Queerly Recommended Queerly Recommended

Queerly Recommended is here to celebrate the resolution of the SAG-AFTRA strike — and also that we'll be covering queer holiday-themed content this year! Labor rights are of the utmost importance and we would have supported the strike as long as it took, but we're excited to bring you Christmas treats next month, too.
In addition to talking about the outcome of the strike (there’s a lot of good here, but some troubling portents for the future), Kris talks about good vs bad queer kissing in films. Tara goes on to discuss the benefits of feeling uncomfortable. 
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Red, White & Royal Blue (2023)
This week, Kris dives into the 2023 film Red, White & Royal Blue, the cinematic adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s m/m novel of the same name. It’s a high-powered romance featuring the son of the American president and a British prince. Kris wants you to know that the chemistry is hot, hot, hot, and the cast is out of this world. 
From Tara: Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Illustrator)
Tara recommends the graphic novel, Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith, by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer (Illustrator). It’s a fictionalized imagining of how Patricia Highsmith came to write The Price of Salt, aka Carol, and it doesn't shy away from Highsmith's flaws. This story invites us to hold two truths at the same time: The Price of Salt is a foundational text in the sapphic canon that saved an inestimable number of lives and Highsmith held awful views and exhibited ugly behaviors. This exploration of her life and times will leave you with a deeper appreciation of our history and can't be missed.
Works/People Discussed
Justine Bateman Slams SAG-AFTRA Tentative Deal's AI Provisions (Hollywood Reporter) Black Mirror, Season 6, Episode 1: Joan is Awful (Netflix) Dame Judi Dench Masterfully Does A Shakespeare Sonnet (Graham Norton Show) The Great British Baking Show (BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4) Chicago Fire (NBC) The Morning Show (Apple TV+) Alone (History) RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC Three) Dropout.tv Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City (Dropout TV) Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023)

This week, Tara and Kris are back! They're also sleepy, busy, and full of recommendations. 
Kris is our official correspondent from this year’s Women’s Week in Provincetown. Then, Kris accuses Tara of lying about her height and Tara insists she's not because that inch is REAL. 
Kris explores the sweeter side of David Beckham. Tara talks about a comedian’s dreams of ice skating and Whitney Houston. Both discuss how watching so many documentaries has changed them (for the better!). And then, as always… the recommendations.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Back to Black (2020) and Reclaiming Amy (2021) 
This week, Kris recommends two documentaries about Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (2020) and Reclaiming Amy (2021). Taken separately, they tell conflicting stories that silo Winehouse into images that those creating the documentaries most want to portray. But, the truth is in the cracks, in the similarities and differences between accounts.
From Tara: An Acquired Taste by Cheri Ritz (Bella Books)
This week, Tara recommends An Acquired Taste by Cheri Ritz, which she describes as the ultimate gentle, cozy, lovely, sapphic romance. Set in a reality competition cooking show, it follows two former acting rivals who are both competing for something different: bragging rights as Celebrity Cook Off Champion. Maybe they'll cook up some love too? (We'll see ourselves out...)
Works/People Discussed
The Great British Baking Show (BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4) The Great Canadian Baking Show (CBC Television) Beckham (2023) (Netflix) Survivor (CBS) Alone (History) Alone Australia (SBS) RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC Three) I Have Nothing (Crave Original) Baroness von Sketch Show (CBC Television) Handsome podcast Support & follow the show
Buy us a Ko-fi Sign up for our newsletter on Substack Twitter: @queerlyrec Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended Instagram: @queerlyrecommended Blusky: @queerlyrec.bsky.social TikTok: @queerlyrecommended Get all our links on Linktr.ee Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon

Kris went to Women's Week and Tara got knocked over by a couple of vaccines, so no new episode this week. 
We didn't want to leave you totally hanging, so we're rerunning one of our faves: last year's conversation with Melissa Brayden, popular author of sapphic romances. We may have recorded it for Valentine's Day, but this is a fun listen any time of year. 
We’re talking love this episode, people! Kris, Tara and Melissa compare their fave fictional couples, kisses, and romances that they love to reread. We also find out if Kris has a low bar for kissing in media (Melissa thinks so), Kris thinks out loud about Charlize Theron’s mouth, and Tara recounts her Summer of Steel at the tender age of twelve.
Works/People Discussed
Chapters: Interactive Stories – App Imagine Me & You (2005) Atomic Blonde (2017) Steven Universe (Cartoon Network) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Tricky Wisdom by Camryn Eyde And Playing the Role of Herself by K.E. Lane Wynonna Earp (Syfy) The Red Files and Under Your Skin by Lee Winter Star by Danielle Steel Paradise by Judith McNaught Too Close to Touch by Georgia Beers Letters Never Sent by Sandra Moran Turn Back Time by Radclyffe Fated Love by Radclyffe Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon Winter Jacket by Eliza Lentzski Leave Yesterday Behind (1978) Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman (CBS) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte All that Matters by Susan X. Meagher Didn’t Stay in Vegas by Chelsea M. Cameron Truth and Measure by Telanu If you want to check out more from Melissa, you can find her on:
Twitter: @MelissaBrayden Instagram: @mbraydenbooks Facebook @melissabrayden  Support & follow the show
Buy us a Ko-fi Sign up for our newsletter Twitter: @queerlyrec Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended Instagram: @queerlyrecommended Tumblr: @queerlyrecommended TikTok: @queerlyrecommended Get all our links on Linktr.ee Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon

This week, Tara and Kris start by celebrating the conclusion of the WGA strike and sending support for SAG-AFTRA in their continued quest for an equitable deal.
Looking ahead, they wonder about the future of AI. Tara doesn’t think it’s as bleak as it sounds. Kris disagrees. Luckily we have opinions on survival reality shows to bring us together. 
After getting deep into Alone Australia and Survivor, we hear more about RuPaul's Drag Race UK from Tara and then dive headlong into recommendations!
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Gaga: Five Foot Two (Netflix)
This week, Kris recommends the 2017 Netflix documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two, which covers a year in the life of Lady Gaga as she works on her fifth studio release album, Joanne. It’s a deeply vulnerable piece according to Kris, examining long standing pain conditions that the artist suffers from. It also details the 51st Super Bowl half-time show where Gaga gave her critically acclaimed appearance.
From Tara: Bingo Love by Tee Franklin (Author), Jenn St-Onge (Artist)
After comic creator Lawrence Lindell talked about it in our bonus episode with him, Tara picked up one of the books he suggested: Bingo Love. Spoiler: she fell in love with it.
Bingo Love is a second-chance romance between two Black women that starts in the 1960s when they meet and become instant best friends at their church's Sunday bingo. Separated once their relationship turns romantic and is discovered, they go on to marry men, have families, and then meet once more sixties at another Sunday bingo when they're in their 60's. It’s a beautiful story about love, second chances, and honestly how many stories like this include Black women? We love to see it. Check it out.
Works/People Discussed
If Books Could Kill (Podcast) "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?" By Emily M Bender, Timnit Gebru, Angelina McMillan-Major and Shmargaret Shmitchell Alone Australia (SBS) Survivor (CBS) https://www.tiktok.com/@208sportscards RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC) The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge (Netflix) Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni Black Mirror, Series Three, Episode Four “San Junipero” (Channel Four/Netflix) Support & follow the show
Buy us a Ko-fi Sign up for our newsletter Twitter: @queerlyrec Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended Instagram: @queerlyrecommended Tumblr: @queerlyrecommended TikTok: @queerlyrecommended Get all our links on Linktr.ee Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon

This week, we start with a little update on the Hollywood strikes (still ongoing, no end in sight). This was recorded before Drew Barrymore and Bill Maher decided to go back on strike instead of scabbing, but that doesn't mean our assessment of Bill Maher being a colossal a*****e was incorrect. Bill might be a stopped clock that's correct in this moment, but we’re full digital at Queerly Recommended and we know an a*****e when we see one.
We also talk about Kris’s new work situation, which seems to include nothing but meetings. It’s like that Lion King meme where Mufasa is saying everything the light touches belongs to Simba, except it's meetings. Everything the light touches is meetings.
You know what else the light touches? Recommendations.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Glow Up, Season Five (Netflix)
This isn't the first time that this reality make-up competition show has been queerly recommended (and we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not the last, either). The Netflix show is a delight of diverse contestants, celebrations of art, and in Kris’s words "a good introduction for seeing what a queer world actually looks like." 
From Tara: Goodbye Volcano High by KO_OP (Playstation, PC)
It’s the senior year of high school, and young Fang has to decide what to do with the rest of their life. The Battle of the Bands is coming, but so are strange reports of a coming meteor. Did we mention that Fang and all her friends are dinosaurs? Tara described this game as a poignant, powerful reflection of our modern moment. Also, the music fucking slaps. Check it out.
Works/People Discussed
Alone Australia (SBS) RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under (WOW Presents Plus) Alone (History Channel) The Bodyguard Affair by Anna Stone and Hildred Billings I Like to Watch with Trixie and Katya (Youtube) How to Become a Cult Leader (Netflix) Support & follow the show
Buy us a Ko-fi Sign up for our newsletter Twitter: @queerlyrec Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended Instagram: @queerlyrecommended Tumblr: @queerlyrecommended TikTok: @queerlyrecommended Get all our links on Linktr.ee Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon

Kris and Tara sit down with cartoonist Lawrence Lindell to talk about his upcoming graphic novel, Blackward (releases September 26th!).
As well as being a self-proclaimed introvert (hard same), Lawrence is an artist and educator, working in many disciplines like comics, music, illustration, and mixed media. His self-published graphic memoir, From Truth With Truth, was nominated for the Believer Book Awards, and the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics in 2020.
Together, the three talk about Blackward, the choices that went into it, and what Lawrence is currently reading and recommending.
Lawrence recommends:
Bingo Love by Tee Franklin
When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid-'60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.
Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni
Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event called Grind–specifically for homos in their dirty thirties.
Grind is a welcome distraction from their real problems: after a messy divorce, Chris adjusts to being a single parent while struggling to reconnect to their queer community. Elise is caught between feelings for her boss and the career of her dreams. Jo tries to navigate the murky boundaries of being a supportive friend and taking care of her own needs. And Alex is guarding a secret that might change his friendships forever.
While navigating exes at work, physical and mental exhaustion, and drinking way, way too much on weekdays, this chosen family proves that being messy doesn’t always go away with age.
Rupert Kinnard
Rupert Kinnard is a long-time activist and American cartoonist who created the first ongoing gay/lesbian-identified African-American comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber (a teenage superhero) and Diva Touché Flambé (his ageless lesbian partner).
Support & follow our show
Buy us a Ko-fi Sign up for our newsletter Twitter: @queerlyrec Facebook: @QueerlyRecommended Instagram: @queerlyrecommended Tumblr: @queerlyrecommended TikTok: @queerlyrecommended Get all our links on Linktr.ee Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon