The Sewers of Paris

A quick note this week. It's hard to talk say the word "Paris" right now without thinking about what the city's been through in the last few days. Not just the pain, but in the aftermath, the unity, the strength, the resilience, the solidarity. Paris is known as the city of light not only for its beauty, but because it was a cornerstone of the age of enlightenment, a period that celebrated tolerance, liberty, equality, progress. Values that illuminate the human spirit. Values we still cherish to this day, values that survive in our resolve to stand together against violence and fear. That fellowship is what has made Paris a beacon of enlightenment for hundreds of years, and it's what I hope to capture just a fragment of on this show: the uncovering our connections to each other, the discovery of our shared bonds, the sense of solidarity with people who might have seemed a moment earlier like strangers. That's why I invite you to The Sewers of Paris every week, on a podcast adventure to discover the entertainment that changed the lives of gay men.

What does it take to get you to speak out? For some people, speaking your mind comes naturally, but others feel overwhelming barriers to saying what they feel. 

My guest this week is Brian Matthews. He grew up surrounded by strong female figures who inspired him with eloquent words. He himself had quite a lot to say, but for years kept those words confined to his mind, or at most, to the page. It wasn't until he started speaking the truth about himself that he began to feel comfortable speaking the truth about the world.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/