BBXX: Let's Get Intimate!

Hablamos de la diferencia entre el sexo y la sexualidad, las dinámicas de la sexualidad, la vergüenza y la liberación, la mente como nuestra herramienta más poderosa, el rol clave de la comunicación, la importancia de conocernos a nosotros mismos, y la definición de la intimidad. Nuestra invitada, Michelle Pollmann, es una psicóloga chilena especializada en terapia de pareja con sede en Santiago de Chile.

Dr. Christina Pierpaoli Parker talks with us about the pros and cons of aging—from the psychological benefits to the physical complications. We discuss sexual dysfunction, sexual liberation, the evolving role of sex as we age, how to connect deeper in our relationships later in life, and the life-changing lessons we should all learn from the wisdom of aging.  

Dr. Christina Pierpaoli Parker is a post-doc in the Clinical Geropsychology doctoral program at the University of Alabama. Her research has been published in the Journals of Aging & Health, Sex & Marital Therapy and The Clinical Gerontologist, and her writing explores psychoeducational interventions for understanding, treating, and improving sexual dysfunction in later life.

We learn about the history of cohabitation and its impact on marriage vs. divorce and we talk about the evolution of societal norms, gender roles, and hookup culture.

Arielle Kuperberg is a millennial generation sociologist whose research examines how social norms in romantic relationships have changed since the ‘60s, with a focus on the intersection of work, family, and gender.

What does it mean to lie? What does it mean to tell the truth? And what about the gaping grey area in between? 

Our guest this week, Judi Ketteler, is a storyteller and award-winning writer who has had her work featured by publications such as The New York Times and Runner’s World, among others. She is the author of three non-fiction books, the most recent of which we will be talking about today, called, Would I Lie To You? The Amazing Power of Being Honest in a World That Lies.

This is the fourth and final episode in our series exploring culture, the media, and sexual exploitation in the U.S. 

We started off the series and now wrap up the series by interviewing documentary filmmaker Benjamin Nolot, who is also the Founder of Exodus, an organization fighting to end sexual exploitation and the billion-dollar industry that profits from sex trafficking.

This is the third episode [of four] in our series exploring culture, the media, and sexual exploitation in the U.S. We learn of shocking stories…

"Rape is not exclusively the product of a few bent and twisted minds but a result of [cultural] belief systems." 

In this week’s podcast interview, we discuss the effects of the “rape myth,” the limitations of sexuality and rape-supportive beliefs, the influence of media violence, and the implications of the acceptance of violence against women.⁠ Our guest Neil Malamuth is a professor of social studies and communication at UCLA and interdisciplinary social scientist who studies violence and conflict. ⁠

This episode contains a trigger warning.

When I decided to watch Boogie Nights with a few friends, I was expecting a comical satire of the porn industry in the ’80s. I was surprised to find that, instead, it was a less comical yet much more profound cultural statement piece that I had expected.

Studies of highly creative people and highly successful people, such as the one by the psychologist bestselling author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, have shown that a dynamic set of seemingly opposing characteristics is a very important part of what makes them tick.

“Contradiction” or perceived cognitive dissonance is hard for our brains to process, so we often categorize the world and people into boxes, think even of our of ourselves as being either at one or the other end or the other of the spectrum for many personality traits. The world isn’t so simple and neither are we. The good news is that our “contradictions” can actually be quite complementary, not only to each other but to our success in life.

Whether it’s meeting a new person or talking to someone in our family, there is a point at which (even well-intentioned) questions can come across as uninvited criticisms. How do we walk that fine line while trying to learn about someone else or draw it ourselves when someone else has stepped over our own boundaries?