Artgasm

Writer Tina Horn has created one of the most sex positive and sex worker positive pieces of media with her new comic SFSX (aka Safe Sex). We talk about how sex work informed her take on a dystopian San Francisco, and about the business of moving from nonfiction writing to journalism to comics.

Photographer Substantia Jones joins Allison to discuss fat visibility. We discuss the challenges and joys of working with amateur models, the barriers fat people face when trying to exist let alone thrive in a world that wants them to disappear, and the utter joy of watching people embrace their bodies on camera.

Naked Athena and the Wall of Moms have been getting a lot of mainstream news coverage in response to Federal agents' hostile occupation of Portland, Oregon. Is this a show of allyship or appropriation?

For more, read Mitchell S. Jackson's "Who Gets to Be Naked Athena?" in the New York Times Op-Ed section.

Installation artist and Shibari educator Midori joins me for an exploration of some of her most evocative installation pieces and how her work as a bondage educator intersects with her artistic practice.

Midori ( 美登里 ) is a multidisciplinary, social practice artist and activist. A Tokyo native and long-time San Franciscan, she's known for her durational and interactive performances and engaged installations. She's shown at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay Lesbian Art, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, The Open Society Foundations NYC, Root Division San Francisco, Das Arts Amsterdam, Gorilla Gallery Oaxaca Mexico, VN Jaeger & Schwarzwald in Vienna, among others.

Sex podcaster Stephen Penta talks with Allison about gender, being a dude in the sex-ed world, RomComs as "pornography of the heart" and talking love with people who just want to learn about bjs.

Co-writers Alana Phelan and Kevin Patterson discuss navigating metamour-ship and friendship while writing books, making private lives public, and bridging the gap between relationship education and narrative fiction. Find their books here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732872805

Allison is joined by old friend and splendid writer Rachel Gold to discuss queer representation in lit, sex in YA, neurodiversity as a superpower. From lesbian werewolves to Wolverine doing dusting, we cover a lot of ground! Learn more about Rachel at rachelgold.com

Booksellers Charlotte and Fi of Category Is in Glasgow, Scotland, join Allison to discuss the politics of queer visibility and the ongoing need for social spaces for sexual minorities. Come for the vampires and stay for the Gore Vidal.

A writer shared an interesting fact about American Gothic and got odd blowback from people who refused to acknowledge the truth. When our opinions are so tied to our emotions, how can we ever hope to have our minds changed?

Fashion designer and social worker Nhakia Outland uses fashion to teach young audiences in Philadelphia about empowerment, sex education, and healthy relationships.

Plus: A short tribute to fetish artist Namio Harukawa