Intimate Interactions

Robin Beatch, the Sex Positive, Lifestyle Inclusive Talk Radio host from SPLIT Radio will join us today. You can follow Robin @sexwithrobin on instagram. Robin is a queer, non monogamous sex educator, coach, consultant, former stripper, former nurse, pro domme, and parent of two. Juniper, my only ever one night stand, is also back to add her positive, fun self to the mix. Twice Have I Ever is a party game where we try to pick something we’ve done at least twice that the others have not done. Today we’ll be boasting about how we’ve had someone try to explain how an insertable got into their body, flashed someone consensually, been a naked human platter to serve food, and lots more here on Intimate Interactions. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/intimate-interactions/message

Asking for what you want is an art. Sometimes you’ve had sex a certain way so many times it doesn’t occur that you can ask for it any differently but you can always change your mind, and it’s never too late to introduce experimentation. Sometimes using strategies like saying “you know what would make this even better?” can help. Other times you can’t imagine how you would approach a person about something. In those cases, something like Marcia Baczynski’s Good Girl Recovery Project or Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent or Dr. Paterson’s The Assertiveness Workbook might be what you need. Of course you can always turn into The Intimate Marriage Podcast, specifically the episode called How Marriages Fail. The host of that podcast, medical doctor Alexandra Stockwell, is back to explain that how we ask can impact how good it feels for our partners to provide for us. Let’s hear it straight from her on Intimate Interactions. Betty Martin, Wheel of Consent https://bettymartin.org/videos/ Marcia Baczynski https://aski

Yin and Yang teach us that all things contain some of their opposite, that things are rarely static and usually in flux. Today we’re going to talk about crisis as an opportunity to work on ourselves with Winnie Chan Wang. She discusses the ABCDE method she learned from her therapist focusing on responding to being outside the window of tolerance using awareness, breath, compassionate witnessing, dialogue within, and effective response. Content warnings for trauma, crisis, gender binary stuff, heterosexual stuff, and I suppose woo in the form of traditional chinese medicine. If you’re science-minded, I encourage you to try to stretch a bit in listening to woo content recognizing that just because the reasoning behind why something works is based in allegory or metaphor rather than empiricism doesn’t invalidate that it can describe real processes. Check out Winnie’s free community, paid course, and shadow work book at https://mindfulhealingheart.com. Now let’s go to the session with Winnie here on Intimate Inte

We’re back with Never Have I Ever with a new panel: Melody Anne from Erotic Education with Melody Anne, and Ms. Sara Blaze, a woman of many identities from mom to conference organizer to dominatrix. Never Have I Ever is a party game where we try to find things we haven’t done that the others have done. Today, we’ll ask about flashing strangers, masturbating in crowded spaces, and lots of other prompts. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Alexandra Harbushka tested positive for genital herpes, leading her to create a community of like-minded people learning how to manage the condition and thriving together online. I believe stigma, disconnection, and loneliness are possibly the most devastating parts of many STIs for many people in the industrialised world where treatments are readily available and they can afford them. As a side note, there are always medical exceptions where any infection can be particularly severe or painful. While these are the exception and not the rule, it’s important we don’t erase the real suffering that some herpes sufferers experience even though they’re not common. There are also treatments now like valcyclovir for those with frequent outbreaks to reduce outbreaks, pain, and risk of transmission. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Today medical doctor Alexandra Stockwell talks about compromise and how it impacts intimacy and passion. Over her lengthy marriage and raising four children, she’s learned a lot about intimacy. Today we’re going to talk about what compromises do and why sometimes compromises aren’t the best solution. Please see the show notes for a link to The Assertiveness Workbook by Dr. Randy J. Paterson. You can also see http:/alexandrastockwell.com/desires (for courses) or podcast (for podcast) Enjoy! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Robin Beatch, the Sex Positive, Lifestyle Inclusive Talk Radio host from SPLIT Radio will join us today. You can follow Robin @sexwithrobin on instagram. Robin is a queer, non monogamous sex educator, coach, consultant, former stripper, former nurse, pro domme, and parent of two. Juniper, my only ever one night stand, is also back to add her positive, fun self to the mix. Never Have I Ever is a party game where we try to find things we haven’t done that the others have done. Today we talk about flirting with someone for a free drink, keeping someone you’ve slept with a secret, and lots more! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Winnie Chan Wang visits with us today. As a licensed acupuncturist with knowledge in traditional chinese medicine, Winnie bridges both the woo world and the science world. A note for my more science-minded listeners: I try to remember that many frameworks of understanding can speak to the way things work even if their reasoning can feel inaccurate to empiricists. I’d just suggest you not take it too literally, and instead consider it exposure therapy to something you wouldn’t normally hear. Or skip the episode. It’s also a very heterosexual episode as Winnie talks a lot about Yin and Yang. Content warning for discussions of rape recovery. Also, for those who didn’t already know, vaginal arousal secretions called transudate are neutral in pH meaning they do in fact make the vagina more hospitable for sperm. You can learn all about it on wikipedia under the vaginal discharge article though I personally find it extremely distasteful that we use this word. It’s true for all genitals though so it’s not so much pat

If you have ever had jealousy terrorize you or your relationship, you share a common pain with many individuals. Jealousy informs us. It teaches us things about ourselves and the situation - and possibly not the lessons you’ve been taking from it. If you could go back in time though, what would you change and what would be different for you as the person you are today? Content warning for the word flogger that comes up in the context of kink. Now, join me as I explore jealousy, intimacy, compersion, and lots more with Dr. Joli Hamilton. You can check out her TedX talk or visit her website at jolihamilton.com Now let’s hear from Dr. Hamilton herself on Intimate Interactions. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

We’re launching into party games! Hooray! That means every few weeks for a while we’re going to be recording more of a fun episode where we play games like Never Have I Ever, Would You Rather, and Twice Have I Ever. I’ll explain the rules and let you know who the panel is on each show. Robin Beatch, the Sex Positive, Lifestyle Inclusive Talk Radio host from SPLIT Radio will join us today. You can follow Robin @sexwithrobin on instagram. Robin is a queer, non monogamous sex educator, coach, consultant, former stripper, former nurse, pro domme, and parent of two. Juniper, my only ever one night stand, is also back to add her positive, fun self to the mix. Never Have I Ever is a party game where we try to find things we haven’t done that the others have done. Today we talk about broken bones, TPing someone’s house, and lots more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Today medical doctor Alexandra Stockwell talks about compromise and how it impacts intimacy and passion. Over her lengthy marriage and raising four children, she’s learned a lot about intimacy. Today we’re going to talk about what compromises do and why sometimes compromises aren’t the best solution. Please see the show notes for a link to The Assertiveness Workbook by Dr. Randy J. Paterson. You can also see http:/alexandrastockwell.com/desires (for courses) or podcast (for podcast) Enjoy! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Alexandra Harbushka created Life with Herpes after she tested positive for a genital herpes infection. Since her harrowing story began, involving feelings of shame, loss, grief, rejection, and deep disconnection, she’s made tremendous progress. Following a lot of research and self work, she now boasts a community of people who are transitioning from surviving to thriving while infected with genital herpes. As a side note, there are always medical exceptions where any infection can be particularly severe or painful. While these are the exception and not the rule, it’s important we don’t erase the pain that some herpes sufferers experience even if they are less common. There are also treatments now like valcyclovir for those with frequent outbreaks to reduce outbreaks, pain, and transmission. Now, get ready for a frank conversation where we work to destigmatize the infection and talk about the hard journey Alexandra went on later creating toolkits, wellness products, and coaching services. Let’s go to Alexandra

Today, Juniper and I do something terrifying. We choose to, without pre-discussing, record an episode on our one night stand and what was going on for us. She mentioned she was nervous about having the discussion and wanted to save it for our last recorded session which definitely made my heart beat faster in an “oh god, I really hope this isn’t a call-out” kind of way. We both went into it blind, and here’s what we recorded, on Intimate Interactions. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Today we get to learn from Dr. Joli Hamilton, a PhD holder in psychology with a personal fascination around jealousy, compersion, and other related topics. From jealousy being a neutral emotion rather than a negative one, expect to have your preconceptions challenged. We differentiate jealousy from envy by discussing jealousy as triangular by default where envy is dyadic. Finally, Dr. Hamilton encourages us to ask specific questions and build shared meaning and vocabulary. I expect this session to be a real treat. When you’re done, feel free to check out Dr. Hamilton’s TedX talk or visit her site at jolihamilton.com. Enjoy. https://www.jolihamilton.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Sex is something we do for many, many reasons from procreation to recreation, from fun to serious, from pity to insecurity, from anger to hurt, from jealousy to love. Sex is just a thing we as humans do with ourselves and with each other. Today, we talk with Robin Beatch about sex as the validating feeling of being chosen. As a former dominatrix, she approaches the talk from a place of experience. Let’s get to the session here on Intimate Interactions. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Janina from Vienna and Berlin is back. Olivier from Belgium joins us. Today we want to talk about how fun festivals are but instead very quickly get on the topic of sexual misconduct. We really work hard to create the events we wish we could attend, but once we’re organising, power makes it hard to experience them as attendees. We’re constantly interrupted when trying to have fun to go put out fires. We’re working and volunteering often during most of the fun. We often get paid nothing. But hey, both Janina and I have patreon accounts so if you’re feeling generous you can check out intimatevictor.com/patreon or patreon.com/intimatevictor. Or you can check out Janina at patreon.com/janina_vivianne --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

Juniper, the only woman I’ve had a one night stand with, opens up about her chronic illness Rickettsia, a bacterial infection caused by tick bites that can lead to chronic fatigue and other physiological problems. Content warning for chronic illnesses. We talk about the deep depression and complete loss of hope that can come in certain moments. Juniper describes this experience for her as a “spiritual death” that eventually got easier to manage. We talk about isolation as well. It’s an intimate conversation, just as you’ve come to expect from us. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

What would it look like if you were invited to an orgy and you were excited to go? Would you want to go back again? If you had a partner who was genuinely excited for you to go or perhaps even come with you - would you go? Let’s say you’ve been going to fun events that involve dating, sex, or kink. You’ve been going long enough people ask you to teach a five minute talk on consent. You practice. You have a decent talk. You’re super nervous. You go up. You crush it. You come off the stage, and people are suddenly more interested in you. People you didn’t have the confidence to approach are now approaching you. Here’s the rub: power imbalances make ethical sex complicated. I want to say that again: power imbalances make ethical sex complicated. How do you put down the power of the microphone effect when the microphone is already down? People who just met you while you were on stage holding a microphone don’t care that it was unpaid work you just did. They don’t care that you only have a year’s experience. They

Catharsis is the process of getting relief from strong emotions by releasing, expressing, or processing them. Today we’ll talk about different kinds from fantasies to gaming, sex, and kink. Why do we seem fascinated by zombies or the apocalypse? What does experiencing a rough or violent fantasy through BDSM look like and what are some of the many safety measures taken during such a scene? Do we play video games for how they make us feel? Is that feeling cathartic? Let’s get into it with Robin here on Intimate Interactions. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message

We talk a lot about individual accountability because we’re a very individualistic culture; however community accountability doesn’t just mean being accountable to your community. It also means your community being accountable. In this episode, we’ll talk about some strategies we can use in our events or request our events use for reducing risk of harm. Two new friends, Olivier from Belgium and Janina from Vienna and Berlin, are keen to talk about those event management tools. What strategies should you research when figuring out how to make your events safer? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/intimate-interactions/message