Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: March 8, 2021 at 4:10:19 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Podcast]: Earls on Marcus and Burningham and Rous et > al., 'Making Gay History: The Podcast' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Eric Marcus, Sara Burningham, Nahanni Rous et al. Making Gay > History: The Podcast. New York GLSEN, 2020. > > Reviewed by Averill Earls (Mercyhurst University) > Published on H-Podcast (March, 2021) > Commissioned by Robert Cassanello (he/him/his) > > The click of the tape deck door, the grind of play and record pressed > at the same time: every episode of _Making Gay History _opens with a > sound that will be familiar to anyone who ever owned a tape deck. > These simple but effective touches in the sound design of _Making Gay > History_ let you know from the start that this is not your average > interview radio show. What Eric Marcus and his team give us in this > short-form podcast is an invitation into the lives of the people > whose labor, organizing, blood, sweat, and tears made gay history in > the United States. > > The show is built from the oral histories that Eric Marcus collected > in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Marcus is a journalist with a BA > in urban studies and master's degrees in journalism and real estate > development. Though he has several history and queer studies students > on his production team at _Making Gay History_, the majority of those > working on the project are in media, with no formally trained > historians on staff. Marcus's twelve published books deal with issues > that are close to his heart: LGBT rights, life, and history, and > suicide. He is an openly gay man who was in his thirties at the > height of the AIDS pandemic, and both his father and sister committed > suicide. His closeness to these issues is a strength of his work, and > comes through in powerful personal stories and connections. > > In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marcus traveled the United States > and interviewed a wide range of individuals who had been instrumental > in the LGBT movements. He collected the stories of founding members > of America's first gay rights groups, like the Mattachine Society and > Daughters of Bilitis, the rioters of Stonewall like Marsha P. > Johnson, and the sexologists, writers, musicians, journalists, > pornographers, book shop owners, and community activists of the > movements that made gay history. The archive itself, and the work > that went into his book, _Making Gay History_, is a monumental > service to this history. In 2016 Marcus and his colleague, Sara > Burningham, pitched the idea of turning this impressive sound archive > into a podcast, and the show was born. > > In almost every episode we are granted access to unedited stretches > of original interviews. Journalists and oral historians have much in > common when drawing stories from interview subjects. But beyond the > standard open-ended questions and murmured encouragement, Marcus is > also very much present in the interview tapes. He jokes and laughs > with interviewees, observes moments of silence when remembering lost > friends, and asks pointed questions that steer the conversation. > Sometimes he reveals little bits of his own history as a member of > the community. In a particularly moving interview with Morty Manford, > Marcus discusses his fear as a young gay man who came out in New York > City, where it seemed everyone was contracting AIDS.[1] As Marcus's > friends died around him, he couldn't believe how fortunate he was > never to have been positive. These moments allow us to see how Marcus > gained access to these stories. He was able to leverage his own > identity to draw out the painful, shared experiences from those he > interviewed. > > In a typical episode, we aren't thrown into the deep end of the > interview. Instead, Marcus takes the time to set the scene, bringing > us with him into the homes and front porches of his interview > subjects. He cues us in to the atmosphere of the room, the tension or > ease that he felt as the interviewer, the demeanor of the people he > engaged in oral histories. It's an intimate experience. The > introductions are enhanced with some light ambient music, one > staccato note plucked on a violin, sometimes laid under a long, warm > pull across the strings. When he starts the interview recording, > though, these post-production touches are absent, and it's just > Marcus and his interview subjects. After the clip, which usually runs > between ten and twenty minutes, Marcus will often return with those > post-production touches to give further details about the > interviewee--where they are today, what they went on to do, other > ways they contributed to the LGBT movements. > > What makes _Making Gay History _special is that we get to hear the > stories of these individuals in their own words: Larry Kramer talking > about the feeling of isolation and guilt as a gay man and attempted > suicide, Edyth Eyde's delightful lesbian comedy songs, Bayard > Rustin's perception of how his sexuality impacted his work in the > civil rights movement, and so much more.[2] The majority of the > episodes are constructed around Marcus's interview collection. Some, > like those featuring Bayard Rustin, include interview clips that were > donated to the archive. Rustin passed away in 1987, before Marcus > began his interview project. In the Rustin episodes featured in > seasons 4 and 7, the recording is one that Rustin's partner, Walter > Nagle, donated to the archive. > > Season 4 is a departure from the standard that the _Making Gay > History _(MGH) team had perfected in the first three seasons. In > addition to episodes featuring audio clips that Marcus did not > collect himself--with Bayard Rustin and Ernestine Eckstein--there are > two episodes in this season that travel even further afield. No > recordings of German gay rights activist and founder of the Institute > for Sexology in Berlin Magnus Hirschfeld's voice survive. Instead of > following their standard format, the MGH team constructed > Hirschfeld's story instead out of Marcus's narration and interviews > with historian Dagmar Herzog, the Schwules Museum's Dr. Kevin Clarke, > and several other experts.[3] Similarly, in an episode on trans and > gay rights activist Reed Erickson, the MGH producers built the story > from interviews with people who knew Erickson as well as Morgan M > Page, host of the trans history podcast _One from the Vaults_.[4] > While interesting and well done (the MGH team is unsurprisingly > exemplary in sound design), these episodes can feel like they belong > to a different show. Many podcasts are successfully telling the > stories of individuals through secondary-source narration and sound > effects. What makes most of _Making Gay History _stand out is the > foregrounding of the voices of those history-makers. > > For educators, this podcast is an incredible resource. In many ways > it resembles an edited primary-source reader. Students can hear > firsthand clips of oral history primary sources, with the very > important context from the historian expert. The website boasts > complete transcripts for every episode. Many podcasts with similar > levels of accessibility and clear educational goals often provide > lesson samples or testimonials from teachers who use the episodes in > their classroom. It is surprising that a podcast that has earned so > many education-focused grants has not developed those kinds of > resources yet, particularly as the website is otherwise quite a > well-organized virtual space to access the podcast. It is available > on all the standard podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, > Google Podcasts, NPR One, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, > Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, and via their website, > makinggayhistory.com. > > Certainly much of the show's success is owed to the sound production > expertise of the team, and the fact that it is a clearly > well-supported indie podcast. While the website advertises funding > drives, it also lists a range of big-name sponsors who have > contributed to the show. Unlike most independent podcasts, which run > on shoestring budgets out of their homes, it's clear that Marcus is > recording in a studio space, that he has a team of people helping him > produce the show, and that those team members are compensated for > their time. With sponsorships from Netflix, Con Edison, and > Christopher Street Financial, and funding secured from the Jonathan > Logan Family Foundation, the Calamus Foundation, Broadway > Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Ford Foundation, and the Arcus > Foundation, all that seems to separate _Making Gay History_ from an > NPR show is the public radio connection. > > As perhaps evidenced most acutely by season 4, the original format of > _Making Gay History _has some limitations. Were the producers to > focus exclusively on the stories contained in Eric Marcus's interview > library for his book, the people represented would be predominately > white, East or West Coastal, and urban, like Marcus himself. About > half the stories included in the current seasons are of women, > including a handful of trans women, but trans folks are less > represented than cis folks. These were the people whom Marcus had > access to through his personal and professional connections. There > are very few people of color in any given season, maybe two or three > at the most in seasons with as many as thirteen episodes. Even fewer > Latinx, Asian American, Native American, or immigrant stories are > included. Some individuals are featured several times, appearing in > different seasons. This is a delight when we get to hear more of > Edythe Eyde's songs, or dive back into Morty Manford's story. At the > same time, when the stories of Perry Watkins, Marsha P Johnson, and > Bayard Rustin are used a second time, when they were the only people > of color the first time they appeared in a season, it is easy to see > the thin edges of the project. > > It seems clear that the producers are aware of these limitations, as > evidenced by seasons 4 and 5, which have episodes that are not built > around archival oral histories. It does raise the question, though: > why dedicate a special kind of episode to Magnus Hirschfeld instead > of Gladys Bentley or James Baldwin? Marcus frames that season as > hearing "from the activists and visionaries who got the ball rolling > for LGBTQ civil rights."[5] The opening five episodes of season 4 are > the white men and women whom the producers identified as most > important: Hirschfeld; Harry Hay; Billye Talmadge; Dorr Legg, Martin > Block, and Jim Kepner; and Stella Rush. Trans activist Reed Erickson, > civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, and Ernestine Eckstein, the only > African American woman at the earliest homophile movement protests, > are profiled in episodes 7, 8, and 9. Though seemingly a minor point, > the order of episode release is also the order that listeners will be > introduced to this history. While the broader inclusion of women and > lesbians in this podcast's stories does much to counter the dominant > narrative that the gay rights movement was led by men, the continued > centrality of white narratives in this podcast is problematic. > Particularly in public-facing projects like this well-funded > educational podcast, we must do our part to de-center white > narratives. > > Season 5 continues to depart from the show's standard, with four > episodes dedicated to Stonewall's fiftieth anniversary. Seasons 6 and > 7 return to the stories in Marcus's archive. Season 8, the most > recent, draws on recordings from the impressive Studs Terkel Radio > Archive in Chicago. With this most recent foray into archival > material beyond Eric Marcus's recordings, it is clear that the > possibilities for the show are nearly endless. Perhaps they will tap > into one of the exciting trans oral history projects that have been > developed in New York City, Iowa, Louisiana, and elsewhere.[6] > Perhaps they will seek out the expertise of E. Patrick Johnson, who > conducted oral histories of gay Black men in the American South.[7] > No matter what the future holds for _Making Gay History_, it is an > incredible platform, beautifully crafted, with important stories to > tell. > > Citation: Averill Earls. Review of Marcus, Eric; Burningham, Sara; > Rous et al., Nahanni, _Making Gay History: The Podcast_. H-Podcast, > H-Net Reviews. March, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56102 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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