Queer Youth Podcast ‘I’m Feeling Queer Today’ Returns for Season 4
Queer youth take the mic in the podcast “I’m Feeling Queer Today,” which returns for its fourth season on July 30.
The podcast is one of the tentpole offerings from “The Future Perfect Project,” a nonprofit co-founded by Celeste Lecesne, who also co-founded The Trevor Project.
But while The Trevor Project offers crisis intervention and advocacy for queer youth, its sister organization focuses on a different goal: free professional artistic mentorship to give queer youth a creative and artistic outlet.
“We cannot forget about the arts,” said The Future Perfect executive director David Artavia. “Our big mission is showing that the arts are crisis intervention and always have been. We’re trying to remind the world to give young people an opportunity [for artistic expression] so that it doesn’t turn into a crisis. Art has always been that for people, and when it gets defunded, those opportunities become fewer.”
“I’m Feeling Queer Today” is hosted and produced by LGBTQ+ young people ages 16 to 22 who live all over the U.S. Over 12 episodes, the hosts sit down with artists shaping queer culture like drag queen Pattie Gonia, actor and comedian Oscar Montoya (“Dimension 20,” “Minx”), writers Armistead Maupin, Tessa Barcelo and Gio Navas (“The Bookish Songs Collective”) and archivist and historian Donna Albino.
“The young people who find their way to The Future Perfect Project come because they have something to say to the world,” said co-founder Lecesne in an email interview. “Art is this deep driving desire that motivates them to reach out beyond themselves and become part of our ever-expanding network. No one needs to tell young people that creativity is a human right; they are living proof. They feel it in their bodies and they live it with their lives. All you have to do is take a look at some of their work on our website to know that this is true. By daring to express themselves, they are showing us what the future looks like, sounds like, feels like.”
What’s on season 4 of the “I’m Feeling Queer Today” podcast?
Season 4 of the podcast is broken into four sections of episodes airing every other week, focusing on queer literature, drag, queer fantasticals and journalism and radio. The hosts of this season are Alex K. Masse, Eric Eubank, Lily Ariel Mueller, Parker Mackenzie, Samuel Smalls Jr., and Zorian Edwards. The outline is as follows:
- Queer Lit (July 30 to Aug. 27): Featuring writers Armistead Maupin, Tessa Barcelo and Gio Navas of “The Bookish Songs Collective” on LGBTQ+ people in books
- Drag (Sept. 10 – Sept. 24): Featuring drag artist Pattiegonia, Junior Mintt, drag archivist Sarah Calise, The Lexapro, Klondyke, and Paradox, on craft and joy in the drag art form
- Queer Fantasticals (Oct. 8 – Nov. 19): Featuring actor and comedian Oscar Montoya, speaking on fantasy writers building worlds where queer kids get to be heroes
- Journalism and Radio (Dec. 3 – Dec. 31): Featuring archivist and historian Donna Albino, speaking on telling queer stories for a living
In each season of the podcast, the cohort records for eight months and coordinates with producers to complete the project. By the end of the season, participants can use the podcast as clips to continue their artistic careers.
“These young people are so talented,” Artavia said. “They are so creative and they have nowhere to put it, because there’s nothing around them that is supportive of their creative obsessions. We help them develop their voice, whatever their artistic expression is. That’s why we really give them the mic here for the podcast, and encourage them to find the topics they’re passionate about.”
Artavia also said he hopes to push The Future Perfect Project into more of a spotlight this season and “tell the world what we’ve been doing all this time.” Ideally, the nonprofit will be able to form more coalitions with other partner organizations and facilitate more incubators.
“We are in a defunding crisis, and now is the time for everyone to say this,” Artavia said. “So many kids have told us, ‘adults care about me dying but no one seems to care about me living.’ Queer youth need expression and activities and something to do. That’s where we’re trying to fill that gap.”
You can find “I’m Feeling Queer Today” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re interested in The Future Perfect Project’s programming, you can sign up for the mailing list here. To apply for the fall 2026 Writer’s Room, click here. For more information on The Future Perfect Project or to apply for upcoming programs, visit thefutureperfectproject.org.
