The Hook Up

Are you dating someone who has completely different values and life beliefs to you?

Maybe you're conservative and your partner's a leftie, or you're a vegan dating a meat eater!

How can you make it work? and do these relationships last?

In this episode, you'll hear from Aussie Singer Montaigne who broke up with her ex over some big differences and ex-Bachelor contestant Alisha Aitken-Radburn who made it work with someone very opposite.

Zach was having trouble in the bedroom. Constant anxiety kept creeping in when he went to perform. But he wasn't sure if what he was feeling was normal, or a result of his childhood sexual trauma.

Learning how to love, trust and feel pleasure again, well it's tough when you've survived sexual assault. We look at how to reclaim intimacy and how to support partners with abuse in their history.

Help lines:Lifeline - 13 11 14

1800 RESPECT - 1800 737 732

There are so, so many dating apps out there, how do you know if you're on the right one?

Even though Tinder is the big one, there are so many more places to pick up, and they all work a little differently.

Nat takes you through what's out there, and which platforms you should be swiping right on.

Can you step back from the emotional stuff, but keep having sex when you’ve already been serious?

It might sound like you’re trying to have your cake and eat it too and for some people it seems to be working, but getting there probably won't be easy.

Couples therapist Liz Neal joins Nat to chat about dialling back the commitment in your relationship.

Being asexual means you don’t really experience sexual desire or attraction. But for a lot of people on the ace spectrum, it’s not such an either/or scenario. For some, it can be, well, grey.

You might feel sexual attraction from time to time, you might feel romantic attraction, or you might never feel that at all. Nat breaks down the spectrum of asexuality with a few ace people.

You probably don’t often think that the run you’re going for today could be your last one … for that to be taken away from you in an instant. 

But that’s exactly what happened to Emma Carey, who at 20 years old, became a walking paraplegic. 

She’s since been lucky enough to walk again, but a lot of things are a bit different — including her sex life.

When you’re on a date, you’re usually sweating about what to say next. But do you ever think about what your body is saying?

Body language can communicate a lot about yourself, and being able to better interpret it can tell you a lot about your date, their interest in the situation and how they’re receiving you.

Body language expert Dr Louise Mahler joins Nat to break it down and help translate your moves.

To begin with Nat from Perth called her break-up a ‘traumatic rejection story’. But down the line, she realised there was a lot more to it than that.

Nat found herself in the incredibly hard situation, a relationship she wanted to leave, but felt had to stay in when her partner threatened to take her own life.

Threatening self-harm and suicide can be a form of emotional abuse, and is more common than we realise. We look at how to manage this super difficult situation with family violence specialist Ada Conroy and clinical psychologist Tiffany Valente.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion around self-harm, depression, emotional abuse, family violence and suicide.

For many people, having an abortion is not an easy thing to go through. 

Even though it’s now decriminalised around Australia, the stigma around terminating pregnancy is still very real, and going through it can be tough for many uterus owners… especially when you don’t fit the ‘typical’ picture of an abortion case. 

The experts join Nat to discuss how having an abortion can impact a relationship, why there's still so much stigma and shame around it, and how we can look at normalising abortions.

New South Wales recently became the last state in Australia to decriminalise abortion — that means abortion is accessible in some shape or form throughout the country. 

So what do these changes actually mean, and is it as clear-cut as it sounds?

Jenny Ejlak, President of Reproductive Choice Australia, joins Nat to break down what the new abortion laws mean, and what still needs to be done.