Who’s On Your Queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore?
The Sam Sanders Show
KCRW & Sam Sanders
4.9 • 709 Ratings
🗓️ 6 June 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we’re building the ultimate Queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore. Who belongs on the mountain of the most iconic LGBTQ+ entertainers in history?
Sam is joined by comedians Cameron Esposito and Jay Jurden for a fast, funny, and heartfelt debate covering everyone from RuPaul to Little Richard, Janelle Monáe to George Michael, and Abraham Lincoln. Yes, we put Lincoln on the list. No, we’re not taking it back. Along the way, they unpack what it really means to be a queer icon, reflect on Pride anthems, and make the case for queer space travel.
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The Sam Sanders Show is a production of KCRW and Sam Sanders Productions.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey listeners, it is the season of giving. Get that warm, fuzzy feeling. Make a donation, |
| 0:06.2 | pick out some cozy KCRW merch, or send meals to local food banks. Donate now at kCRW.com |
| 0:13.6 | slash give. |
| 0:20.6 | Hey, y'all, it's the Sam Sanders show from KCRW, your weekly guide to entertainment and pop culture. |
| 0:27.0 | Thank you so much for checking out my show. |
| 0:31.0 | So this week, we're going to go big and celebrate pride in a wonderful way. |
| 0:36.1 | We're going to celebrate by building our very own |
| 0:39.0 | queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore. Imagine if there were a mountaintop with the faces of the |
| 0:46.5 | most important queer figures in Hollywood history on it, which faces would those be? |
| 0:52.6 | This episode will decide and break down the greatest queer people to ever do it. |
| 0:57.7 | Joining me for this very fun challenge are two very funny comedians. |
| 1:02.1 | Hello, it's me, Jay Jirden, bisexual, demon, queer menace. |
| 1:07.0 | Jay is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who has appeared on The Tonight Show, written for John Stewart, and is currently touring the country. |
| 1:16.6 | Also here is our friend and fellow funny person. |
| 1:19.3 | It's Cameron Esposito. |
| 1:20.5 | Honestly, I'm a pretty upstanding citizen. |
| 1:23.1 | Not a minute. |
| 1:23.8 | But the gayest you could be. |
| 1:26.1 | Cameron is a stand-up comic, actor, and writer. |
| 1:29.3 | Their latest stand-up special, Four Pills, is out right now on Dropout. |
| 1:34.5 | All right, both of them are queer. They are both here, and we are all ready to carve away |
| 1:40.1 | at our queer Hollywood Mount Rushmore. Let's get into it. |
... |
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