This interview with the hosts of My Gay Agenda is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page.
by Melinda Lewis
From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm. (Edited for length)
From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm. (Edited for length)
From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm. (Edited for length)
From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm. (Edited for length)
From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm. (Edited for length)
Q: How did y'all meet and at one point did you decide "Hey, let's do this?"
CJ: After college, throughout 2017, Jenn would bring up the idea of us co-hosting a podcast called My Gay Agenda. After mentioning it several times I realized they weren't trying to make a goof, they were making an actual suggestion. Then we did it!
Jenn: At some point or another, I made a joke to my partner along the lines of something silly being my gay agenda and he said ‘’Oh, that would make a great podcast name!’ I laughed and agreed but then was like...’oh dang, it really would.’ I IMMEDIATELY knew CJ was the perfect person to throw the idea at.
Q: Between your title and opening credits, it's pretty clear what your podcast is about on the surface, but what is My Gay Agenda’s (your gay agenda’s) agenda/goals?
CJ: Our goal is to educate through exposure and representation. We want to create a space where queer people can feel validated and recognized, and cisgender heterosexual people can learn by listening. It's sort of like a chat among queer folx that cishets can listen in on. Plus, we've had some listeners tell us that the podcast helped them discover their own queer identities!
Jenn: We've really shifted our focus to lifting up queer voices and letting individuals talk about their experiences and stories. We still consider ourselves both a comedy and education podcast, but the number one goal is to let queer people of all kinds talk about what they want to talk about and send it out into the world where people can learn, empathize, or discover something about themselves through listening.
Q: What do you enjoy most about the process of producing My Gay Agenda?
CJ: I love meeting all our guests! We've had the privilege to talk to over fifty queer people about their unique experiences and identities. I'm constantly grateful people choose to share their stories with us.
Jenn: I’m biased as the self-proclaimed ‘camp counselor’ of the show, but I really enjoy developing the silly mini-games we play with our guests at the end of each episode. Half the time they’re less ‘games’ and more jumping off points for all of us to make more jokes, but they’re always fun to develop and they help us end the show on a lighter, whimsical note, especially when we end up discussing something heavy.
Q: You've done live shows before - what makes a live show particularly special (and how does it compare to the performances you do outside of these live tapings?
CJ: Live shows are where we go beyond the interview format of our regular episodes! Past ones have included a quiz show and an open forum on how gay the city of Philadelphia is. Plus, at the end of each live show, we ask the audience for suggestions of what to put on the Gay Agenda, and that always gets some fun and interesting responses (like mandatory astrology charts, milkshakes, etc.).
Jenn: Lately, we’ve really been exploring different formats for the live shows and I love mixing it up and bringing in the audience! What’s special about MGA live shows is that they’re always different and always full of camaraderie and laughter.
Also, sometimes people sing along to the theme song and that’s pretty neat
Q: What are you most excited about Philly PodFest?
CJ: I'm excited about our unique location at the National Liberty Museum! How many times do you get to do a podcast episode in a museum?
Jenn: Philly Podfest is where we did our first ever live show, so I’m super excited to return! I’m excited to bring our show to new audience members, and, honestly, to see as many other shows as I can!