UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton

Spencer Macnaughton

UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton is a podcast that investigates the people, money and power behind anti-LGBTQ ecosystems. Join Spencer twice a month as he interviews newsmakers about the most pressing issues facing the LGBTQ community today. From highlighting the voices of people fighting back against systems of injustice to challenging the forces attempting to undermine queer rights, UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton offers a perspective on LGBTQ issues you don’t find anywhere else. Spencer Macnaughton is a Gracie Award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist. He has written and produced for 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vice, Vox, Time, NBC News, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone, and he teaches LGBTQ journalism at New York University. He founded Uncloseted Media, a nonprofit news publication focused on investigative journalism, in 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Oct 3

    Trump Is Trying to Silence the Press. Don Lemon Is Holding the Line.

    Don Lemon is one of the most well-known journalists in America. He became a household name during his 17 years working for CNN before breaking out on his own in 2023 and starting Lemon Media Network the year after. That project has grown into one of the most successful independent news outlets in the U.S. The Don Lemon show, for example, boasts 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and 2.9 million Instagram followers. In the midst of this success, Lemon has been one of the biggest targets of the Trump administration. In January, he was arrested by federal agents for his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Officials from the Trump administration, of which Lemon has been a longstanding critic, charged him with obstruction and conspiracy against rights of religious freedom—charges to which he has pled not guilty and is fighting in court. Outside of this legal battle, Trump has been cracking down on press freedom more broadly, attempting to ban multiple news outlets from the White House. In the meantime, billionaire Paramount CEO David Ellison has installed Trump-friendly leadership at CBS News and is quickly moving forward on a merger with Warner Bros., which owns CNN. In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” we speak with Lemon about the all-out assault on the First Amendment, as well as his place in it as a high-profile Black, gay, independent journalist with a target on his back. We also talk about his advice for American journalists moving forward as well as the likelihood that he’ll run for president, which he pegged at about “65 to 70%.” “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Reporting: Hope Pisoni Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Trump Is Trying to Silence the Press. Don Lemon Is Holding the Line.

  2. Sep 19

    Trans Sports Dominate Culture Wars. But What Do Scientists Think?

    The debate over trans athletes has reached a fever pitch. Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who tied for fifth place with a trans swimmer in 2022, has become a star in the world of conservative politics. Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White recently announced their intentions to enter the WNBA draft and “expose” the league’s lack of policy for transgender players. And less than two months out from the November midterms, trans athletes are shaping up to be an issue on voters’ minds as they head to the polls.  All of this noise has created little room for thoughtful conversation. We wanted to change that.  In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” we sit down with three of the leading researchers and scientists in this field to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know—and don’t know—about the physiological differences between cis and trans women and girls in sports.  “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Reporting: Bella Sayegh Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Trans Sports Dominate Culture Wars. But What Do Scientists Think?

  3. Sep 8

    Meagan Morris Speaks From Jail After Being Sentenced to 50 Years by the Trump Administration for an Alleged Terrorist Attack

    On July 4, 2025, a protest outside of the Prairieland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility near Dallas, Texas, escalated as some protestors broke off and committed acts of vandalism. The protest had started hours earlier as a noise demonstration where activists set off fireworks and used other noise makers to alert detainees in the facility that they supported them.  But when law enforcement arrived to respond to the vandals, a police officer was shot nonfatally in the neck area. Authorities later charged protester Champagne Song for the shooting. Meagan Morris, who says she was a half-mile away playing Pokémon in her car when she heard the gunshots, was soon after stopped by police and taken into custody.  Three months later, the Trump administration accused her and eight other defendants—three of whom, including Morris, are trans—of being “Antifa terrorists” and “Antifa Cell operatives.” Morris and her codefendants were eventually sentenced in part for providing material support for terrorists in what the Department of Justice called “the first sentencing of defendants affiliated with Antifa,” a name which refers to a decentralized movement based on militant opposition to fascism.  The sentencing comes after Trump signed an executive order declaring antifa, short for anti-fascism, as a terrorist organization, despite no such unified organization existing. And in May, the administration’s counterterrorism strategy listed “radically pro-transgender” groups as a national security threat. Morris was sentenced to 50 years in prison, which has caused legal experts concern. They noted that her sentence is unusually harsh, more than double the longest sentence for a Jan. 6 rioter, and that it could set a precedent for strict crackdowns on freedom of speech and assembly.  After speaking to Morris’ codefendant and girlfriend, Autumn Hill, we wanted to hear from Morris. In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” she’s calling in from Johnson County Jail in Texas, where she is currently serving her sentence.  “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Reporting: Hope Pisoni and Sophie Holland Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Meagan Morris Speaks From Jail After Being Sentenced to 50 Years by the Trump Administration for an Alleged Terrorist Attack

  4. Aug 22

    ‘Billionaire’ CEO of ‘Everything Gay’ on How He Manages 68 Businesses and 6 Boyfriends

    Tristan Schukraft started his first business when he was 21, selling Razor scooters out of his pickup truck to help finance his idea for an e-ticketing platform for the airline industry. Now, he boasts a portfolio of 68 businesses, which he says have led him to become a “billionaire.”  Schukraft has become widely known as the “CEO of Everything Gay.” He is the CEO of MISTR, a major LGBTQ telehealth platform expanding access to PrEP and STI testing, and he owns Tryst Hospitality, a family of luxury gay hotels with destinations in iconic LGBTQ destinations like San Juan and Puerto Vallarta. And last year, after Schukraft spent $17 million to buy much of the Fire Island Pines’ commercial district, The Wall Street Journal magazine ran a story titled “The Man Who Bought Fire Island.” In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” we sit down with Schukraft to talk about the importance of preserving queer institutions and ending the HIV epidemic. We also discuss the controversies and difficulties in managing so many LGBTQ-focused businesses as well as five—yes, five—boyfriends.  Disclaimer: MISTR, Schukraft’s telehealth platform that offers free online access to PrEP, DoxyPEP, STI testing, Hepatitis C testing and treatment and long-term HIV care across the U.S., supports some of Uncloseted Media’s healthcare coverage. MISTR did not have any editorial input into the content of this story. “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    ‘Billionaire’ CEO of ‘Everything Gay’ on How He Manages 68 Businesses and 6 Boyfriends

  5. Aug 11

    ‘HIV Is Too Woke’: Why This Gay Doctor Resigned From Trump’s CDC

    Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is one of the foremost LGBTQ health professionals in the U.S. In November 2020, the waning months of Trump’s first term, he was appointed director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through part of his tenure with the Biden administration, he also served as the deputy response coordinator for mpox at the White House as well as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. While he continued a lot of this work after Biden left office, he didn’t last long under Trump 2.0. In August 2025, Daskalakis resigned from the CDC over the direction that health policy had taken under Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  In his resignation letter, which garnered widespread attention, he said he was “unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.” He cited changes to the CDC’s immunization schedule, a lack of scientific communication from HHS leadership and the growing influence of anti-vaccine sentiments in the department. A year after his resignation, we wanted to hear from Daskalakis, who is now serving as chief medical officer of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, an LGBTQ health clinic in New York City. In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” Daskalakis speaks about his time working for the Trump administration, the erosion of scientific rigor under RFK Jr. and the troubling future for HIV and LGBTQ healthcare in the U.S. “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh Additional reporting: Hope Pisoni Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    ‘HIV Is Too Woke’: Why This Gay Doctor Resigned From Trump’s CDC

  6. Aug 4

    Lindsey Graham Was Allegedly This Trans Sex Worker’s Client. Now, She’s Speaking Out

    Lindsey Graham, who passed away on July 11 at 71 years old, served in the Senate for 23 years and garnered a reputation for his hawkish views and hardline anti-LGBTQ beliefs. Years before his death, rumors swirled as allegations surfaced about the Republican senator engaging with male sex workers. The public and the media underscored the hypocrisy of the senator publicly working to roll back LGBTQ rights while allegedly engaging in queer sex behind closed doors. In this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton,” Taylor Snider, a trans woman and former sex worker, says Graham was a former client. She says Graham’s team threatened her to prevent her from going public in 2020 and calls him the “leader of the circus” when it comes to hypocritical homophobia and transphobia coming from the government. She talks in detail about the sexual exchange between her and Graham, reveals that she’s had other “sitting members of Congress” as clients, and speaks about the broader issue of down-low conservative men in American politics who are “actively working to push anti-LGBT legislation.” “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations on Substack. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Editor: Laury Peyssonnerie Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Lindsey Graham Was Allegedly This Trans Sex Worker’s Client. Now, She’s Speaking Out

  7. Jul 28

    Autumn Hill Speaks After Being Sentenced to 50 Years for Terrorism by the White House

    In her first video interview from Johnson County Jail in Texas, Hill tells Uncloseted Media she is a “political prisoner.” She says she and her co-defendants—two of whom are also trans—have been unjustly locked up by the Trump administration, who has claimed that they are part of an antifa cell. “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Read our full investigations. Find us on Instagram. Host: Spencer Macnaughton Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh Editor: Izzy Stokes Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Special thanks: Jennifer Moroz and Leital Molad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Autumn Hill Speaks After Being Sentenced to 50 Years for Terrorism by the White House

  8. Jul 21

    'Hand Jobs, Oral Sex and Anal': Pete Hegseth's Pastor Wants Gay Men Prosecuted for These Acts

    In February, Doug Wilson made headlines after giving a sermon at the Pentagon as part of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s monthly Christian worship service. Wilson, the lead pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, holds a number of controversial views: He believes the U.S. should become a Christian theocracy, married women shouldn’t have the right to vote and gay sex should be illegal.  In his first interview with an LGBTQ publication, Wilson talks about his connections to Hegseth and others in the Trump administration. He estimates that 10 to 20 people in the government are aligned with his radical ideology. He explains that he thinks trans people are “sad,” certain elements of his idea of “homosexual behavior” should be punished by execution and in certain cases of marital rape, both parties should be disciplined.   “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple Host: Spencer Macnaughton Reporting: Hope Pisoni Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh Editor: Sean Robinson Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland Special thanks: Jennifer Moroz and Leital Molad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    'Hand Jobs, Oral Sex and Anal': Pete Hegseth's Pastor Wants Gay Men Prosecuted for These Acts
See All (23)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton is a podcast that investigates the people, money and power behind anti-LGBTQ ecosystems. Join Spencer twice a month as he interviews newsmakers about the most pressing issues facing the LGBTQ community today. From highlighting the voices of people fighting back against systems of injustice to challenging the forces attempting to undermine queer rights, UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton offers a perspective on LGBTQ issues you don’t find anywhere else. Spencer Macnaughton is a Gracie Award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist. He has written and produced for 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vice, Vox, Time, NBC News, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone, and he teaches LGBTQ journalism at New York University. He founded Uncloseted Media, a nonprofit news publication focused on investigative journalism, in 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

You Might Also Like