parterre box is the premier online site for opera gossip and discussion. Devoted to opera, about which it cultivates a campy, critical, strongly opinionated attitude with explicit gay overtones, parterre box was founded by the New Yorker James Jorden in the mid 1990s during a period of under-employment as an opera director. It appeared for a number of years in print form, but now it is solely published on the Web, where it is considered an influential opera blog. In May 2005, Jorden introduced the first regular opera podcast entitled "Unnatural Acts of Opera." For this show, Jorden takes on the drag persona of "La Cieca," a gossipy commentator. La Cieca introduces a single act of what she calls "demented" opera, concentrating on the most exciting live vocal performances from around 1950 to the present. The podcasts are available through all the usual downloading services including iTunes as well as in streaming form on the parterre.com website.