When we started making a documentary podcast series using Switchboard’s archive in 2019, we had no idea we’d be where we are now. The podcast won national awards, changed our lives — and now we’ve written a book about it.
The log books from the LGBTQ+ helpline Switchboard are precious. As anyone who’s listened to just one episode of our first podcast knows, these tatty old pages contain essential stories from Britain’s queer history, from 1974 onwards. Through the podcast we brought the old books to life, recording readers and interviewees, and adding music and our own reflections as queer people to make engaging audio. So the books became audio. And now… we’ve written a new book all about it — it might seem a bit topsy-turvy, but that’s life.
Our book will be published by Faber in January 2026. It’s called The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline That Listened. As you can tell from the full title, it’s still the story of Switchboard and all the people who called or volunteered. But it’s also mine and Tash’s stories, as queer people living in Britain, and especially growing up during the 80s and 90s. This period made us who we are, and defined a generation of queer people here thanks to the homophobic law Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, which silenced us from sharing and hearing LGBTQ+ stories.
Our work is an enduring protest against Section 28, whether we’re working on queer peoples’ stories, or others’. We can’t wait for people to read the book, to reconnect with the Switchboard story where we cut our teeth as producers, and to have the opportunity to reflect on their own queer histories. You can read more about the book on our page about it and you can even order it here.
