The History of Gay Sex

Stuart tackles a subject that most history podcasts will not touch directly: how same-sex intimacy was actually practiced, understood, and regulated across different civilizations and time periods. The History of Gay Sex ran from 2021 to 2023 across 15 episodes, covering everything from ancient Greece and medieval England to samurai Japan, Nazi Germany, and 1700s London. The approach is more cultural history than anything explicit. Each episode examines how a particular society dealt with same-sex relationships -- the laws, the social norms, the punishments, and the ways people found to express themselves despite restrictions. The episode on the American gay pornography industry traces how that business evolved alongside broader cultural shifts, and the listener Q&A finale suggests the audience was genuinely engaged with the material. With a 4.3-star rating from 112 reviews, this one gets a more mixed reception than some shows on this list. Some listeners praised the depth of the research, while others flagged occasional accuracy issues and uneven presentation. But the core concept fills a real gap -- most queer history podcasts focus on identity, activism, and culture, while this one centers physical intimacy and the social structures built around it. The show stopped producing new episodes in early 2023, but the 15-episode catalog covers enough geographic and historical ground to keep you busy. It is a useful companion piece to the more biographical queer history shows, offering a perspective that others tend to skip.