Sex with Strangers

Chris travels to New South Wales, Australia where sex work is decriminalized to interview local sex workers about their lives. Guests include Tilly Lawless, Cameron Cox, Zach Hunter, Tom Jones, and Rachel Wotton, among others. Catherine Healy from the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective also joins the conversation. To learn more about the decriminalized sex industry in New Zealand check out this study from the University of Otago, which surveyed 772 sex workers. The government of New Zealand also released this exhaustive report in 2008. And while you're clicking on links, follow Chris on Twitter. He just joined as @SexWithChris.

In this follow-up to episode 31, Chris chats with several people who fetishize disability. He also interviews an able-bodied woman who believes she should be a quadriplegic and derives sexual gratification from pretending to be one. Dr. Clive Baldwin from St Thomas University discusses Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). And a few podcasters also join the conversation: Andrew Gurza from Disability After Dark and Jocelyn and Tod from GimpHacks. Check out the episode of Disability After Dark mentioned in the show here, and go here for the full version of the GimpHacks episode excerpted in this show. Also check out Ghoul Cop Bat Cop at GCBC.show.

Lesbians, bisexuals, pansexuals, and queer-identified women sound off on everything from scissoring to strap-ons. Porn star Chanel Preston returns to discuss shooting girl-girl porn. Other returning guests include Ames Bex, who shares how sex is different now as a trans man than it was back when he identified as a lesbian. Comedian Quinn Quintana returns to talk about fisting ladies and the many changes that have occurred at Kink.com's San Francisco Armory since we recorded episode 25. Fan-favorite Shayla also returns to make her 4th appearance. This episode also features comedians Gwen La Roka and Ever Mainard. Check out Quinn's web series Hot Tub Interviews with Porn Stars, and learn more about her live comedy show Total Smut Comedy + Q&A with a Porn Star here.

This episode features people with physical disabilities talking about the able-bodied world's tendency to erase their sexuality, using Tindr in a wheelchair, disability-related sexual superpowers, and much more. Comedian Spring Day makes her triumphant return. She and her boyfriend, comedian Tim Renkow, both have cerebral palsy and talk frankly about their sex life. The fetishization of disabled people, often called devoteeism, also comes up in this episode. Check out the excellent BBC3 documentary Meet the Devotees here. We also talk about the role sex workers sometimes play in enriching the lives of people with disabilities. Check out Rachel Wotton's Ted Talk exploring this topic. Her film Scarlet Road also comes up, as does the 2012 feature film The Sessions about Mark O'Brien's experiences with a sex surrogate. You can watch an Oscar-winning documentary short about Mark O'Brien here and read his article “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate” here. Other articles mentioned on the show include this Vice piece about Hand Angels, this guide to sexual positioning devices, and a fascinating obituary published by Salon about Mark O'Brien. Other podcasts mentioned on the show include the Death Sex and Money episodes Newlywed and Paralyzed and Two Wheelchairs and a Baby, as well as an episode of Everybody Swing entitled Swinging in a Wheelchair. Finally, Ryan Lythall can be reached at [email protected] if you have any follow-up questions or would like to book him for a speaking engagement.

Chris chats with 6 men who, collectively, have purchased sexual services well over 100 times. Topics discussed include buying and using drugs (mostly cocaine) with sex workers, seeing porn stars, sex tourism (mostly to Columbia and Thailand), and the sugar lifestyle/seekingarrangements.com. Articles referenced in this episode include Salon's "How risky is Oral Sex?," and CNN's cheery "Yes, Oral Sex Can Lead to Cancer."

Chris travels to Amsterdam to chat with couples and sex workers spending Valentine's Day in De Wallen, the world's most famous red light district. Chris is joined in this episode by listener Taylor Hernowitz, who helped Chris interview women working in window brothels and couples exploring voyeurism at the Sex Palace Peep Show. This episode also features representatives from a number of organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people working in the sex industry, including PROUD the official union of sex workers in the Netherlands, the Red Umbrella Fund, which supplies grants to sex worker-led organizations around the globe and is headquartered in Amsterdam, and the Prostitution Information Center located in the heart of De Wallen. Don't forget to check out the CNN article mentioned on the show: Dutch Driving Instructors Can Trade Lessons for Sex. You can find the episode of Reply All Chris referenced here. And the three episodes of Jess' podcast that are available in English are A Dutch Sex Worker, A Poly Family, and Conscious Kink. Don't let the Chinese intros for these episodes fool you; the interviews are in English. The original upload of this episode had a technical glitch that created audio gaps when played on certain speakers. That has been fixed. If you have any issues, please delete the file and download it again. If troubles persist, download or stream this episode directly at sexwithstrangersshow.com. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Chris chats with porn performers Chanel Preston and Mickey Mod about the current state of the porn industry, why they oppose condom mandates like Proposition 60, and their work with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC). Michael Stabile from Kink.com joins the discussion to talk about the rise of anti-porn forces within US politics and corporate America. Jerry Barnett, the free speech activist and author of Porn Panic: Sex and Censorship in the UK, helps us understand what's happening across the pond. And it's not encouraging! British porn sensation Harriet Sugarcookie and her business partner Tommie round out this episode by sharing their thoughts on censorship, their unique approach to making pornography, and the healing power of harrietsugarcookie.com. Check out the official position of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) on sex/porn addiction here, and a similar statement from The Mormon Mental Health Association mentioned on the show here. Correction: Chris mistakenly refers to this show as "episode 29" when it is in fact episode 28.

Chris chats with people in the feederism (sometimes also called feedism) fetish community. All 4 featured guests get off on gaining weight as well as encouraging others to pack on pounds. Two of these guests also work as professional fetish models. You can find out more about Kimmy Crush at BBWSurf.com, and Lily’s site is through bigcuties.com. The True Life episode mentioned at the end of this episode “I Have a Feeding Fetish” is currently available on Youtube.

Mainstream discussions of the sex industry have mostly revolved around human trafficking. In this episode we explore why that narrative is misleading and harmful. The interviews featured here were recorded in Nebraska, Rhode Island, Alaska, California, and Illinois. Guests include Terra Burns (Community United for Safety and Protection), Maxine Doogan (the Erotic Service Providers Legal, Educational and Research Project), Bella Robinson (COYOTE RI), Monica Peterson and Rex Hamaker (University of Denver's Human Trafficking Center), Hannah Marshall (Brown University), and Erin Black (The Sexual A-Team). Articles discussed in this episode include The Banks' War on Porn Stars by Richard Abowitz and Marlow Stern, The Case for Decriminalizing Prostitution by German Lopez, Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler's Why You Should be Wary About Statistics on 'Modern Slavery' and 'Trafficking' and The Biggest Pinocchios of 2015, Should Prostitution be a Crime? by Emily Bazelon. Also check out Bazelon's follow-up concerning Amnesty International's Policy on State Obligations to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Human Rights of Sex Workers. Three quick corrections: Maxine (not Terra) interviewed Keyana; Sextraffickingalaska.com is maintained by Community United for Safety and Protection (not just Terra); Last (and in fact least), Chris began gathering audio for this episode in October of 2015 (not September of 2015). We regret these errors.

Chris explores San Francisco's historic Armory also known as the Porn Palace with kink.com tour guide Quinn Quintana. Quinn is also a comedian and the host of Hot Tub Interviews with Porn Stars. Quinn and Chris spent hours exploring kink.com sets, props, and cages. Don’t forget to check out the Vice article mentioned in this episode "Why Can You Go to Prison for Making Scat Porn?"