The Log Books

Adam and Tash are joined in this episode by Diana James, who discovered herself as a dyke in the 80s and joined Switchboard as its first trans volunteer.  Diana discusses what she learnt as she handled phone calls from distressed queer people, and how the older and younger generations need to support each other. Buy our book or see our events listings: The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened. Hosted and produced by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith The voice of the log books: Serena James Assistant producer: Marnie Woodmeade  Engineer: David Pye Music: Tom Fosket-Barnes Original artwork: Natalie Doto Thanks to the Bishopsgate Institute; our publisher, Faber Books; the dreamboats at Acast; the staff and volunteers at Switchboard, and all the contributors who shared their stories. Episode transcripts available here. Call Switchboard on 0800 0119 100, email [email protected] or instant message via www.switchboard.lgbt. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tash and Adam hear from Ruth Turner, who qualified as a teacher in the 1980s at the height of a destructive public debate over gay and lesbian rights.  Ruth recalls the chilling effect of Section 28, the law that forbade her from supporting queer students, and helps Tash to reckon with their own experience in school. Buy our book or see our events listings: The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened. Hosted and produced by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith The voice of the log books: Serena James Assistant producer: Marnie Woodmeade  Engineer: David Pye Music: Tom Fosket-Barnes Original artwork: Natalie Doto Thanks to the Bishopsgate Institute; our publisher, Faber Books; the dreamboats at Acast; the staff and volunteers at Switchboard, and all the contributors who shared their stories. Episode transcripts available here. Call Switchboard on 0800 0119 100, email [email protected] or instant message via www.switchboard.lgbt. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam and Tash’s first guest is John Lindsay, one of the founders of Switchboard, the national LGBTQIA+ helpline.  John takes us back to the first night in the phoneroom in 1974, when a ragtag gang of queers listened out for that first phone call. Buy our book or see our events listings: The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline that Listened. Hosted and produced by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith The voice of the log books: Serena James Assistant producer: Marnie Woodmeade  Engineer: David Pye Music: Tom Fosket-Barnes Original artwork: Natalie Doto Thanks to the Bishopsgate Institute; our publisher, Faber Books; the dreamboats at Acast; the staff and volunteers at Switchboard, and all the contributors who shared their stories. Episode transcripts available here. Call Switchboard on 0800 0119 100, email [email protected] or instant message via www.switchboard.lgbt. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK’s best LGBTQ+ history podcast is BACK. After three groundbreaking seasons from 2019-22, featuring the unique archives at Switchboard, winning a string of awards, we’re returning with a new season. We are Adam Zmith and Tash Walker, hosts and producers, and your guides into queer memories and countless, essential stories. The all-new season of The Log Books will feature intimate interviews we’ve done as research for our book, which will be published by Faber on January 29th 2026. We thought: we can’t fit everything into the book, so let’s bring back the podcast! THE LOG BOOKS season 4 is produced by Aunt Nell in partnership with Faber Books.  New episodes from January 1st. Hit follow or subscribe so you don’t miss them! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Quilt: Living memories of queer Britain & Northern Ireland  An audio exhibition open to anyone, anywhere, at any time of day, produced and hosted by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith.  Born from a collaboration between the producers of the award-winning podcast The Log Books and the UK’s first and only LGBTQ+ museum Queer Britain, challenges who and what makes queer history.  The series takes the listener on a journey across the UK, collecting queer memories, from queer people. The Quilt weaves together all these stories and histories, into a beautiful documentary patchwork series.  The Quilt is an audio archive for the future. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/thelogbooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.