Journalist, historian, and author Rick Karlin joins host Ian Henzel for a wide-ranging conversation about how queer history gets preserved and why the places we gather, especially bars, newspapers, and local communities, matter more than we think.Rick reflects on his Chicago upbringing, the complicated imprint of family (including a father in law enforcement), and the long arc from personal struggle to public storytelling. We talk about his years writing for Gay Chicago Magazine, what it means to document LGBTQ life with honesty and tenderness, and why “the bars were the community centers.” Along the way: memoir, memory, literature (yes, Armistead Maupin), and a quick detour into time travel dreams of 1920s New York.

🗞️🏳️‍🌈📚Featured books by Rick Karlin:

• Paper Cuts: My Life in Chicago’s Volatile LGBTQ Press
• Last Call Chicago: A History of 1001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts
• Last Call South Florida: A History of 1001 LGBTQ-Friendly Taverns, Haunts & Hangouts

(Plus: collaboration with Suki de la Croix on Chicago Whispers)

In this episode, we cover:

• Coming into identity and finding community
• Writing as survival, then as preservation-LGBTQ bars as cultural archives in real time
• Why local queer press mattered (and still does)
• The stories we lose when nobody writes them down

Memorable lines:

“I was too much of a chicken to stop it.”

“The bars were the community centers.”

👍 If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe, and tell us in the comments:

• What place (a bar, bookstore, neighborhood, venue) felt like “community” to you, and why?#RickKarlin #LGBTQHistory #QueerHistory #Ch

#RickKarlin #LGBTQHistory #QueerHistory #ChicagoHistory #Memoir #LGBTQLiterature #GayChicago #OralHistory #WritingJourney #ChosenFamily #QueerCommunity #PodcastInterview