Journalist and media personality LZ Granderson had his best week ever last week. Not only did his podcast Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson return for a second season on Thursday, January 20, but a day earlier, Life Out Loud was selected for a special recognition award in the upcoming 33rd annual GLAAD Media Awards. Granderson took to his Twitter account on Wednesday to celebrate his award by praising his team.
Feels good to have the team’s work recognized 🙏🏾 https://t.co/zNE7EqPMIz
— LZ Granderson (@LZGranderson) January 20, 2022
The official press release announcing the second season of Granderson’s podcast explained:
In season two, ABC News contributor and Emmy® Award-winning journalist LZ Granderson explores timely topics that impact the LGBTQ+ community, ranging from queer friendships, body positivity, non-monogamy, religion, parenting and on-screen representation.
Among the guests Granderson speaks to in upcoming episodes of Life Out Loud season 2, according to the press release are Jody Watley, Dan Savage, Ts Madison, Daniel Franzese, and many others. Topics covered in the podcast’s second season are queer friendships, body positivity, non-monogamy, religion, parenting and on-screen representation.
In the first episode of Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson season 2, “Community,” Granderson speaks with Chasten Buttigieg, Golden Globe-winning actress Ariana DeBose, and GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis about being LGBTQ+ in rural America. When speaking to DeBose, Granderson asks the actress what it was like for her in rural America as a queer person. DeBose answers:
“For the longest time, it wasn’t on my radar… I didn’t see examples of it and that sounds crazy, but, you know, in New York, you walk down the street. You see a lovely gay couple holding hands or two girls holding hands or some couple being affectionate. There were no public displays of affection aside from a child to their parent or their grandparent. Growing up, I just didn’t see public displays of affection between same sex couples and so therefore, my brain, it was like a real thing but it wasn’t a real thing until I really got into the dance world. And the dance world it opened me up to my own sexuality. In fact, I think that was my window into discovering parts of myself because I speak dance better than I speak English and it’s so easy for me to show care and love for someone, to fall in love with someone through dance, to be perfectly honest. And that’s when I realized, ‘Oh my gosh! I’m attracted to different types of people and it doesn’t matter what their gender is and this woman is stunning. Her form is beautiful. Her heart is beautiful. Her soul is beautiful.’ And I was like ‘Oh!’ So that was my window into it… I do feel like queerness was not talked about and then when I moved away from North Carolina is when I really got to explore my sexuality…”
Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson is available for free on major listening platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, Audacy and the ABC News app. New episodes drop on Thursdays.
Sources: GLAAD, LZ Granderson Official Twitter Account, ABC News Public Relations,
