Dennis connects via Zoom with actor Sam Pancake to discuss his show Pancakes from the Edge , which is loosely inspired by his obsession with the film Postcards From the Edge. He talks about meeting Shirley MacLaine and watching her rip into Richard Dreyfus for being late to reading. He also talks about his recent mainstream Hollywood projects like A Million Little Things , The Goldbergs and the upcoming Chris Pine film Poolman. He also tells the story of how he asked Chris Pine to come and play ...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and blogger Matthew Rettenmund to talk about the brand new revised edition of his book Encyclopedia Madonnica, which is just like it sounds, a 700+ page guidebook for all things Madonna. He talks about the starting work on the first edition of the book back in 1995, what makes this new edition special, the process of choosing the photos and why he chose to make a hardcover edition for the first time. He also recalls his first exposure to Madonna, his massive c...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 37 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with his lifelong friend Michelle Willis who in her three decades plus as a sweepstakes and contest enthusiast has won 787 different prizes, including trips, cash, meet-n-greets with celebrities like Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa, a zero gravity flight experience and an ugly holiday sweater, courtesy of Nutella. Michelle talks about how she first got bit by the contest bug back in her hometown of Holbrook, Arizona, when she and Dennis would listen to the Top 20 Countdown ...
Sep 22, 2022•48 min
In this special episode, Dennis recounts his recent high school reunion weekend in Holbrook, Arizona and gathers four of his classmates: Mark, Debra, Diana and J.D. around a picnic table to recall graduation night 1982 when they all went skinny-dipping in Dennis’s family’s pool. Dennis also describes being reunited with his boxed version of The Match Game TV show from the mid-1970s and discovers questions that he wrote back in the 1970’s inside, which means he’s been writing MisMatch Game questi...
Sep 15, 2022•31 min
In his first in-person interview since February 2020, Dennis is joined at home by GayVN-winning adult film actor Joel Someone. Joel talks about his first failed attempt to get into porn, which ended with a producer saying, “You’re over 28 and you don’t have abs,” and how he eventually found a home in the industry. He also talks about the need to constantly generate new content for his fan sites, the difference between Only Fans and Just 4 Fans and why he’d rather do a “hot-wife-ing scene” than a...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 21 min
As a tribute to the late great Olivia Newton-John, Dennis revisits this conversation from early 2020 with performer John Cantwell on the eve of his ONJ inspired spectacular A Little More Love Connie . John recalls the road trip to Houston he took recently where he listened to Olivia's entire catalog and didn't repeat a song until he got to San Antonio. Then Dennis and John then discuss their favorite ONJ tracks, getting to meet her, the unique quality of her voice, mispronouncing the word Xanadu...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr
Dennis connects via Zoom with actor Rodney To who plays Uncle Arthur in the new film Easter Sunday , an ensemble comedy about a Filipino-American family in Daly City, California celebrating Easter together. Rodney talks about how he came to be cast in the film, working with star Jo Koy, the red carpet outfit he had custom made for the occasion and the pressure he and his fellow cast members to make sure the movie is successful so Hollywood will make more of them. He also talks about his second c...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 21 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer-performer Will Nolan to discuss his show Gay History for Straight People hosted by his drag alter ego Leona, a 72 year old Southern lesbian who works at the Piggly Wiggly and is obsessed with Kelly Clarkson. Dennis first met Will when Will was a producer on the syndicated LGBT radio show Twist, which Dennis co-hosted from 2006 to 2008. Will talks about how he got into performing after her turned 40, where the character of Leola comes from, the reactions he’s g...
Aug 09, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with photographer Gabriel Goldberg to talk about his Instagram account Hollywood Bruisers and the gallery show it spawned called "Coming of Age," which shows at the E Lesh gallery in Provincetown on August 11 through the 19th. Gabriel talks about the "seeds of gay desire" that inspired the show, where he finds his models, being bossy behind the camera and drawing inspiration from vintage Colt magazines, Farrah Fawcett and classic gay porn movie Spokes . He also talks abo...
Aug 04, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with author and sex columnist Alexander Cheves to discuss his book My Love Is a Beast: Confessions , a collection of autobiographical essays about everything from his brutal coming out to going to bathhouses instead of dance clubs in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting to seeing the legendary Lady Chablis perform the first time he ever set foot in a gay club. Alex also talks about his unique writing process and how he has to speak something out loud before he can co...
Jul 28, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Blair Fell to discuss is terrific debut novel The Sign For Home, which is about the friendship that develops between a headstrong deaf blind Jehovah Witness college student and the stuck-in-his-life, middle-aged gay man who is hired to be his interpreter. Blair talks about the eight years it took to write the book, the bidding war that unfolded when it went out to publishers, crying while recording the audio version, the times he almost gave up and the writers...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by model-actor-artist-costumer designer John Coulter to discuss his appearance in the new documentary All Man: The International Male Story , which documents the rise and demise of the West Hollywood-based clothing store and mail-order catalog. In the interview, John recalls his first exposure to the IM catalog as a budding gay teen, how the IM crews were almost all straight, the fun of modeling flamboyant pieces he would never wear in real life and getting recognized o...
Jul 14, 2022•57 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by the cast of the hit play Tilda Swinton Answers An Ad On Craigslist for a few rousing rounds of You Don't Know My Life! The lineup includes Tom Lenk, Jayne Entwistle, Mark Jude Sullivan and Byron Lane who is also the playwright. Inspired by the play’s storyline of Tilda Swinton moving in with a gay guy in Weho, Dennis poses these questions: Describe a memorable encounter you've had with a celebrity and Roommate story. Go. The answers involve everything from animal hoa...
Jul 07, 2022•44 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Alex Liu, the co-director and star of the documentary A Sexplanation, in which he attempts to right the wrongs of his sorely inadequate American sex education by going on the road and talking with psychologists, sex researchers—and even a Jesuit priest. Alex talks about the shame and anger he felt for years around sex, hanging out with "sex nerds" at the Kinsey Institute and what it was like to masturbate on camera in an MRI machine for the film. Other topics include...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 34 min
DNR STUDIOS hosts E Bradshaw, Jaimie Kelton, Romaine Patterson, Adam Sank, Joselyn Contin, & Jonathan Valdez join host Dennis Hensley to play a special Pride Edition of You Don't Know My Life! Listen and laugh as the hosts serve up surprising and occasionally scandalous answers to the following two questions: YOU’RE WRITING AN ARTICLE BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE CALLED “A PRIDE TO REMEMBER.” WHAT HAPPENS IN IT? and WHAT’S A PROVOCATIVE INSCRIPTION OR IMAGE YOU’VE WORN ON A T-SHIRT. The answ...
Jun 23, 2022•46 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with filmmaker Peter McDowell whose documentary Jimmy In Saigon is showing at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, June 19th at 1:15 PM at the historic Castro Theater and will be available to stream nationwide through Frameline.org from June 24th to 30th. The Frameline program describes the film this way: "When his golden-haired, blue-eyed brother Jimmy mysteriously died in Vietnam in 1975, gay filmmaker Peter McDowell was just a kid, growing up within...
Jun 16, 2022•55 min
Dennis is joined via soon by Mark Nubar & Jason Arnold (AKA Shyboy) the musicians and club promoters behind the upcoming mash-up dance party Madonna Summer, which is returning for Pride on June 11th at the 10 ½ nightclub in Downtown Los Angeles. Jason and Mark talk about their love of diva wordplay, why the music of Donna Summer and Madonna work so well together, how both singers were pioneers in their own way and what it feels like behind the deejay booth when the crowd is going nuts for wh...
Jun 09, 2022•48 min
In a departure from the regular interview format, this episode features excerpts from a live stage show Dennis Hensley’s THE MISMATCH GAME on May 22, 2022. This was the night the show passed the $200,000-raiased mark since it’s debut in 2004. After being introduced and taking the stage, Dennis decided on a whim to record the proceedings using the audio recorder on his iPhone so the audio quality is not the best. Still, he hopes the episode gives you some laughs as well as a feeling for how thril...
Jun 02, 2022•42 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playright-director S. Asher Gelman and actor Noah Bridgestock from the 3-character play Afterflow , which is currently showing in Los Angeles. The play is about a gay married couple Josh (Noah) and Alex (played by James Hayden Rodriguez) whose relationship gets tested when they become romantically and sexually involved with a younger massage therapist. Asher discusses the origin of the story, which is based on his own experiences with polyamory, how the show has invo...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Dennis connects over Zoom with playwright, filmmaker and performer Del Shores to talk about his first novel The Sordid Lives Saga: Before the Trip , which features the characters from his hit play-turned-movie-turned-series Sordid Lives . He talks about how the book came about, his choice to write about his characters' lived before the events of the play, getting amazing fan art from Sordid enthusiasts and turning a condo in Palm Springs into a Sordid Lives -themed AirBNB. He also talks about hi...
May 19, 2022•58 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with Toren Heymann and Jonathan Agassi, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based filmmaker and subject of the new documentary Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life. The film documents about the rags-to-riches-to rags odyssey of Israeli porn performer Jonathan Agassi who rose to prominence in films like Men Of Israel, Trapped In The Game and Jonathan Agassi Goes Raw, all from director Michael Lucas. Jonathan talks about how he got into porn, the power that came with changing his name and the p...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 22 min
In a special crossover episode, Dennis flips the script and gets interviewed for another podcast, Lost Spaces hosted by London-based K Anderson. Lost Spaces is all about the wonderful LGBTQ spaces that are sadly no longer with us. Dennis talks about one of his favorite nightclubs ever, Oil Can Harry's in Studio City, CA. Here's the blurb from K's point of view: "So, I’m kinda fascinated with gay country and western bars, where people dress up in their finest cowperson garb, and square dance, two...
Apr 28, 2022•50 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by the cast and playwright of the new play Gaslight House for a rollicking game of You Don't Know My Life! Playwright / Director Howard Skora plays the game along with his entire cast of actors: Alex Skuby, Kit McDonough, Amy Smallman-Winston, Nadya Ginsburg, Sara Maraffino and Robbie Mangiardi. The questions involve bad trips, petty childhood jealousies and magical nights at the theater and the stories that emerge cover everything from a life-changing trip to see Annie...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with writer-actor-comedian-magician Judy Carter about her new autobiographical stage play A Death Defying Escape , which is currently playing at the Hudson Theatre Guild in Hollywood. Judy talks about the play's 5-year odyssey from conception to production, digging deep for the show's dramatic scenes, working with magic designer Craig Dickens on the show's illusions, and the play's central theme, which is how can we escape what has happened to us in the past and to find ...
Apr 14, 2022•59 min
Dennis is joined over Zoom from Merida, Mexico by author Brian D. Mahan to discuss his new book "I Cried All The Way To Happy Hour: What To Do When Self-Help Or Talk Therapy Haven't Really Helped." Brian talks about the work he does with clients around shame and trauma, what inspired him to write the book, how a near-death experience led him to this work, giving up his acting career to become a Somatic Experiencing Practioner. He talks about his mission of helping 1 million people heal from trau...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Mike Millan who is currently starring in the play Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins at the Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles. The play is a hilarious and poignant flight of fancy about a young gay actor who takes a job working in the mall in Barbra Streisand's basement. Mike talks about the self-tape audition that got him the role, his favorite moment in the show, how he learns all those lines and how much fun it is to argue with oneself on stage. He also ...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Dennis gathers four fun-loving authors together on Zoom for a few rousing rounds of You Don't Know My Life! the party game Dennis co-created with Jeb Havens, which is available for purchase on Amazon. The authors are John W. Bateman ( Who Killed Buster Sparkle? ), Gary Goldstein ( The Last Birthday Party ), David Pevsner ( Damn Shame ) & Steven Reigns ( A Quilt for David ). The YDKML questions played include What book changed your life? What's a moment from the pandemic that you're sure to r...
Mar 24, 2022•56 min
Dennis is joined by actor-filmmaker Scott T. Hinson to talk about his pandemic diversion turned full-on obsession; creating his own audio music countdowns, starting with My 80's Countdown...and then moving on to the 70's and 90's. He talks about the MTV veejays who inspired him to embark on this project and his multi-step process for choosing his Top 20 songs--there's a point system and notecards involved. Scott also recalls being assaulted on a public bus last summer over a mask disagreement an...
Mar 17, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with theater director-actor & writer Ryan O'Connor to discuss Ryan's production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music , which is currently playing at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. He talks about the production's long journey to opening night, his casting of trans and non binary actors in major roles, reckoning with the play's period gender dynamics and bring croquet into the mix. Ryan and Dennis also bond over not loving the scripted show's so-calle...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Dennis connects via Zoom with actor-writer-performance artist John Fleck whose musical satire It's Alive, It's ALIVE! is showing at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles through March 20. John talks about the show's central idea; that COVID is here to save us, not hurt us, where the original idea came from and where he got the inflatable COVID headress he wears through much of the show. He also recalls his experience, along with Tim Miller, Karen Finley, Tim Miller and Holly Hughes, as one of the N...
Mar 03, 2022•48 min
