In this episode of Our Dyke Histories, we travel deep into the smoky lesbian bars, queer parties (house, rent, and otherwise), and clandestine love affairs of the 1940s–60s with three powerhouse historians: Joan Nestle, Hugh Ryan, and Alix Genter. Together, with host Jack Jen Gieseking, they explore how desire itself created new genders, new communities, and new forms of resistance inside spaces policed by the state and shaped by racism, class struggle, and McCarthy-era repression.
From Greenwich Village’s lesbian bar circuits to the Women’s House of Detention and the surprising queer history of Coney Island, the episode uncovers the joy, danger, and erotic electricity that defined mid-century queer life. Featuring the first half of Joan Nestle’s final interview, this conversation offers an emotional, intergenerational look at the bars, books, femmes, butches, and bodies that made public lesbian life possible.
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Credits
Producer, Editor, Host, & Creative Director: Jack Gieseking
Co-Producer: Julie Enszer & Sinister Wisdom
Co-Producer & Co-Editor: Cade Waldo
Assistant Editor: Mel Whitesell
Social Media: Audrey Wilkinson
Interns: Michaela Hayes and Sophie McClain
Consulting Producer: Rachel Fagen
Music: Our theme song: "Like Honey" by Kit Orion https://www.kitorion.com/
CC-BY-NC-ND 2025. Write to us at ourdykehistories@gmail.com for permission to use any of our content.
