Cruising | Queer History and Culture

Cruising | Queer History and Culture

Conversations about lesbian bars, sapphic spaces, and beyond! Not sure where to start? You don’t have to listen in order! Pick your favorite city, space, or LGBTQ+ icon and dive in. Season 1 follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on their 2021 cross-country road trip to every lesbian bar in the U.S., sharing the stories of the humans that run these spaces and the humans that call them a home. Season 2 features 14 more spaces, chronicling the current lesbian bar resurgence AND taking you back in time to lesbian bars of decades past. In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces - from bookstores, to farms, to peace encampments and more! New episodes air every other Tuesday.

Episodes

LIVE: Community Story Share at The Lipstick Lounge (Nashville, TN / 06.06.26)

August 4, 2026 • 39 mins
This episode was recorded live at The Lipstick Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee. Lipstick, Nashville's only lesbian bar, was the last stop on our initial road trip back in 2021, and we bring you back for more stories of queer spaces and history. Act 1 features a comprehensive timeline of Nashville lesbian bars, while Act 2 dives into stories of gender identity, a college Rugby team, a first time at a lesbian bar, opening night of Lip...
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LIVE: Community Story Share at Gossip Grill and Diversionary Theatre (San Diego, CA)

July 21, 2026 • 53 mins
We're comin at you live from San Diego, California! Here, we held two different events on our book tour -- both filled with some incredible intergenerational sapphic storytelling! In Act I, we visit Gossip Grill, San Diego's iconic lesbian bar (also featured in season 1 of Cruising and now in The Lesbian Bar Chronicles). Then, Act II finds us at The Clark Cabaret & Bar with Diversionary Theatre, the third oldest LGBTQ+ theater ...
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Making Queer Space in Brooklyn: LIVE Panel at Greenlight Bookstore

July 7, 2026 • 51 mins
This episode was taped live at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn! Alongside the release of our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, Sarah hosts a panel of local business owners to discuss the creation and preservation of their queer spaces. Nikke Alleyne: Co-owner of The Bush, Bushwick's newest dyke bar Anna Campbell: Co-founder and Executive Director of Dykes and Dolls, a zine and event calendar connecting the NYC lesbian/trans/que...
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LIVE: Community Story Share and Book Launch (Ginger's Bar, Brooklyn / 05.26.26)

July 3, 2026 • 42 mins
This episode was taped live at Brooklyn's oldest lesbian bar, Ginger's! The community came out to celebrate the official release of our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, and share stories about the queer/lesbian spaces that matter to them. Tune in for a whole new set of tales of queer bookstores, online dating, identity, and (of course) lesbian bars! ... -You can now purchase our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, anywhere books a...
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LIVE: Community Story Share (Northampton, MA / 06.01.26)

June 9, 2026 • 71 mins
This episode was taped live at Sub Rosa: a queer bar and event space in Northampton, MA. We asked the local queer community to come out to celebrate the release of our book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, and share stories about the queer/lesbian spaces that matter to them. And boy, did they! Tune in for stories across generations, including: - how Northampton became a hub for lesbians - first hand accounts of the lesbian bars of o...
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Highlights From Our Lesbian Bar Road Trip

May 26, 2026 • 84 mins
We're looking back on the past five years of Cruising with some of our favorite stories from lesbian bars across the country. This episode airs simultaneously with the release of The Lesbian Bar Chronicles, a book adaptation of the first two seasons of the podcast. So let's celebrate with a reflection on some of the stories that are now available for the very first time in print!  Tune in for selections from:  Wi...
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Organizer Meg Riley on living in a lesbian co-op, the history of radical resistance in Minneapolis, and the ICE surge

May 12, 2026 • 88 mins
This week, we're digging into the rich history activism and resistance in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our guest, Meg Riley, is a political organizer, advocate, and Unitarian Universalist Minister. Meg first moved to the twin cities in 1976, where she very quickly started living in cooperative community housing and immersing herself in local lesbian activism. In 1981, Meg moved into what would become Sweet Willa - a cooperatively owned,...
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Activist Mandy Carter on war resistance, the Quaker tradition, and the search for her long lost siblings

April 28, 2026 • 62 mins
Mandy Carter is a long-time Black lesbian activist and community organizer. Born in 1948, Mandy spent her childhood bouncing between New York state children's homes. While that came with exceptional challenges for a young person, it also allowed her the freedom to grow into exactly who she wanted to be, without the binds of familial pressures and expectations. For Mandy, that meant being a lesbian, a quaker, and a radical agitator ...
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Franco Stevens on the history of Curve Magazine, lesbian visibility, and extremely creative fundraising

April 14, 2026 • 57 mins
Franco Stevens first made her mark on lesbian history in 1990, with the creation of Curve Magazine (at the time known as Deneuve, but we'll get into that later). Curve would soon become the most successful lesbian magazine in the world, committed to lesbian visibility, community-building, and documenting our history. Its pages have featured change-makers and celebrities from Melissa Etheridge to Jenny Shimizu to the cast of the L W...
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Angeli Luz on creating the Lesbian Masterdoc and the backlash

March 31, 2026 • 38 mins
Angeli Luz was 18 years old when she sat down to research, pen, and post the “Am I A Lesbian?” Masterdoc. Over a decade later, her work has withstood the test of time having reached millions of readers worldwide. The Lesbian Master Doc, for those that don’t already know, is a 30 page research paper asking the question that Angeli herself was parsing out at the time: How do I know if I'm a lesbian? What is the diff...
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Bernie Stark on women's softball, Title IX, and trans inclusion in sports

March 17, 2026 • 53 mins
The Mary Vazquez Women's Softball League was founded in 1976 in Northampton, Massachusetts. A collection of lesbian feminists (Eileen Stewart, Jean Grossholtz, Susan Tracy, and Maryann Jennings) formed the league around their values of equity, inclusion, and community. Today, Sarah sits down with long-time player, and former league commissioner, Bernie Stark to discuss:  -The league's history and origin story -Unique traditi...
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Activists Heather Booth and Martha Scott on their historic underground abortion network

March 3, 2026 • 63 mins
They called it "The Service," the world has called them "The Janes" - this episode follows the story of Chicago's underground abortion network. From its 1965 inception, through their devastating police bust, and the eventual legalization of abortion on the federal level in 1973. Act I features Heather Booth, a Civil Rights activist who first founded the service and trained other women in her procedures and philosophies. In Act II ...
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Margaret Cho on her parents’ gay bookstore, BDSM during HIV/AIDS, and why Ellen hates her

February 17, 2026 • 49 mins
Iconic comedian Margaret Cho joins us on the podcast to discuss the ups and downs of her career, and all of the ways queerness has always been part of her life. We cover topics like:  discovering gay people at her parents' gay bookstore  working at a lesbian BDSM leather shop the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in her communities being a self-proclaimed life-long *** hag starring in the first Asian-Ame...
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Diane on coming out at 77, going viral, and life as a nun

February 3, 2026 • 59 mins
Our friend Diane took the internet by storm this winter, when she started to tell her story of coming out and falling in love as a late-in-life lesbian. With over 5 million views, and thousands of adoring commenters, we figured it was time Sarah sat down with Diane to discuss her life in more detail. They unpack everything about Diane's 77 years of compulsive heteronormativity (she is, understandably, very excited to learn the word...
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Carmen Maria Machado on writing 'In the Dream House,' tops/bottoms, and the forgotten history of queer DV

November 25, 2025 • 75 mins
Guest Carmen Maria Machado is a writer of queer horror, essays, and short stories. She is most well-known for her memoir, In the Dream House, which came out in 2019, and really took the queer lit world by storm. In it, she brings light to a concept often shied away from - domestic violence and abuse within queer relationships. While writing the memoir, Carmen did a lot of research into the history of domestic abuse within the lesb...
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Elaine Stott on trying dr*gs at 5, getting kicked out of school bathrooms, and her journey to Survivor

November 11, 2025 • 71 mins
Elaine Stott charmed audiences back in 2019 on the 39th season of CBS's Survivor. She was a shining light on her season and proved that a lesbian could, quite easily, win over the hearts of America, as well as her fellow castaways. This is Elaine's story - one of tomboyishness, and skipping school, and fierce independence. We discuss growing up in small-town Kentucky (where she broke records for the most write-ups in school history...
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Brooke Webster on Meow Mix, Cattyshack, and being featured in Chasing Amy and Go Fish

October 28, 2025 • 54 mins
Some of the most beloved lesbian bars of the past few decades have been the creations of our guest, Brooke Webster. This week, Brooke shares the stories behind Meow Mix (1996-2004) and Cattyshack (2005-2009). Her bars quickly became cultural phenomenons - from shoutouts on Ellen's coming out episode to features in Kevin Smith's cult classic lesbian film, Chasing Amy (1997). We also get to know Brooke herself, her rich history of ac...
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Jess Dobkin and Lisa DeBoer on the "Lesbian Time-Out Kiss-In," Lesbian Avengers, and queer visibility in the WNBA

October 14, 2025 • 55 mins
In 1999, Jess Dobkin and Lisa DeBoer formed the activist group Lesbians for Liberty. Their purpose was to push for visibility in the WNBA and specifically, at the New York Liberty games. In Act I, Jess and Lisa sit down with Sarah to discuss the history of lesbians and the WNBA, the story of the Lesbian Time-Out Kiss-In, and their experiences in activist groups like the Lesbian Avengers. In Act II, Jess remains to talk about some ...
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Oak Chezar on rejecting the patriarchy and more stories from Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp

September 30, 2025 • 75 mins
Radical lesbian activist Oak Chezar spent three years protesting nuclear war at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, and another five living on lesbian women's lands. Some of Oak's stories were aired on our original Greenham Common episode with Sue Say and, due to popular demand, we bring you Sarah's full conversation with her here today. Tune in for never-before-seen tales of creative actions, annoying law enforcement, living outsi...
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Ronnie D. Ron on creating Shakedown: LA's legendary Black, lesbian strip club

September 16, 2025 • 48 mins
Ronnie D. Ron (also known as Ronnie-Ron and Sha'ron Harris) came up in the LA Black gay disco scene, and soon went on to found Shakedown in 1996. Shakedown was a special place - where women celebrated each other, danced freely and exotically, and found lovers and family. Ronnie discusses the origins of Shakedown, the making of Leilah Weinraub's 2018 documentary, and why they eventually had to close their doors... -Watch Shakedo...
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