Happy Obama! - 11/7/12

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Although my show this week was a bit scattered, I am so pleased to share it with you. Instead of 4 years of regression and the destruction of the equality that we have been striving for, America was smart enough to elect President Obama for a second term. This means progress, hope, and to be blunt, getting shit done.

I don't have much else to say, but enjoy the episode. 

Music you heard:

1. "6PM" from Animal Crossing OST
2. "Time Is All Around" by Regina Spektor
3. "Change" by Podington Bear
4. "bamboo cactus" by i, cactus

Useful links:

1. Obama's Victory Speech

Safety Girl! - 10/24/12

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Today's show I had a very special guest: Tanya Veilleux, who you might know as Safety Girl. She recently opened Get Curious with Safety Girl on Liberty (under Bongz & Thongz), and is on a mission to help the community by offering lots of toys, workshops, and fun costumes.

Something I love about what Tanya does, is that she is not afraid to be completely sex positive, and in a completely safe way. There are no dumb questions with her, and there's nothing TMI. You can talk about anything, and her shop is a completely safe space for this. Tanya also has developed a relationship with First Step, a domestic violence support community, which I think is so necessary to talk about and bring to light, since 1 in 4 women has experienced domestic violence.

The thing I realized while talking to Tanya was that it's important to band together in small communities like ours. Sometimes it's hard to open up about your sexuality, whether your straight or queer, and it feels good to have other people that are open about it. That is one of the fundamental reasons for my show here guys: to make you feel comfortable talking about your sexuality. I want you to feel empowered and comfortable with yourself, and the only way for that to happen is if other people are open about their own sexuality. Sex-positivism is catching.

Music you heard:

1. "Curious Jungle" by Podington Bear
2. "Ask Me Now" by Thelonious Monk
3. Safety Girl Theme

Useful links:

1. Get Curious with Safety Girl
2. Safety Girl on Facebook
3. "Boutique caters to student sexual needs" via Michigan Daily
4. First Step

Bullying Part 2 - 10/10/12

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Welcome to week 2 of Bullying Awareness Month at The Sex and Tell Show!

When it comes to bullying, the major idea is that students feel safe. If they don't feel safe, they will not report bullying when it happens. They won't know who to trust, and they won't feel comfortable talking about it with just anyone, because maybe THEY will bully them too. Even the smallest things can help, like having a rainbow flag sticker on your door, or an HRC sticker on a water bottle. Having materials (brochures, etc.) in your office will let students know that they can talk to you. Kids pay attention, and they notice more than you think they do. 

Another important thing that I think all schools should do, is to provide some sort of informational assembly (or multiple assemblies), regarding the LGBT community. Have someone explain what queer means, or what being transgender means. Inform your students, and they will be less likely to bully, because they will UNDERSTAND. Same thing with adults, which is a reason why I have this show. When people are more educated on a topic, they are more sympathetic. They are less likely to say something offensive.

Music you heard:

1. "Eugenia" by Scott Joplin
2. Zeki Müren (forgot the song sorry!)

Useful links:

1. LGBT Youth Tip Sheet
2. 4 Steps Schools Can Take to Address Anti-LGBT Bullying and Harassment
3. Gay Bullying - National Youth Association
4. Transgender people and bullying

I hope this was helpful, and I hope it inspires you to stop bullying, in whatever form it takes. Tune in next week when we talk about fetishes!

Bullying Part 1 - 10/3/12

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In light of Bullying Awareness Month, I wanted to have an episode specifically on the kind of bullying that happens with queer kids in high schools, college, work, whatever. Turns out the episode didn't go quite as I planned, in the most glorious way. I'm really pleased with the way the topic went, and especially with my guests.

A major topic we talked about were the ways that people bully, and the kinds of people that bully. Here's the thing: everyone bullies and everyone is bullied. Bullying comes out of insecurity, or ignorance. The only way to stop is to be honest with ourselves about why we're feeling a certain way, and also to not let bullying slide. Ever. It's never OK, and it's not just something kids do. Adults do it too. Companies do it. Politicians do it.

The worst though is when someone is bullied for simply being who they are, which is why this topic is so important for a show like mine. This can pertain to anyone with a body. Whether it's making fun of someone for being overweight, calling someone a slut, or calling someone a fag. You can stop this. You don't have to tolerate it, and you shouldn't tolerate it. Every single person on the planet is so beautiful, and deserve as much respect as anyone else.

Also, as a side note, this episode was not only aired live, but was also filmed live by two wonderful ladies in a documentary film class at the university! Thanks for adding so much energy to the show!

Useful links:

1. CBS WKBT News Anchor's On-Air Response To A Viewer Calling Her Fat
2. FAQ: What is "slut-shaming"?
3. Bullying Prevention Tips (concise)
4. Gays Bullied To The Point Of Suicide

Music you heard:

1. Same Love feat. Mary Lambert by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

If you're interested in this topic more, we're having Part 2 of Bullying next week, so definitely listen in. We didn't cover even half of the things I wanted to talk about, and since it's Bully Awareness Month, I think it deserves another show. See you next week!

Sex Before Marriage - 9/25/12

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Today's show is a bit of a hot topic, and I want to take a second to acknowledge it as such. Not everyone will agree with my personal opinions about sex before marriage, and that's absolutely fantastic. If we all had the same views, we would live in a boring world. That said, I try my very hardest to understand other viewpoints, whether I disagree with them or not. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, but I expect respectful discussion, which is something I think our society lacks.

Both this and the topic of same-sex marriage tend to bring up very, very strong emotions. That's natural, but I hope that what you take away from this episode, above all of the other opinions you hear, is that we talk about sex before marriage in a very civilized way. We might have differing opinions, but that doesn't mean we need to be petty. This is why I thought that Jill Filipovic's article was fantastic: it was relatively neutral, and very much empathetic to both sides of the topic. 

I implore you, if you want to talk about this or any subject that you want to discuss with another person, try to follow these rules:

• Be respectful
• Put yourself in their shoes before you speak
• Speak to others as you would like to be spoken to
• Be objective when you can
• No yelling

I hope that you enjoy today's show, and I would love to discuss the topic at greater length if you want to post your thoughts, or e-mail me. 

Useful links:

1. Waiting till the wedding night -- getting married the right way
2. The moral case for sex before marriage
3. Reciprocal Effects of Religiosity, Cohabitation, and Marriage
4. Taming desire: Celibacy, sexuality and the Church

Music you heard:

1. "Peggy's Minute Rag" by Elena Kats-Chernin
2. "Body and Soul" by Billie Holiday
3. "A Lover Like You" by The Avett Brothers

Thanks!

Sex Olympians - 8/1/12

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Today was a very special episode of the Sex and Tell Show for multiple reasons:

1. There were about 5 other people in the studio besides me
2. It was a live show
3. We got our first caller
4. Our topic was the best thing ever

The gist of today's show was that Olympic games participants are having copious amounts of sex right now. Yes, right now. While you're watching the Olympics on your TV, there is so much behind-the-scene action that it will blow your mind. Not only do Olympians have lots and lots of sex with each other, but the people running the Olympics actually buy custom condoms in bulk for the occasion! In the episode we'll talk about that, plus why it may or may not be good for the athletes to have sex before their events.

As always, if you have any comments, anecdotes, etc. about the topic, PLEASE e-mail us. We want to know. We need to know. 

Useful links:

1. Will you still medal in the morning?
2. Olympics: Sex not a spoiler
3. 21 Openly Gay Olympians
4. Olympics or Gay Porn?

Music you heard:

1. "We Are The Champions" by Queen

Hope you have as much fun listening as we did recording!

Happy Sexth of July - 7/4/12

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Due to a lack of interviews, the holiday season, and my dear co-host being out of town, I decided to do a live show for the first time, and talk a bit about the history of sex in Amurrica! Although it was a bit of an irregular show, I hope you really enjoyed it, and I hope that you check out some of the other resources listed below. I had a lot of fun reading these articles, and I tried to share what I thought was best, but each link has waaaaay more stuff than I could talk about on-air in 30 minutes.

A lot of what I wanted to talk about on the show was that every day, every month, every year, America is changing, sometimes for worse, but a lot of the time for the better. We've made huge strides not only in civil rights regarding gay marriage, but with sex and sexuality in general. It's finally becoming more OK to talk about sex, and hopefully someday we'll be as healthy and open about sexuality as our fellow humans in European countries.

If you have any questions, comments, etc. about the show, feel free to leave comments or e-mail us! We would love to have a conversation about whatever's on your mind!

Useful links:

• FAQ to The Kinsey Institute
• "The History & Future of Sex" by Marty Klein, PhD
• "Making War, Not Love: A French View On Sex In America" by Pascal Brunkner
• "Delta Venus" by Anaïs Nin
• Sexual Revolution via Wikipedia

Music used:

1. "C'était Une Histoire D'amour" by Edith Piaf
2. Satie: Gnossiennes #5 (Modéré)
3. "Memoir of a Future Past" by Ezekiel Honig

Tune in next week!