Shannon Beveridge’s exes and o’s hits Salt Lake City

The hit podcast exes and o’s with Shannon Beveridge is making its way to Salt Lake City! Tonight, March 14 at 8:00 p.m. at The State Room, YouTuber, podcast host, photographer, producer and director Shannon Beveridge is bringing her popular weekly deep dive on queer relationships and sex from beyond her online podcast to an IRL experience. 

Since starting her podcast in December 2023, Beveridge has interviewed many LBGTQ+ icons, including the likes of Tegan and Sara, Margaret Cho, Devery Jacobs and Hayley Kiyoko, to name a few. But she’s had success in more than her career online. As a photographer, she’s shot the magazine cover for Gay Times and the album cover for the single “the boy is mine” by Ariana Grande. Grande is also among the list of artists she’s directed and produced music videos for, which includes artists like Joy Oladokun, Alyson Stoner and Fletcher. 

After catching up with the popular LGBTQ+ advocate and creator this week, Beveridge shared with SLUG Magazine that she hopes tour guests will take away the answers to the three things she’s been asked the most: How do girls have sex? How do you get over heartbreak? How do you make queer friends? 

Beveridge emphasized that her show is a space for anybody looking to escape the world for a couple hours and find queer community — so if you haven’t made your plans yet to kick off your weekend, buy your tickets and keep reading to find out the scoop on the inspiration for her popular LGBTQ+ podcast exes and o’s and her favorite sapphic musicians, queer creators and androgynous style icons!

SLUG: What gave you the idea to start your podcast?

Beveridge: I’ve been creating online for over 10 years now, and around 2020 I was experiencing burnout — I felt like I had already told my story and a lot of my queer journey. It felt like I had said everything I wanted to. It kind of hit me one day that it would be a perfect idea to use the platform that I already have, but give the microphone to someone else — especially because at the end of the day, I’m a white, straight-passing lesbian from Dallas, Texas.

SLUG: What would you say is one of the most memorable or unexpected things that one of your podcast guests shared that stands out? 

Beveridge: That’s hard because every single time, there’s something that’s amazing. My guest this week is top of mind. I had a really lovely conversation with Peppermint — I think she was the first openly trans woman to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race. We talked a lot about her dating life and what that is like for a trans woman. I think the entire conversation was so enlightening to me, to talk to someone with a very different experience from mine.

SLUG: What’s been the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned from revisiting your past relationships so publicly?

Beveridge: Goodness gracious. What can’t you learn from that? I think having anything documented online for yourself to see back, there’s so much that you can learn. I think there’s also an ability, as time goes on, to appreciate things. I feel like my whole journey online and everything I posted, everything I have shared — so much of it is kind of like a letter to my younger self.

I look back on everything that I’ve done and things that I’ve shared, and I’m proud because I know a younger version of me would’ve been really grateful to have seen someone like me dating and living and being okay.

SLUG: Who are some LGBTQ voices that you’re excited about right now?

Beveridge: YouTube, for a long time, felt like the algorithm had more control, and people like me, white lesbians, benefited from that in the way that they push their content. TikTok has done amazing things when it comes to representation and [it] feels so much more authentic because anyone can break through. It’s not perfect, obviously, either, but it does feel like we’re getting to see and hear from different people instead of the same ones that we’ve had all this time. 

But specifically, I like Nicole Bloomgarden from TikTok, I love her content. Lauren Chan is someone who I think is amazing, doing great things and making great content. Robby Hoffman, I’m obsessed with Robby. I think they’re so funny. I don’t know — there’s so many people, there’s too many.

SLUG: Who is your guest going to be this week in Salt Lake City? 

Beveridge: Sarah Schauer, do you know her? She’s an influencer. She lives in Los Angeles. She just started a new podcast called Schauer Thoughts. I’m really excited for her to come, she’s so funny.

SLUG: What inspired you to go on the road with your show?

Beveridge: People online often talk about a parasocial relationship their followers have to them. But I think as time goes on, if you don’t go out and see the people who support you as a creator, you also start to have a parasocial relationship. It can feel disconnected, in a way. I haven’t been on tour or done anything like this since 2017, I think, or 2018. It was time to get back out to see people face-to-face and actually get to thank the people who have changed my life.

SLUG: Salt Lake City sometimes can be easily overlooked on tours. Is there anything that helped you decide to make a stop for your fans here?

Beveridge: I love this city. I’ve been here before, and I also think [it’s] very underrated. There’s a very huge queer community in Salt Lake City, which of course makes perfect sense for a podcast like mine. This week I’m also in Dallas, and I think cities like Dallas and Salt Lake City that have a reputation for being one way — you kind of forget how many queer people also make up these cities. And I think they may need it more than a place [like] Los Angeles.

SLUG: What are your favorite queer anthems or music that gets you dancing these days?

Beveridge: Oh my gosh, no one should see me dancing, first of all – but I love Renee Rapp. I love Doechii, she’s so good. I’m so stoked for her. G Flip I love, and they also were on my podcast. Obviously, Chappell [Roan]. LUNA. Peach PRC I’m also obsessed with. They’re all on my playlist right now, but I’m not doing that much dancing — and everyone is thankful for it. 

SLUG: What’s something few people know about you? (As public is your life is, I mean.)

Beveridge: Oh my gosh, I was gonna say, like — is there anything they don’t know anymore? 

SLUG: What advice do you have for young queer navigating their first heartbreak or toxic relationship?

Beveridge: I know there’s a huge stereotype (I think for lesbians especially, having their first woman-loving-woman breakups) just being absolutely tragic and horrible, but my biggest advice is just to appreciate that you were able to love someone that much, for it to hurt that bad. Not everyone gets to experience love that deep. The hurt is also just proof that you are capable of such intense love. You will love again. I think we have this idea that you’ll never recover when you’re going through your first heartbreak. How could I ever do this again? I think I’m a walking example that you can love again, it will be okay, and you will get through it.

SLUG: What do you hope that your listeners take away the most from your work and your tour?

Beveridge: For the tour, what I really want most is for people to make connections while they’re here. A lot of people are coming together, but I’ve also had a lot of people attend the tour solo, by themselves. I try to facilitate at the beginning of the show and make sure that everyone talks to the people around them and gets their Instagram handle. I’m only there for one night, but so many of these people live in the cities I’m visiting or not too far away.

I think aside from that, the advice I get asked most on my podcast is: How do girls have sex — which is tough [to] answer every time — how to get over a heartbreak and how to make gay friends. So I hope that by coming to my tour and also by listening to my podcast, you could have all three of those things.

SLUG: Curveball question — do you have any style icons?

Beveridge: Yeah, for sure – Zendaya is a great; she dresses amazingly, and there’s always a tomboy flair to what she’s wearing. Angelina Jolie also. And all the boys like Jacob Elordi are giving lesbian in their fashion sense these days.

SLUG: What else do you want people to know about you or your work?

Beveridge: If anyone is reading this and they don’t know who I am, but they are queer and looking for a queer space to come and hang out to get away from the world for, like, two hours — they should come to the show. I think it’s a fun experience for anyone, not just my fans.

So, if you’re not a fan of Beveridge yet, don’t shy away from buying tickets to her show at The State Room tonight, where she’ll be sharing raw and real stories about queer love and sex in the way her fans have grown to love on her YouTube channel and weekly podcast, which you can keep up with on Instagram at @nowthisisliving.

Read more interviews with queer artists:
The Aces Talk Queer Coming-of-Age in Suburban Utah
Jordana Still Records Her Premonitions In Her Bedroom