Drag Before RuPaul’s Drag Race: The Cultural History of NYC Drag with Elyssa Goodman

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For the 249th episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes journalist and author Elyssa Goodman.

Elyssa is the author of Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City, a sweeping look at more than 150 years of drag—from 19th-century male impersonators and mafia-run clubs to the rise of RuPaul’s Drag Race and today’s political backlash. Through rich archival research and interviews with contemporary performers, Elyssa reveals drag as not just spectacle, but survival strategy, community lifeline, and radical art form.

In this episode, we talk about the forgotten history of drag kings, how queer communities carved out space under criminalization, the impact of mainstream visibility, and why today’s moral panic around drag is part of a cyclical pattern. We also get into what gives Elyssa hope about the future of drag. This episode is a glitter-soaked reminder that gender has always been a performance—and that drag, in its many-splendored forms, has always been here.

For more from today's guest, Elyssa Goodman:

• Buy Elyssa's book Glitter and Concrete
• Follow Elyssa on Instagram @missmanhattanny
• Subscribe to Elyssa's Substack, Miss Manhattan www.miss-manhattan.com

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