u/ThatAverageJo

Day 2 of Scotland we left Glasgow to visit the Highlands. Saw Loch Ness, highland cows and ate some great food!

We started at Giant’s Causeway and it honestly doesn’t even look real in person. Like you’ve probably seen pictures, but standing on those weird perfectly shaped stones right on the edge of the ocean is a whole different thing. It’s super windy, waves crashing everywhere, and you’re just hopping around on these hexagon rocks like… how does this even exist?? I kept thinking it looked like something ancient or man-made even though it’s not.

Also, the walk down there is way longer than it looks, so just be ready for that. Worth it though, especially if you like dramatic scenery.

Then we hit The Dark Hedges and yeah… it’s exactly as moody and slightly creepy as you’d hope. Those trees are all twisted and leaning over the road like a tunnel. Even in the middle of the day it had that eerie vibe. You half expect something to come walking out of the fog even when there isn’t any.

One thing though, it’s smaller than it looks online. Like don’t expect miles of trees, it’s more of a quick stop. But still 100% worth seeing in person, especially if you’re into that whole gothic/fantasy aesthetic.

Listen To The Full Story Here: bio.site/beerswithqueers

It was supposed to be a cheap night out at a baseball game, the kind of gimmick designed to fill seats and get people talking. On July 12, 1979, fans poured into Comiskey Park in Chicago with disco records in hand, lured by a promotion that promised those records would be blown up between games for the price of a 98-cent ticket. What no one could quite predict, or maybe no one wanted to admit, was how much tension had already been building long before the first record ever hit that crate.

By the late 1970s, disco had become more than just a genre. It had grown out of underground clubs and into something visible, something powerful, something that centered communities who had long been pushed to the margins. Queer people, Black and Latino communities, and anyone who had ever felt out of place elsewhere found something in disco that felt like freedom. That visibility, however, came with a cost, especially as the music exploded into the mainstream and began dominating radio, charts, and pop culture.

Backlash followed, and it wasn’t subtle. A growing number of rock fans began framing disco as something invasive, something that didn’t belong, something that needed to be pushed back against. At the center of that resistance was Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl, who had turned his own career frustrations into a loud, performative rejection of disco culture. When he partnered with the Chicago White Sox to stage Disco Demolition Night, the event carried an energy that went far beyond a harmless stunt.

The crowd that night reflected that energy. The stadium filled beyond capacity, with tens of thousands inside and even more trying to get in. The mood was already volatile before the main event began, shaped by alcohol, anticipation, and a shared sense that this was more than just entertainment. When the crate of records was finally detonated in center field, sending shards of vinyl into the air and tearing into the grass below, it acted less like a spectacle and more like a trigger.

Within moments, the field was overrun. Thousands of fans surged past security, flooding onto the grass and turning the stadium into chaos. Equipment was destroyed, fires were set, and the game itself became secondary to what was unfolding in real time. It took police intervention to regain control, and by the end of the night, the damage was so severe that the second game of the doubleheader had to be forfeited.

But what makes this story linger isn’t just the riot.

It’s what that riot seemed to represent.

Because for many watching, both then and now, Disco Demolition Night felt like more than a backlash against music. Disco was deeply tied to queer nightlife, to Black artistry, to Latino culture, and to spaces where identity could be expressed openly. The anger directed at disco didn’t exist in a vacuum, and the crowd that night reflected broader cultural tensions about who was being seen, heard, and celebrated.

In the months that followed, disco’s presence in mainstream culture began to fade, at least on the surface. Radio stations shifted formats, record labels pivoted, and the genre that had once dominated seemed to retreat just as quickly as it had risen. Some would later argue that Disco Demolition Night accelerated that decline, while others insist the shift was already underway.

But culture doesn’t disappear so easily.

It changes shape. It moves underground. It reemerges in new forms, often in the very cities where it was once rejected. In Chicago, the same energy that fueled disco would help give rise to house music, a genre built on similar foundations of community, rhythm, and liberation.

And that’s where the story becomes something more than a chaotic night at a ballpark.

Because the question isn’t just whether this was the night disco died.

It’s whether this was a moment when something deeper surfaced, something about fear, identity, and who gets to define culture when it starts to shift.

Beers With Queers: A True Crime Podcast 🍻🌈🔪
Welcome to Beers With Queers, the true crime podcast where we dive into the darkest, most twisted cases and involving the LGBTQ+ community and always with a queer perspective. Hosted by Jordi and Brad, we cover everything from notorious serial killers to unsolved mysteries, cults, and bizarre crimes.
Join us for in-depth storytelling, chilling details, queer history and really gay commentary. So, whether you're here for the crimes, the beers, or the queers, you're in the right place. So, grab a drink, get cozy, and let’s talk true crime!
🔔 Subscribe now and never miss an episode!
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible or wherever you get your podcasts

TAGS: Disco Demolition Night 1979, Chicago Comiskey Park riot story, death of disco history, LGBTQ disco culture origins, anti disco backlash America 1970s, Steve Dahl radio controversy, Chicago White Sox riot night, disco vs rock cultural conflict, queer nightlife history disco era, Black Latino roots of disco music, disco demolition controversy meaning, July 12 1979 baseball riot, house music origins Chicago disco, anti disco movement racism homophobia debate, disco demolition night legacy, queer music history turning point, disco cultural impact decline, Chicago riot music history, disco demolition night podcast story, Beers With Queers disco episode

Beers With Queers True Crime And History Podcast is headed on a grand adventure to Ireland and Scotland. We are spending a week in each and we will keep you up to date with our shenanigans each day. Today was our first taste of Dublin and we had to check out some of the gay clubs of course like The George, PantiBar, Street 66 and Pennylane to name a few.

Also don't worry the podcast will still run right on schedule! bio.site/beerswithqueers

Patients trusted him with their lives. Instead, they were slowly dying under his care.

Behind a hospital smile lurked one of the most prolific medical serial killers in American history.

In the 1970s and 80s, hospital orderly Donald Harvey quietly moved between patient rooms in hospitals across Ohio and Kentucky. To coworkers, he seemed gentle, soft-spoken, helpful, even compassionate. But behind closed doors, something far darker was unfolding. Over nearly two decades, dozens of vulnerable patients died under suspicious circumstances as Harvey poisoned food, tampered with oxygen, and suffocated those who trusted him to care for them.

In this episode of this LGBTQ+ true crime podcast, we dive into the chilling story of the man known as the “Angel of Death.” We examine how Harvey’s crimes went unnoticed for years, the culture of silence inside medical institutions, and how a single autopsy would finally expose one of the most disturbing murder sprees in modern hospital history. Along the way, we also explore Harvey’s life as a gay man in an era when secrecy and stigma shaped the lives of many queer people, raising complex questions about identity, isolation, and the systems that failed to stop him.

Hosted by Jordi and Brad, Beers With Queers brings chilling crimes, queer stories, and twisted justice to light, all with a cold one in hand.

Press play, grab a drink, and join us as we uncover the darkest corners of LGBTQ+ history.

www.beerswithqueers.net

For generations of LGBTQ+ Americans, a simple night out could mean a huge risk. But the local gay bar offered safety, community, resistance, and eventually revolution.

Long before Pride parades and marriage equality, queer bars were the beating heart of LGBTQ life in America. Hidden behind unmarked doors and dim neon lights, these spaces offered something the outside world often refused: safety, connection, and the freedom to exist. From underground gatherings in the 1800s to legendary spaces like the Stonewall Inn, queer bars became sanctuaries where community was built and where history was made. Police raids were common, discrimination was constant, and simply dancing with someone of the same sex could lead to arrest. Yet within these walls, a movement quietly grew.

In this episode of Beers With Queers, we’re joined by the hosts of Cruising Podcast, Rachel Karp and Sarah Gabrielli to explore the powerful history and cultural importance of queer bars across the United States. Together we explore why these bars were never just nightlife, but a lifelines. We discuss the decline of not only the number of gay bars in the US but the lack of dependency of them in the digital age. We also discuss Cruising Podcast's amazing 10K, one month road trip across America to visit each of the 25 lesbian bars left in the country as well their new book The Lesbian Bar Chronicles coming to anywhere you buy books May 2026.

Hosted by Jordi and Brad, Beers With Queers brings chilling crimes, queer stories, and twisted justice to light—all with a cold one in hand.

Press play, grab a drink, and join us as we uncover the darkest corners of LGBTQ+ history.

From the Cruising website: https://www.cruisingpod.com/

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 1 (2021-2022):

3 queer women, 1 Honda SUV, and the last lesbian bars in America. In 2021 there were less than 25 of these spaces left in the country. Season 1 of Cruising follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on a cross-country road trip to visit each of these bars. Through interviews with staff, owners, and community members, Cruising tells the stories of the humans that own these bars and the humans that call them a home.

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 2 (2023-2024):

Since Cruising launched in 2021, EIGHT new lesbian bars have opened across the country. In Season 2, Cruising takes listeners to each of these new bars and travels back in time to explore lesbian bars of decades past. From 1930s San Francisco to 1990s New Orleans to present day Chicago, Season 2 brings even more stories from the humans that call these spaces home.

CRUISING PODCAST SEASON 3 (2025-present):

In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces — from bookstores to farms to peace encampments and more!

Cruising is deeply committed to honest and unbiased journalism.

WHO IS CRUISING PODCAST FOR?

Cruising is a podcast for everyone. We are a TERF-free, anti-racist zone. We have zero-tolerance for transphobia and racism. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary people. Gender is a spectrum.

WHAT IS A LESBIAN BAR?

Our working definition of “lesbian bar” is: a space that is created by and for queer folks of historically + presently marginalized genders.