About

LGBTQ&A is an interview podcast exploring the lives of LGBTQ+ people — not just their coming out stories, but their triumphs, their failures, and everything that shaped how they got to where they are today. Launched in 2016, it’s become a living archive of modern queer history.

In 2022 we launched the LGBTQ+ Elders Project and over the last few years have focussed exclusively on interviews with queer, trans, and intersex elders.

Those transcripts can be found on this website.

Guests of the LGBTQ+ Elders Project include Tracey ‘Africa’ Norman, André De Shields, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Peter Staley, Billie Jean King, Ruthie Berman, Harvey Fierstein, Jamison Green, Charles Silverstein, Kate Bornstein, Cleve Jones, Angela Davis, and many others.

“If you want to understand what it sounds like when a host is prepared, look no further than Jeffrey Masters. His interest in his guests’ stories, as well as his encouraging manner, allows him to get beyond the surface whether he’s interviewing activists or members of the entertainment industry.”
– The New York Times

Jeffrey Masters

LGBTQ&A has been featured in The New York Times, MSNBC, The Advocate (this profile’s particularly flattering), USA Today, GLAAD, People Magazine, Page Six, and was ranked #2 on a list of the top podcasts to listen to by Buzzfeed.

Jeffrey Masters is a GLAAD Award-winning journalist who’s been featured on MSNBC, NPR, and in The New York Times. He’s currently the Senior Producer of the New Yorker Radio Hour.

Carmelita Tropicana: The Accidental Queen of Downtown Performance Art – LGBTQ&A

Carmelita Tropicana was created almost by accident: a made-up name, blurted out at a radio broadcast in the 1980s. But Carmelita, and the woman behind the character, Alina Troyano, went on to become one of the pillars of downtown New York theatre. Alina talks about the ongoing evolution of her iconic camp character, spoofing both masculinity and femininity in her work, and her relationship with the queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz. LGBTQ&A⁠ is an independent, listener-supported podcast. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ and learn more about how to support our work. LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in the world. Hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffmasters1⁠⁠⁠
  1. Carmelita Tropicana: The Accidental Queen of Downtown Performance Art
  2. Karla Jay: The Lesbian Stonewall That History Forgot
  3. Duane Michals: Jump First, Ask Questions Later (Remembering the Gay Pioneer)
  4. Alan Shayne: At 100, Looking Back on a Gay Life in Hollywood
  5. Avram Finkelstein: "Silence = Death" and the Image That Defined the AIDS Crisis


“Masters welcomes high-profile people…with his unique brand of probing curiosity.” – Oprah Daily

“…thoughtful, humble, and inquisitive journalist” – Women’s Health

“Whether he’s chatting with seminal AIDS advocate Cleve Jones or rising powerhouses like Our Lady J and Keiynan Lonsdale, Masters digs deep, surpassing expected coming out stories in favor of examining specific life moments that have defined the queer luminaries we love.” – Logo TV

“The overused term “overnight success” is supremely apt in the case of Jeffrey Masters.” – The Advocate

​”Masters is a superb interviewer.” – Mashable