Unpacking The Closet

About Unpacking The Closet

Unpacking the Closet is a queer podcast exploring identity, mental health, relationships, culture, and self-expression through candid conversations. Hosted by Geri and Caitlin, the show centers lived experience, real questions, and everyday complexity, creating space for listeners to feel seen and heard. ----- After four seasons of conversations, we have closed this chapter. This isn't goodbye to the community, just to the mic for now. We're so grateful for every single one of you. With so much love, Geri & Caitlin

Publisher

Unpacking The Closet

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 May 2025

Latest episode

7 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

43 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Jul 2026

   Leaving Home, Finding Family: A Queer Story of Activism & Belonging with Eugene MaySky

   What does it mean to build a home when you've been forced to leave one behind? This week on Unpacking The Closet, we sit down with Eugene MaySky, activist, journalist, community organizer, two-time Emperor of the Imperial Court, tenant rights advocate, and one of the most influential leaders in Los Angeles' Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ community. Eugene's journey spans continents and decades of activism. In 1999, he helped organize Russia's first Gay Pride event during a time when visibility came with enormous personal risk. Since then, he's built LGBTQ+ media platforms, supported refugees, fought for housing justice, preserved queer history, and become the first Russian Emperor in the 56-year history of the Imperial Court System. Together, we unpack what it means to be a queer immigrant, the grief of leaving home behind, building chosen family in exile, and why showing up for your community is one of the most radical acts of love. In this episode, we discuss: • Organizing Russia's first Gay Pride in 1999 • The challenges facing Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees • The history and impact of the Imperial Court System • Why culture, music, and community are powerful forms of activism • Housing justice, tenant organizing, and supporting displaced communities • Building belonging through chosen family and collective care • What resilience really looks like after displacement Whether you're passionate about LGBTQ+ history, immigration, activism, community organizing, or simply love hearing stories of extraordinary people creating lasting change, this conversation is one you won't forget. Connect with Eugene MaySky 📸 Instagram: @eugenemaysky 🎵 TikTok: @eugenemaysky 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/eugene.maysky Follow Unpacking The Closet 🌐 www.unpackingthecloset.com (http://www.unpackingthecloset.com/) 📸 Instagram: @unpackingthecloset 🎵 TikTok: @unpackingthecloset ▶️ YouTube: @unpackingtheclosetpod 🎧 Follow Unpacking The Closet wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed this conversation, please take a moment to subscribe, leave a 5-star rating, and share this episode with a friend. Every share helps us amplify LGBTQ+ voices, preserve queer history, and continue bringing you conversations that matter. #UnpackingTheCloset #LGBTQPodcast #EugeneMaySky #QueerHistory #ImperialCourt #RussianLGBTQ #QueerImmigrants #ChosenFamily #HousingJustice #TenantRights #CommunityOrganizing #LGBTQHistory #PrideHistory #Activism #QueerVoices

2. 

   23 Jun 2026

   More Than an Identity: Queerness as Practice and Resistance with Anna Storti

   What does it mean to carry violence in your body? Author Anna Storti joins Unpacking the Closet to unpack her book Torn and the layered intersections of queerness, race, and inherited trauma. In this conversation, Geri and Caitlin sit down with Anna to explore how systemic violence lives inside us and across generations, what it means to hold a mixed-race Asian-white identity in queer spaces, and why Pride has always been as political as it is joyful. They also dig into the cultural legacy of The L Word, racism within queer communities, and how education and community can become sites of genuine resistance. This one is deep, honest, and full of the kind of clarity that only comes from someone who has lived and studied these questions from the inside. 🎧 New episodes every Tuesday. 📖 Find Anna's book Torn wherever books are sold. 👉 Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Connect with Unpacking The Closet: Instagram: @unpackingtheclosetpod TikTok: @unpackingtheclosetpod YouTube: @unpackingtheclosetpod Have a coming out story, identity journey, or life experience you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening, and remember: every story unpacked helps make a little more room in the closet for someone else to step out.

3. 

   16 Jun 2026

   Litha: The Longest Day

   The Solstice Series follows the eight points of the Celtic Wheel of the Year as living mirrors for queer identity, mental health, and the rhythms of becoming. Beltane (May) asked: what do you allow yourself to want? The Summer Solstice asks something harder: what do you do when you have it? When you're fully seen, fully lit, at the height of your energy and something in you still wants to hide?

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 41 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

81

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

Contact Unpacking The Closet

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.