The Atheist Community of Austin Holiday Trivia Challenge - Preliminaries - Year End Special We are pre-recording this challenge so that we could give you something interesting to watch over the holidays, but also give our hard working hosts and crew some time off to spend with their family and friends. This will be a 5 part series, with one episode appearing on each of our AEN Network shows. The schedule is as follows: The preliminary rounds will consist of 5 questions each, and will be shown on...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 21 min
Each and every week we end by reminding you to take a quiet moment to yourself and show yourself some love, so it should come as no surprise that self-compassion is big in our book. After being told that you were born into sin and that your every thought should be held captive it makes sense that self-criticism and self-flagellation are part and parcel of our culture, something new research suggests compassion based therapies can do something about. This week Licensed Professional Counselor Call...
Dec 17, 2021•1 hr 24 min
Sexualization, objectification, fetishization, dehumanization? Oh my. It’s tricky to know where appreciation ends and obsession begins- throw in a dash of marketing and pinch of patriarchy and we have a capitalistic conundrum for the ages. Resident sex-work royals Sinn Sage and Arden Hart join Christy in a conversation about sex worker’s rights, trans bodies and the tricks of the trade, plus your calls and questions and of course, what’s turning us on this week on SecX! ► Dive deeper into the ep...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr 19 min
So much of what we take as biological fact is actually just culture, and I’m tired of pretending it’s not. But if cultures are like families- you’re stuck with the one you’re born with until you build another, then why not get to work? Laura Magee returns to the show to look around the world with Nate and Christy in search of myths, metaphors and metaanalysis so we can cherry pick the best ingredients and add some flavor to our extra virgin purity culture. Our thoughts and conversation, your cal...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 33 min
In the 3 and a half years since the ACA began production on Secular Sexuality we’ve had some incredible experiences. Like the time we had the world’s #1 legal escort and #1 phone sex operator in back to back weeks, or the time we recorded a live concert with Shelley Segal. Or the time a catholic guest walked off set 30 minutes into the interview. Good times all but none of them compare to the holiday magic of this years’ Thanksgiving episode, recorded entirely on set of a steamy Sinn Sage produc...
Nov 28, 2021•58 min
Everyone’s got a story to tell and for all the troll-y haterade the internet offers us, the democratizing megaphone is in safe hands here. Phoebe J. Rose holds such a microphone for trans folx of all stripes as they document and declare their own history to a world short on trans stories. Join P*ck and Nate as they explore their own stories and the power of sharing and caring for ourselves and our community. Trans story time with Phoebe Rose, your calls and questions and what’s turning us on thi...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Nothing says ‘the holidays are here’ like your parents scratched up DVD of Christmas Vacation or awkwardly squirming in your seat during the more sexist parts of Miracle on 34th St. In hopes that we can offer an alternative this holiday season we’ve invited writer, researcher and friend of the show Dianna Anderson to join Christy in a conversation about sex positive and feminist film so that the only thing problematic about your tv viewing will be trying to convince your family and friends to st...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr 17 min
You may love your pet, and you may pet your love, but have you ever asked your lover to be your pet? After all, we ain’t nothing but mammals (who do it like they do it on the discovery channel), so why not take a walk on the wild side and let out our animal instincts? Join the show as Shade Wolf of Pet-Play Pride TX takes Christy and P*ck to obedience school so we can bone-up on tails of animal lust and learn a few tricks ourselves. All that plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week on ...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 20 min
The modern polyamory movement can readily trace it’s ties back to the feminist and counter-cultural movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Fueled by a willingness to question convention and a mandate to empower women, it’s no wonder polyamory would eagerly distance itself from the historical (and not so historical) polygamy of The Church of Latter Day Saints. How different are these approaches, really, and how does the ghost of Mormon plural marriage hang over modern ideas of ethical non-monogamy? Find...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 33 min
The world is opening back up and the internet’s hottest club has everything- sexy kinksters, a Montero aesthetic and a clunky graphic interface from circa 2007. At FetLife dot com you can explore new and exciting sexualities- meet cougars, bears, bunnies and possibly predators all while navigating a naked MySpace-inspired fever dream. This week web-hostess with the mostess Tanjil Wright joins Nate and Christy in navigating the dated digital landscape of one of the internet’s most perplexing perv...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 15 min
If you grew up believing that you were inherently sinful and had fallen short of the glory of god or were told that your thoughts were disgustingly perverted you are, among many other things, the perfect SecX fan. Still no one could blame you for wanting to keep some of that in the dark no matter how sex positive you’ve worked to be. Learning to accept our shadow self is at the heart of Jungian psychology, but what can that seemingly mystical science of the last century offer us today? Andy Lane...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Contrary to message boards and drunk uncles everywhere trans identities have always been baked into our DNA and present in our society. Revisionist histories and burned books have often failed to highlight these stories which is why it is such a privilege to have the opportunity to host the ACA’s own Stephanie Helms. Join Nate and Arden as we explore the personal and the passionate in Stephanie’s life as a preacher's kid, a sailor and an athlete while navigating a world of bigotry and confusion....
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 14 min
If there’s a more pure pleasure then loving, touching and squeezing research scientists and ancient mystics have yet to find it. Such a foundational, basic human desire surely needs no introduction, and yet for something so truly important we lack even the most basic training or professional expertise. Maybe that’s why paid cuddle parties and professional cuddlists are popping up everywhere- but what can we really learn about our most primitive language? Sundeep Arole joins Christy and Nate to d...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Brains are weird, even and especially the good ones. And while we learn more about them every day, perhaps the greatest insight of the last generation is the idea that there aren’t any bad ones, just different types of weird and good, typical and queer. Whether your brain is perfectly conventional or remarkably Abby Normal join us as Miss O Kissed takes us on a journey about neuroqueering and divergence from the pathology model- all that plus your calls and of course what’s turning us on this we...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 24 min
I mean, I get it. If there wasn’t something kind of magical about looking deeply into the eyes of someone you love or hearing them shout “oh GOD” at just the right moment, none of us would bother talking about love and sex and god for an hour and a half every week. For literally thousands of years people have insisted that there’s something not just profound, not just spiritual or even transcendent but actually divine about the love we make and share. Psychotherapist and writer Melissa Hargrave ...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 2 min
“Put your feet up and slide down the table” types and “turn your head and cough” people clearly have different medical needs. And since no matter how you experience or present your gender the basic biological hardware generally comes in two fashions, it stands to reason that a two check box system would have our medical forms covered. How well those boxes capture the beauty of human beings and the latest buzz in non-binary healthcare brings writer and researcher Dianna Anderson back to the show ...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 29 min
If there’s anything the internet is good for it’s nuanced political discussions about which lives matter and responsibly teaching your children about sexuality. But since PewdiePie can’t do all the heavy lifting and we have no idea how to use TikTok we thought we’d go in a slightly less men’s rights direction for ways to talk to kids about birds, bees, bears, otters, twinks and the nature of sex. This week Christy Powell is joined by Laura Magee and Helen Greene for a conversation about parentin...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Like VHS and the internet before it, Only Fans was pioneered by the hard working lunch-pail no-collar mentality of dedicated performers and artisans. Considering our politicians and culture struggle to understand the goods and services this under-studied industry sector entails, SecX decided to go a little deeper with one of our favorite sinners. P*ck and Christy celebrate adult studio owner and performer Sinn Sage’s return to the show to talk to fans and skeptics alike about the ins and outs of...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 27 min
It’s no small feat to stare down thousands of years of human culture and perhaps a lifetime of Sunday School before proudly declaring “There Is No GOD.” Whether you’ve taken that step or not it’s an entirely different thing to look at your marriage and accept “they are not my soulmate” or “no amount of sex is going to fundamentally change me as a human” or perhaps harder still “my relationship ended- and it still mattered.” The trappings of purity culture and a christian worldview don’t always d...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 21 min
This may not shock you but after 3 years of taking calls about sex from the internet, we’ve heard a thing or two. Is this okay? Is this normal? Is this weird, but like in a good way? In all that time our #1 question is usually some form of “I just found out I’m X… how do I tell Y?” Noah Garcia of the NextQuest Podcast is a psychotherapist and transition mentor with more than a little insight on the matter. Catch the episode as he joins Nate and Christy in cleaning out the closet and staying safe...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Tonight, we're going to turn our attention to some of our nearest relatives in the tree of life - primates. Our special guest, primatology student Erika aka Gutsick Gibbon, is here to share some insight on primate sexuality. What behaviors have been called 'unnatural' by conservatives, but we actually see running rampant in nature? What can we learn about human sexuality by studying primate sexuality? Find out the answers to all this and more on an episode that's more fun than a barrel of....nop...
Aug 06, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Admittedly, shadowbanning and deplatforming sound a little like fake 21st century problems. Imagine explaining to your psychiatrist that models, politicians and *ahem* sexually educational talk shows may be secretly held back from their audience or selectively prevented from communicating in the digital world. But since truth is stranger than fiction and SecX just so happens to have an absolute data boss on hand we thought we’d poke behind the curtain and seek to understand why so many sex worke...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 31 min
They say that happiness is like peeing on yourself- other people can see what’s going on but only you can feel the warmth. At the same time, here at SecX we’d like to think that we’re just happy you’re happy- gay/straight, mono/poly, ace or aro. If only there was a word for such a thing… join the conversation as Christy, Nate and P*ck examine the poly-centered concept of compersion and consider the art of happiness, jealousy, autonomy and control. All that, dumb jokes and your calls! ►Expand you...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Tribal drums don’t bring rain anymore than claps bring Tinkerbell back to life or diet coke keeps Matt Dillahunty from hanging up on your ass. Fake or not, it’s kind of amazing how many cultures and ultimately religions rely on music, dancing and rhythm to occasion the divine and the power of song to elicit a mystical experience shouldn’t be slept on. Recording artist and former Music Minister Ro joins Christy and Amberly this week to discuss the magic of music and the hustlers of Hamelin, walki...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 27 min
Finding a good therapist is hard- half the counselors on TV are weirdo crackpots, the other half are frauds and yet somehow I’d rather tell my secrets to most of them than half of the faces and blurbs I find on the internet. Dr. Crane? Dr. Jacoby? Dr. Lectur? Hold up- is my therapist supposed to be a doctor? With all the many ways religion, love and life can leave us nicked and cut it’s no wonder that many of us are looking for a healing professional, but which one? And why? This week SecX’s res...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 37 min
Your charming smile, your graceful moves, your enormous pe-rsonality- totally natural to have a little performance anxiety from time to time. But what do you do when sex itself has you nervous or worse yet, your anxiety encroaches in on an already fragile sexuality? Writer and Hill Country Therapist Melissa Hargrave joins P*ck and Christy in exploring our un- sexiest fears and unlocking a world of erotic relaxation, all that plus your calls in this therapist led ‘very special episode’ of SecX! ►...
Jul 02, 2021•1 hr 28 min
Whether you are gently whispering those three little words into your lover’s ear or passionately yelling “TAKE IT ALL” our voice does more than set the mood, it lets people know who we are and what we have to say to the world. The tiniest muscles, bones and hairs help to make up this remarkably precise and diverse communication system empowering humans to not just communicate but co-regulate in ways we are just beginning to understand despite millions of years of practice. This week returning he...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 9 min
‘LESBIAN’ is perhaps the number one porn search term of all time (which, honestly, has to put it in the top 5 key words on the internet right?) and yet there is very little PRIDE to be found in our search results. Girl-on-girl content generally seems to be like most everything else online and off- straight, white and male centered. What’s a horny lesbian to do? Christy is joined by adult industry expert Amberly Rothfield in a conversation with the ACA’s newest favorite sinner- studio owner and 2...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 36 min
Whether we attend therapy on a sofa, a zoom call, or if we are exploring sexual dimensions, sex and relationship counseling is for useful for everyone. While we disagree on more of the out there claims, we welcome an interesting conversation with our guest tonight. Lianna Walden is a sex and relationship coach and is joined by Nate and Rudy. Tonight we explore the depths of sex and relationships along with the more “spiritual” practices in some counseling sessions. Find more from Lianna Walden a...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 29 min
If this year has taught us anything, it’s that for better or for worse, the world we’ve created doesn’t look like the one we were born into. There is little in our evolutionary history that has prepared us for Zoom meetings and 4chan conspiracies and while the next big idea may be just around the corner it’s worth remembering that our culture isn’t necessarily in step with our biology. What this means for the way we understand gender is anybody’s guess but this week Kara Griffin from Recovering ...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 17 min
