist, car salesman, thief, and actor, Colonel Victor Barker was the embodiment of early 20th century upper-class British masculinity. But he became famous after his trial and imprisonment for committing perjury on his marriage certificate to his wife —because Victor Barker was assigned female at birth. Juliet and Huw explore his life, and the questions it raises around gender identity a century ago.

SOURCES: Collis, Rose. Colonel Barker's Monstrous Regiment: A Tale of Female Husbandry, Boston: Little, Brown Book Group, 2001 Zagria. A Gender Variance Who's Who https://zagria.blogspot.com/ Oram, Alison: Her Husband was a Woman! Women's Gender-Crossing in Modern British Popular Culture, London: Routledge, 2008 Our intro music is Arpeggia Colorix by Yann Terrien, downloaded from WFMU's Free Music Archive and distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Our outro music is by DJ Michaeloswell Graphicsdesigner.

J. Edgar Hoover Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

The other polestar of human evil. "Justice is incidental to law and order." Johnny and Clyde.

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SOURCES:

Johnson, David K. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Medsger, Betty. The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI. New York: Knopf, 2014.

Simkin, John. "Clyde Tolson." Spartacus Educational: https://spartacus-educational.com/USAtolson.htm

Summers, Anthony. Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1993.

Piers Gaveston Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

The namesake of the secret dining society at Oxford where David Cameron may or may not have committed unspeakable acts with a pig. Perhaps you’ll have a clue to the themes of today’s episode when we tell you that the motto of the Piers Gaveston Society is "(Sane) non memini ne audisse unum alterum ita dilixisse" or, for those of us without a private school Latin education, "Truly, none remember hearing of a man enjoying another so much".

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SOURCES:

Hamilton, J. S. Piers Gaveston: Politics and Patronage in the Reign of Edward II. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1988.

Phillips, Seymour. Edward II. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2010.

Stewart, Alan. “Edward II and Same-Sex Desire” in: Early Modern English Drama: A Critical Companion, ed. Garrett A. Sullivan, Jr., Patrick Cheney and Andrew Hadfield. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005. 82-95.

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