Best Darshana Podcasts (2024)

1
Dianne Elise, "Creativity and the Erotic Dimensions of the Analytic Field" (Routledge, 2019) 1:06:51

7h ago1:06:51

1:06:51

Today I talked to Dianne Elise about her book Creativity and the Erotic Dimensions of the Analytic Field (Routledge, 2019). To be in the presence of a person—a woman in fact, and Dianne Elise in particular—who follows her instincts, someone who builds theory from the ground up, and whose theories keep evolving, enlivens the interlocutor. I almost h…

1
Emily Cousens, "Trans Feminist Epistemologies in the US Second Wave" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) 46:49

7d ago46:49

46:49

Why do "second wave" and "trans feminism" rarely get considered together? Challenging the idea that trans feminism is antagonistic to, or arrived after, second wave feminism, Emily Cousens re-orients trans epistemologies as crucial sites of second wave feminist theorising. By revisiting the contributions of trans individuals writing in underground …

1
Anne Gray Fischer, "The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification" (UNC Press, 2022) 1:14:04

8d ago1:14:04

1:14:04

Anne Gray Fischer speaks about her path to and through research, including how sex workers informed her analysis of policing and state violence, the role of law enforcement in struggles over economic development, and the intellectual and practical factors of research design. Men, especially Black men, often stand in as the ultimate symbol of the ma…

1
Alexander Sasha Kondakov, "Violent Affections: Queer Sexuality, Techniques of Power, and Law in Russia" (UCL Press, 2022) 1:03:09

20d ago1:03:09

1:03:09

Violent Affections: Queer Sexuality, Techniques of Power, and Law in Russia (UCL Press, 2022) by Alexander Sasha Kondakov uncovers techniques of power that work to translate emotions into violence against queer people. Based on analysis of over 300 criminal cases of anti-queer violence in Russia before and after the introduction of ‘gay propaganda’…

1
Sarah Milton, "Ageing and New Intimacies: Gender, Sexuality and Temporality in an English Salsa Scene" (Manchester UP, 2024) 53:25

27d ago53:25

53:25

The 'baby boom' generation, born between the 1940s and the 1960s, is often credited with pioneering new and creative ways of relating, doing intimacy and making families. With this cohort now entering mid and later life in Britain, they are also said to be revolutionising the experience of ageing. Are the romantic practices of this 'revolutionary c…

1
James Mallery, "City of Vice: Transience and San Francisco's Urban History, 1848-1917" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 1:05:11

29d ago1:05:11

1:05:11

San Francisco began its American life as a city largely made up of transient men, arriving from afar to participate in the gold rush and various attendant enterprises. This large population of men on the move made the new and booming city a hub of what "respectable" easterners considered vice: drinking, gambling, and sex work, among other activitie…

1
Kevin Leo Nadal, "Queering Law and Order: LGBTQ Communities and the Criminal Justice System" (Lexington Book, 2020) 38:54

1M ago38:54

38:54

Throughout US history, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people have been pathologized, victimized, and criminalized. Reports of lynching, burning, or murdering of LGBTQ people have been documented for centuries. Prior to the 1970s, LGBTQ people were deemed as having psychological disorders and subsequently subject to electrosh…

1
Avgi Saketopoulou, "Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia" (NYU Press, 2023) 1:08:26

1M ago1:08:26

1:08:26

Today I talked to Avgi Saketopoulou about her book Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia (NYU Press, 2023). My conversation with Dr. Saketopoulou begins in the clinic “one of the most scary and difficult places one can find oneself in” she says because it is in the consulting room that sometimes things “become traumatic for the first…

1
Donna Drucker, "Contraception: A Concise History" (The MIT Press, 2020) 23:53

1M ago23:53

23:53

The beginning of the modern contraceptive era began in 1882, when Dr. Aletta Jacobs opened the first birth control clinic in Amsterdam. The founding of this facility, and the clinical provision of contraception that it enabled, marked the moment when physicians started to take the prevention of pregnancy seriously as a medical concern. In Contracep…

1
Darshana Sreedhar Mini, "Rated A: Soft-Porn Cinema and Mediations of Desire in India" (U California Press, 2024) 1:21:40

1M ago1:21:40

1:21:40

In the 1990s, India's mediascape saw the efflorescence of edgy soft-porn films in the Malayalam-speaking state of Kerala. In Rated A: Soft-Porn Cinema and Mediations of Desire in India (U California Press, 2024), Darshana Sreedhar Mini examines the local and transnational influences that shaped Malayalam soft-porn cinema—such as vernacular pulp fic…

1
11. On Plant Medicine and The Trance of Struggle 19:06

2M ago19:06

19:06

So much of finding our voices is about remembering who we are and saying YES to our soul’s call. In this episode I speak to a long time psychotherapist and guide who uses psilocybin mushrooms in her practice. Together we explore: How plant medicine can help us heal by turning towards vs way from our pain The trance of struggle and how our awareness…

1
Voices 06: Myria Georgiou on Competing Claims to Digital Urban Humanity 26:15

2M ago26:15

26:15

In this episode of the Mediapolis Now Voices series, we speak with Myria Georgiou. Myria is Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been working for more than two decades on the mediation of identity and citizenship. Myria’s work has spanned interests in: the relationships of media and …

1
10. The Music In You with Phoenix Song 26:07

2M ago26:07

26:07

There are endless sounds and stories held in our bodies, when we learn to free them, we discover our one-of-a-kind music. In this episode on The Music In You with Phoenix Song we dive into: How to let go and free our voices How our sound can become a channel for the wisdom of our bodies, ancestors and more Working with the inner child to free up yo…

1
Jared Stearns, "Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers" (Headpress, 2024) 1:04:58

2M ago1:04:58

1:04:58

In Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers (Headpress, 2024), Jared Stearns tells the untold story of the world's most famous X-rated star, who rose to fame as the face of Ivory Snow and the star of Behind the Green Door but struggled to find her true self in a world of sex, scandal, and shattered dreams. Marilyn Chambers was the embodimen…

1
9. The Power Hiding in Our Shadows with Joanna Lindenbaum 30:04

2M ago30:04

30:04

Whatever it is you are afraid to be, you have likely tucked away in what’s called your “shadow.” Your shadow contains vital parts of yourself that, when cut off, also cut off your life force and ability to create amazing things in this world. These buried parts of ourselves want expression and, when we pretend they are not there, usually end up cau…

1
Elisa Camiscioli, "Selling French Sex: Prostitution, Trafficking, and Global Migrations" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:08:24

2M ago1:08:24

1:08:24

Selling French Sex: Prostitution, Trafficking, and Global Migrations (Cambridge UP, 2024) is an illuminating account of the cultural, social, and economic history of the sale of 'French sex'. It explores the discourses and experiences surrounding the early twentieth century debate on sex trafficking, which mobilized various international reform mov…

1
8. The Medicine of Creativity and Being Seen with Melodee Solomon 33:27

2M ago33:27

33:27

We are not taught to see ourselves accurately and so, for so many of us, the prospect of being seen makes us want to run and hide. Photographer and breathwork facilitator Melodee Solomon uses fear as fuel to create. She holds space for people to be more fully seen with her camera and, in doing so, step into the next level of their work. In this epi…

1
Emma Heaney, "Feminism Against Cisness" (Duke UP, 2024) 46:56

2M ago46:56

46:56

The contributors to Feminism Against Cisness (Duke UP, 2024) showcase the future of feminist historical, theoretical, and political thought freed from the conceptual strictures of cisness: the fallacy that assigned sex determines sexed experience. The essays demonstrate that this fallacy hinges on the enforcement of white and bourgeois standards of…

1
Sarah Nooter, "How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality" (Princeton UP, 2024) 32:23

2M ago32:23

32:23

The idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at least as old as the ancient Greeks, who wrote about queer experiences with remarkable frankness, wit, and insight. Sarah Nooter's How to Be Queer: An Ancient Guide to Sexuality (Princeton UP, 2024) is an infatuating collection of these writings about desire, love, and lust between men, between …

1
Aslı Zengin, "Violent Intimacies: The Trans Everyday and the Making of an Urban World" (Duke UP, 2024) 59:46

3M ago59:46

59:46

In Violent Intimacies: The Trans Everyday and the Making of an Urban World (Duke UP, 2024), Aslı Zengin traces how trans people in Turkey creatively negotiate and resist everyday cisheteronormative violence. Drawing on the history and ethnography of the trans communal life in Istanbul, Zengin develops an understanding of cisheteronormative violence…

1
7. 10 True Things + Other Ways to Stir Your Truth 11:29

3M ago11:29

11:29

You don’t need to spill your guts and life traumas online to grow an audience. You need only learn how to speak human to human. Excavating your one-of-a-kind truth is one of the most powerful ways to connect with yourself and your people. In this episode on 10 True Things + Other Ways To Stir Your Truth, I dive into: Why paying attention to who you…

1
6. On Sexual Healing and Reclaiming Your Erotic Self with Darshana Avila 31:12

3M ago31:12

31:12

Welcome to my edgiest interview yet! A conversation with Darshana Avila, an “erotic wholeness” coach. I began working with Darshana in 2021 as the stress of the pandemic amplified a need to examine old programming around sex and reclaim more of myself. In this episode On Sexual Healing and Reclaiming Your Erotic Self we explore Darshana’s one-of-ki…

1
Narkis Alon, "Present Woman: Our Pleasure, Our Power" (2023) 44:01

3M ago44:01

44:01

The book Present Woman: Our Pleasure, Our Power (2023) is an honest and rare first-person account for female seekers and curious men. A woman in her twenties embarks to discover her sexuality and learns how her journey towards pleasure affects her career, her attitude to money, and her relationships. Narkis Alon participates in sexuality workshops …

1
Anjali Arondekar, "Abundance: Sexuality’s History" (Duke UP, 2023) 52:13

3M ago52:13

52:13

In Abundance: Sexuality’s History (Duke UP, 2023), Anjali Arondekar refuses the historical common sense that archival loss is foundational to a subaltern history of sexuality, and that the deficit of our minoritized pasts can be redeemed through acquisitions of lost pasts. Instead, Arondekar theorizes the radical abundance of sexuality through the …

1
Kate Morgan, "The Walnut Tree: Women, Violence and the Law – A Hidden History" (Mudlark, 2024) 50:26

3M ago50:26

50:26

'A woman, a dog and a walnut tree, the more they are beaten, the better they’ll be.' So went the proverb quoted by a prominent MP in the Houses of Parliament in 1853. His words – intended ironically in a debate about a rise in attacks on women – summed up the prevailing attitude of the day, in which violence against women was waved away as a part a…

1
5. On Racial Healing and Untethering From Shame 41:30

3M ago41:30

41:30

This week I’m speaking with Tovi Scruggs-Hussein about racial healing and how my own journey began in earnest with a shame-filled moment of her calling me in, back in 2020. That moment and how Tovi met it and me, taught me how to work with shame in a way I never have before. It sent me on an ongoing path to be more forgiving of myself when I inevit…

1
Tessa Winkelmann, "Dangerous Intercourse: Gender and Interracial Relations in the American Colonial Philippines, 1898–1946" (Cornell UP, 2023) 1:14:34

3M ago1:14:34

1:14:34

In Dangerous Intercourse: Gender and Interracial Relations in the American Colonial Philippines, 1898–1946 (Cornell University Press, 2023), Dr. Tessa Winkelmann examines interracial social and sexual contact between Americans and Filipinos in the early twentieth century via a wide range of relationships—from the casual and economic to the formal a…

1
Ketaki Chowkhani, "The Limits of Sexuality Education: Love, Sex, and Adolescent Masculinities in Urban India" (Routledge, 2024) 27:44

3M ago27:44

27:44

The Limits of Sexuality Education: Love, Sex, and Adolescent Masculinities in Urban India (Routledge, 2024) explores different strands of thinking about sexuality education in contemporary urban India. It interrogates the limits of sexuality education as we know it today by rethinking adolescent masculinities in middle-class urban India. This book …

1
Pamela Aronson and Matthew R. Fleming, "Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life" (Routledge, 2023) 1:04:15

3M ago1:04:15

1:04:15

Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life (Routledge, 2023) by Dr. Pamela Aronson and Matthew R. Fleming carefully examines the profound transformations happening in both public and private arenas of gender relations. It also draws critical attention to the simultaneous and potent challenges that have risen in…

1
Knocking at the Brothel Door (with Michael John Cusick) 48:57

3M ago48:57

48:57

Michael John Cusick argues that our addictions and disordered sexual desires are really a misdirected effort to reach God and live in connection with Him. How can this be? The crude simulation is but at poor substitute for the real thing, for the Truth. Yet in this fallen world, sinners repeatedly fall into the snares. “I do not understand my own a…

1
4. The Willingness To Be Seen 9:20

3M ago9:20

9:20

There is a quality that lives in all of us and I think is essential in our ability to heal, speak, create, make art, make a ripple here in this world. And that quality is willingness. Willingness has driven all the twists and turns on my path. Willingness is a unique flavor of courage that puts the soul in the drivers seat. That helps us stop fight…

1
Javier Samper Vendrell, "The Seduction of Youth: Print Culture and Homosexual Rights in the Weimar Republic" (U Toronto Press, 2020) 1:05:29

3M ago1:05:29

1:05:29

The Weimar Republic is well-known for its gay rights movement and recent scholarship has demonstrated some of its contradictory elements. In his recent book entitled The Seduction of Youth: Print Culture and Homosexual Rights in the Weimar Republic (University of Toronto Press, 2020), Javier Samper Vendrell writes the first study to focus on the Le…

1
Matilda Bickers, "Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex" (PM Press, 2023) 38:06

3M ago38:06

38:06

Fiercely intelligent, fantastically transgressive, Working It: Sex Workers on the Work of Sex (PM Press, 2023) is an intimate portrait of the lives of sex workers. A polyphonic story of triumph, survival, and solidarity, this collection showcases the vastly different experiences and interests of those who have traded sex, among them a brothel worke…

1
3. On Speaking Your Truth: A Chat With My Parents 16:14

3M ago16:14

16:14

What are you willing to risk to speak your truth? When I started making ‘Blessed Child’, my documentary about leaving my parents’ faith, it opened up some painful history I had tucked away. From early childhood trauma to struggling in my arranged marriage during my twenties. It took me seven years to make this documentary, in part because I was ter…

1
2. On Answering the Call to Tell Your Story 12:39

3M ago12:39

12:39

Does speaking your truth come easy to you? It never has for me. Twelve years ago, I got a call to tell my story about growing up in a wild religion/cult. When I first started, I had every reason not to tell this story. This part of my life was behind me, it wasn’t part of who I was anymore. There was no point in bringing it all up again. Exploring …

1
1. On Sounding Like Yourself 8:20

3M ago8:20

8:20

Finding your voice and sounding like yourself doesn't just happen overnight. It’s a practice. We all have these parts in us that are scared and much more comfortable playing roles than being ourselves. The only way to make them feel safe is by taking small bold action. And, little by little, show them that they get to relax, and we can let more of …

1
Allison Schrager, "An Economist Walks Into A Brothel And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk" (Portfolio, 2019) 40:40

4M ago40:40

40:40

Whether you are a commuter weighing options of taking the bus vs walking to get you to work on time or a military general leading troops into war, risk is something we deal with every day. Even the most cautious of us can’t opt out—the question is always which risks to take to maximize our results. But how do we know which path is correct? Enter Al…

1
EP309 The Fine Line Between Naughty and Nasty: Dick Pic Etiquette 23:51

4M ago23:51

23:51

Join us as we delve into the controversial topic of unsolicited dick pics. From discussing consent to exploring the age-old question of whether size matters, this episode promises to be both educational and entertaining. Get ready to laugh and learn as we share tips on how to handle unwanted dick pics and share hilarious stories on the subject. Lin…

1
Andil Gosine, "Nature's Wild: Love, Sex, and Law in the Caribbean" (Duke UP, 2021) 1:06:22

4M ago1:06:22

1:06:22

In Nature's Wild: Love, Sex, and Law in the Caribbean (Duke UP, 2021), Andil Gosine engages with questions of humanism, queer theory, and animality to examine and revise understandings of queer desire in the Caribbean. Surveying colonial law, visual art practices, and contemporary activism, Gosine shows how the very concept of homosexuality in the …

1
Voices 05: Rebecca Ross on Postcodes, Communication Design and Urban Media 45:10

4M ago45:10

45:10

In this episode, we speak with Rebecca Ross, director of the graphic communication design programme at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Her writing and practice are both interdisciplinary, extending from graphic and communication design to media studies, urban studies, the history of technology and creative computing. She is th…

1
EP308 The Wisdom of Masturbation: A Journey into Erotic Wholeness with Somatic Sex Coach Darshana Avila 42:55

4M ago42:55

42:55

Embark on a journey into the joyous realms of pleasure in this episode with Darshana Avala, a somatic sex and intimacy coach. Darshana delves into the wisdom of masturbation and its importance in our lives. Join the conversation as Darshana explores how self-pleasure can lead to erotic wholeness and be as sacred as radical activism. Tune in to unco…

1
Julie Peakman, "Libertine London: Sex in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis" (Reaktion, 2024) 40:02

4M ago40:02

40:02

Libertine London: Sex in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis (Reaktion, 2024) by Dr. Julie Peakman investigates the sex lives of women from 1680 to 1830, the period known as the long eighteenth century. It uncovers the various experiences of women, whether mistresses, adulteresses or those involved in the sex trade. From renowned courtesans to downtr…

1
Heather Parry, "Electric Dreams: Sex Robots and Failed Promises of Capitalism" (404 Ink, 2024) 38:59

4M ago38:59

38:59

In the future, we’ll all be having sex with robots… won’t we? Roboticists say they’re a distracting science fiction, yet endless books, films and articles are written on the subject. Campaigns are even mounted against them. So why are sex robots such a hot topic? Electric Dreams: Sex Robots and Failed Promises of Capitalism (404 Ink, 2024) by Heath…

1
EP307 Unleashing Your Inner Dominatrix: Create Polarity through Dominatrix Roleplay 34:55

4M ago34:55

34:55

Get ready to embrace pleasure resilience as we delve into the world of dominatrix roleplay. Join the journey of stepping into the fierce and fabulous dominatrix persona, exploring power dynamics, and celebrating pleasure as a fundamental part of well-being. It's time to unleash your inner power, embrace the extraordinary, and make pleasure your pla…

1
Welcome to Untethered Voice 1:24

4M ago1:24

1:24

We are all born truth-tellers. But we learn too soon how to bury that truth. Welcome to Untethered Voice, a podcast for soulful entrepreneurs, creatives, healers, coaches, humans with a calling to find a voice that sounds like you. So you can speak your truth, show up, and be seen in your soul-based business. I’m Cara Jones. I’m a storyteller, a vi…

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Elyse Ambrose, "A Blackqueer Sexual Ethics: Embodiment, Possibility, and Living Archive" (T&T Clark, 2024) 35:27

4M ago35:27

35:27

In A Blackqueer Sexual Ethics: Embodiment, Possibility, and Living Archive (T&T Clark, 2024), Elyse Ambrose looks to an archive of blackqueerness as an authoritative source for religious ethical reflection. This approach counters the disintegrative norms of anti-black and anti-body traditionalism in Christian sexual ethics, even those that strive t…

1
EP306 A Deep Dive into Cuckolding and Hot-Wifing with Dr. David Ley 44:04

4M ago44:04

44:04

Cuckolding and hot-wifing, that's right Cliterati... this is a juicy one. We've brought one of the pioneers on the subject matter, Dr. David J. Ley, a renowned clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist supervisor. Known for his expertise in modern sexuality, Dr. Ley has appeared on TV shows like Anderson Cooper and Dr. Phil, as well as in p…

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Erin L. Durban, "The Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in Haiti" (U Illinois Press, 2023) 1:03:21

4M ago1:03:21

1:03:21

Evangelical Christians and members of the global LGBTQI human rights movement have vied for influence in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. Each side accuses the other of serving foreign interests. Yet each proposes future foreign interventions on behalf of their respective causes despite the country’s traumatic past with European colonialism and Ame…

1
EP305 Navigating Desire Differences, Rekindling Passion and Cultivating Resilience in Relationships with Dr. Todd Creager 49:54

4M ago49:54

49:54

Join relationship therapist and sex expert Todd Creager as he shares insights on reigniting passion and maintaining a sizzling connection in long-term relationships. With over 40 years of experience, Todd discusses overcoming infidelity, trauma healing, and the importance of a healthy sex life as a key to thriving in tough times. Discover valuable …

1
EP304 Embracing Your Sexuality and Sensuality in Every Stage of Life with Adina Rivers 49:47

5M ago49:47

49:47

We're celebrating the final week of Women's History month with one of our favorite women we've interviewed on the pod! A true PLEASURE PIONEER for women, talking the talk and walking the walk. Join us as we welcome Adina Rivers, the intimacy babe, a leading figure in sex education. Discover how she has been transforming the world of sex positivity …

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