We’re revisiting a 2020 throwback episode about the legendary Theatre of the Ridiculous — the outrageous, glitter-soaked underground movement that transformed queer performance and Downtown New York culture. Featuring conversations with Ruby Lynn Reyner, Agosto Machado, and Tony Zanetta, this episode captures the chaos, creativity, and rebellion of a scene that shattered artistic boundaries. Revisiting these interviews now feels especially emotional, as Ruby and Agosto have both since passed away. Are you ready? Probably not!

This episode takes us through the life of Jon Platania, a key member of the Los Angeles Gay Liberation Front. Jon helped create concrete ways for LGBTQ+ people to support one another through radical ideas. After joining the GLF in 1970, Jon became an active member of a movement focused not only on encouraging queer people to organize and fight back against their oppression, but also to care for one another on an unprecedented level. In 1971, Jon helped establish what we know today as the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the world’s largest LGBTQ center, with over 800 employees. He also helped co-found the Liberation Houses, which were homes created to provide shelter and community for LGBTQ+ people who were kicked out of their families or left without a place to call home. This episode recounts how Jon and other GLF activists set in motion many of today’s LGBTQ support systems and how their legacy continues to shape our experience today.

In this episode, three individuals describe life during and after the Stonewall Uprising, sharing their authentic accounts of the struggles they faced as they participated in the newly formed gay liberation movement. First-hand accounts are given by Perry Brass (NYC Gay Liberation Front), Don Kilhefner (LA Gay Liberation Front), and Rich Wandel (NYC Gay Activists Alliance)—providing a personal, visceral portrait of how people built a movement based on chaos, radicalism, humanity, and energy, even though it happened nearly 60 years ago.