Unfinished Business

“We need space to party!”

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Episode notes

Having fun is a serious business. In this episode British Library curator Polly Russell joins forces with illustrator and club-night founder Flo Perry to explore how lesbians and queer women have partied, socialised and come together since the 70s. Because it’s in these moments and places that communities thrive and identities are confirmed. And these spaces are under threat. Polly and Flo are heading back to the 80s to get a sense of lesbian nightlife then, with club promoter Yvonne Taylor. They’re exploring the power of punk with Chardine Taylor Stone - LGBT+ activist and drummer of black feminist punk band Big Joanie. And they’re meeting British Library Research Fellow Eleanor Careless to learn how lesbians found each other in the past using feminist magazine Spare Rib. There’ll also be lots of metaphorically partying in some of the hottest queer nights happening pre pandemic- Tabitha Benjamin’s Butch, Please and Xandice Armah’s Gal Pals. Get your glad rags on, it’s going to be a wild one. Unfinished Business podcast series is generously supported by Joanna and Graham Barker and The Eccles Centre for American Studies. A Pixiu Production.