An estimated 290,000 people, including 2500 men, are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. We are thrilled to have Marloe Esch, oncology nurse and breast cancer survivor, join us to talk about the impact of cancer on bodies and sexuality. She describes the importance of building health relationships, and explores the connection between a cancer diagnosis and spirituality. 

Anti-Semitism erases Jewish culture by making our conversations about Judaism really about their oppressors. What does Judaism actually say about sexuality and our bodies? Dr. Christopher Jones, noted sexuality and Biblical researcher, describes to us the Hebrew principles of tikkun olan (repairing the world) and pikauch nefesh (save a life) with sexuality. We also about how Christianity merged with Roman thought, rather than Jewish thought, for its sexual ethic, and the Menstrubation Initiative.

When Jeremiah and Julia were counseled prior to their previous marriages, they were encouraged to read Sheet Music by Dr. Kevin Leman. A decade later, they return to his writing in their segment, Bedtime Stories. They explore two common themes. 1) The impact of "two becoming one" and the responsibility for your partner's pleasure, including the negative implications out using sex toys and masturbating. 2) Egregious gender stereotypes that reinforce women as asexual and men as dangerous and impulsive.

We are both mental health practitioners, and our businesses have been taking off due to an increase of demand for therapy as folks navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives and relationships. We took a six week sabbatical this summer to create some healing, but still found ourselves burnt out and hanging on for dear life.

We deeply believe in the project of Sexvangelicals; we know that our platform and the ways that we provide space for folks to share their experiences of sexuality, bodies, and organized religion have the capacity to change the world. In the face of burnout, we decided to hire a podcast editor.

Listen to more of the ways that we're attempting to navigate burnout. 

Over the past decade, we’ve been honored to hear numerous queer folks describing their individual challenges of exploring sexuality and celebrating their orientation in religious contexts. We are thrilled to have Bernie and Chris share their relational story in this podcast episode. They discuss the null curriculum of sex education in the church, how churches encourage queer identities without encouraging being full sexual people, and how couples can collaborate around sexual evolution. Let's heal together!

Linda Kay Klein, author of the 2018 book Pure, has created numerous spaces to bring folks together to share their stories about repression, bravery, and ultimately freedom. We talk with Linda about ways that purity culture is both appealing and damaging to teens, the grief and anger that accompanied Linda's writing process, the impact of motherhood on sexuality, and some of the challenges and confusion in finding freedom.

Regardless of your story, the pandemic has been especially brutal on bodies and relationships. From their perspectives as couples and sex therapists, Julia and Jeremiah discuss the impact of COVID-19 on relational and sexual health.

Growing up as a queer person in a Sicilian Catholic neighborhood in East Boston, Joe talks about how his family’s immigration story from Ireland, observing the queer community’s response to the rigid gender norms of the 80s, and burying over fifty friends in the AIDS crisis, has allowed him to invite critical thought into his work as a sex therapist, by using humor as a powerful tool in the healing process, studying social work and the impact on his own sexual development, and the importance of giving ourselves permission to be sexual people.