Gay Bars and Hookup Apps

This month, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan are first joined by June Thomas to discuss Jeremy Atherton Lin’s new book Gay Bar, their own personal histories with gay bars, and if such queer spaces have a future. Then they’re joined by Autostraddle’s Shelli Nicole to talk about the Lex app, a text-based dating app aimed at queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming people. They discuss how the app got its start, the ways it’s changed in just one year, and if queer women will ever have an app that’s just for sex.

Items discussed on the show:

• “Joseph Sonnabend, Early Force in Fight Against AIDS, Dies at 88,” by Katharine Q. Seelye in the New York Times

• Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, by Jeremy Atherton Lin

• “Dating Download: Three Lesbians Try Lex and Get Sexy With Words,” by Shelli Nicole, Drew Gregory, and Dani Janae

Gay Agenda

Rumaan: Beautiful Thing
Christina: “Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird Are Goals,” by Emma Carmichael in GQ
Bryan: It’s a Sin on HBOMax
June: Lesbian romance novels on Audible, especially those, like Radclyffe’s “Honor” series, narrated by future Working guest Abby Craden

This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com.