Sustaining Queer Joy and Potentiality

Abstract

What possibilities and challenges does the podcast form afford for historically marginalized counterculture music communities? As a complex social phenomenon, music is surrounded by a network of fashion, film, radio, social media, and more that shape its significance and understanding. In the study of queer music, these networked media are central to unpacking the experience and production of queer ‘world-making’ in LGBTQ+ music cultures. Podcasts, too, are an increasingly significant part of this intricate cultural network to provide a space for gender and sexuality identity formation and activism against a history of oppression and misrepresentation. This article asks, how might we approach music podcasting as a tool for sustaining ‘queer joy’ and ‘potentiality’ for LGBTQ+ communities? Established in 2011, Homoground is one of the longest-running English-language music podcasts featuring music by queer (LGBTQ & allied) artists. As a podcast working to showcase queer voices and sounds for over a decade, the show also provides a case of study to reflect on what impact the shifting affordances of the podcast form have had on LGBTQ+ music podcasters prior to and following the 2014 podcast boom into the next decade with increasing concern of discoverability, algorithmic biases, and digital content saturation. With Lynn Casper, co-founder of LGBTQ+ music podcast Homoground, this article explores the role of podcasting in music’s queer world-making conversation and the particular evocations of queer joy and potentiality found in the show’s ability to sustain within an increasingly oversaturated podcast landscape.