What’s It Like To Be Gay In China? with Dr. Travis S. K. Kong

What’s It Like To Be Gay In China? with Dr. Travis S. K. Kong

Author: Sony Music Entertainment / Jonathan Van Ness June 21, 2023 Duration: 1:11:30
What do 90 young, gay men in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have in common? They’ve all spent years sharing their stories with this week’s guest: Dr. Travis S. K. Kong. He joins Jonathan as part of our Pride Beyond Borders series to discuss what it’s like to be queer in each of these places—and share his interviewees’ coming out stories, their experiences with sex and dating, and their senses of intergenerational queer community. Travis S. K. Kong is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Chinese Male Homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi and Golden Boy (Routledge 2011), Oral Histories of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong (Hong Kong University Press, 2019) and Sexuality and the Rise of China: The Post-1990s Gay Generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China (Duke University Press 2023). Curious for more? Check out the rest of our Pride Beyond Borders series: Is Queerness Divine? (Part One) with Dr. Eziaku Nwokocha Is Queerness Divine? (Part Two) with Dr. Eziaku Nwokocha What Are The Global Politics of Drag? with Professor Kareem Khubchandani And learn about Early China in parts one and two of our conversation with Professor Jue Guo. Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Find books from past Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn. Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo and Emily Bossak. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know that feeling when you’re just trying to figure it all out, and you need a guide who’s equal parts insightful and hilarious? That’s the space where Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness lives. Hosted by the beloved Jonathan Van Ness of Queer Eye, this podcast turns genuine curiosity into a powerful engine for personal growth. Each episode feels like a vibrant conversation with a deeply empathetic friend who isn’t afraid to ask the big, awkward, or wonderfully silly questions. Jonathan sits down with a diverse array of experts, authors, and thinkers, weaving together discussions that are as enlightening as they are unexpectedly funny. The result is a unique blend of education, comedy, and culture that tackles everything from societal issues to the intimate details of self-improvement. You’ll find yourself laughing one moment and having a profound revelation the next, all while feeling less alone in the challenges of modern life. This isn’t about quick fixes; it’s about the ongoing, messy, and beautiful process of understanding ourselves and the world. Produced in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, the podcast delivers consistently engaging audio experiences that are both a lifeline and a joy. Tune in for a weekly dose of warmth, wit, and the kind of conversations that leave you feeling genuinely better equipped to navigate your own path.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness
Podcast Episodes
How Do Cults Fashion Themselves? with Sarah C. Byrd [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:47
Let’s say you pass a group of people dressed identically. Are they a) following a trend, b) wearing uniforms, or c) in a cult? And who’s to say the answer can’t be all of the above? This week, we’re diving fabric first i…
What’s In A Scent? with Michelle Pfeiffer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:38
Treat this episode like a spritz of your favorite fragrance. Let the beauty talk consume you. Linger on the film industry stories. Stay for the base notes of Jonathan in disbelief that our guest is literally Michelle Pfe…
How Did Queer People Experience Nazi Germany? with Dr. W. Jake Newsome [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:39
In 1871, Germany adopted an anti-sodomy statute called Paragraph 175. Sixty years later, the Nazis broadened that law—and it quickly became the basis for persecuting Germany’s queer population. When World War II ended, P…
Can Asteroids Rock Our World? with Christina Hernández and Terik Daly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:18
It's a beautiful night—the sky is clear, the stars are twinkling. You see a shooting star! Or is it a comet! Maybe a meteor? Whatever it is, it’s gone in an instant. But what if that whirring bit of space were headed...…
How Did You Develop Such Amazing Taste? (ICYMI) with Sohla El-Waylly [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:21
We’re spending this week cooking up some incredible fall programming. To tide you over, here’s a re-air of our episode with Sohla El-Waylly, all about cooking basics, ancient recipes, and Sohla and Jonathan’s shared affi…
What’s The Meaning Of “Raizado”? with Mónica Ramírez [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:22
There are more than 62 million Latine people living in the United States. Some are US-born, others are recent immigrants, and still more have had family members here for centuries—living on land that was once part of Mex…
How Legendary Is The Milky Way? with Dr. Moiya McTier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:44
Gossip Galaxy here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of the universe’s elite. I have it on *expert* authority that the Milky Way is stirring up cosmic drama. Has this Local Group galaxy had enough of it…