Running Wild With Christine

It's a warm welcome back to our dearest Anita Cassidy and Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey. Lori is a psychologist and sex and intimacy coach, and Anita is a writer and founder of Alethya.com We are back to talk about the repercussions of boundaries, new year's resolutions and expectations! It's a big one for anyone struggling with the enormous amounts of pressure we feel around this time of year to "improve ourselves" according to capitalism & patriarchy's standards.  Instead, let's focus on communication and accountability.  Anecdotes contain examples from: polyamory/non-monogamy, writing, single life, friendship, setting historical context to labels, inability to accept complexity, and living outside of boxes.  Take sweet care you wonderful souls. Do the work, without the expectations, and be aware of your intuitions when inevitably curveballs happen!  On Twitter, you can reach us at @drbisbey, @anitacassidy76 and @christinewild_ . You can find out more about Lori at drloribethbisbey

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  In this amazing first episode of the year, we delve into Depression and Sex! Meet JoEllen Notte. She runs redheadbedhead.com, and is a writer and sex educator, committed to challenging stigma, offering resources, and helping folks feel seen, heard, and supported.  As per usual, we go through how life put her on this path and what led her to just recently signing a publishing deal for her upcoming book: The Monster Under The Bed: Sex, Depression and the Conversations We Aren't Having! As part of the book research, JoEllen surveyed 1,100 people and interviewed close to 200 about their experiences and shares some insights with us.  Topics covered: moving across the country to soothe a broken heart, resentment as relationship cancer, "empathy, strategy or distraction", trends in the sex-positive movement, non-monogamy and lastly tools for how to deal with depression within a relationship.  We reference Elle Chase, author of Curv

WELCOME TO THE LAST EPISODE OF 2018! Julia is a new favorite powerhouse of mine! I met her at a community-based event called Expressions of Intimacy. This was the latest in a series she runs, called Expressions of Self, where each installment centers around a particular topic relating to how we define ourselves. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree at UBC's School of Population & Public Health, focusing on a qualitative study that investigates primary antenatal care provider perspectives regarding anxiety & depression during pregnancy. Most importantly for today, she is the creator "So I had an Abortion", a multimedia platform aiming to destigmatize abortion through storytelling. Julia bravely tells us her story, and goes into depth as to how sharing your experiences can be helpful with reducing anxiety and shame. We naturally digress and run into topics far and wide: imagining fertility problems, family dynamics, morality and shame, UNlearning, STD's, storytelling, reproductive justice

What's your first thought when I say: Body Image? Noun: the subjective picture or mental image of one's own body. This week, I had the pleasure to welcome Jen Larsen, author of Stranger Here (Seal Press, 2012) and Future Perfect (Harper Teen, 2015), for this episode about bodies! Jen and I started very much in the same way, inspired by strangers responding to our anonymous blogging, except that Oprah once said her name! In our usual fashion, we discuss how life unfolds, taking detours along the way. Her memoir discusses her experience with Weight Loss Surgery, Depression and the myth of "Skinny=Happy". We take winding turns talking about the publishing industry, aging and invisibility, awkwardly flirting with fellow women, Newfies, catcalling & contradictions, female rivalry and so much more. We discuss why saying things how they are, loudly discussing the issues that matter to us and basking in vulnerability is SO FUCKING IMPORTANT. For more, head to www.jenlarsen.net, to Twitter and Facebook @jenfoo

This week we talk about entrepreneurship and pleasure products! Casey Murphy is a sexual health educator, entrepreneur and business coach. Casey started The Pleasure Parlor in 2017, a Portland-based business which incorporates an online retail website, expert curated subscription boxes, and a traveling educational pop-up shop. Currently her primary focus is business coaching; teaching step-by-step strategy to female entrepreneurs who desire to create impactful, profitable pleasure-based businesses. We discuss what it takes to believe in your skills, your knowledge and your worth enough to partner with the right clients and create value beyond expectations. We also discuss talking about sex publicly, educating college students, the challenges of marketing adult products and orgasms! We obviously also get into talking about pleasure itself, and how hard it can be to make room for and prioritize pleasure for ourselves. SURPRISE! Casey was generous enough to give you guys 15% off all products on www.thepleasu

It's a warm welcome back to our dear Anita Cassidy and a perfect introduction to Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey. Lori is a psychologist, sex and intimacy coach. Her mission is to take sex and conversations about sex from the shadows to the light. She divides her time between client work, speaking, live events, podcasting and writing. You can hear here on the A to Z of Sex ™ weekly and Sex spoken Here weekly. Today we decided to delve into the difficult arena of setting and respecting boundaries! When it comes to intimacy, parenting, time, consent and so many more circumstances, how do we navigate our need for self-care and the fickleness of shifting wants and needs? What does it mean to have to be firm and ask for what you "need", when a little voice in the back of your head second-guesses those same demands? We discuss what the hardest part about boundaries is for each of us, and then take a slippery slope down the areas of fear, trauma and intuition. Take a seat on this communal couch with us and let's share our

A huge Welcome Back to Matthew Keegan, from Ep. 3! If you missed him like I did, you'll be delighted to hear us talk about Nina Power's One Dimensional Woman (2009, Zero Books). Based on Marcuse's One Dimensional Man, this short read is FULL of amazing starting points for this wild run down interesting rabbit holes. Topics covered: The Cooptation of Modern Feminism (and its contradictory definitions), Consumerism & Marxism (and its economic consequences), The Role of Cinema and many more rabbit holes! Please, please, please join us, in this TOUGH conversation and do SHARE your thoughts, however flawed or incomplete, with us.. that's how we learn. Thanks Nina, for putting all my goals into perspective and reminding me of all the structural capitalist issues of my gender identity. And thanks Zero Books for the feels! Matthew and his friend Leon Sandler are launching a podcast called "The John David Ebert Podcast", with John David Ebert. Their first episode will be about Deleuze's "Postscript on the Soci

Dr. Marina Adshade, professor of the Economics at the University of British Columbia, welcomed me into her home to talk about sex robots and marriage! How might the recent technological changes affect the concept of marriage and relationships more broadly? If Sex Robots can fulfill you sexually, does that take sex compatibility out of the relationship equation? Does it open the door to conversations about non-monogamy? Marina started a course on the Economics of Sex, which turned into a blog, and turned into "Dollars & Sex" the book! More recently, she published an article in Slate called "How Sex Robots Could Revolutionize Marriage—for the Better" (Aug 14, 2018). By way of this article, we cover a full range of rabbit holes including: morality, economic factors of relational compatibility, defining love, why we marry, emotional labour and self-awareness. I am so grateful for Marina's time and honesty, and I love how personal we end up getting! What do you guys think? Get at us on Twitter @christinewi

This is a fun one for me! José, the character from Just Bad Timing, and my OG bestie in Vancouver, runs wild with me about culture shock, life progression, perfect storms, dancing salsa and smoking weed, amongst many many other topics. If you're heartbroken, and/or overweight, and/or depressed, we got some hot tips for you. "Non-toxic judgment" and opposite approaches are the foundation to our friendship, and we'd like to know if you know what we mean! In our usual style, we start with how we met, tell tales of UBC days, and end up promoting his new Sports Podcast "Sports and More from the 604!" Be sure to check it out on insta @sportsandmore604 and listen here: anchor.fm/sportsandmorefromthe604 Also Vancouver people! Salsa Showcase November 9-10-11, aka STARTS TODAY! Bravo Dance Company, Amateur Team! Let's cheer them on! https://squareup.com/store/SHOWCASE2018 Ps: You're welcome for my slip ups on his actual name. Hahaha! See if you can spot it ;) Pps: Sorry about all the F%*$king swearing. ---

Oh boy. You're in for a fun, wordy, all over the place one with gorgeously talented Kristina. Musician, Actress, Poet, Kristina does it all. Listen in for a bit about her life journey, but mostly zoom in on the Words with us. We discuss a song she wrote called "Rows" as an introduction to individual artistry versus collective activism. How do we talk about what is, before leaping into what is to be done? What role does art, writing and music have to play in today's society? How do we realize our self-efficacy and freedom of choice, without taking the power of opinion for granted? Where and when do we develop emotional intelligence? Who's talking to you: your gut, your heart or your mind? Big questions... almost no answers. As per usual. Come and have a think with us. Around 20', there's a big moment of learning, where we get words wrong entirely and find our way around messing up! MISTAKES ARE PART OF LIFE. Please don't be afraid to try and have deep and tough conversations, because that's what this exp

Welcome to this very vulnerable episode about life after sexual trauma. Joanne O, my dear friend, was just published in the New York Review of Books (Oct 25, 2018) in Responses to ‘Reflections from a Hashtag’. She was one of the women victimised by Gian Gomeshi back in 2013, and wanted to share her story with me. I highly recommend you read her piece and listen to this incredibly insightful story of hers. She walks me through the past four years of consistently being triggered by the media and the ways she has been coping with how trauma fundamentally changed her. Amongst other things, we discuss rape culture, being in a relationship now, what "normal" means, sex & orgasms and simply existing in today's world. Next time you click, think about whose story is worth more to you? Bottom line: it's ok to make mistakes. And this is how you apologize: 1. Admit your mistake. 2. "This is how I fucked up". 3. Sincerely apologize. 4. "How can I start attempting to make it better?" = ACCOUNTABILITY. As promised

Welcome to a fascinating episode! Morten Rand-Hendriksen, educator for LinkedIn Learning on Web Design and Interaction Design instructor at Emily Carr, walks me through his life journey from university politics in Oslo, to his 16 year-long "life experiment" in Vancouver. In our usual RWWC pattern, we follow life's unexpected twists and turns, while remaining conscious of how privileged certain opportunities are, to get to today's main topic: Ethics (or the lack thereof) in Design and Tech. What kind of world are we creating? What lessons from philosophy can we apply to design as a language? Why is the industry trying to come up with a whole new set of ethics? How do we take ads and money out of the equation and replace it with human betterment? We are conscious that tech is built to keep us engaged are distorting our understanding of reality, but what now? My fave quote: "Your life is actually this huge loop, where you go somewhere and you abandon it for a very long time, and it just naturally comes back,

Alright Lovers! Let's steer away from all this seriousness in the air. Naomi Loud and I decided to take you on a little ride through our weird little brains. We talk about our personal approaches to social media and grappling with the fact that total strangers know some of the most secret parts of us. We talk about memoir writing, painting, curating your creative process, doing drugs (and not doing them) as an intro! We then focus on Astrology! Naomi introduces me to definitions of psychic, clairvoyance and weird empath things that happen. Our dear darlings, listen to yourselves! Lots of easy self-care and therapy advice in here, in a very personal way, to deal with anxiety and feelings. For more on Naomi, follow her Instas @naomi.loud or @witchywaters and don't forget to check out her youtube page https://buff.ly/2QyK2f1 and her Medium page: medium.com/@naomiloud Thanks again for listening! Please, please, please share, subscribe, favorite and all the clicks. Love you! (Sorry about my hangover voice...

Lutze Segu, PhD student at the Social Justice Institute at UBC, is my guest for this riveting episode - the Fourth instalment on Feminism. She's been a social justice organizer and social worker for over 6 years, and took the time to speak to me about all things critical race theory, intersectionality, #metoo, patriarchy and consent! I want to thank her for taking the time and emotional labour to teach me about my privilege (time and time again), radical inclusion, #blacklivesmatter and social justice. Bottom line: Empathy is good - but we got work to do. Check out Lutze's Twitter @FeministGriote References: Kimberlé Crenshaw, American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory: @sandylocks on Twitter Debby Irving, "Waking Up White": www.debbyirving.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support

Brooke Takhar, from MissTeenUssr.com, came over to chat about life with me. This incredibly open conversation made me feel so good about sharing feelings, stories and connecting with people on a deeper level. Topics covered: Motherhood, Writing, Sexual Awakening, Contraception, Periods and Miscarriages, via bitching about random life inconveniences. Trust Brooke to make you laugh through some of the cringey-est of experiences! Listen in for your daily dose of belly laughter and vulnerability! Check out her FB page @missteenussr for more! :) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support

Bryce, a dear friend of mine, is now one of Canada's most successful Powerlifters! He will be the subject of an upcoming documentary and his willingness to be vulnerable obviously hit all of my nerd spots. Listen in on his personal journey from a scrawny, metal band frontman/bartender, to setting two world records, winning three medals at world championships and being a successful entrepreneur! We discuss how life changes in tiny little increments, and how eventually life takes you to the unexpected. I couldn't help but think: where are my small choices taking me? Food for thought y'all, food for thought! Please subscribe to this podcast for more random and vulnerable content! Check out Calgary Barbell's youtube channel below, and @calgarybarbell on Instagram! https://www.youtube.com/calgarybarbell For more about powerlifting and apparel head to: www.calgarybarbell.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support

This week Rebekah, film producer extraordinaire & marketing PM, shares her journey with me from turning 30 (and understanding what not giving a fuck means) to starting Fired Up, her own production company, detouring via the role dedication and passion have played in her creative successes. Honesty, respect and vulnerability are discussed as they relate to leadership, career transitioning and working for free sometimes! (Ooh controversy.) Listen to this very exciting, fun and bubbly episode if you've ever felt stuck, like time was running away from you and like everyone else was achieving their goals except you... because we have! This can be your pep talk (weird choice for a pep talk surely, but if you're here, we already know you're a bit weird!). You can check out Rebekah's films on her website: rebekahrenford.com and check her out on twitter @b3kah! Check out "I Want To Make You Happy" for her latest project! twitter.com/@IWTMYHfilm As always, please please please SUBSCRIBE! --- Support this p

Nell from woman-on-top.co.uk came over to my virtual living room to talk about her goals, normalising sex (!), our books and general misdemeanour. Nell and I have lots in common, so sorry if we just agree a lot, but listen in if you still wonder what the benefits of being open about sex are! She also gives you a bit of courage to say what you mean in certain circumstances (awkward families for example), cause we all need a little push! (Intersectional feminism also discussed, because duh.) Sorry about some of the feedback at some points, tech can be tricky! Check out Nell's instagram because it's amazing: instagram.com/womanontop_nell Thanks for listening my darlings! As always, favourite, follow, subscribe, like... all that jazz. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support

Dr Neil Fox from the cinematologists.com podcast comes to speak to me about his film Wilderness (baracoapictures.com/wilderness) and relationships in general. We ramble on about loving ideas, living in confusion, privilege, and unlearning destructive habits & assumptions. Listen in if you want to share some deep dark thoughts about creativity, voices that need/needn’t be heard and unsure answers. For more about Neil and all of his projects head to drneilfox.com ! Please follow, subscribe, rate and review this podcast if you like it! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support

Well, well. Steph and I had a great time recording this one! She was gracious enough to send me a galley of her book "A Dirty Word" to read, and boy do we get into some serious topics. Ranging from body and soul, to pathologizing women's sexuality, to non-consensual, coercive sex, to the lack of desire or orgasms, to making family members super awkward, we cover it all! In the name of helping us all be more comfortable with the uncomfortable, and hopefully paving the way to a better sex ed system, and a healthier and safer sex-positive future. We are not broken, nor deficient. We are all in this together. For more on Steph and her amazing list of resources: www.stephauteri.com Don't forget to pre-order her book! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/runningwildwithchristine/support