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MOQUIN BACKSTRETCH2 231208 by Uptown Radio

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Hill House Postcard - Allison Otis by Uptown Radio

MOQUIN BACKSTRETCH 231208 by Uptown Radio

Have you thought about your last wishes? How do you want to be cared for when your life is ending? We have a tendency to think there’s plenty of time. And we put off difficult conversations about end of life.

Research suggests that most people in the US want to die at home but less than 35 percent actually do so. People die at hospitals, surrounded by doctors, in machines, getting life prolonging treatments they potentially didn’t want.

So why do we need to think about our end of life care? And when is the best time to plan for it?

Subeksha Poudel reports.

On Halloween, protesters gathered outside Grand Central Station to vocalize support for Palestinians suffering in the Israel-Hamas war. After the October 7th attack on Israel, the war has led to outcry against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Genevieve Charles reports.

NYC Comptroller Brad Landers recently released a report on Citi Bike, the largest bike share company in the country. Citi Bike began 10 years ago, and it has spread across the city. Despite its popularity, maintenance is an ongoing issue for riders. Genevieve Charles reports.

Downloads of apps like Quinn and Dipsea [dip-see] are skyrocketing. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re audio erotica platforms. Giulia Leo takes us inside this world of sweet… and spicy whispers and explains how audio erotica gets made.

---TRANSCRIPT---

LEO 1

You just listened to The Siren’s Song by Wicked Faerie, an audio erotica creator.

Rachel Lotus listens to audio erotica all the time. She is the founder and director of The Talk NYC, a sex-ed initiative for youth, parents, and schools.

LOTUS 1

Because there is such an absence of quality sex education for so many young people, there is this gap to fill and porn often fills it.

LEO 2

Lotus says Mainstream porn very often provides a limited and curated snapshot of what sex in real life is like. It’s unrealistic. And, sometimes, even dangerous.

LOTUS 2

A huge percentage of mainstream porn includes violent and aggressive acts. There's not a lot of body hair. There's not a lot of diversity in types of body size, ability, color, race, ethnicity. So, yes, it does mislead young people quite dramatically in many cases, and it sort of sets people up to have unrealistic expectations and the sort of fantasy of what sex should be.

LEO 3

But Lotus says audio erotica is much different.

LOTUS 3

So for example, I was listening to something the other day that was between, like, a hetero couple and there was a moment where they paused and one partner asked the other for a condom. Don't see a lot of that in mainstream porn.

LEO 3

Many of the creators of audio erotica are anonymous. Why? Well, creators say one reason has to do with privacy and distancing who they really are from the characters they play.

ELI 1

For me it is acting. It is sound design. It's work. So, for me, it's all about, sort of, performing. I'm not trying personally to, to get intimate with, you know, whoever is listening to my content.

LEO 4

That was Eli, an anonymous creator known as This Guy Eli on the audio erotica platform Quinn. He says the choice to remain anonymous also allows him to be whoever his listeners want him to be.

ELI 2

I make as much of my content as possible M For A, male for anybody. I do as much as I can to remove gender and body descriptors so that as many people as possible can appreciate the content.

LEO 5

Wicked Faerie takes a similar approach.

WICKED 1

They know that I'm caucasian, that I’m obviously Australian, and that I have long hair, long red hair, that's it. So from there on I can be anybody that they want.

LEO 6

And listeners love having that blank slate. I mean, Eli has almost four times as many listeners as some of the most popular voice actors on Quinn who chose to disclose their identity.

So, why do listeners prefer anonymous creators? Psychologist and NYU Professor Arthur Fox has a theory.

FOX 1

A certain kind of anonymity might be necessary for people to be able to trust in letting another person's voice carry them along into an experience of sexuality. You don't have to worry about the spell being broken. There's no reality like knocking on the door and saying, Hey, recognize me?

LEO 8

Headphones can be the keys that open doors to new worlds. Audiobooks, music, and… well… radio stand as proof.

Perhaps it’s time to add audio erotica to the list.

Giulia Leo, Columbia Radio News.

Blachez Christmas Trees Shacks 20231207 by Uptown Radio

Just because Taylor Swift sings about “feeling 22,” it doesn’t mean all her fans know what it means to be in their twenties…. As Giulia Leo reports when you’re a Swiftie age is just a number.

---TRANSCRIPT---

LEO 1

Willa Himmelsbash is rocking a black sparkly outfit complete with a green bag to reference the colors of the Reputation album.

HIMMELSBACH 1

Taylor Swift has been a real life changer, and her Eras tour can change a lot of people’s lives.

LEO 2

How? She’s not exactly sure… But, she’s only 9. And she’s among the crowd of other young Swifties at The Cutting Room in Manhattan, where Broadway stars are covering Swift songs.

LEO 3

The majority of Taylor Swift fans might be millennials, but younger ones are just as into the 1989 singer as their moms. Some, like 10-year-old Nina, also have core childhood memories featuring Swift… Like, you know, from when they were reeeally young.

NINA 1

When I was like 2, my parents would put “Shake it Off” onto the TV, and I tried to follow the lyrics. Like, I tried to sing along and dance along. And it’s just so funny because we have all these videos of me trying to dance.

LEO 4

40-year-olds Brooke Lewis and Cara Levy are at a Harry Styles cover show for kids at the Brooklyn Bowl.

They love Harry, but they love Taylor more. They have been Swifties since they were in their 20s, and now they share their love with their young daughters.

LEWIS 1

She sings about these really big feelings. Grown-ups and kids have those big feelings.

LEO 5

Adam Roberts knows it. He is music director at The Rock and Roll Playhouse, a series of concerts dedicated to kids.

ROBERTS 1

Normally the concept is for the parents to get the kids into the music that they dig. But the Taylor Swift shows have been a whole other thing.

LEO 6

Roberts planned a Taylor Swift cover show later this month. He says tickets sold out so quickly they had to schedule a second date.

ROBERTS 2

They already come here as huge Taylor Swift fans and they just want to hear the music.

LEO 7

There’s one big difference between putting on a show for young fans and adult ones: attention spans. Roberts says they make shows fun for kids by interrupting performances with games like freeze dance, or a limbo competition.

ROBERTS 3

The Taylor Swift show is the only show where that sometimes throws off the people. Because they’re singing along, and we stop, and the kids just keep singing and singing. It’s just amazing how much they know that music.

LEO 8

No matter if you’re 10 or 40

You can dance to Taylor’s beat forevermore.

Giulia Leo, Columbia Radio News.