Carmen Maria Machado on writing 'In the Dream House,' tops/bottoms, and the forgotten history of queer DV episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 25, 2025 · 1H 15M

Carmen Maria Machado on writing 'In the Dream House,' tops/bottoms, and the forgotten history of queer DV

from Cruising | Queer History and Culture · host Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jennifer McGinity

Guest Carmen Maria Machado is a writer of queer horror, essays, and short stories. She is most well-known for her memoir, In the Dream House, which came out in 2019, and really took the queer lit world by storm. In it, she brings light to a concept often shied away from - domestic violence and abuse within queer relationships. While writing the memoir, Carmen did a lot of research into the history of domestic abuse within the lesbian community - the ways in which it is less visible, and the stories that made it into the archives despite all odds. She speaks candidly (and wittily) about all of this, including her own  personal experience, coming out journey, and writing process. -Find more about Carmen and her work on her website -Follow Carmen on ⁠Instagram⁠ -Subscribe to her Substack, Cup of Stars Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Cruising's Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for deep dives and companion pieces to our episodes! -⁠Preorder our book⁠, THE LESBIAN BAR CHRONICLES -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Nov 25, 2025

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Carmen Maria Machado on writing 'In the Dream House,' tops/bottoms, and the forgotten history of queer DV

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