Introduction
Welcome to the first episode of Full Cow, a podcast about leather and kink where your host, Edge (he/him), shares his 30+ years of experience in the community. Each episode focuses on a theme and our theme this time is, fittingly, origins.
In the first segment, Edge discusses the origins of his own leather journey, drawing insights from that narrative to offer larger lessons about the community and how it operates. Then, in the second segment, we discuss the classic origin story for the gay male American leather community, the Old Guard, thinking about not just what it was but also what it does in the community still today. Finally, for our third segment we will be talking about Matt as he shares the origins of his journey into submission.
Related Links
If you want to know more about the Old Guard, here are some resources I would recommend:
- “The Old Guard: Classical Leather Culture Revisited,” by Guy Baldwin. Baldwin is an important community leader and actually lived Old Guard so I tend to go to him as an authoritative source.
- “The Leather Restoration: Sacred Cows Make The Best Hamburger,” by Guy Baldwin. This speech is not without controversy but I think it opens important conversations even though it’s now twenty years old.
- “The Old Guard,” by Guy Baldwin. One final piece from Baldwin. Super hard to read with that background, I know.
- Leatherfolk, by Mark Thompson. This is an incredible anthology in general but “One Among Many” by Thom Magister, which is an insightful and incredibly moving personal history.
Chapterrs
0:38Introduction3:18Edge’s Origins15:32Old Guard28:06Interview with Matt50:09Outro