The Free Podcast Preserving Queer History

Five years into 'The Gayest Generation,' the Ann Arbor District Library's podcast remains essential listening

Published: January 23, 2026 | Last Updated: January 22, 2026

Here's what you need to know about "The Gayest Generation" podcast: It will make you laugh and break your heart, and somewhere between those moments, you'll realize you're hearing queer history in a way you never have before — straight from the people who lived it, in their own voices, unfiltered.

Jacob Gorski stumbled into this work the way most important things happen — by accident and at exactly the right time. In 2019, his mother was president of the Saginaw chapter of PFLAG, and Gorski tagged along to a meeting. "The folks who came to this particular chapter were primarily older adults," he remembers. "Getting to know them and to hear their stories and to be able to have access to the queer history in this way was a huge moment for me."

The revelation hit him: These stories needed to be recorded. Lucky for everyone, the Ann Arbor District Library, where Gorski works, was building a podcast studio and looking for pitches. Five years and 18 episodes later, "The Gayest Generation" has become something more than an oral history project. It's become proof that queer people have always been here, have always loved, have always survived.

Take Episode 1, which featured Pat, a woman Gorski met through those PFLAG meetings. Her love story — falling for her partner while working on the line at a Michigan auto plant in the '70s and '80s, her partner being a trans woman who transitioned while working there — immediately set the tone for what the podcast would become. "It really proved, which is something we all knew, that queer people, trans people, we have been here the whole time," Gorski says. Pat's natural storytelling ability made that first episode sing, and Gorski still recommends starting there.

From there, the podcast has ranged across decades and experiences. Episode 13, released in March 2024, features Thomas McCauley sharing his survival of inpatient conversion therapy — a story that feels urgently relevant as anti-LGBTQ+ politicians openly discuss bringing back such practices. But here's what makes Gorski's approach so effective: Thomas's episode isn't just trauma. "He's also so fun to talk to and just has a certain energy and vibe where we're talking about the traumas he experienced, but we're also talking about the joys and we're talking about how life is funny and silly and mysterious," Gorski explains.

Episode 12 captured a conversation with Kathy Kozachenko, one of the first openly LGBTQ+ people elected to public office in American history, discussing her time on Ann Arbor City Council. Episode 15 brought Roger LeLievre's wild ride through Ann Arbor's queer nightlife heyday, his time as a DJ at The Nectarine Ballroom (now Necto), and the time he almost killed Sylvester. Episode 11 featured Curtis Chin talking about growing up in Detroit's legendary Chung's Restaurant. The most recent episode, Episode 18 with Michael Brown, explores being the gay son of a trans parent and how coming out can feel like casting a magical spell.

There's no formal selection process and no gatekeeping about who gets to tell their story. Gorski reaches out, gets to know people, and if recording feels right, that's what they do. Some guests come through partnerships with organizations like the LGBTQ Victory Fund. Others are just folks with stories to share. "I'm really reaching out to everybody in the community any way I can, trying to find these stories and to share them with the public at large," he says.

Why it matters right now

What makes podcasting the perfect vehicle for these stories? "I think you get to hear them speak for themselves," Gorski says. "Podcasts are also about listening and I think we have to listen to these stories. The act of listening, it is transgressive, it is progressive."

That simple act — listening — creates something powerful for people on both sides of the microphone. Guests have told Gorski how moving it is to hear their finished episodes, to have their lives treated as worthy of documentation. And listeners? "I know that there are listeners out there who feel less alone, whether they be teens, 20s, older adults, when they listen to an episode," Gorski says. "And I'm just so proud and lucky to be a cog in that machine."

The podcast's impact reaches across generations. These stories are being archived for people 100 years from now, but they're speaking directly to the 16-year-old kid in rural Michigan who thinks they're the only queer person in their town's history. They're connecting with the 30-something who wants to understand their community better and the straight elder who needs to hear that their LGBTQ+ peers have been here all along.

After five years, Gorski still gets that rush. "I've been doing it for years now and there's still a sense of awe," he says. "I hope I don't ever lose that sense of awe. And what a gift."

The Gayest Generation is available wherever you get your podcasts and on aadl.org, courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library. There's no subscription and no paywall — just click play and connect with your history. And if you're an LGBTQ+ older adult with a story to share? Gorski wants to hear from you. Reach out to [email protected] — even if you're just curious about what being a guest involves, he's happy to chat.

Because in the end, that's what "The Gayest Generation" is really about: making connections across time, across generations, across the silence that tried to erase queer existence. One conversation at a time, one story at a time, proving we've always been here.

This content is made possible through our partnership with the Ann Arbor District Library. Learn more about The Gayest Generation podcast at aadl.org/gayestgeneration.