What would it happen if I allowed my thoughts about my gender become known to me?

Today we meet Dr. Christina Neuwirth and we’re talking about the queer book that saved their life: Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel M. Lavery. And Daniel joins us for the conversation!

Dr. Christina Neuwirth is a writer, researcher and bookseller based in Edinburgh. Their 2018 novella Amphibian was shortlisted for Scotland’s National Book Awards. Their writing has been published in Gutter Magazine and The Skinny. At Lighthouse Bookshop, Christina runs the Bread & Roses Prize for Radical Publishing.

Daniel M. Lavery is the “Dear Prudence” advice columnist at Slate, the cofounder of The Toast, and the New York Times bestselling author of Texts From Jane Eyre and The Merry Spinster. In 2024, he published his debut novel Women's Hotel.

From a thoughtful analysis of the beauty of William Shatner to a sinister reimagining of HGTV’s House Hunters, and featuring figures as varied as Anne of Green Gables, Columbo, and the cast of Mean Girls, Something That May Shock and Discredit You is a hilarious and emotionally exhilarating compendium that combines personal history with cultural history to make you see yourself and those around you entirely anew.

Special Limited Series

This episode is part of a special limited series of episodes featuring only guests who are owners or staff at LGBTQ bookstores. Airing April-June 2025, these episodes will feature six bookstores across the United States and United Kingdom.

Today's guest is a bookseller at Lighthouse Bookshop, a queer-owned and woman-led independent community bookshop. It is an unapologetically activist, intersectional, feminist, antiracist, lgbtq+ community space. In 2020 it was nominated Scotland’s Best Independent Bookshop.

Connect with Christina and Daniel

website: christinaneuwirth.com

website: danielmlavery.com
instagram: @daniel_m_lavery

Become an Associate Producer!

Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits

Host/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change)
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

Join us in helping Lambda Literary raise $20k for The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices to ensure all writers can attend. Donate here: http://bit.ly/3RjW51a

Support the show

A new episode in our special limited series featuring owners/staff of LGBTQ bookstores drops next week on April 29th! In our off weeks, we air a recent episode of The Gaily Show which John hosts for AM950 Radio. The Gaily Show is one of the only daily LGBTQ news and talk shows in the country.

Joining us today: Emmy winner Ross Mathews and Dr. Wellithon Garcia-Mathews’ new book Tio and Tio: The Ring Bearers came out April 15! Inspired by their wedding and their nephews' role in the wedding, it's a sweet story about love, family, responsibilities, and culture. Order it here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780593752586

Plus, Audie and Earphone award-winning narrator Natalie Naudus’ debut novel Gay the Pray Away comes out May 20, 2025. Natalie shares with us the gripping queer YA romance of an Asian American teen who longs to break free of the conservative cult she was raised in. Pre-order it here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781683695110.

Watch on YouTube

We're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshow

Credits

Host/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change)
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Production and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950
Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950
Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy Erickson

Join us in helping Lambda Literary raise $20k for The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices to ensure all writers can attend. Donate here: http://bit.ly/3RjW51a

Support the show

I was 8,000 miles from home asking is it ok to be gay? That's when I wandered into a shop found this book.

Today we meet Stephanie Beardslee and we’re talking about the queer book that saved her life: Dare Truth or Promise by Paula Boock. And Paula joins us for the conversation!

Stephanie Beardslee is the owner of Wolf & Wyld’s Queer Bookstore, an online and pop-up bookstore based in Manitou Springs, Colorado. She is a Front Range (of Colorado) native that is really hacked off that the Pikes Peak Region doesn’t have a queer bookstore and is busy making the change she wants to see in the world. Her alter-ego slings books in the nearby Libraryland and has the pleasure of serving the county’s patrons via the bookmobile.

Paula Boock (she/her) is an award-winning New Zealand scriptwriter, producer and author. Her screen credits include story lining and writing on the The Strip, the internationally acclaimed drama series The Insiders Guide to Happiness and its 7-part prequel The Insiders Guide to Love. She won the 2003 AFTA Best Drama Script (with Kathryn Burnett) for The Strip. She has written five young adult novels and was a publisher and founding partner of Longacre Press.

In Dare Truth or Promise, self-assured Louie is gearing up for another successful year in high school. In the meantime Willa, who was kicked out of her last school, wants to be left alone. But each girl unexpectedly finds that plans mean nothing when it comes to love. Louie discovers acceptance, faith, and identity are not what they had seemed. And Willa finds herself suddenly willing to take another chance.

Special Limited Series

This episode is part of a special limited series of episodes featuring only guests who are owners or staff at LGBTQ bookstores. Airing April-June 2025, these episodes will feature six bookstores across the United States and United Kingdom.

Today's guest owns Wolf and Wyld's Queer Bookstore an independent online & pop-up bookstore based in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Wolf and Wyld's specializes in LGBTQ+ books. You can shop online at: wolfandwyld.com

Buy Paula's book at Wolf and Wyld's Queer Bookstore

Use this link: https://wolfandwyld.com/products/dare-truth-or-promise

Connect with Stephanie and Paula

website: wolfandwyld.com
bluesky: @wolfandwyldbooks.com

website: lippypictures.com/paula-boock

Become an Associate Producer!

Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits

Host/Founder: John Parker (learn more about my name change)
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link:

Join us in helping Lambda Literary raise $20k for The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices to ensure all writers can attend. Donate here: http://bit.ly/3RjW51a

Support the show