https://simplecast.com Mother Goose Welcome to Mother Goose, a four-part podcast that invites you to imagine what it would be like to live in post-war Toronto under the conditions of “the closet.” 2023 Mother Goose en Sun, 8 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000 Sun, 8 Dec 2024 14:00:11 +0000 https://mother-goose.simplecast.com Mother Goose https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/9e59684a-bc2a-49ae-b215-4692e9995deb/d0e41dcb-6cdb-4713-96c1-fbf6402838c4/3000x3000/gilson-1961.jpg?aid=rss_feed https://mother-goose.simplecast.com episodic Welcome to Mother Goose, a four-part podcast that invites you to imagine what it would be like to live in post-war Toronto under the conditions of “the closet.” Brent Bodrug, Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Scott MacDougall false https://feeds.simplecast.com/AQoUdD9n drag balls, post-war gay bars, toronto history Christine Sismondo todrinks@gmail.com 0682111b-8b2d-4917-9a2a-4e03ee4b7c9b Mother Goose, Episode Four - The St. Charles Mob If you want to learn more about this era, we suggest you read The Heart of Toronto by historian Daniel Ross, Brian Dedora’s A Slice of Voice at the Edge of Hearing, Tim McCaskell’s Queer Progress and Immoral, Indecent and Scurrilous: The Making of an Unrepentant Sex Radical by Gerald Hannon, to whom this episode is dedicated. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Sun, 8 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000 todrinks@gmail.com (Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug, Scott MacDougall) https://mother-goose.simplecast.com/episodes/mother-goose-episode-four-the-st-charles-mob-EdXLSA2l If you want to learn more about this era, we suggest you read The Heart of Toronto by historian Daniel Ross, Brian Dedora’s A Slice of Voice at the Edge of Hearing, Tim McCaskell’s Queer Progress and Immoral, Indecent and Scurrilous: The Making of an Unrepentant Sex Radical by Gerald Hannon, to whom this episode is dedicated. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Mother Goose, Episode Four - The St. Charles Mob Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug, Scott MacDougall 00:26:33 This is the fourth and final episode of Mother Goose, The St. Charles Mob. This episode is about the changing scene on Yonge street in the late 1960s, which saw a rise a rise in invasive police surveillance and the rise a new Halloween drag ball that drew a very different crowd than the one at Letros. This is the fourth and final episode of Mother Goose, The St. Charles Mob. This episode is about the changing scene on Yonge street in the late 1960s, which saw a rise a rise in invasive police surveillance and the rise a new Halloween drag ball that drew a very different crowd than the one at Letros. drag in toronto, halloween drag balls, homophobic violence, yonge street mob, toronto history false full 4 bb1f6495-85ec-46c2-b2c3-fe799a3782d6 Mother Goose, Episode 3 - Choose Miss Letros The Toronto Arquives were an invaluable source for this episode, since it has a vast collection of all of the tabloids of this era. In addition, though, the role the 519 played in the creation of this should be recognized, since it only because that space exists that we were able to meet and interview Paul MacDonald, Don Middleton, Bob Pearse and Neil Gilson, who brought this era to life.

This episode is dedicated to them.   

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Wed, 4 Dec 2024 17:00:00 +0000 todrinks@gmail.com (Brent Bodrug, Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Scott MacDougall) https://mother-goose.simplecast.com/episodes/mother-goose-episode-3-choose-miss-letros-kK9meSsW The Toronto Arquives were an invaluable source for this episode, since it has a vast collection of all of the tabloids of this era. In addition, though, the role the 519 played in the creation of this should be recognized, since it only because that space exists that we were able to meet and interview Paul MacDonald, Don Middleton, Bob Pearse and Neil Gilson, who brought this era to life.

This episode is dedicated to them.   

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Mother Goose, Episode 3 - Choose Miss Letros Brent Bodrug, Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Scott MacDougall 00:27:17 This episode is largely about an annual event in Toronto that was a direct challenge to gender norms – the Halloween Drag Ball at Letros Tavern on King street. We don’t know exactly how old a tradition the Halloween drag ball was in Toronto. The first mention we’ve found was in 1949, in a tabloid called Flash. In that story though, the writer alluded to the fact that it definitely wasn’t Toronto’s first Halloween drag ball. In the 1950s, it was held at a bar called Letros, where it became a cherished institution. This episode is largely about an annual event in Toronto that was a direct challenge to gender norms – the Halloween Drag Ball at Letros Tavern on King street. We don’t know exactly how old a tradition the Halloween drag ball was in Toronto. The first mention we’ve found was in 1949, in a tabloid called Flash. In that story though, the writer alluded to the fact that it definitely wasn’t Toronto’s first Halloween drag ball. In the 1950s, it was held at a bar called Letros, where it became a cherished institution. gay bars, drag balls, queer toronto, toronto history false full 3 72c1d254-4707-4c55-a9fd-59da028b5380 Mother Goose, Episode 2 - Fairy-Go-Round If you want to learn more about this period, Jim Egan’s Challenging the Conspiracy of Silence and The Ward, The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant neighbourhood are both essential reading. And, to learn more about the federal government’s purge, The Canadian War on Queers by Patrizia Gentile and Gary Kinsman is a key text. More Foolscap interviews, including the one with Elgin Blair, can be found at the Toronto Arquives, which is also home to many of the tabloid newspapers used for this story. 

We dedicate this episode to Sandy de Almeida, our dear departed friend, who was – and always will be – the Mayor of Queer West. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Sun, 1 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000 todrinks@gmail.com (Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug, Christine Sismondo, Scott MacDougall) https://mother-goose.simplecast.com/episodes/mother-goose-episode-2-fairy-go-round-nnoNJw_F If you want to learn more about this period, Jim Egan’s Challenging the Conspiracy of Silence and The Ward, The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant neighbourhood are both essential reading. And, to learn more about the federal government’s purge, The Canadian War on Queers by Patrizia Gentile and Gary Kinsman is a key text. More Foolscap interviews, including the one with Elgin Blair, can be found at the Toronto Arquives, which is also home to many of the tabloid newspapers used for this story. 

We dedicate this episode to Sandy de Almeida, our dear departed friend, who was – and always will be – the Mayor of Queer West. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Mother Goose, Episode 2 - Fairy-Go-Round Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug, Christine Sismondo, Scott MacDougall 00:28:38 This is the second episode of Mother Goose, Fairy-Go-Round, and it’s all about the challenge of holding on to a gay bar. Whereas the last episode was about finding a bar, this episode will explore how the people challenged the closet in formal and informal ways, as well as the relationship between queers and the racialized community that lived in the neighbourhood of Toronto known as “The Ward.” This is the second episode of Mother Goose, Fairy-Go-Round, and it’s all about the challenge of holding on to a gay bar. Whereas the last episode was about finding a bar, this episode will explore how the people challenged the closet in formal and informal ways, as well as the relationship between queers and the racialized community that lived in the neighbourhood of Toronto known as “The Ward.” the closet, post-war gay bars, drag balls, toronto history false full 2 8e656058-97ea-4d83-a615-6997540704ed Mother Goose, Episode 1 - Toronto the Gay For further reading on this subject matter, you might want to read Rick Bebout’s Promiscuous Affections, The Canadian War on Queers by Patrizia Gentile and Gary Kinsman. For more on settler colonialism and the policing of sexuality, Scott L. Morgensen’s Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization is a good read. 

Interviews such as the one with Don Franco are available through the Foolscap Project at the Arquives, which also has many of the tabloid newspapers used for this story. And, for anyone who wishes to learn more about the history of drinking in Canada, we highly recommend Booze: A Distilled History by Craig Heron, who we also want to thank for his tremendous help with this project. It would never have happened without his support. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Wed, 27 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000 todrinks@gmail.com (Scott MacDougall, Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug) https://mother-goose.simplecast.com/episodes/mother-goose-episode-1-toronto-the-gay-hK6JAWbp For further reading on this subject matter, you might want to read Rick Bebout’s Promiscuous Affections, The Canadian War on Queers by Patrizia Gentile and Gary Kinsman. For more on settler colonialism and the policing of sexuality, Scott L. Morgensen’s Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization is a good read. 

Interviews such as the one with Don Franco are available through the Foolscap Project at the Arquives, which also has many of the tabloid newspapers used for this story. And, for anyone who wishes to learn more about the history of drinking in Canada, we highly recommend Booze: A Distilled History by Craig Heron, who we also want to thank for his tremendous help with this project. It would never have happened without his support. 

This podcast also could not have been produced without funding from the Toronto Arts Council, who helped fund the efforts of Tom Hooper, narrator, Scott MacDougall, voice actor, Christine Sismondo, writer and co-producer and Brent Bodrug, sound design, music composer and co-producer.   

]]> Mother Goose, Episode 1 - Toronto the Gay Scott MacDougall, Christine Sismondo, Tom Hooper, Brent Bodrug 00:29:07 In this episode, our main character, Garrett, who has just moved to Toronto, is looking for a gay bar. This episode will deal primarily with the way the “closet,” was imposed on queer people in Toronto in the 1950s. During the Cold War, the RCMP started investigating and keeping files on civil servants who were suspected of being gay. By the end of the 1960, they’d have compiled some 9,000 files on suspects with what they called a “character weakness.” Often, authorities got information by going undercover in bars, so the quest to find a gay bar was a complicated endeavour. In this episode, our main character, Garrett, who has just moved to Toronto, is looking for a gay bar. This episode will deal primarily with the way the “closet,” was imposed on queer people in Toronto in the 1950s. During the Cold War, the RCMP started investigating and keeping files on civil servants who were suspected of being gay. By the end of the 1960, they’d have compiled some 9,000 files on suspects with what they called a “character weakness.” Often, authorities got information by going undercover in bars, so the quest to find a gay bar was a complicated endeavour. gay bars, toronto history false full 1 0fefd78a-9551-43f4-9ff7-7c100ccf9cce Mother Goose Teaser Fri, 11 Oct 2024 16:00:00 +0000 todrinks@gmail.com (Tom Hooper, Scott MacDougall, Brent Bodrug) https://mother-goose.simplecast.com/episodes/mother-goose-teaser-iB9U0_ec Mother Goose Teaser Tom Hooper, Scott MacDougall, Brent Bodrug 00:01:57 A quick preview of Mother Goose! A quick preview of Mother Goose! tabloids, toronto history false trailer