Each week on her bold new podcast Outlaws, T.S. Madison is rewriting the rules and doing it loud and proud. As host, Madison keeps it real, bringing a level of authenticity that is mirrored by her guests, icons like Tina Knowles, Chappell Roan and Laverne Cox. Outlaws is a production of iHeartPodcasts’ Outspoken Podcast Network and centers queer liberation, truth-telling, and the art of talking your shit.
“An outlaw is a person that never fits in and is always wanted,” TS Madison shares. “I’ve never been able to fit the specific mold people wanted me to, and I’m not trying to. That’s why we created this show. It’s about letting people unwind, be real, and remind the world who they are.”
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Each episode features the “Talk Shit” segment, Madison’s invitation for her guests to speak freely without apology. When Tina Knowles sat down with her, the matriarch of the House of Knowles let her guard down, giving fans a rare glimpse into her unfiltered brilliance.
“She talked her shit,” Madison beams. “I wanted her to feel comfortable saying, ‘I’m the mother of Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, I birthed a nation!’
When Laverne Cox joined the show, Madison made sure the Emmy-nominated actress felt safe enough to drop the polished exterior and just be herself, telling her, “Laverne, you’re safe here. You can unwind. Brag, girl. That’s not arrogance! It’s facts.” Madison, who knows all too well what it means to be silenced, policed, or told to shrink, brings that understanding to every conversation, encouraging her guests to show up fully and freely.
“We’ve been told to be humble, to stay low or it’ll all be taken away,” she says. “No, baby. I’m a queen. I paved the way. And I’m gonna talk about it.”
That outlaw energy shows up in everything Madison touches, from Outlaws to RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she returns as a rotating judge on season 10 of RuPauls Drag Race: All Stars. As ever, she’s bringing fierce honesty, insight, and love. “I love that the queens are getting back to giving us good TV,” she says of Season 17. “When I saw Onya Nurve walk out for the first time, I leaned over to Ru and said, ‘That’s the winner.’ She gave rich bitch energy. She sold it.”
She mentions Lexi’s resilience in the face of addiction and personal battles. “It was so good to see Lexi’s spirit lifted. She was able to mask pain with drag, and it was beautiful to witness her growth and trans representation.”
Off-screen, Madison continues her legacy of community work with the TS Madison Starter House, a shelter and resource center for trans women that’s built on mutual aid and love.
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“I want policymakers to understand: the real people in power are the people, not them,” she says. “We’re going to survive, whether they want us to or not. That’s what Outlaws is about.”
Listen to new episodes of Outlaws on Tuesdays on the iHeartRadio app, and everywhere podcasts are heard.
