
Just Trust Us on This Queer Historical Romance Ep, It Rules
From Culture Study Podcast by Anne Helen Petersen
March 4, 2026 · 60 min · Episode 115
About this episode
The episode features a discussion on queer historical romance with guest Cat Sebastian, exploring the contrasts between historical and contemporary romance narratives.
When I first came up for the idea for the Culture Study Romance Book Club back in January, I knew I wanted every edition to have two books: one contemporary, and one historical. Part of this desire was selfish (I personally gravitate towards historicals) but I also wanted to explore the contrast between what you can do with a romance set in the past (with its particular confines) and one set in the present (with seemingly none, but actually so many). I also knew that I wanted to start with M/M romances (hi, Heated Rivalry) and that Melody had sung the very loud praises of renowned historical queer romance author Cat Sebastian's mid-century queer romance — particularly You Should Be So Lucky, which managed to combine baseball (one of Melody's true loves) with romance (Melody's secondary love). And listeners, I hope this is clear: when it comes to so many things, but romance in particular, I listen to Melody! And when Melody asked if we should try and get Cat on the pod, I said "obvi please try." AND THEN SHE MADE IT HAPPEN. This remains a total marvel of hosting a podcast: sometimes the people you admire so deeply... can also come on your pod. This is a long preamble to the…
People in this episode
Host: Anne Helen Petersen
Guest: Cat Sebastian
Topics covered
- queer historical romance
- M/M romance
- book club
- contrast between historical and contemporary romance
- Cat Sebastian
Keywords
- queer romance
- historical romance
- M/M
- Cat Sebastian
- romance book club
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Heated Rivalry, You Should Be So Lucky
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