The 10 Best Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive Podcast Episodes
1) Season 6: Episode 2: Vernon E. "Copy" Berg III
In 1975, long before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Navy asked, and Officer Copy Berg told: “Yes, I am gay.” When Copy chose to challenge the military’s ban on homosexuals, the Pentagon fought back with...Show More
2) Season 6: Episode 3: Barbara Smith
For nearly half a century, Barbara Smith has been speaking truth to power—as a woman against misogyny, as an African American against racism, as a lesbian against homophobia, and as a black lesbian ag...Show More
3) Revisiting the Archive: Episode 7: Ellen DeGeneres
Today, Ellen DeGeneres needs no introduction. But as she explained in a 2001 MGH interview, her very public 1997 coming out took a dramatic professional and personal toll. When life goes off the rails...Show More
4) Bonus: From the Vault: Sylvia Rivera & Marsha P. Johnson, 1970
In 1970, a young radio reporter recorded an interview with Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and other members of the newly formed Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries—STAR. Nearly 50 years late...Show More
5) Stonewall 50: Episode 1: Prelude to a Riot
Conflict has context. In the first episode of Making Gay History’s Stonewall 50 season, we hear stories from the pre-Stonewall struggle for LGBTQ rights. We travel back in time to hear voices from the...Show More
6) Season 1: Episode 4: Dr. Evelyn Hooker
In 1945 Dr. Evelyn Hooker’s gay friend Sam From urged her to do a study challenging the commonly held belief that homosexuals were by nature mentally ill. It was work that would ultimately strip the “...Show More
7) Season 1: Episode 8: Dear Abby
A generation ago, tens of millions of people turned to "Dear Abby” in her daily newspaper column for advice. Long before others did, and at considerable risk, she used her platform and celebrity in su...Show More
8) Season 1: Episode 1: Sylvia Rivera — Part 1
A never-before-heard conversation with trans icon and self-proclaimed Stonewall veteran Sylvia Rivera. Hear Sylvia discuss the first night of the June 1969 uprising and her struggle for recognition in...Show More
9) Season 1: Episode 6: Jeanne and Morty Manford
When Jeanne Manford’s gay son was badly beaten at a protest in 1972, she took action and founded an organization for parents of gays known today as PFLAG. Visit our episode webpage for background info...Show More
10) Season 2: Episode 1: Marsha P. Johnson and Randy Wicker
Meet Marsha P. Johnson and Randy Wicker—two very different heroes of the early LGBT civil rights movement. Marsha was a Street Transvestite Action Revolutionary. Randy led the first gay demonstration ...Show More