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Our community awaits with open arms (and legs) 🤤

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Josephine Baker (1906 - 1968) is one of the most alluring, inspiring, and charismatic figures we have ever covered on this podcast.

Her career spanned decades and continents, and on THE Continent, she was the highest paid Black entertainer for most of the 1920s and 1930s. As a dancer-singer-actress triple threat, she was in some ways the precursor to megastars like Beyoncé in our own day.

Unlike Beyoncé, she built her career not only through her own talent (and Jay-Z's influence), but by taking advantage of one of the most racist, colonialist, imperialist periods in Western history: the aftermath of World War One.

Josephine became famous because she created a sensual, wild, "sauvage" style of dance, which the Jazz-frenzied denizens of gay Paree scarfed down like a good soupe à l'oignon. In their 20th century terror of what it meant to be "modern," Josephine represented a return to something raw and wonderfully original. Her nudity, her brazen dancing, her uninhibited artistry were all examples of "true" art – an instinct-driven Fuck You to modern civilisation.

They were of course racist bastards for thinking all of this – but they also genuinely loved Josephine. And Josephine loved to use their racist bullshit not only to line her pockets, but to feel their genuine love in return.

Like many (gay) performers, she lived to be loved.

Throughout her wild and successful career, Josephine presented a completely new vision of what it meant to be a woman, to be Black, and to be an unapologetic diva.

And yet, we barely remember Josephine today. BUT THAT STOPS NOW.

Strap yourselves in and or on, because this episode is another 90 minute doozy (sorry for doing such interesting research and talking to such interesting scholars! so sorry!)

All our gay thanks to Michell Chresfield for bringing her insight and brilliant research to this episode.

And now it's time to dive on in, because the water is an absolutely divine... human temperature.

🎧 Listen now on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or wherever you pod. Pet cheetah and sequin nipple tassles sold separately.

📱 Follow Historical Homos on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and subscribe to our Patreon if you care about gay people, like, at all.

⭐ Most importantly, if you like what you hear, please leave us a ⭐ FIVE STAR ONLY ⭐ review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify.

Episode Credits

Written and hosted by Bash

Produced by Dani Henion

Edited by Alex Toskas

Guest: Michell Chresfield

© Sebastian Hendra 2026

Well aren't you a lucky little piggy. This bonus episode is now available to all listeners!

Be warned: this will rarely happen again, so if you want to get the full-hog raw-dog Historical Homos experience, please consider subscribing to the Patreon.

Our community awaits you with open arms (and legs).

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HELLO MY LITTLE HORMONES!

Saw the Odyssey. Have some thoughts.

As a recovering classicist and practicing homosexual, my take is pretty simple: this is not our Odyssey.

As a pacifist and optimistic believer that humanity deserves to take care of herself, even in these dark hours, I think this film is timely and to some degree, quite moving.

Nolan may not have given us an Odyssey that any self-respecting, fun-loving, faggocious mythology nerd will treasure...but he does make some good points that we all need to hear.

This is above all an Odyssey for Trump's America, and while it is joyless, austere, and bleak (aka pure Nolan) – we should listen to what his Lordship the Dark Knight has to say.

WARNING. SPOILERS GALORE.

Love you! Bye.

© Sebastian Hendra 2026

"What if the gayest thing about me is how annoying I am?" – Michelangelo, unverified

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For early access to episodes and bonus content, join our Patreon.
Our community awaits with legs open and lips parted 🤤

www.patreon.com/historicalhomos

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OK we all know Michelangelo. The David. The Sistine Chapel. Blah blah blah.

But did you know he was also 100% a homosexual, according to basically every source we have?

Of course you don't! Because the straight agenda has kept it under wraps for centuries – and because Mike's version of gay tends to make us all a little bit uncomfortable these days.

Instead of settling down and marrying a woman like a good Italian Catholic, Michelangelo spent his life obsessing over his work, himself, male bodies, and the teenaged apprentices he liked to flop around with behind the scenes.

Because yes, like so many Historical Homos before him, Mike's taste in men skewed uncomfortably young.

He was, like all his Florentine compatriots, obsessed with sodomy – and in Renaissance Florence, that usually meant pederasty, which back then meant men in their 20s and 30s (or older) pursuing teenage boys.

Perhaps this is why when we talk Michelangelo today, we don't talk gay. Instead, we focus on the sculptures and paintings that made his name, changed Western art, and still attract the wonder and awe of all who gaze upon them.

Well, this episode believes we can talk about BOTH. Who was Michelangelo before he was Michelangelo? Was he always gay, or did the Medici court turn him? Did he sculpt the David because of pederasty, or just to prove a point to Leonardo da Vinci? And did he ever find love in his incredibly long life?

Hark! The answers to all these questions and more begin to trickle into your tight little earholes, from the genius brain of Professor Catherine Fletcher, who joins once again to walk us through the gayest Renaissance in history.

So strap your inflatable marble dildos on and let's get dive in! The water is, of course, human temperature.

🎧 Listen now on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or wherever you pod. Sistine Chapel and marble cum gutters sold separately.

📱 Follow Historical Homos on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and do ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up to our newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you care about gay people, like, at all.

⭐ Most importantly, if you like what you hear, please leave us a ⭐ FIVE STAR ONLY ⭐ review on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify.

Episode Credits

Written and hosted by Bash
Edited by Alex Toskas
Produced by Dani Henion
Guest: Catherine Fletcher

© Sebastian Hendra 2026