The Erotic Philosopher Podcast
The Erotic Philosopher explores sex and pleasure in modern relationships & lives. Join us in solving erotic quandaries through social, cultural, somatic, political and other lenses with the world’s wisest erotic philosophers. Hosted by sexologist Cyndi Darnell.
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How To Create Deeper Connections with Rebecca Wong
In this final episode of Season 2, Rebecca Wong shows us what's at the root of our struggles in connection and what we can do when our partners are getting on our nerves, over and over and over again. After years of witnessing clients & having deep conversations about life, love, and legacy work as the host of the Connectfulness® Practice podcast and the (archived) Practice Of Being Seen podcast, Rebecca realized that all the big things we struggle with — fear, imposter syndrome, not-enoughness, you name it — come back to the same thing: disconnection. And, there’s something we can do about it!
Find Rebecca www.connectfulness.com
Her new podcast www.whydoesmypartner.com
Using Pleasure To Heal & Create Your World with Ali Duncan
Ali Duncan, energy healer & spiritual erotic pleasure guide transformed her life, and now teaches others to do the same. After realizing the shoe no longer fit, Ali was awaked to the power of pleasure and now teaches people to take control of their lives and bodies through Chinese medicine, Tantra and breathwork. As grandmother of 8, she knows what it means to love and be loved and offers advice on authentic parenting (and grandparenting) while enjoying her body and sexuality. In this episode, Ali lays it down.
www.aliduncan.me
Queer Menopause with Tania Glyde
Tania Glyde (pronouns: they/she) is a psychotherapist in private practice in London, specialising in working with Gender, Sex and Relationship Diverse clients, offering both individual and relationship therapy. In 2014 they founded the London Gender, Sex and Relationship Diversity Practice.
They trained as a somatic sexologist in 2017. ‘Although my private practice is talk-only, the opportunity to learn in a somatic environment has been invaluable when working on sexual issues with clients. It has also contributed to making my practice more trauma-informed.’
Tania has published three books and has written for the Lancet and Lancet Psychiatry.
They have recently published a paper about the LGBTQ+ experience of menopause: How can Therapists and Other Healthcare Practitioners Best Support and Validate their Queer Menopausal Clients? They will be speaking about their research at various conferences and events in 2021.
- Londoncentralcounselling.com
- queermenopause.com
- researchgate.net/profile/Tania_Glyde
- Instagram: @queermenopause
- Twitter: @tania_glyde
Hedonism, Sex Work & Queer Utopia with Gala Vanting
Gala Vanting is a writer, sex worker and advocate living and working as a migrant settler on Gadigal land. Her work has woven through the brothel, the boardroom, screen, stage, and page, public health and sex education. She aims to create compassionate and justice-driven dialogue about gender and power, sexuality, technology, media and culture, and is an advocate for the human rights of sex workers.
Pleasure After Betrayal with Renelle E Nelson
Renelle E Nelson is an engaging and charismatic clinician and speaker that gives out hope and actionable steps to create change. She founded Kaleidoscope Services LLC to create a safe and non-judgmental space for clients who may not can change their circumstances but can change their view. Renelle uses her past experience with sexual disconnection and betrayal to show her scars to give hope on healing.
She has assisted numerous couples and individuals through the sex love and chaos of their relationship to the renewal of love, reconnection, and healing. Renelle combined being a Licensed marriage and family therapist, and Certified sex therapist to brand herself as an Infidelity/intimacy recovery Strategist. She creates a strategic plan to assist committed individuals with reconnecting back to themselves, life and relationships after betrayal.
She is known as the Pleasure Pusher for her mission to have women reclaim Pleasure as their birthright.
www.renelleenelson.com
Pleasure Agenda https://theexplorehercollective.com/
@noirsxtherapist @TheOrgasmicWife @affairaftercare
Rethinking Sex Addiction with Doug Braun Harvey
Sexual health author, trainer and psychotherapist Douglas Braun-Harvey, MFT, CST, CST-S bridges sexual and mental health and facilitates organizational change. In 2013 Doug Braun-Harvey and Al Killen-Harvey cofounded The Harvey Institute, (www.TheHarveyinstitute.com) an international education, training, consulting and supervision service for improving health care through integration of sexual health. His new book "Treating Out of Control Sexual Behavior: Rethinking Sex Addiction" written with co-author Michael Vigorito was selected as the 2018 Health Professional Book by the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR). Previous publications include "Sexual Health in Recovery: Professional Counselor's Manual" (2011) and "Sexual Health in Drug and Alcohol Treatment: Group Facilitator’s Manual" (2009).
Sex, Depression & The Conversations We Aren't Having with JoEllen Notte
JoEllen Notte is a writer, speaker, researcher and mental health advocate whose work explores the impact of depression on sex and relationships. Since 2012 she has written about sex, mental health, and how none of us are broken on her award-winning site The Redhead Bedhead as well as for Glamour, The BBC, Bitch, PsychCentral, and more. JoEllen's book The Monster Under the Bed: Sex, Depression, and the Conversations We Aren't Having was published by Thorntree Press in March 2020
redheadbedhead.com
Social @JoEllenNotte
Black, Poly, Porn & Representation with Dr. James Wadley
Dr. James Wadley is Director for the Council for Relationships Sex Therapy Program. As a scholar-practitioner, he is a licensed professional counselor, AASECT certified sex therapist and supervisor and maintains a private practice in the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In this episode James digs deep into Blackness, deep relationships, creating connections that last, non monogamy, intimacy & arousal, fucking and so much more.
Social @phdjamesw
Philosophy, Pussycats & Porn with Stoya
Stoya has been working with sexuality for over a decade. She is the co-founder of ZeroSpaces.com, where you can follow her current adult work. In this episode, hear how Stoya's beginnings primed her to the the 'PornoDiva' she is today, why she's so passionate about communication & hear Stoya & Cyndi respond to a listener quandary about sex in friendships. In addition to having written for The New York Times, The Guardian, Playboy and others, Stoya is the author of Philosophy, Pussycats & Porn.
zerospaces.com
onlyfans.com/stoya
Twitter & IG @stoya
Pleasure, Power & Innovation with Nenna Joiner
Nenna Joiner started Feelmore out the trunk of their car and owns 2 adult shops in Oakland / Berkeley. Changing the way people see adult stores in their city by being apart of the community not just people's beds!
Paper by Audre Lorde Uses of The Erotic
www.Feelmore510.com
All social: @FeelmoreAdult
Identity, Desire, Fantasy & Sex Therapy with Dominic Davies Pink Therapy
Dominic Davies is the Founder & CEO of Pink Therapy an organisation he set up in the UK 21 years ago. He has worked as a Psychotherapist & Clinical Sexologist for almost 40 years specialising in working with Gender, Sex and Relationship Diverse clients. During this time he's seen a lot of changes to the evolution of human sexuality discussions including identity, expression and how we think about these in our lives. He directs an international online training programme training the next generation of sex therapists to think more broadly about sex, pleasure and identity. He is a Fellow of both the National Council of Psychotherapists (NCP) and the National Counselling Society (NCS) the highest recognition these professional bodies offer, however, he is most proud of being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sexual Freedom in 2018. He loves cooking, eating and wine!
Twitter: @PinkTherapyUK & @DominicDavies1
IG: PinkBoss2018
The Art Of Hooking Up - with Georgie Wolf
There's nothing casual about casual sex says @artofthehookup Although our attitudes towards sex have evolved in recent times, we still often assume that partnered, romantic sex is more meaningful than a casual encounter...but hook ups, one-night stands and online flings offer many possibilities for personal growth and connection, if we take them seriously. Georgie Wolf talks about how our devaluation of the humble hook up is a self-fulfilling prophecy, where we still get consent and sex ed wrong and what's possible when we treat every sexual encounter with the reverence it deserves.
https://www.artofthehookup.com/
https://twitter.com/artofthehookup/
https://www.facebook.com/artofthehookup/
Seduction, Orgasms & Sex Down South with Marla Renee Stewart
Marla Renee Stewart, MA is a professional sexologist, intimacy/relationship/sex coach, speaker, and author. She is the owner of Velvet Lips, a sexuality education company, as well as Contract Liberation, a company focused on research for non-profit groups. As a Lecturer at Clayton State University, she teaches Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies. As the Co-Founder of the Sex Down South Conference, Marla aims to bring diverse groups together to learn and share their experiences in the essence of being authentic and fostering sexual liberation across communities. Marla has studied human sexuality for over 19 years, has educated over 20,000 people in over 13 years, given over 400 workshops, and have served over 100 clients in her private practice, all around the world. She has had her influence in the media, as well; she has written over 200 articles, featured in over 20 magazines and books, and has been on over 30 podcasts and independent television shows. She was featured on Netflix’s Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, and filmed as a sex expert for Personal Injury Court and Bad Girls Club: Atlanta. In addition, she also sits on the Boards for SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! and the Diverse Sexualities and Research Education Institute. She co-wrote her first book, The Ultimate Guide to Seduction & Foreplay (2020) with Dr. Jessica O’Reilly and is currently writing a chapter and co-editing An Intersectional Approach to Sex Therapy, coming in 2021.
https://www.marlareneestewart.com/
https://www.instagram.com/1marlastewart/
https://www.instagram.com/VelvetLipsSxEd/
How To Ask For More Pleasure With Adam Bee
Adam is a sacred intimate based in New York City. His work centers around guiding clients into accessing and creating deeper levels of pleasure in their body and lives.
https://www.instagram.com/adambeenyc/ https://www.facebook.com/adambeenyc
When Life Gets In The way Of Great Sex - With Shadeen Francis
In part two - (the final episode of Season 1) of The Erotic Philosopher with Shadeen Francis, we take a look at why people struggle with sex around the world. What affects what we believe about sex and exactly how healthy is 'healthy sex'? What happens when Canadian & Aussie sex therapists get to work in the USA? Are American sex problems unique to Americans and how do cultural differences affect how people thrive in sexual relationships? In turbulent times, our sex lives can take a hit.
Getting It On When You're Getting On - with Joan Price
Ever wondered why we glorify sex as being a practice for the teens and 20s, when research suggests people have better sex in their 40s, 50 and beyond? Why are there so few role models for ageless sexuality? And what holds us back from exploring pleasure at any age? Wonder no more. We have senior sex expert Joan Price.
Joan Price calls herself an advocate for ageless sexuality. She has been called other things by the media: “senior sexpert,” “the woman leading a sex revolution for seniors,” and—her favorite—“wrinkly sex kitten.” She is the author of four noteworthy books about sex and aging, including the award winning Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex and her latest: Sex after Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved. Joan’s award-winning blog has been offering senior sex news, views, and sex toy reviews since 2005. At age 76, Joan continues to talk out loud about senior sex—partnered or solo. She is the co-creator of "jessica drake's Guide to Wicked Sex: Senior Sex.” Find Joan and her books and blog at https://joanprice.com.
Twitter: @joanprice
FB: Naked at Our Age by Joan Price https://www.facebook.com/JoanPriceAuthor
Kink, Power & Letting Go with David Ortmann
What is kink these days? And how is it addressed in therapy & sex therapy? What does BDSM offer all of us in terms of dropping the bullshit about the human experience? Where are you coming from and what motivates you erotically? David’s story of self-acceptance, growth and coming of age waking up to pleasure when you’re a sexual outsider. David & Cyndi discuss the squeamishness of discussing sex practices and embodiment in therapeutic training.
DAVID ORTMANN, LCSW is a licensed psychotherapist, sex therapist, keynote speaker, and author with private practices in New York City and San Francisco. He is recognized as one of the foremost scholars and activists in the growing freedom of sexual and erotic expression movement. His areas of expertise and passion include erotic power exchange, BDSM, Kink, Fetish, and Leather sexualities, concepts and theories of masculinity, male sexual diversity, and alternative relationship paradigms.
A former model and stage actor, Ortmann spent 1992 in former Czechoslovakia teaching Theater and English while conducting grassroots conflict mediation during that year’s Czecho-Slovak national split. He is a founding partner of both the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (carasresearch.org) in 2005 and the Diverse Sexualities Research and Education Institute (dsrei.org) in 2018. David regularly serves as a consultant, educator, and expert witness on the nature and use of power in sex and society and the psychology, scope, process, and ritual of consensual BDSM for civil and criminal cases.
Official website: davidortmann.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/davidmortmann
Amazon Author Page: https://bit.ly/DMOrtmann_author
Twitter: @DavidMOrtmann
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dmortmann
Sex, The Body & The Media with Elle Chase: Making Peace with the Body
What is sexy? How do we discover what turns us on, (even if it doesn’t make sense)? What happens in a loveless, sexless marriage when you have an affair and then discover the wide world of porn? Our guest today Elle Chase (she/her) tracks her foray into the world of online feminist porn, body acceptance, sex education and censorship. What does the body positive movement have to offer all of us regardless of size and how helpful is it anyway? Elle answers listener letter on making peace with her body
Elle Chase, CSE is a certified sexuality educator, writer, speaker and coach as well as the author of Curvy Girl Sex: 101 Body-Positive Positions to Empower Your Sex Life.
Chase is a frequent guest, and a regularly quoted source for international media outlets that have included; NBC’s The Today Show, ABC’s Nightline, Savage Lovecast, and The New York Times. Her writing has also been featured in Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and Cosmopolitan.
Elle speaks and teaches workshops across the country, specializing in body acceptance, the importance of sexual expression and all things sex. You can find her at: www.ellechase.com or @TheElleChase on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
#bodyimage #bodypositivity #bodyneutrality #rule34 #feministporn #sexeducation #bopo #haes
Book “Fearing The Black Body” Sabrina Strings
When Health and Mental Health Affect Pleasure with Greg Dawson II
Greg Dawson II (he/him) is a Texas based social worker and sex therapist. Greg runs CAYA, a sex therapy based private practice, and Come-passion, an education and sexual expression site for all genders, cultures and races. For Greg, a young black kid who grew up in the south, he is inspired by dealing with shame and seeing how others address the daily challenges of it in their personal lives. This is one of the main reasons, outside of enjoying sex, as to why Greg became a sex therapist. He hopes to battle shame, educate the masses and help people become connected with themselves and sexual selves for a better quality of life.
Releasing Sexual Shame - With Elise Bish
How do we release generations of internalized sexual shame?
Desire Catalyst inspired relationships to desire. Systemic family constellations. Transgenerational patterns
The power of lineage and repetition in families around sex & relationships.
DNA shifts alterations after trauma. How can plant medicine and herbalism help shift sexual healing and whats the relationship between ancestral wisdom and plant medicine? Pleasure is the point of life!
Listener letter Patricia afraid of being single. Four generations of lone parents. Gets into relationships then loses interest in sex.
How do our beliefs about sex/ relationships inform our relationships and lives? Who do these beliefs serve? Who benefits from them? And how do we liberate ourselves into new truths?
Elise offers super practical tips on transforming deeply stuck patterns of fear, shame and trauma
Elise Bish is a conscious sexuality educator, folk herbalist, and family constellation facilitator. She believes that sex is sacred, pleasure is healing, and desire is our motivation to grow. Elise has over a decade of experience in the field of sexuality and has supported hundreds of people in cultivating an inspired relationship to their desire through embodiment practices, ancestral healing, and conscious sexual skill-building. In her 1:1 coaching, workshops, and retreats, she holds sacred space where people of all genders can explore their relationship to their desire and sexuality in a shame-free, non-judgmental environment.
www.elisebish.com
Instagram @desirecatalyst
It's hard to grow when everything is great. Transformations with Dirty Lola
Dirty Lola (she/her) is an edutainer Sex Educator and presenter of Sex Ed A Go Go
But being a sex educator doesn't mean we don't have our own sex & relationship problems. In this episode we talk about what to do when life is just really hard and love falls apart
#Transformations
Lola shares deep, intimate, hard truths about divorce after 17 years of (non-monogamous) marriage. She navigates fear, uncertainty, loneliness, hard grief, the importance of being heard and brand new beginnings. How do we break up when change is inevitable but still so painful? And how do we manage a change from non-monogamous to monogamous?
Self-inquiry for the win and keep your side of the street clean says Lola! Getting on and getting over it.
Lola advises listener "Broken & Lonely" about healing the past, self-forgiveness and change.
Does the truth set you free? What's the purpose of the truth? And who benefits from it?
Dirty Lola is a sex edutainer, speaker, and self-proclaimed dildo slinger. Known for her live sex ed Q&A show Sex Ed A Go-Go and as co-host of New York Magazine’s The Cut’s “Sex Probz” web series, Lola has spent almost a decade working to end stigma and shame surrounding sex and sexuality. Having started her journey sharing personal discoveries with polyamory and kink online, Lola now uses her knowledge, warm candor and public platforms to teach the masses in-person and to rapt Internet audiences.
Website: http://sexedagogo.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DirtyLola
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtylola
How to Take Sex Deeper with T.T Baum
In this episode we dive deep with T.T Baum.
T.T. is a sacred intimate who teaches people to connect with their own erotic wisdom.
We explore what holds people back in sexuality
Erotic Philosopher listener Robin asks T.T about keeping interested in sex when his heart gets involved.
We explore - Do hook ups have to be cheap? Can intimacy exist in a hook up? Can slutty sex be sacred?
T.T breaks down internalized homophobia and highlights the freedoms afforded to men who have sex with men and how liberating it can be to take erotic risks.
T.T talks about the disconnection that can happen between the heart and the genitals in sex and what effect that can have on connection.
Website integraleros(dot)com
Twitter: @integraleros
Insta: @TTBaum
LinkdIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ttbaum/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intimacyacademy
I don't want sex anymore! Getting Unstuck with Shadeen Francis
Today's guest is Shadeen Francis (she/her) - a licensed psychotherapist, graduate professor, and author that specializes in sex therapy and social justice.
In the first of 2 parts with Shadeen, Cyndi jumps right in with a listener quandary for Shadeen about a couple who have lost their erotic traction. One says she doesn't enjoy sex with him anymore and tells the Erotic Philosophers that sex has become a chore! No matter what, they cant seem to get out of this funk - Shadeen has some great responses and reflections
Shadeen has been featured on platforms like ABC, CBS, NBC, and the New York Times to share her unique expertise on sex and relationships. Known for her signature brand of warmth and humour, all of Shadeen’s work is inspired by her commitment to helping people live lives full of peace and pleasure.
How to get better at talking about pleasure - With Alex Pitagora
In this episode of The Erotic Philosopher, Cyndi sits down and goes deep with Dr Dulcinea (Alex) Pitagora.
Where else to start except heteronormativity, anal sex, sexual shame, pride and anally receptive straight cis men! Yes, they go right there.
How does privilege protect us from sexual shame and what effect does our identity have on our shame and practices? Alex tells us about their PhD research into anally receptive straight men and how pressure reduces pleasure!
Speaking of pleasure, how do you talk about unsatisfying sex in a relationship? What are the benefits of feeling awkward? How do we get better at talking about pleasure? What happens if we go to feeling bad to feel good in controlled yet kinky consensual contexts? Alex shares and insight they received in a client session on how to navigate shame that really impressed them.
Then Dr Alex & Cyndi address an erotic quandary from a listener about sexual highs, sobriety, fantasy sex, feeling how we want to feel during sex and creating hotter sex through life changes, preparation & communication. How do we manage fear and awkwardness when we want to take an erotic risk...where do we even start?
Are you ready… strap in (or on) Let’s go.
Dr. Dulcinea Pitagora—who also goes by Alex and uses gender neutral pronouns—has a psychotherapy and sex therapy private practice at the Manhattan Alternative Wellness Collective in support of all sexualities, genders, and lifestyles. They are proudly out as a member of the kink, poly, queer, and TGNC ( trans & gender non-conforming) communities, and also as a former sex worker. They created ManhattanAlternative.com, a referral site for sex positive therapists and wellness professionals, and they co-organize the AltSex NYC Conference, a forum for expansive sexuality education. They have recently come out as Cyndi Darnell’s biggest fan.
You can find Alex at www.DulcineaPitagora.com
