Cruising: A 4,000 Year History (feat. Alex Espinoza)

You know the feeling: when you lock eyes and the look lingers just a little too long. His hand brushes over his fly. And boom! A small smile confirms it:

You're about to be cruising, my king!

And all it took was a public park, centuries of sexual shame, and a little bit of courage to get you there...

Now it's no surprise that the elegant and much-envied act of Fucking in Public has been around for thousands of years.

But how did the "radical pastime" of modern-day cruising develop? Why did men start having sex with men in public parks and bathrooms? And why, in an allegedly sexually liberated world, do we still cruise today?

Join Bash and his guest this week, Professor Alex Espinoza, as they chart over 4,000 years of men getting it off with men. From the Roman bathhouse to Paris' first urban parks, this is a steamy, rushed romp through history designed to be enjoyed from your very own public bathroom stall.

You're welcome.

We will cover:

• Why cruising needs cities, strangers, and the thrill of getting caught to really thrive

• The ancient rules of cruising the Roman bathhouse

• How policing and persecution actually helped cruising thrive, creating the modern "homosexual"

• Cruising as class-conscious RESISTANCE
• The rise of cottaging in London's public bathrooms
• Al Pacino's absurdly terrible 1980 film Cruising
• Whether the eroticism of "looking" can survive Grindr's Era of Headless Torsos

🎧 Listen now on ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠, or wherever you pod. Grindr Unlimited subscription sold separately.

📚 Grab a copy of Alex's book ⁠⁠Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime⁠ on Bookshop.org (NEVER Amazon!)

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Episode Credits

Written and hosted by Bash.

Guest: Alex Espinoza.

Edited by Alex Toskas.

Produced by Dani Henion.