Love is in the air this month, so hosts Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder turn their attention to some very queer questions of love. First, they discuss a new Spanish film, Petit Mal, which explores the intimate drama and everyday feelings of three women in a throuple. Then they consider what is arguably the hardest kind of love: loving yourself in the wake of great loss or pain. Recent years have seen a huge growth in the applications of psychedelic drugs as a treatment strategy for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and more. Although psychedelics are becoming more popular with everyone, a lot of queer and trans people have pre-existing relationships with some of these substances, both in recreational and therapeutic contexts. The hosts are joined by Dr. Alex Belser, the leading researcher into queer people’s relationship with psychedelics, to discuss what these drugs might offer—and get back from—queers.

Items discussed in the show:

“Gay Bars and Hookup Apps”: The February 2021 episode of Outward that focused on Lex and other dating apps for women

The official trailer for Petit Mal

Queering Psychedelics: From Oppression to Liberation in Psychedelic Medicine, edited by Alex Belser, Clancy Cavnar, and Beatriz C. Labate

“Does the Queer Scene Have a Ketamine Problem?” by Delilah Friedler in Rolling Stone

“10 Calls to Action: Toward an LGBTQ-Affirmative Psychedelic Therapy,” by Alex Belser

Gay Agenda

Christina: Aftersun, written and directed by Charlotte Wells

Bryan: The legacy of Charles Silverstein, who died on Jan. 30, 2023

Jules: Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals, by Saidiya V. Hartman

This podcast was produced by June Thomas.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com.

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