“The Two Princes” Podcast Gives Teens a Sweet and Snarky Queer Fairy Tale

Podcast series The Two Princes is a queer fairy tale for teens (and up!) with an all-star cast. It’s a definite delight and adds to a growing genre!

Prince Rupert’s mother wants to marry him off to a princess in whom he has no interest. Instead, he sets out to break the mysterious curse that’s destroying his kingdom. Along the way, he crosses paths with the handsome Amir, a rival prince on a quest to save his own realm. Forced to work together despite seemingly incompatible personalities, the two princes soon discover that the only thing more difficult than saving their kingdoms is following their hearts.

Writer Kevin Christopher Snipes and director Mimi O’Donnell give us snarky, often hilarious dialog paired with gleeful performances from stars Noah Galvin (Booksmart, Dear Evan Hansen), Ari’el Stachel (The Band’s Visit), Christine Baranski (The Good Wife, The Good Fight), Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog, The Expanse), Matthew Rhys (The Americans), and Samira Wiley (Orange Is the New Black, The Handmaid’s Tale). Although the overarching plot outline isn’t far different from that of the many other queer fairy tale books that now exist, the serialized audio format and older target audience offer an opportunity for more in-depth treatments of characters, relationships, and challenges. And the writing and performances—particularly the odd-couple chemistry between Galvin and Stachel—give new life even to old tropes.

The Two Princes was launched by the Spotify-owned Gimlet Media in June, the same month as Hulu launched The Bravest Knight, an animated series for younger children, based on Daniel Errico’s book The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, in which a young pumpkin farmer named Cedric meets and marries the prince of his dreams. The new series focuses on their daughter, who wants to be a knight herself, and the tales Cedric tells her of his past adventures. (Here’s my recent interview with Errico about it.) Despite the similar launch dates, though, The Two Princes definitely skews towards an older crowd. References to killing people and a few other passing phrases may be inappropriate for younger children (in the first episode, for example, one character refers to another’s clothing as having a “pajamas and bondage motif”), but you can listen for yourself and decide what’s right for your own kids. If they’re too young for The Two Princes, they might be just right for The Bravest Knight or one of the many other tales of queer princes and princesses.

I’m very happy to see queer fairy tales popping up in different forms of media, for different ages, and drawing support from mainstream media channels and top-notch actors. As I’ve said before, too, I hope future shows and books give us even more variety of characters and plot.

With luck, however, we haven’t heard the last of The Two Princes. Star Noah Galvin told Hollywood Life, “I’d say there is a full emotional journey within this first season, but like any story, this isn’t the end.” Go listen to the beginning if you haven’t already.

I’ll also be the first to say the story would make a terrific graphic novel. How about it, Gimlet?