From penis enlargement to vaginal rejuvenation, modern medicine is offering those who are concerned with their genital appearance the opportunity to obtain “designer genitals.” In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of people seeking genital augmentation surgery, as well as a growing number of procedures to choose from that promise to boost self-confidence and sexual desirability. But do all of these procedures really work as promised? Are they even safe? And is g...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast Before the pandemic hit, the number of American adults living single was at a record high, while the marriage rate was at a record low. But that might all be about to change, according to results from the 11th annual Singles in America Survey from Match. This survey involved a demographically representative sample of 5,000 single adults aged 18-98, and the findings suggest that singles today are thinking very differently about sex, love, and relationships. To break down the results, I spoke with...
Jan 07, 2022•46 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast As you ponder your New Year’s resolutions for 2022, think about things you can do to improve your sex life! With the right set of resolutions, you can address problem areas and tap into unfulfilled desires, which will allow you to enjoy the best sex of your life, boost passion in your relationship, and keep the spark burning all year long. Need some inspiration? I have you covered with this episode! I spoke with Dr. Jessica O’Reilly about sexual New Year’s resolutions. Dr. Jess is a ...
Dec 29, 2021•41 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast If you’re feeling extra horny right now, it’s not just you! The winter holidays are one of the times of year when sexual interest and behavior reliably increase. We see this in everything from a spike in condom sales to an increase in sexual injuries to a peak in STD rates early in the new year. So why is that? That’s what we’re going to explore in today’s episode. I revisited my conversation with Dr. Patrick Markey from Episode 49, who analyzed Google search trends...
Dec 22, 2021•30 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast What does it mean to be asexual? This is something that different people have defined in different ways, and there are a lot of misconceptions about it. That’s why this episode of the podcast is all about understanding asexuality. We dive into what the science tells us about this subject and bust a lot of myths along the way. We also talk about helpful tips for navigating relationships in which one of the partners is asexual (lacking sexual attraction) and the other is allosexual (experien...
Dec 17, 2021•48 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast Most of us never got the sex education we really needed, which leaves us with a lot that we need to figure out all on our own. Fortunately, technology is making it easier than ever to fill in the gaps. In this episode, we’re going to explore an app that offers a step-by-step guide to sexual health that can also help you to build intimacy. In addition, we’ll be discussing common questions people have about sex and practical tips for cultivating a hotter and healthier sex life. My guest is Isharna...
Dec 10, 2021•52 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast If you ask someone to describe their sexuality, odds are they’ll probably tell you something about the sex or gender of the people they’re attracted to. However, that’s just one of many aspects of sexuality that might be important to a given individual. Sexuality is multidimensional, and each of us has a unique constellation of factors that play a part in our attraction to others, from the number of partners we want to have, to the degree of support and nurturance we need, to the sexual roles we...
Dec 03, 2021•51 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast Evolutionary psychologists have long argued that women’s sexual behavior is driven by hormonal changes that occur throughout the menstrual cycle, including everything from their desire for sex to their partner choice. This has fed the popular idea that hormones are really the driving force behind women’s sexuality. As it turns out, however, that’s not entirely true. In this episode, we’re going to be deconstructing the myth of the “hormonal woman” with Dr. Tierney Lorenz, a former Kinsey Institu...
Nov 26, 2021•51 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast Each November, media buzz around the annual abstinence challenge known as “No Nut November” seems to grow. This challenge involves men giving up ejaculation for the entire month. That means no sex and no masturbation—no orgasms of any kind. Those who participate do this for a wide range of reasons, but often with the intention of enhancing their health. But are there actually any health benefits to abstaining from orgasm for prolonged periods of time? To dive into what the science says, I spoke ...
Nov 19, 2021•36 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast What does it really mean to have an orgasm? Different people—and even different scientists—define “orgasm” in different ways, which makes this a surprisingly difficult subject to study scientifically. So how do you measure when someone has an orgasm in a research lab? For this episode, I spoke to an orgasm researcher who has figured out how to do it. Her methods and findings are absolutely fascinating and will change everything you think you know about orgasms! My guest today is Dr. Nicole Praus...
Nov 12, 2021•44 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast Most people say that their ideal relationship would be monogamous. Despite this, however, a lot of people seem to have a really hard time maintaining monogamy. So why is that? And if monogamy is what you want, how can you most successfully maintain it and reduce the risk of infidelity? For the answers to these questions, I spoke with Dr. Lucia O’Sullivan, a Professor of Psychology at the University of New Brunswick. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on sexual and romantic relatio...
Nov 05, 2021•51 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast What do the sex lives of college students today look like? And how have they changed over time? I spoke with a sex educator who has amassed more than 30 years’ worth of data from students taking her university human sexuality courses. In total, she surveyed nearly 7,000 students and has obtained unique insights into how everything from kink to faking orgasms to condom use has changed since the 1990s. My guest today is Dr. Sandra Caron, a Professor of Family Relations and Human Sexuality at the U...
Oct 29, 2021•52 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast A lot of people think about sexual orientation and gender as stable characteristics of the self–they think that people are just born a certain way. While it’s certainly true that many people do demonstrate stability in these traits throughout their lives, not everyone does. Many people experience some degree of sexual and/or gender fluidity, which can manifest in unexpected shifts in identity and expression over time. To be clear, this isn’t to say that sexuality and gender are...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast People can develop sexual fetishes for virtually anything. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that if you can think of it, somebody probably has a fetish for it. So why is that? How do fetishes develop in the first place? Are some people more likely to develop them than others? And what role does porn play in all of this? For the answers to these questions, I spoke with Dr. Jim Pfaus, a researcher in behavioral neuroscience in the Department of Psychology and Life Sciences at Charles University ...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s youth are facing a complicated landscape when it comes to sex. They live in a world where sex is all around and porn is more easily accessible than ever before, but they’re not being educated about it and they’re receiving a lot of mixed messages. So are young adults getting what they want out of sex and relationships? What do their intimate lives look like? And what can parents and schools do to better support them? For insight into these questions, I spoke with Peggy Orenstein, author ...
Oct 08, 2021•48 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast Sexual difficulties are common, but people tend to have a really hard time talking about them. In fact, people often find it easier to avoid the subject entirely, which can lead sex to disappear in a relationship. So how can people start healthy and productive conversations about sexual difficulties? What can they do to address them? And whether sexual difficulties are present or not, how can you have better sex? For insight into these topics and more, I spoke with Jeff Abraham, CEO of the compa...
Oct 01, 2021•49 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever heard that there are 8,000 nerve endings in the clitoris, or that the clitoris has twice as many nerve endings as the penis? These statements appear as facts in countless social media posts, news articles, and books. There’s just one problem with them, though—they’re wrong. It turns out that so many of the things we think we know about sex and that we hear repeated over and over just aren’t true. That’s why this episode of the podcast is all about what we don’t know about sex. To h...
Sep 22, 2021•51 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast Do people from different cultures have different sexual fantasies? Or are there common threads that run through our fantasy worlds? As someone who studies fantasies, these are questions that have long interested me—and now I have some answers! During my recent study abroad course on sex and culture in Amsterdam, I met the author of the largest study of erotic fantasies in the Netherlands. He traveled to festivals with a caravan and interviewed hundreds of people about their sexual turn-ons. Need...
Sep 17, 2021•43 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast When did college “hookup culture” actually begin? Who is it helping, and who is it hurting? And what can people today do to navigate hookup culture and casual sex in healthy ways? For the answers to these questions, I spoke with Dr. Lisa Wade, an associate professor of sociology and gender and sexuality studies at Tulane University. She is also the author of the book, American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus . Some of the topics we explore in this episode include: What does the term “ho...
Sep 10, 2021•48 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast Why do humans have sex? To many, the answer to this question might seem obvious—but the truth is that our reasons for sex are many and varied, and some of the reasons people cite might very well surprise you! For this episode of the podcast, I spoke with Dr. Cindy Meston, a Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of the Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied humans’ motivations for sex extensively and is the author of the book Why Wo...
Sep 03, 2021•54 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Divorce sucks. It can suck away your time and energy, your money, and, in some cases, even your will to live. So is there anything you can do to “divorce-proof” your relationship and avoid this kind of pain? And if you’re going through a divorce, how do you put the pieces back together and move forward in a healthy way? For the answers, I spoke with Dr. Patrick Markey, a Professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences at Villanova University. He is co-author of the new book F*ck Divorce: A Science Ba...
Aug 27, 2021•52 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone’s brain is a little different when it comes to sex—and understanding how your sexual brain works is one of the keys to unlocking more pleasure and improving your sex life. That’s why this episode is all about the brain mechanisms that underlie sexual response, and it’s going to change the way that you think about sex. I interviewed Emily Nagoski, the New York Times bestselling author of the books Come As You Are and The Come As You Are Workbook . She is also co-author of Burnout: The Se...
Aug 20, 2021•51 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Testosterone is one of the most misunderstood and maligned hormones in the human body. It gets blamed for toxic masculinity, sexual assault, aggression, and more. That’s why this episode of the Sex and Psychology podcast covers what you really need to know about testosterone and how it affects us. I spoke with Dr. Carole Hooven, who is a lecturer and codirector of undergraduate studies in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. She earned her PhD at Harvard, studying ...
Aug 13, 2021•55 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast It’s time to reimagine sex education and start giving people the sex ed they need—and deserve. So what should that look like? That’s the subject of my latest podcast with special guest Dr. Kristen Mark. We talk all about the sex ed that does and doesn’t work and explore tips on cultivating happier and healthier sex lives and relationships, including how to keep the spark alive and how to work through sexual trauma. Dr. Mark is the Joycelyn Elders Endowed Chair and Professor in Sexual Health Educ...
Aug 06, 2021•48 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast Marriage is hard. And, in many ways, it’s harder today than it was in the past because what we’re asking of our partners now is so dramatically different than it was before. Whereas marriage used to be about meeting basic survival needs, it’s become more about self-actualization. And so if we want to understand how to make the institution of marriage better, we have to look at it in the context of our ever-changing needs and expectations. That’s why this episode of the podcast is all about the s...
Jul 30, 2021•51 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast There are a lot of things people get wrong about kink, including the idea it’s inherently rooted in trauma and mental illness, that it’s abusive, and that kinky people can’t develop healthy relationships. That’s why this episode of the Sex and Psychology Podcast is all about the science of kink, BDSM, and fetishes! I interviewed Dr. Richard Sprott, who studies identity development, health, and well-being in alternative sexualities and non-traditional relationships. He currently teaches at Califo...
Jul 23, 2021•49 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast People’s interest in polyamory is growing. For example, Google trends reveal that searches related to polyamory have risen significantly over the last decade . However, while interest is climbing, myths and misconceptions abound, which is why this episode of the Sex and Psychology Podcast offers a deep dive into the world of polyamory. I interviewed Dr. Heath Schechinger. He is a Counseling Psychologist at the University of California Berkeley and also maintains a private practice. Heath is the ...
Jul 16, 2021•55 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Getting into a relationship is much easier than getting out of one. People have a tendency to slide into relationships without putting in a lot of thought. But when it comes to getting out of a relationship, people may deliberate for months, perhaps years—decades even. So why is that? This episode of the Sex and Psychology Podcast is all about how we make relationship decisions. I interviewed Dr. Samantha Joel, an Assistant Professor at Western University. Her research examines how people make t...
Jul 09, 2021•45 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast It is often said that the most important decision you make in your life is who you decide to have a relationship with—yet most of us are never really taught anything about how to make this decision. As a result, we typically learn how to navigate relationships through trial and error, but there are usually a lot of errors along the way! That’s why this episode of the Sex and Psychology Podcast is all about boosting your relationship IQ by revealing the secrets of relationship success. I intervie...
Jul 01, 2021•49 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast Although sex, dating, and relationships can bring us great joy, they also have a very dark side. For example, people sometimes lie or deceive others in order to have sex. And in dating and relationships, jealousy sometimes turns into violence. So why do these things happen in the first place? And what can we do to prevent them? I interviewed Dr. David Buss, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is considered the world’s leading scientific expert on strategies of huma...
Jun 25, 2021•50 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast 
