Obscenity Podcast: It's Obscene!

I should have known about this resource sooner but discovered it via the brilliant Melon Farmers website earlier today.  Last month, NorthPod Law produced a podcast exploring the implications of the Peacock case for the law and obscenity.  They assembled an excellent team of Alex Dymock, Myles Jackman and David Allen Green.  Check out the podcast below.

Bareback and Gloryholes

I'm sad to say I've been a bit slow to discover this wonderful podcast about bareback sex and gloryholes/public sex.  It's from  Distorted View Dailywhich is a daily comedy podcast.  The site describes how the presenter, Tim Henson, 'scours the darkest corners of the web in search of the truly bizarre. He then presents his finds to you, complete with unique (read: crass, vulgar, childish, and inappropriate) commentary. For a half hour each day, sit back and witness this audiophonic trainwreck. After listening, you’ll feel much better about your own life.'

So...don't expect a podcast extolling the virtues of bareback and public sex, although Henson is talking with bareback brother website architect, Mark Bentson - who I finally hear.  It's a really fascinating interview covering a lot of ground.  A must listen for all my students and anyone interested in public sex, glory holes, bareback sex, and HIV transmission (including stealthing).

Check out the podcast here.  The podcast proper begins at 2.11.

You can check out Mark's explicit gloryhole etiquette guide here and you can see the bareback brotherhood (also explicit) here.  You can also read my earlier blogpost on the bareback brotherhood here.

The remarkable thing (for me) about the podcast is that Mark sounds much more engaging, open and convincing than he does in text.  I'm already convinced, but it seems to me a pretty relaxed commentary in which you think 'fair enough' - at least at first.  He even deals really well with the "worth a bit of AIDS" line.  I also wonder how many males who have sex with men find these anecdotes familiar - especially the stuff about males who claim to be 'safe sex only'.  Where Mark maybe comes undone is the use of stealthing - an activity that I continue to unreservedly condemn.  It's a shame as I think his acceptance of stealthing undermines his wider bareback arguments.

A Bit of Drama

This is something of a treat; the Canal St website have teamed up with Made in Manchester to publish a series of gay drama podcasts on their website.  The first episode, currently available here, is Rock, which sees West End star Michael Xavier play Rock while the incomparable Bette Bourne is his agent Henry Willson. Hudson was one of the biggest screen idols of his generation, but, due to his secret gay life, his career was perpetually under threat from the press. This engaging audio drama brings the seamy world of Hollywood's 50s heyday vividly to life and reveals how Rock Hudson - his name, his appearance and even his voice, was shaped for his audience. This drama comes almost 26 years since we lost Rock Hudson to AIDS in 1985.

The series continues with these three episodes:

Turing's Test 

Written by Made in Manchester writers Phil Collinge and Andy Lord, this drama examines the scientist's legacy in the field of artificial intelligence and the personal tragedy of his suicide through a deathbed dialogue with a "machine" played by actor Paul Kendrick who starred in the BBC4 film about the Wolfenden Report which eventually led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1968. Available from 26th Sept to 2nd Oct.

Undone

Chad McGitchie and Badcheck Productions play about surviving the village is adapted for radio by Made in Manchester and takes a look at how one young man tries to navigate his way through relationships, lovers and friends via the labyrinth of Manchester's gay scene. Available from 3rd Oct to 9th Oct.

Death in Genoa

In 1895, writer, wit and raconteur Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for gross indeceny with a number of young men. On his release, he settled on the continent under the name of Sebastian Melmoth. He wrote to his wife, Constance, but he saw neither her, nor his two young sons, again. The drama imagines what Wilde might have got up to in Italy during a visit to his wife's grave in Genoa. Available from 10th Oct to 16th Oct.

Mad For Foucault: Interview With Lynne Huffer

Ben Myers and Desiree Rowe, Assistant professors at the University of South Carolina, Upstate, have a fabulous website: The Critical Lede which they describe as 'Your resource for keeping plugged in to the qualitative communication research community'. They've produced a series of podcasts and their latest is an interview with Lynne Huffer, author of Mad for Foucault, published by Columbia University Press and already sat happily on the shelf beside me. It's well worth a listen.

You can listen to the interview here.

Law and Sexuality First Podcast/Overview

I've finally started the new 'lawandsexuality.tv'/podcasts that I've previously talked about. You can watch my first intro/overview podcast below. Let me know what you think and what you'd like me to talk about.