Time Travelling Queers

Don One is joined by the fabulous Layton Williams and historian (and Ghost Club member!) Jonty Stern for a spooky spin through queer history.From 1930s drag balls and ancient Celtic rituals to the legendary Ladies of Llangollen and their possible lesbian ghosts, we're uncovering the fabulously queer history of Halloween.With Layton hitting the road on his UK tour in 2027, expect big laughs, spooky surprises and plenty of queer chaos.Hop in… if you dare! 👻#ttqpodWebsite: Timetravellingqueers.comSocial media: @timetravellingqueersFollow Don One on Instagram: @don1dragA Molly House Media Production.www.mollyhousemedia.comHost: Don OneGuest: Layton WilliamsHistorian: Jonty SternCreator, writer and Director: David GrahamWriter and Producer: Marie HornerExecutive Producer: Rishi KhoslaEditor: David GrahamSet Designer: Ellie KoslowskySound Designer and Dubbing Mixer: Jon GrayTheme Music Composer: Adiescar ChaseChapters/timestamps0:00 - 0:42 Coming up on TTQ0:43 - 7:47 Intro7:47 - 8:05 Call to Action8:06 - 8:55 Time Travel jump 18:55 - 10:06 - Chicago 1932: No Booze, No Queers… Except Tonight!10:06 -12:29 - 1935 Finneys Drag Balls 12:29 - 13:31 Halloqueen - being out in plain site 13:31 - 17:03 1943 Finney’s legacy Bitches Christmas!17:03 - 17:36  Time Travel jump 217:36 - 21:33 French Celts? The Gaul and Ghoul of it all21:33 - 25:05 Halloween’s Celtic roots25:05 - 26:29 Queer Celts!26:30 - 27:34 Time Travel jump 327:34 - 31:03 Ladies of Llangollen enter the chat31:03 - 32:45 Divergent Diaries: Enter Ann Lister aka Gentleman Jack 32:45 - 33:50 She Said, She Said- more lesbians more judgement33:50 - 35:56 An ode to the Lesbians of Llangollen35:56 - 38:21 Fashionable Late!38:21- 40:32 Are they ghosting or haunting us? 40:32 - 42:35 Riding Rating our guest passenger gets quizzed42:35 - 43:42 What is the future Layton up to?43:42 - 44:15 OutroREFERENCES:The Ladies of Llangollen by Elizabeth MavorAt Home with the Soanes by Sue Palmer (to help with food and drink questions)Cysgu Efo Ysbrydion: Llangollen - Welsh language documentary by S4C.https://www.philipharland.com/Blog/2023/07/celts-galatians-diodoros-on-their-myths-origins-and-customs-mid-first-century-bce/https://rainbowmessenger.blog/2021/11/09/gay-celts/Celt, Druid and Culdee” by Isabel Hill Elder“Celtic Britain” by Nora Chadwick.IMAGE CREDIT:The Rt. Honble. Lady Eleanor Butler & Miss Ponsonby 'The Ladies of Llangollen', 1880s, Part of the Welsh Portrait Collection, National Library of Wales.

Grab your gin and settle into your speakeasy booth, babs—we’re heading back to the roaring, smoky clubs of 1920s Harlem. In the sixth episode of Time Travelling Queers, we’re unearthing the life of a true original: the legendary blues pianist and singer, Gladys Bentley.Clad in a sharp tuxedo, top hat, and cane, Gladys wasn't just performing, she was rewriting the rules of gender and desire. From headlining the Ubangi Club with a drag queen chorus line to turning popular hits into scandalous lesbian anthems, she was a Black queer icon before the world was ready for one.But what happens when the party ends? We’re diving into her mysterious marriage, the hostility of the McCarthy Era, and the complicated, messy reality of survival that forced a legend to reinvent herself. Join celebrity guest Farrel Hegarty, and historian Paula Akpan as Don One travels back in time to celebrate the unapologetic, the glamorous, and the forgotten.History has never been this queer.#ttqpodWebsite: www.timetravellingqueers.com Social Media: @timetravellingqueersFollow Don One on Insta: @don1dragA Molly House Media Production. www.mollyhousemedia.com Host : Don OneGuest : Farrel HegartyHistorian : Paula AkpanCreator, Writer & Director : David Mark Graham Writer & Producer : Marie Horner Executive Producer : Rishi KhoslaEditor : Lesley PossoSet Designer : Ellie Koslowsky Sound Designer & Dubbing Mixer : Jon GrayTheme music Composer : Adiescar ChaseCHAPTERS/TIMESTAMPS0:00 - 2:57 intro
2:58 - 4:23 Time Travel
04:24 - 5:42  The great migration
05:43 - 13:31 Horoscopes, mummy issues and teacher crushes
13:32 - 18:30 The Clam House, a Harlem Queer Speak Easy
18:31 - 19:28 What’s on Trend?!

19:29 - 27:30 A queer prohibition triple threat27:31 - 31:47 Filthy lyrics

31:48 - 34:57 From Clams to Crowns - Ubangi Club Royalty 
34:57 - 39:11 Gladys’ or a “special friend” 39:12 - 52:36 A woman again- McCarthyism 52:37 - 56:03 Legacy
56:04 - 57:07 Sorting out the fare and outro 
57:08 - 57:14 Easter eggREFERENCESGladys Bentley and the Performance of Queer Black Female Masculinity Gladys Bentley: The Life and Legacy of a Blues Singer The Great Blues Singer Gladys Bentley Broke All the Rules The Miraculous Masculinity of Gladys Bentley Gladys Bentley (National Museum of African American History and Culture) Gladys Bentley: Pioneering Queer Performer IMAGE CREDITGladys Bentley circa 1930, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture via New York Times

CONTENT WARNING : this episode includes a reference to sexual assaultThey lived as a seamstress, a soldier and a servant — and then a court demands to know whether they’re a man or a woman, and the answer is: both.This week, Zelah Glasson travels back in time with historian Kit Heyam to meet Thomas(ine) Hall, an extraordinary figure whose life crossed the boundaries of gender in 17th-century England and colonial Virginia.Born Thomasine, they wore women's clothes before cutting their hair, dressing as a man and joining the army. Later, they returned to women's clothing, worked as a seamstress and eventually travelled to Virginia as a male servant.But in 1629, Thomas(ine)'s neighbours began to question their gender. What followed was an extraordinary court case involving examinations, accusations and intense scrutiny of Thomas(ine)'s body and identity.Thomas(ine)'s answer was clear: they were both a man and a woman. The court's eventual ruling was just as extraordinary — ordering Thomas(ine) to live publicly as both.A seamstress. A soldier. A servant. A survivor. And someone who refused to fit neatly into the boxes of their time.History has never been this queer.#ttqpodWebsite: www.timetravellingqueers.com Instagram: @timetravellingqueersFollow Don One on Insta: @don1dragA Molly House Media Production. www.mollyhousemedia.com Host : Don OneGuest : Zelah GlassonHistorian : Kit HeyamCreator, Writer & Director : David Mark Graham Writer & Producer : Marie Horner Executive Producer : Rishi KhoslaEditor : Lesley PossoSet Designer : Ellie Koslowsky Sound Designer & Dubbing Mixer : Jon GrayTheme music Composer : Adiescar ChaseRecorded at www.storyhousestudios.co CHAPTERS0:00 - 2:20 intro2:21 - 3:09 time travel3:09 - 7:52 Pissing on everyone’s cornflakes7:53 - 8:40 Thomas the Soldier. Thomasine the lacemaker8:41 - 13:52 crossing the Atlantic and gender norms13:33 16:30 Why is this gym bro hanging with the girls?- Zelah BB experience16:31 - 19:40 Whats on Trend? Sad colours!19:41 - 21:00 “A bit for my cat”21:01 - 22:59  The examinations to “settle the matter’23:00 - 25:55 the sentence for being both25:56- 26:36 Gender anxiety26:37 - 27:16 Native American two spirits27:17- 31:27 Legacy31:28 - 32:31 Outro32:31- 32:47 Easter eggREFERENCESKit Heyam, Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender (Basic Books UK / Seal Press, 2022)David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (Oxford University Press, 1989)H. R. McIlwaine (ed.), Minutes of the Council & General Court of Colonial Virginia, 1622–1632, 1670–1676, with Notes & Excerpts from Original Council & General Court Records, into 1683, Now Lost (Richmond: The Colonial Press, Everett Waddey Co., 1924), pp. 194–195Virginia General Court, 1622–29, Cases, with Minutes, ser. 8, vol. 15, Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress Jennifer Frangos, ‘The Early Modern Queer Atlantic: Narratives of Sex and Gender on New World Soil’, in The Edinburgh Companion to Atlantic Literary Studies (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), 248–267Kathryn Wichelns, ‘From The Scarlet Letter to Stonewall: Reading the 1629 Thomas(ine) Hall Case, 1978–2009’, Early American Studies, 12.3 (2014), 500–523

What happens when you're born a princess without a kingdom, fall in love with your governess, and end up risking everything to help people escape the Nazis?This week, Don travels back in time with Dr Ranj and historian Dr Kit Heyam to the extraordinary life of Catherine Duleep Singh, daughter of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, who was forced into exile in Britain after the British conquest of Punjab.Born a princess in exile, Catherine Duleep Singh lived a life of aristocratic glamour—but behind the scenes, she was battling displacement and colonial expectations. Enter Lina Schäfer. What began as a governess-and-chaperone relationship became a lifelong partnership—a love story society tried to file under 'just friends.' When the Nazis rose to power, Catherine didn't just survive; she became a resistance hero, using her wealth to save lives and refusing to leave Lina behind. It’s a story of a princess who defied everything to protect the person she loved.A princess. A love story. A suffragist. A resistance ally. And a woman who refused to leave the person she loved behind.History has never been this queer. #ttqpodWebsite: www.timetravellingqueers.com Instagram: @timetravellingqueersFollow Don One on Insta: @don1dragA Molly House Media Production. www.mollyhousemedia.com Host : Don OneGuest : Dr Ranj SinghHistorian : Kit HeyamCreator, Writer & Director : David Mark Graham Writer & Producer : Marie Horner Executive Producer : Rishi KhoslaSet Designer : Ellie Koslowsky Sound Designer : Jon GrayDubbing Mixer : Sam MorrisEdited by : David Mark GrahamTheme music Composer : Adiescar ChaseRecorded at www.storyhousestudios.co CHAPTERS0:00 - 4:53 Intro 4:54 - 5:48 Time Travel 5:48 - 13:36 Exiled princess 13:36 - 19:05 Governess Lina 19:05 - 23:17 What’s on Trend!? 23:17 - 28:39 The party’s over, The Nazi’s arrive28:39 - 33:14 The Suffragette sisters 33:14 - 34:15 Ashes to ashes 34:15 - 40:17 Catherine’s Legacy 40:18 - 41:37 Sorting out the fare and outroREFERENCESCatherine Duleep Singh — Historic Royal Palaces, Hampton Court Palace, 2026. Read onlinePrincess Catherine and the Jewish Refugees — Tylers Green Church. Read onlineSophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary — Anita Anand, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.IMAGE CREDITPortrait of Princess Catherine Duleep Singh, by Lafayette Studio, 1897.  © Courtesy of Peter Bance Collection.Catherine Duleep Singh (left) with her German governess and lover, Lina Schäfer (right). Addressed to Miss Mayes, signed ‘Lina Schäfer’, 1930. © Courtesy of Peter Bance Collection.

Travel with us to meet the gender-defying ruler who demanded to be recognised on their own terms.In Episode 3 of Time Travelling Queers, Don One is joined by model, entrepreneur and activist Dani St James and historian Paula Akpan to journey to seventeenth-century Central Africa and meet the extraordinary Njinga a Mbande, the 17th century ruler of the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba.For more than forty years, Njinga resisted Portuguese colonisation through fearless diplomacy, military strategy and political brilliance. Defying European expectations of how a ruler should look or behave, Njinga embraced masculine dress, adopted a male-coded title and kept a harem of male concubines.Together, Don, Dani and Paula unpack one of history's most fascinating and complex leaders, exploring colonial resistance, gender, power, diplomacy and the legacy of a ruler whose story has too often been overlooked.Expect political intrigue, battlefield strategy, royal drama and a history lesson that proves there was never just one way to rule.History has never been this queer. #ttqpodWebsite: www.timetravellingqueers.com Instagram: @timetravellingqueersFollow Don One on Insta: @don1dragA Molly House Media Production. www.mollyhousemedia.com Host : Don OneGuest : Dani St JamesHistorian : Paula AkpanCreator, Writer & Director : David Mark Graham Writer & Producer : Marie Horner Executive Producer : Rishi KhoslaSet Designer : Ellie Koslowsky Sound Designer : Jon GrayDubbing Mixer : Sam MorrisTheme music Composer : Adiescar ChaseSpecial thanks to the incredible historians who gave their time and knowledge as we developed this show; Claire Mead, Jas Bevan Nas, Tim May, Ema Sala, Tallulah Smart, Kit Heyam, Ess Grange, Jonty Stern, Kit Green and Siobhan McGuirk.Recorded at www.storyhousestudios.co CHAPTERS0:00 - 03:41 Intro03:42 - 04:36 Time Travel04:37- 12:22 No Kings. No Pronouns. Only Rulers!12:22 - 16:59 Nepo Baby17:00 - 19:15 The UN Could Never. Njinga the Diplomat19:16 - 20:48 What's on Trend?20:49 - 24:54 The consequences of Colonialism24:54 - 33:28 Njinga takes the Kingdom and another33:29 37:09 Njinga’s legacy37:10 - 38:53 Sorting out the fare and outroREFERENCESWhen We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors — Paula Akpan, Trapeze, 2025.Go buy this book and see all the amazing and extensive research Paula did to write it - go to www.paulaakpan.com IMAGE CREDITQueen Nzinga Mbande (Anna de Sousa Nzinga) by Achille Devéria, printed by François Le Villain, published by Edward Bull, published by Edward Churton, after Unknown artist hand-coloured lithograph, 1830s NPG D34632 © National Portrait Gallery, London