Hardboiled

A Queer Noir Podcast

Jacqueline “Jack” Cassidy is, in many respects, your standard wisecracking, chain-smoking, trenchcoat-sporting private detective - the sort that you can’t throw a brick without hitting in 1936. But not everyone who arrives at Jack’s offices likes the idea of a PI who is also a dame - and a dame who wears trousers and drinks whiskey, to boot. 

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Fortunately, Jack doesn’t have time for the sort of palooka who has doubts about lady flatfoots. She’s got enough on her plate, what with all the sinister disappearances, Bolshevist plots, bumbling gangsters, haunted theatres, and general mishaps, murder, and mayhem she’s hired to deal with. And then there’s the fact that she still hasn’t sorted out her feelings for her pert, plucky secretary, Effy, or the beautiful but enigmatic femme fatale who needs Jack’s help to track down a mysterious lost diamond…

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Hardboiled is a noir mystery podcast from Empress of Blandings Productions. It’s an affectionate homage to the detective radio serials of the 1930s and 40s - but with more lesbians, and less racism - and it's currently available on PodBean, Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can access transcripts of the podcast here. 

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"I LOVE these characters, the sly digs, the homage to Hammett, the lesbian angle...I am so utterly captivated by the writing...It’s so bright and so bloody smart. Bravo." -Oscar-nominated filmmaker Deepa Mehta 

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"[An] incredibly empathetic, well-written story...great blend of narrative storytelling, real history, and with ambitious, fully realized characters...Highly recommended."

 - Karen Ho, Quartz. 

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“Delightful and subversive...Hardboiled succeeds on every level." -Karen Unland, podcast columnist for CBC Radio Active and founder of the Alberta Podcast Network

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"[A] stylish homage to the private-eye oeuvre." - Liane Faulder, The Edmonton Journal

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 "100% fun...If you love old time radio, have a gander at this peach of a podcast! It's the bee's knees." - critically acclaimed author and broadcaster Kevin Sylvester

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Named second-best Edmonton podcast by popular vote in Yegventures' poll. 

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