Josh Thomas has a new podcast called “How To Be Gay”, available exclusively on Audible Australia.
And while it does exactly what it says on the label – charting the ups and downs, ins and outs, highs and lows of various sexualities and sexual identities – Thomas admits it’s actually an impossible question to answer.
“The biggest challenge was … we were trying to represent a diverse range of queer people, but queerness is so diverse that it’s impossible,” he told Variety Australia. “And always trying to like balance out who’s in there and that we’re showing a range of ideas, was I think the most hard thing.
“And I think we got there in the end, but you’re always going to leave someone out, and trying not to do that I think was the hardest thing about this podcast.”
Despite the immense scope and subtleties of tackling the question of ‘how to be gay’, Thomas persevered, inspired by his own uncertainties and lack of answers as a teen.
“It’s called “How To Be Gay” because when I was a teenager, I typed that into Google, which is insane, because obviously Google can’t answer that question, and if it does answer that question, it’s going to give you like very nuts and bolts, very impersonal answers,” Thomas said.
“The point of all these interviews [on the podcast] and asking all these really challenging questions… [is] understanding the emotional weight of the decisions that these people make and how it’s affected them and getting more of an understanding that like everybody has to choose their own adventure.”
Whilst Thomas contended the podcast is inclusive, it does have a very particular target demographic.
“I mean, it’s definitely not made for straight people, but straight people are very welcome to listen to it,” Thomas clarified.
“I’m sure Audible would love to have straight people listen to it… I think, look, I think some of those stories really stand up for straight people and I’m sure some of those stories are really boring to straight people.”
“How To Be Gay” does, however, have lessons in it for parents of queer children, he said.
“I’m sure there’s lots of people like parents of queer kids who I think would get a lot out of this. It’s a pretty deep dive into queer culture and really understanding where queer culture is now, like actually. And understanding different people’s points of view.
“I would love parents of queer kids to be listening to it, I think they would get a lot of actual understanding about what it really means, probably too much of an understanding – at time it’s kind of terrifying, a terrifyingly realistic understanding.”
Podcasting, he said, was probably the best medium to uncover and then unravel this “terrifying” reality.
“I wanted to have a lot of different conversations with a wide-range of people… and the point of the podcast is it’s a chance for me to listen to different people’s experiences, right?
“And I think a podcast is a really good way of doing that, of just hearing people’s stories and hearing from different perspectives… I wanted to set out and get lots of different perspectives on that, so that’s good for a podcast, isn’t it?”
By the end of the interview, Thomas is more certain that podcasting is indeed the perfect vehicle for tackling the complexities and realities of ‘how to be gay’.
“I just did it because I wanted to do it. I did this for fun and I really liked doing it. I feel like I got a lot out of it, which usually is a good way to go into a project. Usually I feel like if I’m getting what I want out of it then there’s other people that [might] want the same thing as me.
“But like, this isn’t something that I hope is going to get turned into like a mini-series, or [that] there’s a next step for this podcast. I made it and it’s out there and I just hope that people like it.”
“How To Be Gay” is out now via Audible Australia.