The Problematic Gaze
Claim This Podcastby David Moor and Lee Arnott
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Podcast Overview
<p><strong>Winner - ‘Best History Podcast’ - Independent Podcast Awards 2025 </strong></p><br><p><strong> ‘Top 30 Podcasts To Listen To Right Now’ - The Radio Times 2025</strong></p><br><p>Direct from PG Towers, join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture of yesteryear that has since been considered problematic. Each week we focus on a different piece of pop culture, and put it into context by looking at the news events and cultural landscape of the year it was released. Out and proud, Dr Lee and Our Dave present a humorous take on life as LGBTQ+ men of a glorious age, and present a digestible mix of academic social commentary, unflinching life lessons, media analysis, and hot takes on feminism, race, politics and cancel culture. <br><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
6/3/2024
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Recent Episodes
July 28, 2026
Queer as Folk (1999): The TV Series That Changed Britain
<p>This week we're heading back to <strong>Canal Street in 1999</strong> to revisit one of the most influential British television dramas ever made: <strong>Queer as Folk</strong>.</p><p>Created by <strong>Russell T Davies</strong>, the groundbreaking Channel 4 series exploded onto British television with an honesty and confidence rarely seen before. Funny, provocative, explicit and unapologetically gay, it introduced millions of viewers to a world that had seldom been portrayed so openly on mainstream television.</p><p>We focus on the unforgettable first episode, meeting the confident and charismatic Stuart, his best friend Vince, and fifteen-year-old Nathan, whose arrival on Manchester's Canal Street sets the story in motion. Along the way we revisit the moments that made headlines—from explicit sex scenes and frank discussions of gay relationships to Stuart fathering a child through sperm donation, Vince's endearing Doctor Who obsession, and some wonderfully memorable comic moments that remind us why the series became such a phenomenon.</p><p>In our <strong>Pride Corner</strong>, we step back into Britain at the end of the 1990s to explore just how much the country was changing. We discuss shifting public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, media representation, advertising, the growing visibility of trans people, and how newspapers such as <strong>The Sun</strong> gradually changed their approach to outing and reporting on LGBTQ+ lives. We also revisit the television, music and popular culture that formed the backdrop to one of the most talked-about dramas of the decade.</p><p>Of course, we also examine the controversies that surrounded <strong>Queer as Folk</strong>. Was the reaction driven by genuine concerns or by lingering prejudice? How does the series look through modern eyes? We discuss its handling of age, sex and consent, while also considering criticisms of its relatively narrow portrayal of gay life, including its overwhelmingly white cast, limited representation of lesbians, and the notable absence of HIV and AIDS from a story set at the end of the twentieth century.</p><p>More than twenty-five years later, <strong>Queer as Folk</strong> remains funny, moving, controversial and hugely influential. This episode asks not simply what has aged well, but what the series tells us about Britain in 1999—and how far we've travelled since.</p><p>Join us as we revisit the drama that changed the conversation about LGBTQ+ lives on British television forever.</p><br><p>GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we turn our focus to the 1986 movie: Crocodile Dundee</p><p><a href="https://linktr.ee/theproblematicgaze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to follow us on all our socials</a></p><br><p>Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!</p><br><p>Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze. </p><p> </p><p><a href="mailto:theproblematicgaze@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
July 21, 2026
Tales of the City (1993): The Queer Classic That Changed Television
<p>To watch the episode of 'Tales Of The City" discussed in this episode on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4BB89u_cLc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here</a></p><p>Pack your bags because this week we're moving to <strong>28 Barbary Lane</strong> as our Pride series takes us to one of television's most beloved LGBTQ+ classics: <strong>Tales of the City</strong>.</p><p>First broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 in 1993 and adapted from Armistead Maupin's novels, the series transports us back to <strong>San Francisco in 1976</strong>—a city of sexual liberation, social change and people arriving from across America hoping to reinvent themselves.</p><p>At the centre of it all is Mary Ann Singleton, a wonderfully naïve newcomer from Cleveland who visits San Francisco on holiday and promptly decides never to leave. She finds a home at the gloriously bohemian 28 Barbary Lane, presided over by the mysterious and endlessly fabulous <strong>Anna Madrigal</strong>, and meets a new chosen family including Mona, Mouse and Brian.</p><p>Meanwhile, across town, the wealthy Halcyon family introduces us to a very different San Francisco, complete with money, marriage, infidelity and enough secrets to keep several soap operas running for years.</p><p>But this episode is about much more than what happens at Barbary Lane.</p><p>In our <strong>Pride Corner</strong>, we explore how San Francisco became one of the world's great LGBTQ+ centres—from the impact of the Second World War and the growth of queer communities to the rise of the Castro and the political breakthrough of <strong>Harvey Milk</strong>. We also look at the very different world into which the television adaptation arrived in 1993, when LGBTQ+ visibility was growing even as the AIDS crisis continued to cast an enormous shadow.</p><p>We discuss why the idea of <strong>found family</strong> sits at the heart of Tales of the City and why that message resonated so powerfully with generations of LGBTQ+ viewers. We also revisit Anna Madrigal's groundbreaking trans identity and ask how remarkably progressive her portrayal was for mainstream television in the early 1990s, while examining elements that feel more complicated through modern eyes—including casting choices, the framing of secrecy and "deception," and the limited racial diversity that Armistead Maupin himself later acknowledged.</p><p>Plus, we revisit the television and music of 1993, explore the characters and stories that made the series so addictive, and ask the big question: <strong>more than 30 years later, how much of Tales of the City still holds up?</strong></p><p>Warm, funny, sexy, occasionally messy and filled with unforgettable characters, Tales of the City is ultimately about something beautifully simple: finding the people and the place where you can finally be yourself.</p><p>Welcome to Barbary Lane, Gazers. We may be staying for a while.</p><p><a href="https://linktr.ee/theproblematicgaze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to follow us on all our socials</a></p><br><p>Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!</p><br><p>Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze. </p><p> </p><p><a href="mailto:theproblematicgaze@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
July 14, 2026
Rent Boys (1984): Britain's Forgotten LGBTQ Documentary
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBnQqwRMFpE&t=930s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the '40 Minutes: Rent Boys' documentary on YouTube here</a></p><p>This week, as our Pride series continues, we're discussing one of the most powerful—and perhaps least remembered—BBC documentaries ever broadcast <strong>Rent Boys</strong>, first shown as part of BBC2's acclaimed <strong>40 Minutes</strong> strand in December 1984.</p><p>Unlike many of the films we've covered, this isn't entertainment. It's an unflinching documentary that quietly observes the lives of vulnerable young male sex workers without narration, judgement or sensationalism, allowing their own voices to tell a story that remains as shocking today as it was forty years ago.</p><p>Before exploring the documentary itself, we return to 1984 in our <strong>Culture Corner</strong>, looking at the music, television and major events shaping Britain during one of the country's most turbulent decades. Against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain, high unemployment, industrial decline and the emerging AIDS crisis, we consider what life was like for LGBTQ+ people at a time when fear, prejudice and misunderstanding were becoming increasingly widespread.</p><p>The documentary introduces us to teenagers and young men whose lives have been shaped by abuse, family rejection, poverty, time spent in care, homelessness and the struggle simply to survive. It also explores the complex realities of selling sex, including questions of identity, shame, survival, and the blurred lines between sexuality and circumstance. Alongside the young men themselves, we hear from a conflicted client wrestling with guilt and secrecy, and from one mother whose compassion offers a rare glimpse of hope.</p><p>Throughout the episode we reflect on why <strong>Rent Boys</strong> remains such an extraordinary piece of documentary filmmaking. Rather than exploiting its subjects, it asks viewers to confront the human stories behind the headlines and to consider how society failed so many vulnerable young people.</p><p>It's a difficult watch, but also a deeply compassionate one—an essential document of a forgotten chapter in British LGBTQ+ history and a powerful reminder of why Pride is about far more than celebration. Sometimes it's about remembering the people and stories that history almost left behind.</p><br><p>GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we focus on 'Tales Of The City" <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4BB89u_cLc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Watch the pilot episode on YouTube here</a></p><p><a href="https://linktr.ee/theproblematicgaze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to follow us on all our socials</a></p><br><p>Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!</p><br><p>Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze. </p><p> </p><p><a href="mailto:theproblematicgaze@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
159 total episodes available
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Dr Lee Arnott
Guest
Dave Moor
Guest
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- What is The Problematic Gaze?
<p><strong>Winner - ‘Best History Podcast’ - Independent Podcast Awards 2025 </strong></p><br><p><strong> ‘Top 30 Podcasts To Listen To Right Now’ - The Radio Times 2025</strong></p><br><p>Direct from PG Towers, join social historian Dr Lee Arnott and TV producer Dave Moor for a lighthearted look at the world of TV, Film and Popular Culture of yesteryear that has since been considered problematic. Each week we focus on a different piece of pop culture, and put it into context by looking at the news events and cultural landscape of the year it was released. Out and proud, Dr Lee and Our Dave present a humorous take on life as LGBTQ+ men of a glorious age, and present a digestible mix of academic social commentary, unflinching life lessons, media analysis, and hot takes on feminism, race, politics and cancel culture. <br><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 9 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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