In 2017, friends Will Young and Chris Sweeney launched the inaugural 12 episodes of their LGBTQI podcast Homo Sapiens. In a culture where the LGBTQI community still struggles to receive support for high quality magazine broadcasting, Homo Sapiens has intervened to fill the digital void. From gays in the military through to the life of a prominent trans actor making a name for herself onscreen, the podcast’s subject matter is vast, reflecting the multifaceted experiences of LGBTQI people today.

Will Young is the first ever British winner of the popular Pop Idol talent competition. Chris Sweeney is an acclaimed film-maker. They met in the summer of 2010 at the Serpentine Gallery’s annual party. Will confessed to Chris that he had stolen most of the ideas from one of Chris’s films while building his website. A friendship, true and proper, was born. Homo Sapiens currently clocks in 38,000 listens a week and the Guardian and the Observer have deemed it one of their top 10 podcasts of the year for 2017.

Will and Chris are currently assembling Homo Sapiens much like Will might thematically assemble an album. The first series was about personal interviews, mostly in London. In the second and current series, the intrepid twosome are travelling up and down the country to explore LGBTQI life in the British Isles. For the third, they intend to venture to the United States.

If you could change one thing about the world through your work, what would it be?

To bring more understanding that our differences are what connect us.

“I wasn’t expecting to feel so emotional today about real life stories. It was very, very powerful. Just get out there and talk to people. Get out of your comfort zone. Be more generous.”

– TEDxLondonSalon attendee