The Lavender Tavern is a (mostly) single-narrator storytelling podcast set in a tavern somewhere fantastical. Each episode the listener stumbles into the tavern’s warm atmosphere, a crackling fire and happy music drifting around the room, and is welcomed by a bartender with many gay fairtales to share. Out of fiction the show’s a simple mix of lightly sound-designed intro/outro segments around an audiobook-style narration of the week’s short story. While it’s possible for outside folks to submit short stories for episodes, showrunner Jonathan Cohen’s many short stories establish the baseline for what the world of The Lavender Tavern feels like. A series of half-hour stories (with the occasional hour long two-parter) that follow the fairy tale tradition of being just vague enough to happen almost anywhere and at any time. 

In that way, The Lavender Tavern’s stories narrated by a rotating cast of calming narrators dovetail nicely with sleep-focused storytelling podcasts. One could add a dash of gay fantasy into a playlist otherwise populated with shows like Sleep With Me or On a Cold, Dark Night and it’d fit in perfectly. The roaring fire and endless stories of the tavern await, if you just care to make the trip.

We were fortunate to talk with Cohen about the podcast, how they differentiate from other podcasts, and their future plans in podcasting. See below for our full Q&A.

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DISCOVER PODS: How’d you get into podcasting?

COHEN: Lying in bed in the hospital for a couple of months in 2020, recovering from major surgery, I knew I finally wanted to get back to my fiction writing after a twenty-year absence. Podcasting offered a unique combination of being able to get my words out there quickly, without much gatekeeping, and in a format and style that worked with my stories.

DISCOVER PODS: In your own words, why should listeners tune in to The Lavender Tavern?

COHEN: If you remember as a child being told stories of castles in the sky, of people on horseback exploring and fighting and loving, of creatures and monsters to befriend and learn from, and of worlds where words can cast a spell or heal a broken heart, then you’ll enjoy The Lavender Tavern. It’s an inclusive, diverse world of fairytales with a focus on queer representation and a positive, humanist outlook. Join us in the Tavern for a drink and a story – all are welcome.

Read more: 10 Podcasts for the Queer Community and Their Allies

DISCOVER PODS: What kind of feedback have you heard from your listeners?

COHEN: I think the meta-feedback is that it’s comforting. We get comments about how funny and thought-provoking the episodes are, but at the core, the experience of listening is like sitting around a campfire, hearing someone tell a story. “Once upon a time…” are four very powerful words in the English language. When you hear them, you know you’re about to be taken on a special journey.

DISCOVER PODS: Describe your recording set up? What equipment are you using?

COHEN: I use a pretty bog-standard Windows PC + gaming mic setup. The voice actors have their own setup that Faustian Nonsense, our podcast network, has recommended.

DISCOVER PODS: What’s the biggest challenge you face as an indie podcaster?

COHEN: There are nearly a million podcasts out there. Without a huge advertising and promotion budget, it’s an interesting challenge to break through the noise and find listeners. We’re lucky because we have a unique concept that speaks to people as soon as they hear it – original gay fairy tales (I go back and forth on including the world ‘adult’ because it makes it sound sexual, when all I’m doing is saying that they’re not really for children). There isn’t another podcast out there doing the same thing, so we’ve got the benefits – and challenges – of carving out our own niche.

DISCOVER PODS: Where do you want to take your podcast?

COHEN: I wrote all of Season One – about 70,000 words. But I’m only one person, with one perspective. My stories are mostly about gay men, because that’s who I am. There are others out there with different points of view, and Lavender Tavern needs to hear from them: different genders, sexualities, and belief systems. When I created the podcast, I was hungering for new, different stories about people like me… and that’s what I hope The Lavender Tavern can bring to its audience.

DISCOVER PODS: What other podcasts are you listening to now?

COHEN: I’m lucky to be part of a great podcast network – I’m now listening to Ghosts on a Train (and discovering the pleasures of Actual Play podcasts), a hilarious Irish sci-fi comedy called The Green Horizon, and a unique metaphysical drama called Chain of Being. Since they’re part of my network, I get the privilege of listening to the episodes, then chatting with the creators and voice actors on our Faustian Nonsense Discord server (you’re welcome to join us!). It’s a type of access that’s hard to find in other media.

Read more: How Friends At The Table Spreads Around Authorship

DISCOVER PODS: Anything else you’d like to add?

COHEN: Podcasting feels very democratic, even with the large companies and sums of money being spent on it recently. As long as you’ve got a microphone – even your phone will do – you can record your thoughts and dreams and put them up for others to listen to. It reminds me of the Web back in the mid-90s, at the dawn of the public Internet. I can’t wait to hear what happens next.

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