Sex Talks With Emma-Louise Boynton (Emma-Louise Boynton)

In this episode of the Sex Talks podcast, Emma is joined be Regena Thomashauer, otherwise known as ‘Mama Gena’.

She is a teacher, best-selling author, mother and founder and CEO of the New York-based School of Womanly Arts where she teaches women how to get (re)connected to their bodies and to their sensuality. “For as long as women are disconnected from their pussy they are disconnected from their power,” she tells us.

Her book ‘Pussy: A Reclamation’, has been recommended to the team so many times we had to have her on the podcast to find out what exactly the School of Womanly Arts is all about. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

The fourth and final season of Sex Education is out now, and while we’re already mourning the fact that Otis and Eric won’t be returning to our tv screens (at least not together), the show’s finale gave us all the feels. 

In the most recent live recording of the Sex Talks podcast, Emma was joined by Sex Education’s creator, Laurie Nunn, to discuss the making of our fave tv show: how the idea for the Sex Education initially came about; what went down in the writers room from season to season; and why it took them until season four to finally get a finger-up-the-bum-scene into the show.

In part 2 of the recording, Emma and Laurie are joined by Emma’s sex therapist, Aleks, to chat through some of the major themes explored in the show, and to do an extra juicy audience q&a.

This episode was sponsored by The Knude Society, aka the female-led sexual pleasure company on a mission to help you enjoy your body, in whatever way feels right for you. 

The Knude society has designed two vibrators, as well as a water-based lube, that can help you do exactly that. 

Get 15% off when you shop with the Knude society using the code SEXTALKS15. 

In this episode, Emma sits down with Caggie Dunlop, host of the Saturn Returns podcast and author of Saturn Returns: Your Cosmic Coming Of Age, to chat bad dates, good dates, and shaking off all the societal pressures surrounding finding the ‘perfect’ person, the ‘perfect’ job, the ‘perfect’ life… 

Together they tackle your agony aunt questions regarding:

• How to avoid losing yourself in love
• How you know when it’s time to leave a relationship versus staying to try and make things work
• How to find your purpose in work and avoid feeling ‘left behind’

If you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. If you want to spice up your summer, all while supporting this podcast, then please do download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

Are you dating with a scarcity mindset?

Do you end up chasing people who just aren’t that interested in you?

Are you staying in a relationship, whether platonic or romantic, that doesn’t make you happy, just because you don’t believe there is anything, anyone better out there?

You can change that. You can cultivate a new mindset - one that will help you find and build the relationships you truly want in your life.

2024 is the year to stop settling and in this episode, Emma-Louise is joined by manifesting queen, Roxie Nafousi, who is here to help you do just that.

With special thanks to Tinder UK for sponsoring this podcast episode and the Sex Talks Live series partner, The London Edition.

If you want to attend a LIVE recording of the Sex Talks podcast head over to this link.

Am I normal? That is the question sex therapist, Kate Moyle, says she gets asked most frequently in the therapy room. That and, ‘am I broken?’. In her debut book, “The Science Of Sex” Kate sets out to answer all of our most pressing sex and relationship questions and to reassure us that yes we are normal and no we are not broken.

By reframing commonly held assumptions about sex and confronting the many myths and taboos that still surround it, Kate is determined to move us away from a shame-based approach to sex, to one focused instead on pleasure. I, for one, am here for it.

To celebrate the launch of this much-needed piece of sex re-education, Kate joined me on the Sex Talks stage, alongside sex therapists Dr Karen Gurney and Dr Amani Zarroug, for a discussion all about, well, sex.

If you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk and if you'd like to join an upcoming live podcast recording grab your ticket here.

A big thank you to Sex Talk series partners, The London Edition hotel and Don Julio. 

Sign up to the Sex Talks newsletter here https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6241f65d78ed98531daef0fd

In this solo episode of the Sex Talks podcast, Emma discusses three main topics: her experience watching a play called 'After Sex' and the dating lessons it reminded her of; her brand new mantra 'the grass is greenest where you water it' and how we can apply it to both work and relationships; and, finally, the negative effects of comparison culture, particularly in relation to sex.

The final Sex Talks Live podcast recording of the summer will take place on July 30th at The London Edition. You can purchase tickets here.

In this episode, Emma sits down with the Internet's reigning sex and relationships agony aunt, Oloni.

She's a writer, a podcaster, the originator of the 'Girls lets have some fun' Twitter thread and, most recently, the author of 'The Big O'.

Here they chat through how to overcome sexual shame; learning to embrace your sexuality in whatever way works for you; the importance of sexual pleasure and a whole tonne more.

As ever, Oloni and Emma tackle several of your brilliant agony aunt questions.

If you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. If you want to spice up your summer, all while supporting this podcast, then please do download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

S3x Talks is the new series exploring issues around s3x, desire and the female pleasure taboo and for the first session of the year, I thought I'd bring a little bit of comedy to our sex chats.

Following the publication of her new book, My Broken Vagina, author and comedian Fran Bushe joins me on the Sex Talks stage to discuss all she learned at Sex Camp - the two-week “conscious sexuality festival” that offers workshops designed to reconnect attendees with their sexual “juices".

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

After struggling to climax for years, Fran set out to discover how to have better orgasms. The result is a raucously funny, informative and at times heart-rending book into which we are going to deep-dive over the course of the evening.

I'll also be joined by sex educator, artist, and body-positive champion, Ruby Rare, who's on a mission to engage people of all ages in positive conversations about their pleasure. The author of 'Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults', there really is no one better to guide us through an evening discussing sexual self-exploration. 

Enjoy the show!

Emma-Louise x

In this episode we're putting a quick pause on agony aunting your questions and instead turning to sex tech founder, Anna Lee, for a deep dive into how she's deepening our understanding of female orgasms with the world's first smart vibrator, the Lioness, which allows users to track their orgasms using biofeedback data.

'Why would I want to track my orgasms?' you may be wondering.

Well, for far too long sex science has focused almost exclusively on the male anatomy, while overlooking the intricacies and specificities of female sexual function and pleasure. This dearth of research into the female experience of sex has led to numerous misunderstandings and oversights when it comes to our understanding of sex.

Anna and the Lioness team are seeking to address that by helping women and people-with-vulvas better get to know their own bodies, while also contributing to broader research studies around female pleasure and sexual function.

As it turns out, there's a lot we can learn about our overall health and well-being through our orgasms.

We'll be returning to your questions next week, so if you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. If you want to spice up your summer, all while supporting this podcast, then please do download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

So we’ve all heard of attachment styles right? 

Attachment theory tells us that the emotional attachments we form with our primary caregivers in infancy can influence our interpersonal relationships later in life.

Whether we’re anxious, secure, avoidant or disorganised, our attachment style can have a pretty big impact on how we show up in our romantic relationships. 

Since attachment styles have of late been getting a lot of airtime on social media and we wanted to understand more about the science behind the theory and delve a little deeper into the research underpinning the internet’s favourite relationship theory.

To help us do just, Emma was joined in the podcast this week by psychotherapist and author of ‘Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love’, Jessica Baum. 

You can take the attachment style quiz here; find out more about Jessica's work here and buy her brilliant book here.

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

The 5th installment of Sex Talks focused on challenging the cultural script around sex and relationships (you’ve got to find ‘the one’; you need an ‘other half’ to be fulfilled; sex is all about that P in V… you get the picture) and exploring the myriad factors that shape sexuality, including shitty sex ed and reductive gender norms.

We delved into how we can then challenge these ideas, with a particular focus on polyamory and what we might all be able to learn from those who take an ethically non-monogamous approach to relationships.

My dreamy panel included the brilliant, Bronwyn Griffiths @minkaguides (aka 'Fanny Minka' of @sink_the_pink) - a queer polyamorous writer and performer.

Bronwyn's blog, Minka Guides, is all about celebrating life beyond the norm, which is exactly what we did during this Sex Talks.

I was also joined be the equally fabulous @almazohene - sex educator and activist, award-winning writer and soon-to-be author who is currently doing some fascinating research on all that’s shaped people’s approach to sex.

And last but not least, Nadine Noor Ahmad, aka international DJ (who typically goes by the name Nadine Artois) and co-founder of Pxssy Palace, the club night and collective that prioritizes womxn and queer/intersex/trans people of color.

On this episode of the podcast, Emma sits down with porn performer, director, editor and producer, Vex Ashley, to find out how she went from cam-girl to running her own independent porn platform, and why she considers sex such an interesting and important topic for us to discuss.

After rejecting being demoted to ‘muse’ while at art school and then getting naked online as a cam girl, Vex started up the independent porn platform called Four Chambers back in 2013 in order to expand the idea of what sex on film could do, be and say.

The platform explores the intersection between sex, psychology, technology, art history and well everything in between and Vex is both behind and in front of the camera, something she sees as key to the way she works.

"I'm pretty hardline on this", she told us previously, “if you're making money off of asking people to fuck on film, you should yourself have fucked on film.”

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Emma-Louise was joined by OG creator, author and body positivity advocate, Megan Jayne Crabbe.

Together they discuss the impact of our restrictive body image ideals, growing up with an eating disorder, how body image issues affect our relationship to sex and pleasure, the power of the body positivity movement and what it means to finally come home to your body.

As Megan said on the podcast: "You don't have to love your body. You don't have to think your body's wonderful. You don't even have to think, yeah, this is the body that I want.

"But at the very least, our bodies deserve some kind of respect, because they are doing their best up against a culture that convinces us to hate them."

For this episode of the pod we partnered up with the team at Fenwick, Kingston where we hosted the recording live from their gorgeous, and newly redesigned, lingerie and nightwear section. You can watching the recording on Youtube here.

Trigger warning: this episode discusses eating disorders, anorexia and body image issues. Please take care when listening and if you've been affected by anything discussed you can seek help at Beat below.

(Call) England 0808 801 0677

Email support for England:

help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk

You can purchase tickets to the next live event here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

In this episode, Emma-Louise sits down with journalist and author, Olivia Petter, to discuss Petter's debut book of fiction, Gold Rush. 

The book covers so many vital and indeed urgent themes surrounding sexual abuse, trauma and the toxicity of celebrity culture, all of which they delve into during what is a totally fascinating interview. 

“We give celebrities a power they don’t deserve," Petter writes, "a Power they haven’t earned. What happens when they exploit it?”

You can purchase tickets to the next live event here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

*Trigger warning: this episode discusses themes around sexual abuse and assault. Please see below for resources and where you can access support if you've been affected by anything discussed.*

For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222.

If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women's Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.

If you are worried that you or someone you know is being groomed, you can access Victim Support’s Children and Young People Services. You can contact your nearest Victim Support office, call the 24/7 Supportline, contact them via live chat, or if you are 16 or older, you can create a My Support Space account.

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

This International Women's Day Sex Talks explored what women around the world really think about when they're having sex, what this tells us about the enduring taboos that still surround sex and female pleasure, and why respect for female pleasure equates to respect for gender equality.

Joining Sex Talks host and creator, Emma-Louise Boynton were three brilliant panelists, including:

Lucy-Anne Holmes, the author and activist who recently published "Women on top of the world" - a collection of searingly honest testimonies of women around the world on what sex means and feels like to them. She also happens to be a sexual priestess, and if you don't know what that is... well, you'll have to join us to find out.

Sangeeta Pillai, founder of Soul Sutras, a ‘feminist platform for all bad betis & besharam bibis’, is creating a safe space for South Asian womxn to tell their stories and tackle taboos surrounding sex, sexuality, periods, menopause, sexual harassment and more. Sangeeta hosts the award-winning Masala podcast. 

&

Raga D'Silva - LGBTQ activist, the author of Untold Lies (a book about a little girl’s journey to the truth that not only saves her but gives the reader hope) and the host of a series of online shows including Coming out stories from India.

She has over 25 years of experience in the creative field, working in senior positions in advertising in India and New Zealand and is co-founder of India's largest international speaker agency, Speaking Minds. 

Raga is currently writing three books, scripts for OTT content, and working on her first short film. A story that Raga wrote during lockdown is being made into a feature film by Onir, an award-winning filmmaker.

In 2015, bestselling author and podcaster, Jon Ronson, published 'You've Been Publicly Shamed', a book exploring how social media changed the way we shame people publicly, while fostering a culture of 'casual cruelty' in which we were all too happy to participate.

In this episode, Emma sits down with Jon to discuss how this phenomenon of public shaming has evolved in the 8 years that have passed since the publication of the book, and what Jon makes of our present day public discourse.

Invariably, the conversation veers down fascinating rabbit holes as Jon explains how he continues to repeatedly churn out bestsellers, what inspires him to embark on a new investigation and the art of writing non-fiction like fiction.

It is truly one of our favourite podcast episodes to date.

This episode was sponsored by The Knude Society, aka the female-led sexual pleasure company on a mission to help you enjoy your body, in whatever way feels right for you. 

The Knude society has designed two vibrators, as well as a water-based lube, that can help you do exactly that. 

Get 15% off when you shop with the Knude society using the code SEXTALKS15. 

If you want to join the Sex Talks crew, sign up to Emma-Louise’s substack ‘Swipe Right’ here. And if you'd like to join an upcoming live podcast recording grab your ticket here.

We're on a podcast break this week so we're reposting one of our fave old episodes featuring author, Natasha Lunn, discussing her bestselling book 'Conversations on Love'.

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Our usual Thursday podcasting schedule will resume next week and the final Sex Talks Live podcast recording of the summer will take place on July 30th at The London Edition. You can purchase tickets here.

In this episode, Emma-Louise is joined by evolutionary anthropologist, Dr Anna Machin, to discuss the topic of love - why we love, how we love, what's happening in our brains and in our bodies when we fall in love....

If you've ever felt like you're going a little crazy when in the early stages of romance, Dr Machin explains why. In a similar vein, she also breaks down some of the most enduring cultural myths surrounding love and romance, outlining why we get this topic so very wrong. The idea of 'the one'? Bullsh*t. But there is a biological explanation for the notion of soulmates.

If you're curious to learn more about the ideas discussed in this episode make sure to read Dr Machin's book, Why We Love, which we found fascinating.

Finally, if you want to join a live recording of the Sex Talks podcast you can find details here.

*Trigger warning* we discuss issues around sexual violence, rape and assault in this episode, so please take care while listening. As always, I’ve put resources in the show notes for anyone who has been affected by the topics discussed. 

In this live recording of the Sex Talks podcast I wanted to address a question that has been on my mind a lot of late: why do men hate women? 

It is provocative, I know, and intentionally so. But amidst the seemingly relentless series of news stories about male violence, It is a question I just can’t shake from my head. 

After all, this conversation takes place against a backdrop of ongoing, high profile sexual abuse and rape cases with the likes of Dominuqe Pelicot; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs; the late Mohammed Al Fayed; and the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch Mike Jeffries, amongst some of the high profile names currently under investigation for allegedly committing the most unimaginable crimes.  

What’s more, the scale of violence against women and girls is so high police chiefs have declared it a National Emergency here in the UK.

So, the purpose of this discussion was thus to try and better understand what is going on, why and what needs to be done now to end this epidemic of violence.

I was joined by the brilliant Laura Bates - activist, writer, speaker and journalist. She is also the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, an ever-increasing collection of over 200,000 testimonies of gender inequality.

Launched in 2012, the project raises awareness of sexism, provides a cathartic and empowering space for survivors’ stories to be heard and believed, and uses those stories to create real-world change in partnership with politicians, businesses and organisations from the United Nations to the Council of Europe. 

She is currently writing her 11th book.

I was also joined by Ben Hurst, Director of Facilitation at Beyond Equality, an organisation that is rethinking masculinity and engaging men and boys in the gender equality conversation.

If you are affected by the issues discussed this please seek help via the below:

Rape Crisis are open 24/7 for anyone who has experienced something sexual without their consent. Call free on 0808 500 2222 or visit their website here.

Samaritans are open 24/7 for anyone who needs to talk. You can visit some Samaritans branches in person. Samaritans also have a Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).

116 123 (freephone)

jo@samaritans.org

Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS

samaritans.org

On today’s episode Emma-Louise is joined by a truly incredible woman: Lucia Osborne Crowley. 

She’s a Journalist, reporter and the author of three books including ‘The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the trial of Ghislane Maxwell’, which they discuss in length during this episode. It was one of the best books we read this year, FYI.

Her prior two books, I Choose Elena (2019) and My Body Keeps Your Secrets (2021) both explored the myriad ways in which trauma affects the body.

Prior to becoming a journalist, Lucia trained as a lawyer and worked as a paralegal before jumping over to the reporting side of things as a court reporter. She now balances her brilliant investigative work with a full time job at Law360, a US newswire covering courts and crime across the world.

This was one of the most powerful, poignant and heart-wrenching interviews we’ve hosted at Sex Talks. Not least because of how personal Lucia’s reporting is to her own experience of sexual abuse.

While Lucia and Emma-Louise delve deep into the Maxwell trial and what it took to cover such a monumental court case, it was Lucia’s very personal description of trauma, of the way it changes a survivor’s relationship to their body, to their sense of self, that proved the most important and affecting part of this conversation. 

Someone commented at the end of the event: “the tension of overwhelming compassion and female rage bubbling in the air was palpable.” We think that's a perfect description of this event.

Trigger warning: this episode contains mention of sexual abuse; eating disorders and trauma, so please take care when listening. If you’re affected by anything you hear in this episode please seek help via the below:

Rape Crisis are open 24/7 for anyone who has experienced something sexual without their consent. Call free on 0808 500 2222 or visit their website here.

Samaritans are open 24/7 for anyone who needs to talk. You can visit some Samaritans branches in person. Samaritans also have a Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).

116 123 (freephone)

jo@samaritans.org

Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS

samaritans.org

The fourth and final season of Sex Education is out now, and while we’re already mourning the fact that Otis and Eric won’t be returning to our tv screens (at least not together), the show’s finale gave us all the feels. 

In the most recent live recording of the Sex Talks podcast, Emma was joined by Sex Education’s creator, Laurie Nunn, to discuss the making of our fave tv show (listen to part 1 for this interview).

In part 2 of this recording, Emma and Laurie are joined by Emma’s sex therapist, Aleks, to chat through some key themes explored in the show (the finger-up-the-butt-scene, for starters) and for an extra juicy audience q&a.

This episode was sponsored by The Knude Society, aka the female-led sexual pleasure company on a mission to help you enjoy your body, in whatever way feels right for you. 

The Knude society has designed two vibrators, as well as a water-based lube, that can help you do exactly that. 

Get 15% off when you shop with the Knude society using the code SEXTALKS15. 

*TW: This episode discusses eating disorders and sexual assault.*

"If your experience of pleasure happens in your body, but you're in a body that you hate.... how are you supposed to access pleasure? You have to pick whether you're going to punish your body forever or if you're going to forgive it."

In this episode of the podcast, Emma is joined by her (former) sex therapist, Aleks Trkulija, to chat through some of the key issues they covered in the therapy room, including:

• Should you have sex when you don't want to?
• How do body image issues affect sexual function and desire?
• Why does shame play such a prominent role in sex?
• What are the most important things we should be unlearning when it comes to our relationship to sex?
• What is a pleasure journal?!
• And how can we improve the relationship we have with our bodies?

If you are affected by any of the themes discussed in this podcast Samaritans are open 24/7 for anyone who needs to talk. You can visit some Samaritans branches in person. Samaritans also have a Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).

116 123 (freephone)

jo@samaritans.org

Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS

samaritans.org

Recognised as one of the “world’s most influential matchmakers” by the Matchmaking Institute and described as "much more than a matchmaker" by Oprah Winfrey, Paul Brunson is the person to whom you wish you could turn for advice on all things sex, love and dating.

Lucky for us, while Paul has of late been busy flexing his relationship expertise as co-host of the latest season of Married at First Sight UK (he has previously co-hosted the UK's Celebs Go Dating and hosted 'Lovetown' on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2012), he'll be ascending the Sex Talks stage this November to share his insights on dating in the digital age while offering us his best advice on how to find love through the application of relationship science. Yep, there's a science to it, let's find out how exactly it works.

Paul is the author of It’s Complicated (But It Doesn’t Have to Be): A Modern Guide to Finding and Keeping Love and the founder of the matchmaking company, OneDegreeFromMe.

Stuck in your search for love and want to ask Paul for his advice? Submit your sex, love or dating question via the order form when you purchase your ticket.

In the second solo Sex Talks pod Emma-Louise delves into the topic of last week's newsletter: new research on the orgasm gap, what it reveals about our broken sex culture, and, importantly, how we fix it.

Touching on the work of sex educator and author, Emily Nagoski, Emma discusses how we can re-write our sexual script in order to foster a better, individual relationship to sex, and why this is so important in improving our overall sexual landscape.

You can subscribe to the Sex Talks newsletter here and keep up-to-date on forthcoming events here.

In this episode, Emma sits down with award-winning comedian and best-selling author, Sara Pascoe, to discuss the topic of her recent book, 'Sex, Power, Money'.

Together they explore how capitalism shows up in the bedroom, how money shapes modern day relationship dynamics... and why some women still want men to buy them dinner; why there remains so much stigma around those who work in the sex industry and why Sara is still is still afraid of men.

Did writing the book help her overcome her own sexism towards men? Listen to find out.

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

On this week’s episode of the podcast, I’m joined by the wonderful Anna Mather. 

She’s a psychotherapist, bestselling author and someone intent upon taking therapy out of the therapy room and into the real world, offering therapeutic insights via her instagram, online courses and in-person events and also through her podcast The Therapy Edit.

She joins me today to discuss her brand new book: The Uncomfortable Truth, which tackles head on the ten unavoidable truths that sit at the heart of so many of our most common fears. 

From learning to face rejection and getting more comfortable with vulnerability, to overcoming perfectionism and learning self-acceptance, Anna articulates how we can apply her approach to overcoming fears to the context of dating and relationships.

You can purchase Anna’s book here.

Enjoy!

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

“Respect for female pleasure is respect for women. It is respect for gender equality, and for the fact that women's feelings and emotions are as important as anybody else’s.”

So why is female pleasure still taboo?

This month, host Emma-Louise Boynton is joined by Lucy Litwack, CEO of Coco De Mer, the luxury lingerie and erotica company whose mission is to champion female pleasure in all its forms, and Billie Quinlan, co-founder of Ferly, the app designed to help you explore eroticism, prioritize pleasure and cultivate your sexual confidence to discuss all things sex and the female pleasure taboo.

Cindy Gallop is the founder of Make Love Not Porn, a platform for people to post real-world sex videos. It’s not porn, she says, it’s social sex.

Now, she’s on a mission to raise $1 million in crowd funding in oder to build a sex education academy that will operate alongside her Make Love Not Porn.

Set to launch later this year, the Academy will will cover a broad range of topics, including masturbation, LGBTQ+ sex and relationships, first-time sex, menopausal sex, period sex, disability sex and erectile dysfunction. Users will have access to a vast range of sex education content, all vetted by human curators and searchable by age appropriateness, cultural sensibility and comfort level.

During this live recording of the podcast we delved into the problems with our broken sex landscape, how parts of the mainstream porn industry have fed into the rise in toxic masculinity and rape culture, the value of good sex education and what we need to do to create a better culture around sex for everyone. 

We were also joined by actor, presenter, activist and the CEO of IWeigh, Jameela Jamil, who is an early-stage investor in the MLNP Academy, and digital consultant and former journalist, Freddie Feltham. 

If you are affected by the issues discussed this please seek help via the below:

Rape Crisis are open 24/7 for anyone who has experienced something sexual without their consent. Call free on 0808 500 2222 or visit their website here.

Samaritans are open 24/7 for anyone who needs to talk. You can visit some Samaritans branches in person. Samaritans also have a Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).

116 123 (freephone)

jo@samaritans.org

Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS

samaritans.org

Ruby Rare is a sex educator, writer, author and now tv presenter having recently made her TV debut as Rylan Clark’s “sexy sidekick” on E4’s brand new show, Sex Rated. 

Here she joins Emma-Louise to discuss the sex advice she’s been offering up on screen, how porn formed the foundation-stone of her sex education and why she’s moving away from a focus on orgasms to a focus on sensuality during sex instead.

If you want to join the Sex Talks crew, sign up to Emma-Louise’s substack ‘Swipe Right’ here. And if you'd like to join an upcoming live podcast recording grab your ticket here.

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

Clinical Psychologist, Psychosexologist and Couples Therapist, Dr. Karen Gurney, aka The S3x Doctor, joins host Emma-Louise Boynton to discuss the myriad myths and misconceptions that surround the way we think about desire, why she never uses the word f0replay and how we can begin to bridge the 0rgasm gap.

What does the number of hours women spend doing housework have to do with the orgasm gap?!

According to bestselling author and the founder of the Everyday sexism campaign, Laura Bates, a lot.

In this episode, Emma sits down with Laura to discuss the systemic ways in which gender inequality remains entrenched in our society - from the social pressure on women to deprioritise their pleasure, to the routinisation of casual sexism, to the rise of extremist, misogynistic ideologies.

But it is not all doom and gloom, they end the discussion looking at the reasons for staying hopeful and what we can all do to fix the system, not the women.

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

For this live recording of the podcast, which took place at the London Edition hotel, Emma sits down with broadcaster, writer and campaigner, Anna Whitehouse, otherwise known as Mother Pukka.

Anna is the Sunday Times best-selling author of Parenting the Sh*t out of Life, Where’s My Happy Ending? and Underbelly and in 2015 she started the platform Mother Pukka to share the trials and tribulations of parenthood and beyond. She also hosts the podcast Dirty Mother Pukka with her best friend Polly.

In this episode, Anna speaks candidly about finding love again after her recent divorce; the extraordinary and ordinary experience of motherhood ('both things can be true at once'); the success of her campaign to change the law on Flexible working; her greatest lesson in love and, of course, and how to give the 'perfect' handjob....

*Apologies in advance for the sound quality in this episode, there were tech issues on the night that were beyond our control.

If you'd like to attend a live recording of the podcast, follow up on Insta @emmalouiseboynton and subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here to keep up-to-date on upcoming shows.

Sofie Hagen is a multi award winning, queer, non-binary comedian, author and podcaster.

Their debut book was called Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You and they have just published their second book ‘Will I Ever have Sex Again.’ In it, they examine our broader sexual landscape in an attempt to understand why they haven’t had sex in some 3000 days and counting.

Sofie joins Emma to discuss everything they’ve learned from over nine years of (involuntary) celibacy, what it’s taught them about their own body, boundaries, and queerness, and why they’re not all that bothered if they go another nine-years without sex. Plus, find out what Sofie learned about 1800 other people’s sex lives, not to mention the lessons imparted by a renowned flirtologist. 

On this week’s episode of the podcast we wanted to talk about love, specifically how we move away from our societal obsession with romantic love and instead cultivate a more expansive, inclusive notion of love. One that releases us from the pressure to find “the one” and instead encourages us to find the romance in our platonic relationships.

According to Pew Research, one in four people will now remain single for their adult lives; the number of people getting married has fallen significantly (in the US have decreased by 60% since the 1970s and 90% of the world's population now live in countries with falling marriage rates). Meanwhile, birthrates are falling globally and have actually halved since 1963.

Yet, despite these changes in the extent to which coupledom, marriage and the traditional family structure are changing, culturally we are still seemingly fixated on romantic love as the pinnacle form of love. For women in particular, there remains so much pressure to find a husband and hence become a wife and a mother, as though our societal worth is pegged solely upon those two things. 

And then there’s the so-called ‘single tax’, aka the aka the additional finances single people shoulder by virtue of not having a partner.

But this wasn’t a depressing conversation about the perils of being single. Quite the opposite. Instead it felt to us like a much needed, deeply galvanising discussion about all the ways in which we can find great romance in our lives outside of the prism of marriage and the traditional family structure. It was a reminder to all of us that there is so much to be celebrated in designing your life on your own terms and not waiting for someone to come along in order to create the life you truly want. 

Joining Emma-Louise on the podcast was writer, poet and author of Arrangements in Blue, a book exploring a life lived in the absence of love, and Poppy Jay, the Bafta award-winning director and co-host of the Brown Girls Do It Too a BBC Sounds podcast.

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

In this episode, Emma sits down with writer and author, Elise Loehnen, to discuss her best-selling new book, On Our Best Behaviour: The Price Women Pay to be Good.

Together they unpack the web of myths and cultural expectations that prop up patriarchy and keep women chasing an ideal of perfection that is neither achievable nor really desirable.

"Women," Loehnen explains, "'have been trained for goodness. Men, meanwhile, have been trained for power.'

Elise is the former chief content officer of Gwyneth Paltrow’s company Goop, where she oversaw its blog, newsletter, book imprint and podcast as well as its Netflix documentary series, “The Goop Lab.”

In 2020, Loehen decided to step down from her position with the company and On Our Best Behaviour is her firstly solely by-lined book. She has ghostwritten 12 other titles.

Book tickets to the next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

In this first episode of the new iteration of the Sex Talks podcast, host Emma-Louise sits down with the duo behind the sex-positive platform, Come Curious, and podcast F*cks Given, Reed Amber and Florence Given.

Here to answer your agony aunt questions about all things sex, love, life and relationships, Florence, Reed and Emma discuss everything from improving your masturbation to overcoming body image issues during sex, to exploring kink, to the ultimate power of getting to know your own body.

If you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. If you want to spice up your summer, all while supporting this podcast, then please do download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

On this week’s episode we’re talking about men. Specifically, masculinity, male sexuality and the myths surrounding it.

To that end, Emma was joined by Men’s Dating, Relationship & Intimacy Coach, David Chambers, and the Director of Facilitation at Beyond Equality, an organisation that is rethinking masculinity and engaging men and boys in the gender equality conversation, Ben Hurst.

From the impact of Andrew Tate and why his messaging has become so insidious, to the ways in which hit tv show, Baby Reindeer, highlighted how men often feel unable to talk about sexual abuse and harassment and the reasons behind that, to Ben and David’s own relationship to sex growing up and the impact growing up in the church had on their respective feelings of sexual shame, we covered a lot in this discussion.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

The next live recording of the Sex Talks podcast is on June 19th and will see us turn our attention to men once again as we discuss what a positive notion of masculinity looks like today and how shedding reductive gender stereotypes can help us all have a better relationship to sex, intimacy and relationships.

You can purchase tickets to the event here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

On this week’s episode of the podcast Emma-Louise is joined by Nicole Vignola - a neuroscientist and brain performance coach who specialises in making neuroscience tangible for the masses.

She is also an author, having recently published her debut book, Rewire, designed to give you the mental toolkit you need to break negative cycles and achieve peak mental wellbeing.

Nicole joined Emma-Louise on the podcast to talk all things sex, dating and relationships through the prism of brain science which really was as fascinating as it sounds. 

From explaining why we go for the same people again and again even when we know they’re bad for us (it’s because of confirmation bias, says Nicole); to the power of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves; to what exactly happens in the brain when we orgasm, this episode was rich in the sort of nerdy, neuroscientific insights we all need in our lives.

We recorded this live at Soho House House.

You can purchase tickets to the next live event here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

On this week’s live recording of the podcast Emma’s joined by the founder of The Stack World, Sharmadean Reid, ahead of the publication of her new book, New Methods for Women.

True to form, this book is the culmination of everything Sharmadean’s learned from over 10 years of healing and self-development work, laying out her tried and tested approaches to dealing with all of the most important things in life. From setting boundaries to defining what you want in life, to questioning and rewriting the stories you tell yourself about yourself, it is rich with insights and learnings. 

The topic of sex and relationships is not one Sharmadean has ever talked about publicly before, so think of this conversation as a mega exclusive as we hear her explain how we can apply the methods laid out in her new book to the way we think about, and approach, sex and dating.

You can purchase tickets to the event here.

And subscribe to the Sex Talks Substack here.

Paul Brunson is one of the world's most influential matchmakers, according to the Matchmaking Institute. He is also the co-host of Married At First UK and Celebs Go Dating UK, and author of 'It’s Complicated (But It Doesn’t Have to Be): A Modern Guide to Finding and Keeping Love.

In this episode, Paul answers the Sex Talk's community's sex, love and dating questions live at The London Edition.

Whether you're in a relationship, looking for a partner or happily single, Paul will give you a new perspective with which to view love and your relationship to it.

This episode was sponsored by The Knude Society, aka the female-led sexual pleasure company on a mission to help you enjoy your body, in whatever way feels right for you. 

The Knude society has designed two vibrators, as well as a water-based lube, that can help you do exactly that. 

Get 15% off when you shop with the Knude society using the code SEXTALKS15. 

If you want to join the Sex Talks crew, sign up to Emma-Louise’s substack ‘Swipe Right’ here. And if you'd like to join an upcoming live podcast recording grab your ticket here.

In this episode, Emma sits down with multi-award-winning journalist, TikTok creator and author of Losing It: Sex Education for the 21st Century, Sophia Smith Galer.

Together, they delve into the many sex myths Sophia tackles in her book; what Sophia refers to as the ‘sex misinformation crisis’ we’re currently facing; what initially drew her to explore this topic-area within her reporting; the challenges she and other journalists face in getting editors to take this subject matter seriously, and how we can all have a better relationship to sex overall.

It’s an episode jam-packed with fascinating sex insights and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

This was recorded in front of a live audience at the Zults pop up store in Soho. 

Launching in collaboration with Sexual Health London (SHL), aka the NHS’s free STI testing service, Zults is the brand-new and first-of-its-kind app that aims to provide a super easy way for individuals to test, manage, and communicate sexual health results if and when they want.

Go an check out what they’re doing on Myrezults.com.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. Download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

The economy may be f*cked, the cost-of-living-crisis all too real, the current state of politics cause for despair... but that doesn't mean we can't laugh through our tears and find humour in the madness of it all. And what better way to do just that than with a frank discussion on sex, love, and the trials and tribulations of modern dating with a panel of speakers who are literally paid to make us laugh....?

For the final Sex Talks Live of the summer, we enlisted the help of a panel of comedians, right before they head off to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to answer all of your most pressing sex, love and general life woes.

Joining Emma on this live recording of the Sex Talks podcast we have comedian Dane Baptiste; actor, screenwriter and comedian, Jordan Gray and comedian and podcast host, Katie Green.

If you want to send your own agony aunt question to the podcast, head on over the sextalks.co.uk and if you'd like to join an upcoming live podcast recording grab your ticket here.

This episode was sponsored by dating app, Feeld. If you want to spice up your summer, all while supporting this podcast, then please do download Feeld using the exclusive download code: feeld.co/sextalks.

*This episode is a live recording of a previous Sex Talks event.*

Natasha Lunn is the features editor at Red Magazine and the creator of the widely acclaimed email newsletter, Conversations on Love, which she recently turned into one of my favourite books of the same name. 

In it she explores three fundamental questions: how do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it?

In this Sex Talks summer special, I sit down with Natasha to discuss everything she’s learned in her years long exploration of this most universal of topics, and what advice she has for those of us who feel lost in love. I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did.

On this week’s live recording of the podcast, Emma-Louise was joined by journalist, presenter, podcaster and author, Josh Smith to discuss his brand new book: Great Chat.

The importance of communication is something we talk about ALL the time at Sex Talks, not least because - as we know - it's the key to great sex and deeper intimacy. 

So when Josh published a book all about the art of great conversation we knew we had to sit down with him and extract all his tips and insights. 

As a celebrity interviewer, Josh has talked with people of every background, mood and personality, (think Oprah, Victoria Beckham and Pamela Anderson) and they really open up to him. He's the master of creating a space that invites and nurtures vulnerability, which is critical to hosting a great interview but also cultivating a deep relationship with somebody.

In this episode Josh shares everything he’s learned about Great Chat in his many years working as a journalist; his two cents on how to translate this to the context of dating; and the best piece of advice he's ever received (from none other than actress Hayley Atwell).

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

You can buy Josh's book here and find out when the next live recording of the podcast is here.