September 4, 2026
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 32: Andy Barrow!
Andy Barrow shares his debut novel Peter in Progress. We discuss coming out later in life and facing self-shame as well as other people’s scrutiny, plus finding joy in wellness, queer friendships + situationships, and embracing a life of growth.
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Bio:
Andy Barrow is a New York-based writer whose debut novel, Peter in Progress, draws inspiration from his own later-in-life gay awakening. Despite the challenges of a thirty-something reckoning, Andy counts his coming out—and ongoing “second” adolescence—as his most wonderful life chapter. His return to writing fiction, which was a passion in his younger years, has been no small part of that joy. Gay life has been too big, beautiful, delirious, and complicated to not pick up the pen!
While embracing life as a gay man and author, Andy somehow manages to maintain a day job; he’s a proud educator who has taught, designed and led middle and high schools, and now consults with schools and districts. He has won awards from Harvard University and Teach for America for his teaching, and his writing on education has been published in both popular periodicals (Chalkbeat, Grown and Flown) and academic journals (Penn, UCLA). He holds a doctorate in curriculum, instruction, and innovation from the University of Virginia, and his dissertation on the relationship between student struggle and deeper learning won the departmental award.
When not writing or teaching, Andy is likely perfecting his backhand, nabbing last-minute theater tickets, or making up for lost time on the dance floor—preferably with ‘90s icons (Crystal, CeCe, Whitney…) on rotation.
An unabashed extrovert, Andy is always looking to expand his network and to connect with fellow creatives—especially queer ones.
