Aces (people who identify as asexual) have been stigmatised, misunderstood, or just plain forgotten in our conversations around love and dating. This creates a blindspot in the conversation around sex, social norms and desire itself. Author & journalist, Angela Chen, talks to the Curious Meerkat about her 2020 book "Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society and the Meaning of Sex": how sexual desire plays such a big role in how we see and interact with the world; imagine not being in on this social script, and needing to reassure your partner that your own sexuality has nothing to do with them, and everything to do with yourself? 

Asexuality is a gendered experience either way. We talk about how women are sexualised and how bizarre it is that a big part of a woman's value in society is related to her unconscious (and unwilling?) ability to excite sexual desire in others. Parallel with this, men who identify as ace face similarly toxic ideas about their own sexuality and masculinity. 

Angela shares the kinds of conversations she has had with her partners, as well as insight from other aces and we spend some time contemplating the difference between romantic love and friendship. We also talk about consent, the difference between enthusiastic consent and willing consent. 

Resources: 

[email protected]

@curiousmeerkatpod on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curiousmeerkatpod/

• Angela's website: http://www.angelachen.org/ace.html

Illustration:

• Nico Venter @artofnicoventer on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/artofnicoventer/?hl=en)

Music:

• Lil Miss Beats @lil_miss_beats on Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/lil_miss_beats/?hl=en)

Season 1 Episode 2: An introduction episode for Difficult Conversations in Relationships. 

Season 1 is all about Difficult Conversations in relationships. I talk to people about their experiences having these types of conversations (talking about infidelity, asexuality, ghosting, non-monogamy, being solo), and they share how it went right, how it went wrong, and how they feel about it now. This episode is an introduction to Season 1, where Mrs March Hare (my guest co-host) & I talk about really difficult conversations we have had with each other, and we even open up some conversations we didn't know we should be having. We touch on how to define a relationship and how that changes the expectations one can have of the other person, and we share how we have tried and sometimes failed to help each other during times of emotional distress. 

• [email protected]

• @lil_miss_beats on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/lil_miss_beats/?hl=en)

Cryptocurrency, crypto assets, and blockchain... Everyone seems to know about it, or want to invest in it... but how does that actually work? It gets really complicated, really quickly, so the Curious Meerkat talked to a guy who knows all about it. Gys Hough has written articles about blockchain and tokenized systems (yes, he explains what that it), and he has appeared on other podcasts talking about crypto assets and what investment in digital assets looks like. 

In Part 2 we talk about what decentralized apps are, and how blockchain tokens can incentivize service providers to use and promote these decentralized apps by giving them ownership. Gys is passionate about how this can promote a working environment with a better balance of power. 

Gys gives an investment checklist for crypto-assets, and makes it sound so easy... (Maybe it's not so complicated after all?) The anonymity myth with Bitcoin comes up, and Gys mentions services that are working on both sides: triangulating crypto-asset transactions, as well as cryptography to make transactions more anonymous. 

Gys' articles: 

• Tokenization is more sustainable (Deloitte artile) https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/risk/articles/tokenization-the-future-of-the-platform-business-model.html

Other links:

• @ArtofNicoVenter https://www.instagram.com/aloecreatives/

Cryptocurrency, crypto assets, and blockchain... Everyone seems to know about it, or want to invest in it... but how does that actually work? It gets really complicated, really quickly, so the Curious Meerkat talked to a guy who knows all about it. Gys Hough has written articles about blockchain and tokenized systems (yes, he explains what that it), and he has appeared on other podcasts talking about crypto assets and what investment in digital assets looks like. 

We start with what blockchain is, we talk a lot about other uses for blockchain and why tokenized systems are a more sustainable way to run systems and start (decentralized) apps. Bitcoin is a household name, and we mention it a lot, and talk about what makes a good crypto asset, why not all crypto assets are cryptocurrencies, and how the Covid-19 pandemic has proved the thesis of Bitcoin (that it is a good, trustworthy store of value). 

This is part 1. Part 2 will be released next week; look out for the crypto asset investment checklist in Part 2. 

Gys' articles: 

• Tokenization is more sustainable (Deloitte artile) https://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/risk/articles/tokenization-the-future-of-the-platform-business-model.html

Other links:

• @ArtofNicoVenter https://www.instagram.com/aloecreatives/

Antinatalism with Puss in Boots and Felix the Cat. 

We talk about David Benatar's Antinatalism philosophy, our agreements and disagreements about it, as well as some commentary by Benatar's peers. The concepts of "good" vs "evil" come up quite early in this episode, and we even touch on the nature of consciousness. 

We discuss Puss in Boots' idea about practical vs philosophical Antinatalism, and the place of humanity on Earth. 

• Illustration by Nico Venter at Aloe Creatives:

• @artofnicoventer on Instagram

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6n6GPBkCD07CNB3ZhEetu1

Episode resources

• William Blake Auguries of Innocence (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43650/auguries-of-innocence)

Inter-seasonal episode 1: 

The definition of obscenity and what is moral and "publishable" or "fit for consumption" has been contentious, and how inappropriate content has been banned and disposed of comes up in this conversation. 

• Laetitia Cassells academic page at UP: https://www.up.ac.za/information-science/article/2650718/ms-laetitia-cassells

• https://www.instagram.com/artofnicoventer/

• https://open.spotify.com/artist/6n6GPBkCD07CNB3ZhEetu1