Wanting Closeness Without Exposure Podcast: This is a conversational podcast exploring my essay Wanting Closeness Without Exposure from the book Ghosts of Sex. In the podcast we discuss the quiet desire for intimacy that avoids being fully seen, the tension between warmth and withholding, how closeness can feel real while deeper exposure remains absent, and the emotional contradictions that shape connections which never quite cross into shared vulnerability. We explore autonomy, fear of being known, subtle imbalance between two people wanting different depths, and the loneliness that can exist inside sustained nearness.