You may have seen writer, actor, and comedian Jeffery Self on the shows 30 Rock, Desperate Housewives, and Jeffery & Cole Casserole alongside Cole Escola. Or you might know him from his books, Drag Teen and A Very Very Bad Thing. Jeffery’s latest book Self-Sabotage: And Other Ways I've Spent My Time came out last month. And for this week’s episode, we’re heading into the Sewers archive to revisit my conversation with Jeffery from 2017, when we talked about forming a rebel theater troupe in his small southern hometown; testing his capacity for sass on television; and creating the circle of friends that he knew he needed in his life.

We’ll have that conversation in a minute. First, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, I hope you’ll consider supporting the show on Patreon. You may also enjoy my YouTube videos about the making of iconic movies and TV shows — my latest is about the film Dog Day Afternoon. And check out my weekly livestreams on Twitch, my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!, and my free email newsletter. There’s links to all that in the episode shownotes, and at MattBaume.com.

You might’ve seen this week’s guest, Andrew Gurza, in the news lately. An activist and advocate for people with disabilities, he recently drew headlines for talking openly about how sex workers have changed his life, and why he believes the government should pay for them. Andrew has a new book coming out this month called Notes from a Queer Cripple: How to Cultivate Queer Disabled Joy (and Be Hot While Doing It!). And for this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’re diving into the archives to revisit my conversation with Andrew from 2017. At that time, he was hosting a podcast called Disability After Dark, and had recently organized a successful accessible sex party in Toronto. Now, his mission has continued: To demolish cultural taboos around disability and sex.

As you might’ve heard, I have a new video up on YouTube about the film Dog Day Afternoon, and a queer bank robber who stunned New York way back in the 1970s. For this week’s episode, we’re diving into the Sewers of Paris archives to explore queer life (and, occasionally, crime) in New York of the ‘70s. Back in the spring of 2020 I spoke with a man who remembered that era well; he earned the nickname Tree thanks to his six-foot-five stature, and he’s been a part of New York’s gay community going back to the fifties, when he didn’t even know a community existed. Tree’s been a member of Brooklyn street gangs, worked with the mob, and counted among his friends Buddy Holly, Bea Arthur, and Rock Hudson.