PODCAST · news
Queers
by Simon Copland and Benjamin Riley
Queers is a podcast about politics and culture with Simon Copland and Benjamin Riley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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The End of Queers
At least, for now. Benjamin and Simon reflect on four years of discussion about queer politics and culture, wondering what’s changed, what we’ve learned, and whether all of this was worthwhile. Thanks everyone for listening and for your support—we’re sure we’ll be back at some point and in some...
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We present: Sinister Sissies
Buckle up Sodomites! Sinister Sissies is your gateway to gay true crime, homoerotic horror and all things man-on-man and macabre! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sinister Sissies is a Lipp Media podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
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Conflict Is Not Abuse
Benjamin took the opportunity of a recent beachside holiday to do some light reading with Sarah Schulman’s book Conflict Is Not Abuse, which Simon read (and loved) a while back. This episode is a discussion of Schulman’s critical, compassionate, and ultimately reparative take on the theme of...
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Free Speech
The Israel Folau sacking, campaigns to block far right activists from entering into Australia, the high court decision to uphold the sacking of the public servant Michaela Banerji. Free speech is everywhere in the news at the moment, yet despite it being central to both the politics of Benjamin…
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Interview: Jarryd Bartle
Simon interviews writer, lecturer and consultant Jarryd Bartle across a range of topics relating to sexual and criminal deviancy, queer and otherwise. Jarryd talks about the uses and limits of the criminal justice system, whether the current focus of queer politics is a useful path to social...
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Sexless Queers
In the second part of our two-part discussion critiquing the role of sex in queer communities and politics, Benjamin and Simon get to the heart of the matter: is sexuality compulsory in queer movements and spaces? And if it isn’t, then what even is queerness? Subscribe (for free!), rate and…
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Interview: Jaya Keaney
Benjamin interviews writer and research Jaya Keaney about her work examining concepts of race in the stories of queer families who conceive kids using reproductive technologies, digging into what it means to re-imagine the queer family in the context of race. ‘Grandma, 61, gives birth to own...
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Let’s Not Talk About Sex, Baby
We talk about sex a lot on the podcast, but what about people who don’t feel so comfortable about it? In the first episode of a two-part discussion challenging the role of sex in queer communities and politics, Benjamin and Simon talk sexual anxieties, how queers might overcome them, and whether...
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The End of Queer Press
With the announcement that Australia’s longest-running queer publication has effectively closed its doors, Benjamin and Simon reflect on the value of queer media in an age when queer news is increasingly covered by mainstream publications. The question at the heart of the issue: what do we lose...
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Winter is Problematic
Just what the world needs—another Game of Thrones take! But after sharing their thoughts on the end of this TV juggernaut, Benjamin and Simon dig into the episode’s big question: what political responsibility does pop culture have to depict the world in particular ways? ‘The Real Reason Fans Hate...
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Interview: Sally Goldner
Simon interviews community advocate and educator Sally Goldner, discussing Sally’s advocacy for bisexual and trans folk, diversity education inside and outside LGBTIQ communities, and why we’re all so hung up on binaries. Subscribe (for free!), rate and review Queers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify…
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Foxhole Fantasy
In the jumbo-sized Anzac Day episode you didn’t know you wanted, Benjamin and Simon ask why it’s okay to commemorate war in some ways but not others, and wonder what’s really at the heart of these taboos. Plus, a bonus discussion about loneliness and isolation in queer communities for Gay Star...
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The Good Queer Body
A chat about body image and gay men quickly spins out into a discussion of queer bodies more generally, as Benjamin and Simon ask: what does it mean to look like—or fail to look like—the right kind of queer? Subscribe (for free!), rate and review Queers on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google...
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Interview: Brendan Maclean
Benjamin interviews singer-songwriter Brendan Maclean about his new album And the Boyfriends, digging into the evolution of his music, what it means for gay men to work closely with women, and the complex relationship between queer artists and queer art. And the Boyfriends is available on iTunes,...
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Episode 55: Filthy Queers
Why isn’t sex a bigger part of public discourse around queerness? Looking at a classic essay about the revolutionary potential of gay sex, Benjamin and Simon get filthy and dig into the roles sex can play, in theory and in practice, when it comes to queer politics. ‘Cocksucking as an Act of...
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Episode 54: No Really, What Can You Do
Benjamin and Simon have another crack at figuring out what individuals can do in the face of structural problems, and while the conversation stays on track this time they still end up in the weeds. What’s the relationship between collective action and structural change? And is community-level...
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Interview: Gay Alcorn
Simon interviews journalist Gay Alcorn, discussing recent articles she wrote about violence against women. In her analysis, Gay asks the question: is feminism too narrow a lens through which to examine gender-based violence? ‘It's a false comfort to say the murder and rape of women is caused by...
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Episode 53: What Can You Do
Benjamin and Simon sit down intending to record an episode about what individuals can do in the face of structural problems like homophobia, but an article about violence against women sparks a disagreement between the hosts over the question: to what extent can and should we examine individual...
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Episode 52: Surf the Web, with Queers
Benjamin and Simon hit the world wide web to talk social media. It comes up a lot on the podcast, but what does social media mean for queer politics in 2019? Is it a place to find community, or is it bringing about community’s end? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Interview: Kapul Champions
On a trip to Port Moresby, Benjamin interviews an advocate with Papua New Guinea’s only queer community organisation, Kapul Champions, to discuss the political priorities for queers in the country, and the impact of LGBTIQ political discourses in Australia. For more information about Kapul...
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Episode 51: Pop Queers
Benjamin and Simon close out 2018 with a look back at its pop culture—what they liked, what they didn’t, and some of their most significant queer touchstones, from Roseanne to Queer Eye to Janelle Monáe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episode 50: Queers at Fifty
Queers has made it to 50 episodes! Looking back at almost three years of podcasting, Benjamin and Simon reflect on what the show has meant to them, the combination of events and thinking that has shaped the discussions, and what it means to strive for complexity in queer debates. Subscribe to us…
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Interview: Annie Kelly
While traveling in the United Kingdom Simon interviewed the PhD student Annie Kelly. Annie is studying at the University of East Anglia, researching the online anti-feminist groups Return of Kings, A Voice for Men and the Reddit forum Kotaku in Action. Simon and Annie talk about the ideologies…
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Episode 49: Queers Educates the Stupid Masses
Diving back into the thorny issue of consent, Benjamin and Simon turn this time to the concept of ‘enthusiastic consent’, and wonder whether it really is an effective framework for addressing a problem as widespread—and as complex—as sexual assault. ‘Tea Consent’, by Blue Seat Studios Interview...
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Episode 48: Story Time
Benjamin and Simon finally get around to watching Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette, and it sparks a discussion about the role of stories in queer activism. Can we really change the world just by telling our individual stories? Or do we need to connect to something bigger in order to effect change? The...
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Interview: Jax Jacki Brown
Benjamin interviews disability and LGBTIQ activist Jax Jacki Brown about the intersections between queer and disability activism. Their discussion touches on the limits of discourse in both spaces, what it means to actively queer bodies, and how sex can become a site for practising liberation....
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Episode 47: A Guide to Belonging
A politics that says we should respect and celebrate difference is all well and good, but what does that mean for belonging? Benjamin and Simon discuss the importance of finding a place to belong, and wonder whether our need for belonging is at odds with a politics of liberation. Hosted on Acast....
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Episode 46: Civil Queer, Respectable Queer
What starts out as an in-depth look at the explosive reunion episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season 10 leads Benjamin and Simon into a discussion of respectability politics and civility politics in queer communities and beyond, and what it means for queers to support each other when things get...
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Interview: Jordan Raskopoulos
Simon sits down with comedian Jordan Raskopoulos about coming out as trans in a very public way, what it means to be a comedian who cares about being funny at the same time as she cares about queer communities, and being encouraged to embrace her body through roller derby. Jordan's website:...
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Episode 45: Problems with Privilege
A question about the relative privilege of gay men within queer communities turns into a debate about the value of analysing privilege through an identity-based lens at all. Benjamin and Simon grapple with the question: does assigning privilege to certain groups of people help us overcome...
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Episode 44: Full Equality
An article about the idea of “full equality” for LGBTIQ people gets Simon and Benjamin wondering what the idea even means, particularly once most of our civil and legal rights have been taken care of. If we can’t see a sexual revolution coming any time soon, where does the idea of equality stop...
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Interview: Scott Williams
After a debate in the media over the ethics of gay parenting, Benjamin interviews gay dad and rainbow families advocate Scott Williams about the politics of queer families, assumptions made about adoption and surrogacy, and the possibilities of family units that don’t fit nuclear norms. More...
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Extra: Rising Minds
Earlier this year, Benjamin was asked to present a lecture on ‘The Future of Sex and Sexuality’ as part of Rising Minds, a lecture series that hosts speakers from London, New York, Toronto and Sydney to examine topics in technology, business and culture. This episode is from the Rising Minds...
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Episode 43: Acronyms, in Theory and Practice
The queer acronym (LGBTIQA+, etc.) seems to be getting longer with each passing year, but who gets to be a part of it? Benjamin and Simon start out wondering whether it’s useful to dissect which letters are in and which are out, leading to a surprising discussion about the limits of abstract…
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Episode 42: A Politics of Consent
The #MeToo movement against sexual assault has dominated global headlines over the past six months, but what does it mean for queer communities? Looking specifically at gay male spaces, Simon and Benjamin consider some complex and difficult questions about the nature of consent. 'How gay men...
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Interview: Janet Rice
At the Better Together conference in Melbourne in January, Simon interviewed Senator Janet Rice, the Australian Greens' LGBTIQ spokesperson, about the overlaps between environmentalism and queer politics, the legacy of the marriage equality postal survey, and the future of LGBTIQ politics in...
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Episode 41: Sex Panic
As Australian politics is embroiled in a good old-fashioned sex scandal, Benjamin and Simon dig through the muck to ask: why do we care so much about people having sex anyway? Can queers be the vanguards of a society where sex is no longer the logical endpoint of human intimacy? Hosted on Acast....
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Episode 40: Don’t You Know Who I Am
We usually think of stereotypes as wholly negative things, but when it comes to queers, what are the consequences of rejecting them? Simon and Benjamin take a long, hard look at stereotypes, asking where they come from, how they limit our experience, and whether it’s possible to move past...
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Live: Better Together 2018
It's the first ever Queers live episode! Recorded at the Better Together 2018 conference in Melbourne, Simon and Benjamin were joined by researcher Hannah McCann and advocate Morgan Carpenter to take on a big question: are queers better together? For more information about Hannah McCann:...
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Episode 39: Another Queer in Review
2017 is almost at an end, which means it's about a year since we did out last 'Queer in Review' episode! At the end of a year dominated by—what else—marriage, Benjamin and Simon wonder what a post-postal survey Australia looks like for queer politics, and poke our heads up out of Australia to…
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Interview: Nic Holas
Ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, Benjamin interviews writer, producer and HIV activist Nic Holas about his work advocating for people living with HIV, about the impact of a big few years in HIV treatment and prevention in Australia, and about how the legacy of HIV and AIDS shapes our queer...
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Episode 38: Yes
Australia’s postal vote campaign on same-sex marriage is over and the results are in: it’s a yes. Still wading through the complex aftermath of the announcement, Benjamin and Simon share their feelings about the victory and the campaign as a whole, and reflect on what this all means for queer...
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Episode 37: Queers on Queer
What the hell is queer theory? We talk about it all the time, we throw the word "queer" around like it's confetti at a gay wedding, but what on earth do we mean? Simon and Benjamin take a crack at explaining the notoriously difficult idea, fail, then succeed a little bit, then finally land...
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Interview: Benjamin Law
Simon is joined by the writer and author Benjamin Law to discuss his Quarterly Essay 'Moral Panic 101: Equality, Acceptance and the Safe Schools Scandal'. They discuss the causes of the scandal, the dangers of framing queer people as 'vulnerable', and what queers should do after the marriage...
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Episode 36: Bad People
Benjamin and Simon take a look at Benjamin Law's Quarterly Essay on the Safe Schools scandal, and wonder what it says about the ways queer communities engage with problems as 'systemic'. Are some people just bad? And if issues like queerphobia are bigger than anything one person, how can we even...
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Episode 35: Brunching for Equality
The campaign for the yes vote in Australia's postal survey on same-sex marriage is in full swing, coming after years of speculation from within queer communities about what a free-for-all public debate on the issue might look like. Digging into the campaign so far, Simon and Benjamin ask whether...
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Interview: Helen Razer
Benjamin and Simon are joined by writer and commentator Helen Razer to discuss whether there's any 'left' left in queer communities, the successes and failures of identity politics, and to ask if there's even any point to queer political movements in the face of capitalism. An extract from Total...
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Episode 34: Andrew Garfield's Queer Utopia
When actor Andrew Garfield says he's currently a "gay man right now, just without the physical act", Simon and Benjamin decide to take him at face value and address the question: who gets to identify as queer? In this second part of a two-part episode, things get weird in a discussion of…
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Episode 33: The Queer Essentials
A major fashion magazine says it's "gender fluidity" when a (heterosexual) celebrity couple swaps clothes occasionally, leading to a backlash then an apology. Delving into the thorny topic of 'essentialism' within queer communities in the first part of a two-part episode, Benjamin and Simon…
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Episode 32: Up Your Ally
Even though we all would have preferred otherwise, "allies" were in the spotlight during this year's Pride Month, raising the question: what role should allies play within queer activism, and even within queer communities themselves? Simon and Benjamin pit pragmatism against idealism in a...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Queers have?
Queers currently has 84 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Queers about?
Queers is a podcast about politics and culture with Simon Copland and Benjamin Riley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How often does Queers release new episodes?
Queers has 84 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Queers?
You can listen to Queers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Queers?
Queers is created and hosted by Simon Copland and Benjamin Riley.
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