My top podcasts are all hosted by drag queens
Over 155 million people listened to a podcast every week in 2020. I was one of those people. They say you can learn a lot about a person by looking at their bookshelf. I’d say the same goes for their podcast library.
When you're in conversation with me, and I'm feeling comfortable, there's no filter. This can scare some people, but my close friends have come to accept the fact that I'll be the one to drop an overly sexual comment when the opportunity arises. Only a few days ago, a work colleague asked me if I was going through a list from top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top. I said I was going from bottom to top because, "after all, I am a bottom!"
“What most people consider taboo, I consider intriguing, and this trend is extremely prevalent in my podcast library.”
Recently, I opened my Spotify. On my dashboard, I found a list of my top podcasts staring back at me. I scrolled through them, excited and proud that I had found such enjoyable podcasts to listen to, then I paused. I realised there was a very clear pattern in my top podcasts that I hadn't noticed until that very moment. All my top podcasts are hosted by drag queens.
This realisation didn’t shock me in a bad way. It was most certainly the opposite. I sat in my car as it warmed up on the driveway, wondering how it happened. How did I subconsciously find myself almost exclusively listening to podcasts hosted by queer men, and transgender women who lip-sync for a living?
I backed my car out of my driveway, and instead of listening to one of those incredibly entertaining podcasts on my morning commute, as I usually do, I started thinking about why I prefer listening to podcasts hosted by drag performers.
I come from a very open family. I don't remember how old I was when I had the sex talk or when my parents started openly telling my brother and me why they were leaving the room in the middle of a Saturday afternoon together. However, I do remember having nothing to hide from them. I don't know what made my parents decide to be so open with my brother and me. Maybe it was their upbringing? Or it was because they were sick of us, knocking on their bedroom door asking for Tim Tams when they were clearly in the middle of “something”?
Either way, my parents taught me not to take myself too seriously, and this is where I started connecting the dots between my upbringing and my risqué sense of humour.
“To me, no subject is off-limits. The same goes for drag queens.”
My top podcast of late is hosted by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. It’s called the Bald and the Beautiful. I went into this podcast expecting conversations on make-up, skincare and beauty in general. What I got was candid conversations about the porn industry, detailed stories about the perils of shaving your hoo-ha and interviews with everyone from Drag Race royalty to the queens' mothers (the episode with Katya’s mother is particularly abstract). It’s sheer brilliance.
When I heard Raja and Delta Work were launching their podcast, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Raja was the first queen on RuPaul’s Drag Race I'd fallen in love with because she oozed style and had a strong I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude. Their podcast Very That doesn't have a specific theme or topic. Instead, it's simply a conversation between two friends who haven't seen each other in person all that often since the beginning of COVID-19. They reminisce about everything from early '00's phone charms to their own cultures and how growing up in Los Angeles has shaped them as people. It's organic, sincere, relatable and makes you feel like you're right there, drinking a glass of grenache and smoking a cigarette on Raja's velour couch.
There are other podcasts that aren't hosted by drag queens. What draws me to drag queen podcasts is the willingness to be vulnerable and the lack of filters in the conversation. There's no sense of rigidity and no ulterior motive beneath what they're saying.
When you listen to Joe Rogan, one of the highest-paid podcasters, talk about ayahuasca, he drops fact after fact. It comes across as someone simply flexing their knowledge or showing they've done their research instead of being genuinely interested in the drug. However, when Katya discussed ayahuasca in the latest episode of her podcast, there were minimal facts. Instead, she discussed her experience using ayahuasca and how instead of having the liberating journey everyone told her she would have, she took more than she should have and spent a night vomiting her guts out. Instead of feeling like I'm listening to someone recite a textbook on ayahuasca, Katya takes us into the reality of it. It's incredibly refreshing.
Many radio networks have their biggest talent hosting podcasts. After previously working in commercial radio, I know how manufactured and robotic radio hosts can sometimes be. So, if I was asked to listen to a radio duo talk about the latest episode of a TV show, knowing full well that those hosts were probably being paid to talk about it, whether they watch the show or not – I would strongly refuse. I'd instead listen to Bob the Drag Queen and Monet X Change argue over which house should have won the latest episode of Legendary.
Even Alaska and Willam, whose podcast Race Chaser has the highest number of sponsors than all the other shows I’ve mentioned, have extremely aqueous conversations. The duo has even created their podcast network, but still review classic seasons of Drag Race as if they were drunk sports announcers and discuss politics and culture with sharp honesty. They fully encompass their motto, which Alaska says is, “we like to tell the truth, but we also like to keep it cute.”
This is the key difference between other podcast hosts and drag queens. Drag queens aren't afraid to act foolishly. They're not above being human, and I think that's what so many podcasts lack. They lack humanity, honesty and a true feeling of connection.
So many people have podcasts. You can find one on almost any subject if you look hard enough. Do you want a podcast about astrology? There are hundreds. Are you looking for a podcast where one of your favourite celebrities interviews their friends while sitting on a recliner? They have that. Are you looking for two friends chatting about popular culture because they just have so many opinions on what’s happened? Here’s a thousand, take your pick!
After listening to so many podcasts, I’ve become loyal to ones hosted by drag queens because they give me something so many other podcasts cannot. They give me the openness and riveting conversation my parents do. They give me the laughter and awkwardness my friends do. They make me feel completely welcome, whilst talking about their pussies.
Words — Lauren Payne
Image — Gab Bois
