''Making Gay History'' is an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people w ...

podcast on the subject of LGBT history, featuring trailblazers, activists, and allies. Most episodes draw on the three-decade-old audio archive of rare interviews that the podcast's founder and host Eric Marcus conducted for the two editions of his oral history book about the LGBT movement, which he was commissioned to write in the late 1980s. In February 2020, ''Making Gay History'' was adapted for the stage at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...

Background

The first edition of the book, published in 1992 under the title ''Making History'' was a Stonewall Book Award winner in 1992 and was described by acclaimed oral historian

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral hi ...

as " e of the definitive works on gay life." In the late 1990s, Marcus undertook another round of interviews for the updated second edition of the book, entitled ''Making Gay History'' (2002). In 2016, Marcus revisited the archive of his original recordings, which had since been digitized by the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...

, along with executive producer Sara Burningham, who suggested that the interviews be used as the basis for a podcast. Since its launch in October 2016, the podcast has featured interviews with

transgender rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

icon Sylvia Rivera; pioneering lesbian writer Edythe D. Eyde aka Lisa Ben; American comedian, talk show host, and actress

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom '' Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". S ...

; popular advice columnist and LGBT advocate Pauline Phillips ("Dear Abby"); and others. It has also drawn on other audio archives to highlight the contributions of activists like

Ernestine Eckstein Ernestine Eckstein (April 23, 1941 – July 15, 1992) was an African-American woman who helped steer the LGBT social movements, United States Lesbian and Gay rights movement during the 1960s. She was a leader in the New York chapter of Daughters o ...

and

Bayard Rustin Bayard Rustin (; March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement, in 1 ...

, and has used contemporary interviews to chronicle the life and work of

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitaria ...

and Reed Erickson. In December 2019, they released the earliest known recording of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. For the eighth season of the podcast, Marcus partnered with the

Studs Terkel Radio Archive The Studs Terkel Radio Archive is an archive of over 1,000 digitized audio tapes originally aired over 45 years on Studs Terkel's radio show on WFMT-FM or used in his oral history collections in the books ''Division Street America'' (1967) and '' ...

to release interviews conducted by the legendary radio host and oral historian, Studs Terkel. Marcus cites Terkel and his work as inspiration for his own.

Awards and honors

*In September 2017, ''

NBC Out NBC Out is a digital portal on the NBC News web site featuring LGBTQ-centric news, stories, and other forms of content. The site launched in June 2016. Brooke Sopelsa, formerly a producer at HuffPost Live, serves as NBC Out's managing editor. In 2 ...

'' polled its constituents about their "favorite LGBTQ-inclusive podcasts," and ''Making Gay History'' was voted #2 out of 11 ranked. *In October 2017, the Oral History Association honored ''Making Gay History'' with its Oral History in a Nonprint Format Award. *On December 27, 2019, ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' named ''Making Gay Historys Stonewall 50 season one of the best podcasts of 2019.

Seasons and episodes

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://makinggayhistory.com/ Historiography of LGBT in the United States LGBT-related podcasts Audio podcasts LGBT-related mass media in the United States 2016 podcast debuts

Background

Awards and honors

Seasons and episodes

See also

References

External links