Sex Out Loud with Tristan Taormino

(Part TWO) This special two-part episode features guests Dr. Chris Donaghue, Kate Loree, Dr. Hernando Chaves, and Jamila Dawson. Audience members asked a wide variety of burning sex questions and got answers from a diverse group of therapists who specialize in sex-positive, GLBT, BDSM, kink, polyamory, and POC communities. It was recorded live in front of a studio audience at The Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood.

(Part ONE) This special two-part episode features guests Dr. Chris Donaghue, Kate Loree, Dr. Hernando Chaves, and Jamila Dawson. Audience members asked a wide variety of burning sex questions and got answers from a diverse group of therapists who specialize in sex-positive, GLBT, BDSM, kink, polyamory, and POC communities. It was recorded live in front of a studio audience at The Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood.

We think of the modern woman as sexually liberated – if anything, we’re told we’re oversexed. Yet over half of women report having a sexual complaint, whether that’s lack of desire or difficulty reaching orgasm. Perhaps we need to rethink what’s ‘normal.’ Using a blend of reportage, interview and provocative reflection, journalist Sarah Barmak explores the cutting-edge science and grassroots cultural trends that are getting us closer to truth of women’s sexuality. This week we talk about her book Closer: Notes from the Orgasmic Frontier of Female Sexuality as well as her work to detox culture from sex myths.

​​On her way to the store with a group of friends, Chrishaun Reed “CeCe” McDonald was brutally attacked. While defending her life, a man was killed. After a coercive interrogation, CeCe was incarcerated in a men’s prison in Minnesota. An international campaign to free CeCe garnered significant support from media and activists, including actress Laverne Cox. In the end, CeCe emerged not only as a survivor, but also as a leader. CeCe's powerful story highlights the groundswell of voices questioning the prison industrial complex and calling for its disassembly.

Documentarian Jac Gares and CeCe McDonald join us live to talk about the film Free CeCe!

Writer and professor Susan Stryker joins the show to talk about her work in academia on gender studies and LGBT history as well as her award-winning books and films.

Robyn Henderson-Espinoza joins the show to talk about their experience at Charlottesville, VA last weekend battling neo-nazi demonstrations. We'll discuss how to resist, the importance of witnessing and storytelling, how to build community, and what steps you can take next to empower yourself and the people you love.

Cooper S. Beckett - host, producer, writer & educator - returns to Sex Out Loud to discuss his new novel Approaching the Swingularity (approachingtheswingularity.com) and how Life on the Swingset will be taking over the Desire Resorts in Cancun in November with the help of Tristan herself.

As a sex blogger and one of the earliest documented cases of cyberstalking, Lena Chen was targeted for revenge porn, Google-bombing, and doxxing. Her experience with online harassment has been a subject of study by academic researchers and the mainstream press. In an attempt to cope with post-traumatic stress, she created an alternate identity as "Elle Peril", a nude model whose images were posted online and shown at exhibitions. By posing naked for strangers, Elle Peril functioned as both therapy and performance art allowing the artist to reclaim agency over her body and personal narrative. We talk about safety, identity, feminism and the issues around revenge porn.

Writer & comic Kelli Dunham is really serious about making people laugh about grief, caregiving, health, bodies and healthcare which makes her awesome to experience on stage or invite to your college, but find out why she can be a little bit much for dinner parties sometimes. Her latest show Jesus Was No Sissy is a comic storytelling performance about how Good Christian Girls Who Might Be Boys Inside learn about masculinity and femininity through the wonders of The Lord's Boot Camp (motto: Get Dirty for God, Go Lay a Brick), Christian finishing school ("From Grubby to Grace" for girls and "God's Gentlemen" for boys) and a subscription to the Sugar Creek Gang series of Christian fiction.

In On Fire, today's top erotic romance authors don't skimp on love or lust--they are entwined in tales that will make pulses pound and hearts race. Bestselling editor Rachel Kramer Bussel takes us inside the passions of couples who go above and beyond in their pursuit of sexual and romantic satisfaction, exploring the racy to the outrageous during their many arousing adventures. She's joined by authors Angela R. Sargenti, Donna George Storey, and Lawrence Westerman who will all read from their work.