ODD 'CASTING

By me, originally published in Genre Magazine


FOX IN THE CITY'S RAGAN FOX--this image doesn't click!

I'd like to spotlight a trend so white-hot and hip that just casually
throwing it into your conversation can shave 5-10 years off you age. No,
it's not bare-backing, the trend that will shave years off your actual
life: It's podcasting, an eargasmic, new form of audio entertainment with
it's own emerging superstars.

Now before you think "Uh oh! Bunny's gone computer geek on us!" trust me,
nothing could be further fro the truth. I'm certainly no technical whiz and
have often viewed technological advances with a suspicious eye: the
invention of fire scared me half to death and I thought I would never get
used to that darned wheel thing! But podcasting is simple to enjoy and I
don't even own an iPod. (As if I need an expensive gadget small enough
to lose or fit into a tricky trick's pocket!)

In case I've lost you and you are thinking (as I mistakenly thought about
Compact Discs) "What's the appeal in this silly new trend?" let me break it
down for you a little further. It's free! If you're sick of repetitive
playlists and spastic jocks on commercial radio but too cheap to spring for
Sirius or XM, podcasting offers a huge variety of audio files on demand--it's
like TIVO for radio. But best of all, since it isn't technically
broadcasting, the FCC has no power here, so the content can be truly
outrageous with candid discussions of all things gay (yup, you'll see), that
no commercially supported radio station would support.

Though not technically a podcaster, Internet star Shirley Q. Liquor must be
considered the godmother of the 'cast since her online sound bytes have
queens nationwide mimicking her trademark greeting "How you durrin'?" But if
Shirley's the godmother, Madge Weinstein's surely the queen. Though her deep
voice and hormonally-challenged appearance have led many to suspect that
"she" is in fact a transvestite, Madge insists she's an overweight Jewish
lesbian with a yeast infection. Madge also has a prolapsed uterus, which is
so distended that she's become an advocate for female glory holes. (Guys,
stop masturbating and read on.)

A podcast can also be an online video and my introduction to Madge was her
brilliant Cuntcession Speech, after the deep sorrow of Dubya's
"re-election". The raw footage of Madge angrily berating America for its
ignorance jumped right off the computer screen as an honest and powerful
political voice. The fact that she peppers her observations with pointless,
rot-gut, bottom-of-the-barrel jokes about yeast infections makes Madge even
more delightfully insane. Like many lesbians, Madge admits she's "a total
geek" who is "good at spotting trends"‹though also like many lesbians, the
trends she's good at spotting are not related to clothing. She saw
podcasting as a way to reach a wider audience than live performances, and
without the crowd's loud booing. Hey! Maybe Ashlee Simpson should get into
'casting!

Madge also spearheads the movement by fostering new talent like Arizona
State University's Ragan Fox, a self-described "power-bottom", whose show
Fox in the City is an instant hit. One of his recent podcasts deals with black men
always negotiating during sex. "They haggle, saying 'Let me just put the
head in." Yeah, just do the part that will spray semen up my butt and give
me AIDS", he said during a recent 'cast. His fans tune in for the humor,
but says Ragan, "it gets them talking about the reality of AIDS again.²

So does popular podcast Feastoffools.com, which is broadcast from the AIDS
ward in which TS Victoria Lamarr is in, accusing the nurse of stealing her
pain-killers. Feastoffools.com's Fausto has a natural on-air
personality whose fresh take on pop culture is enlivened with frank,
in-depth interviews with celebs (of course you have to imagine all this
coming from her AIDS ward). Most TV and radio interviews are only a few
quick sound bytes about whatever the stars are currently selling. So where
else besides a podcast, like Feastoffools, could you catch a lengthy
interview with John Waters or a chat with Holly Woodlawn.

I've sat mesmerized by the brainlessness of the short podcasted films of
Minneapolis dragster Wanda Wisdom, including I Like Chicken, in which Wanda
repeats the title until she cracks herself up. Wanda's audio podcasts are
less esoteric--plus she has a great face for radio‹and as her tag-line states
"I'm a single, sober, drag queen with a mic and nothing to lose." Offering
wake-up calls last Memorial Day to "give back to the universe", Wanda
created a cyber-oasis of sobriety amidst the large party hardy gay scene and
serves, as Madge puts it, as "a spiritual guru" whose listeners relate to
her tales of everyday highs and lows like job-quitting and boyfriend
trouble. "I'm on my porch at 2:00 am talking into an iRiver recording device,
I post it on my computer and in a couple of hours I have feedback from
people all over the world.

And the trend is catching on. iTunes recently added a podcasting page but
³gay" was not listed as a category, so amidst all the commercial podcasts,
you'll have to do a gay search to find podcasters like these, who are
inexplicably buried in headings like "Health". But a new site, qpodder.com,
lists around 100 gay shows ranging in content from A Gay in the Life by
Eddie Perez, an 18 year old gay boy in Houston, to gaysexcapades.com, which
records the sexploits of a well-hung top. As Wanda Wisdom puts it, "It's the
realest gay content you can find anywhere and everyday there is a new voice
showing up." Are ya listening?

a coupla noteworthy podcasts for you to check out:

Madge Weinstein's yeastradio.com
Ragan Fox's FOX IN THE CITY foxinthecity
Fausto's FEAST OF FOOLS feastoffools.net
Wanda Wisdom's LUCKY BITCH RADIO luckybitchradio.com
And all 4 team up for a power hour on eatthishotshow.com