Kink On Tap (Ogg Vorbis)

Kink On Tap 42: Sex 2.0

maymay — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:54:44 +0000

The third annual Sex 2.0 conference is held in Seattle, Washington, with sessions ranging from “Media Whoring” to “Participatory Community Organizing,” both of which featured yours truly.

This week, Emma and I bring the Sex 2.0 conference to you with a special show featuring a collection of short interviews recorded live at the conference! Say hello to Sex 2.0 conference organizers Clea and Zephyr, as well as Allena Gabosch, Executive Director of the Center for Sex Positive Culture (CSPC), which was one of the primary organizing bodies. We spoke to our new friend Koe the Valkyrie, fellow podcasters Graydancer of the Ropecast and Cunning Minx of Poly Weekly, friends of the show David Phillips, Megan Andelloux of The CSPH, and many more sex-positive individuals about their experiences at the conference. Reid Mihalko, who we hope will join us next week for a full conversation, shares some of his tips for handling media attention, and I talk at length about the value of transparency and collaboration in doing Whatever It Is That You Do.

We had an absolute blast at Sex 2.0 this year, and would like to thank everyone who graced us with a brief interview, but especially the amazing folks at the CSPC. Not only were they a big part of making the conference possible, but they threw an awesome after party in which we encountered a vulva-shaped marzipan cake topping. (Really.) For more coverage of Sex 2.0, be certain to peruse the Twitter #Sex20 hashtag stream, and of course, please keep sending feedback for Kink On Tap via iTunes.

Kink On Tap 41: Why is there a baby?

Emma — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:22:31 +0000

Reality TV “virgin auction” wants to shoot in Nevada because it’s too dirty for Down Under, just like tampon artwork is too dirty for the Fashion Institute of Technology. Sex gets better (and more frequent) when you’re a sexagenarian, a new Christian sex education campaign is setting a trend for talking to youth, and it turns out Chimpanzees use sex toys just like we do. (Well…kinda.)

This week, divinity student Lilly Dagdigian and her partner Per join us and answer questions from queerness to Quakers! (Not the oats.) Per elucidates some of the ways that others’ queer sexuality benefits him as a straight man, while Lily tells us a little bit about the ethics of polyamory in an academic environment. Of course, none of us could resist the monkey jokes.

Remember to check out the new Kink On Tap Briefs, where you can read summaries of some upcoming topics, review Kink On Tap on iTunes to let us know what you think, and if you happen to be in the Seattle area, be sure to check out the Sex 2.0 conference. Both of us are attending, and maymay will be speaking on transparency and social capital for social change.

Kink On Tap 40: The Beautiful Kind

maymay — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:07:17 +0000

A St. Louis sex blogger gets fired for, well, sex blogging, motherhood is a $100,000+ job, TSA employees bully a colleague with penis jokes after using “strip search” scanners and anti-gay Family Research Council founder George Alan Rekers hires a male prostitute to “lift luggage.” Oh, is that what they’re calling it nowadays? I just got a great idea for a Samsonite ad campaign! ;)

This week, inimitable sex blogger The Beautiful Kind (aka “TBK”) joins us to share her inspiring perspectives on writing about sex, getting fired for it, and being a mother. “I’m really confused by our society,” she says, citing the unambiguous yet very mixed signals about sexuality that mainstream media sends to us about sex. It fosters dangerous and harmful fears like the ones that caused her former employer to “brutally” fire her, even though she tried to remain anonymous, “dress like a mormon,” and be a model employee!

Our sincerest thanks to TBK for coming onto the show to talk with us, and on Mother’s Day, no less! TBK truly is, and our mothers really are, the beautiful kind. :)

Also, we’ve been doing a bit of housecleaning at Kink On Tap. If you’re on Facebook, check out the revamped Kink On Tap Facebook page, where you can watch the most recent episode, add links to the community links feed, and more, all without leaving the fan page! Moreover, we’ve started publishing summaries of many upcoming topics for future shows as Kink On Tap briefs, so you can speak up about the issues with other Kink On Tap listeners by leaving comments on the posts.

Kink On Tap 39: I Eat Them, And They’re Delicious

maymay — Sat, 08 May 2010 06:40:23 +0000

Ohio keeps trying to imitate China and Iran with its Internet censorship laws, Iran covertly wins a seat on the United Nations’s Commission on Women’s Rights, white European women routinely pay black Senegalese men for sex, British conservatives strike a blow to sex education in their country, and Feminist Philosophers asks whether we should respect the privacy of frogs. No, really.

In this episode, Emma and I are joined by Editor of Filament Magazine, Suraya Singh, as well as erotic romance novelist Anne Douglas. We learn what a “shandy” is from Anne (hint: it’s alcoholic), get a bit more educated on British politics courtesy of Suraya, our panelist from the UK, and all together rag a bit on France’s proposed Burqa ban. Also, I buy Filament Magazine’s fourth issue, which is super hot!

This show took a lot longer than I’d have liked to publish because I was traveling mid-week, coming back home from speaking at the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council’s special panel. If you missed the event in person, Emma and I livestreamed the entire Sex Panic! panel. You can also watch just my presentation, called “Certain Unalienable Rights: Freedom of Expression and Sexuality in the Name of Liberty.” As always, please continue to tell us what you think about Kink On Tap by writing an iTunes review!

Kink On Tap 38: An Entirely Different Region of the Body

maymay — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:24:38 +0000

160,000 women show off their cleavage during “Boobquake” in the name of science, which would only trouble television networks like FOX and ABC if they were plus-size models. Also, the first free, online database of denominational positions on sexuality launches, where you’ll soon be able to see that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America abolished its discriminatory policies against (most) GLBT people. Ironically, now it’s the Gay World Series that faces a lawsuit for discriminating against bisexual men.

Did you hear the one about the Iranian cleric who claimed immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes? SexGenderBody.com founder Arvan Reese did, and he joins us for a second time along with Director of The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, Megan Andelloux, to talk about—it’s no joke—Boobquake! And then, because apparently one quake isn’t enough, also Brainquake and Femquake. Although amusing, the “*quake” events are actually
a great opportunity to talk about feminists’ varied viewpoints on many issues, including cultural sensitivity (or the lack thereof) and the role of men who advocate for gender justice.

Next week, Emma and I are both recording from Providence because myself, along with this show’s guest Megan Andelloux and others, have been invited as panelists for the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council‘s (SHEEC) latest event at Brown University, “Sex Panic!: When Educators Are Censors.” You can also read more about the Sex Panic! panel on my blog, fellow invited panelist Reid Mihalko’s blog, on SHEEC Chair and friend of the show Aida’s blog, or on the Sex Panic! Facebook event. As usual, please keep sending us links to interesting sexuality-related news you find by emailing, tweeting, or calling us! See you on the flip side!

Kink On Tap 37: It Looks Like A Moonstone

maymay — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 10:48:56 +0000

Wisconsin teachers are threatened with arrest by “zealot” District Attorney Scott Southworth for obeying sex education legislation, which might explain why during National STD Awareness Month, America’s teenagers are still Number 1 for infection rates! (USA! USA! USA!) Also, President Obama mandates hospitals grant same-sex couples visitation rights, a gay couple shows Mike Huckabee how not to act like a bigot, a Brazilian university expels a co-ed after hysterical classmates riot, and horny yet sterile insects could be an eco-friendly solution to pesticides for controlling pest populations (of insects, not students).

Pinch-hitter panelist Aida Manduley, Chairperson of the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council (SHEEC) at Brown University joined Emma and I this week, upbeat and awesome as always! Aida blew our minds with a this must-see video of what slug sex looks like, and shared a bit about some events SHEEC is running. Among them, Radical Masculinity columnist and our good friend Sinclair Sexsmith presented her new workshop, Fucking With Gender 2.0 and, on May 4^th, yours truly will be part of a free and open to the public panel with Megan Andelloux, Reid Mihalko, and others discussing student’s rights and freedoms to converse about sexuality without censorship.

As usual, please keep letting us know about anything you think would be worth discussing on the show, and keep the awesome iTunes reviews and ratings pouring in!

Kink On Tap 36: He’s One of My Favorite Feminists

maymay — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:25:25 +0000

A talented female pitcher joins a men’s baseball team, the feminist V-Day movement starts a men-only component called Ten Ways to Be a Man, cultural sex-negativity manufacturers an “epidemic of sex addiction”, racism and classism underlie messages of fat-shaming women, and last but certainly not least, Constance McMillen finds the silver lining after she was sent to a fake prom.

For this week’s show, Emma and I met up in Michigan since I was attending the fourteenth annual Leather Leadership Conference (LLC) in Detroit and so Emma took the opportunity to visit her childhood home. Feminism and its ideological development was heavy on our minds, as feminism was also a strong theme throughout the conference.

Also, although we didn’t win the IWHC Young Visionaries contest, we want to extend our sincerest congratulations to Sunita Basnet from Nepal, who did! Check out Sunita’s awesome proposal and, if you’re in any way able to help her, please do! Finally, of course, thanks to everyone who’s written reviews of Kink On Tap on iTunes; you’ve helped make the About Kink On Tap page much nicer!

Kink On Tap 35: School of Hard Knocks

maymay — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:00:06 +0000

17 seniors get paddled by High School disciplinarians in Alabama, which sounds like something RNC Chairman Michael Steele would pay to see! Also, TV networks won’t let tampon commercials use the word “vagina” or even its euphemisms, Anna Paquin comes out as bisexual in a new LGBT awareness campaign, a Long Island man gets arrested on the highway for watching porn in the rear seat of a vehicle, Connecticut legislators propose an ambiguous bill that would lessen teen “sexting” charges, and 18 senators (17 Democrats and 1 Independent) challenge the FDA’s ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men.

In this week’s episode, Emma and I got the incredible opportunity to speak with esteemed adult sex educator Dr. Charlie Glickman, who has over two decades of experience working with people in their 20′s and older about issues relating to sexuality, as well as Margot Weiss, Assistant Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University. Margot Weiss is the author of Techniques of Pleasure: Subjectivity and the Socioeconomics of BDSM, which is an ethnographically-researched book exploring the intersections between consumer capitalism, neoliberal rationalities, and racialized, gendered and classed social hierarchies in contemporary sexuality subcultures. We have just one word for this intellisexually gratifying conversation: wow!

Also, although I apologize for the delay in publishing this episode, I do hope you’ll still tell us what you think about this episode and Kink On Tap in general by writing a brief review of the show on iTunes, or at least giving us a star rating if you haven’t yet done so. This feedback is one way you can help us improve the show even more. Don’t forget that you can see and suggest guests you’d like to hear us speak with, send in questions for past guests, and even share links with us as well as other listeners using the community links feed.

Also, don’t forget that if you’d like to join us this week, we’re planning to record on Saturday evening one hour later than usual due to travel considerations, not our regular time on Sunday.

Kink On Tap 34: Fecal-visaged

maymay — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:54:11 +0000

The Catholic Church again protects clergy who molest children, Arizona legislators bar minors from getting STI treatments or birth control prescriptions without parental consent, shoddy reporting blames Facebook as a cause of syphilis, deep-seated racism is exposed as the root of Kristallnacht-like riots in Washington, D.C., a Mississippi judge rules (homophobic) residents would be “confused” by an LGBT-inclusive prom, and a pair of 200 year old luxury dildos are shown to be good (or at least fun) investments.

This week, I got on my soapbox to say one thing in every way I could think to say it: Don’t let anyone tell you how to spend the one chance you’ve got to live your life. Thankfully, Unspeakable Axe, producer of the amazing Masocast podcast, provided some of the best comic relief Emma and I could ask for, and Brad Hanon, editor of the we-can’t-wait-for-it-to-launch-already Syzygy Magazine, contributed his usual wit and keen observations. This conversation is one not to be missed!

Also, in case you haven’t heard, Emma and I are finalists in the International Women’s Health Coalition’s Young Visionaries contest for our proposal, SexEdEverywhere.com. We’re really honored to be in the running with 9 other amazing proposals to the IWHC and no matter what the outcome, we hope all of the proposals get supported. Finally, please keep sending us your feedback (especially in the form of iTunes ratings or reviews) as well as sending news stories or other articles (especially from your local and community news outlets) our way, which really help!

Kink On Tap 33: Our Huge Vagina Overlords

maymay — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:46:53 +0000

Japanese fertility festivals have men struggling to lift giant vaginas, anti-choice Colorado crazies may have falsified petitions in attempts to define eggs as people (no, really, eggs as people), a new study shows abusive men vastly overestimate abuse statistics, a guide to selling your undies online wants you to be judging the people you sellin’ ‘em to, and a federal court finally reasons that you can’t be both victim and perpetrator of child pornography.

Joined once again this week by the brilliant and enthusiastic (if somewhat under-caffeinated) Sarah Dopp, the creator of Genderfork, we broadcasted on-location from the San Francisco Women’s Building. The show was hot on the heels of the wonderful KinkForAll San Francisco unconference—so hot, in fact that we didn’t even leave the venue! Our discussion ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous to the poignant and difficult, as we reflected on some of the presentations at KinkForAll San Francisco with a few of the unconference participants who stayed to watch the show in person.

Also new this week, the proposal for SexEdEverywhere (“SEE”) that Emma and I submitted to the International Women’s Health Coalition Young Visionaries contest earned enough votes to qualify for the finals! We got more than 730 votes, and we would like to sincerely thank everyone who voted for our IWHC Young Visionaries contest entry as well as those who spread the word about our idea. It’s now solely up to the IWHC judges to determine which of the finalists will win the grant.

Wish us luck, and keep listening to Kink On Tap to learn how you can get involved in the future! And, as an aside, I want to apologize for the delay in getting this episode published. The cause of the delay was a frightening and vicious attack on me personally as well as KinkForAll as an idea. I encourage you to follow my personal blog for updates on this issue.

Kink On Tap 32: SHEEC Sex

maymay — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:56:05 +0000

A desperate pregnant teen pays $150 to be beaten until she miscarries, “Vajazzling” is the latest in chic genital jewelry, a new roll-on perfume made from female urine, sweat, and “arousal” goes on sale, New South Wales officially registers the first sexless person, a Mississippi school cancels senior prom rather than let lesbian students attend, and Washington D.C. plans to fight increasing HIV/AIDS rates in women by giving away free female condoms.

All this week at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island is Sex Week 2010, a week-long extravaganza specifically devoted to sexual health, education, and pleasure sponsored by the University’s Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council. We were joined by none other than Aida Manduley, SHEEC’s Chair and “cutest robot ever,” to tell us all about it.

Also happening in short order is KinkForAll San Francisco, which has gotten written up on Good Vibes Magazine and Examiner.com who said it’s sure to be an interesting event. Since we won’t have time to head home after the unconference to do next weekend’s show, we’re also going to be doing a live, on-location shoot at the Women’s Building, so we’re inviting you to join us for the unconference and our recording!

Last but certainly not least, we finally hired a dedicated audio editor to help post-process shows so maymay can get some sleep. Be sure to let us know how you think we’re doing by giving us a 1-click rating on iTunes! Thanks!

Kink On Tap 31: Delightfully Flawed People

maymay — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:17:59 +0000

More men are turning off traditional porn in favor of amateur faire, flash mobsters in The Netherlands pretend to die to raise awareness of homophobia, a transphobic tabloid trashes Angelina Jolie for “turning [her daughter] into a boy,” and new research shows that Americans don’t have any uniform definition of what “having sex” means, so why do many have such homogenous views of gender?

We were honored to get the opportunity to speak with two different, equally brilliant sexuality educators this week, Shanna Katz (aka “EssinEm“) and Sarah Sloane. Both women teach classes and provide inspiring workshops on sexuality to groups across the nation. Sarah also offers personal consulting with a goal towards equilibrium, while Shanna is compiling an anthology about disability and sexuality, and models in independent porn shoots. She also has a bit of butch moose hunter in her blood! ;)

As usual, please let us know what you think about Kink On Tap with an iTunes review! Also, don’t forget about the plethora of upcoming educational events! On the West coast of America, KinkForAll San Francisco is less than 2 weeks away, and back in New England, the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council at Brown University is putting on Sex Week 2010 next week!

Edit: The title of this episode should have been Delightfully Flawed Creatures, but maymay hadn’t gotten his coffee in him before publishing this. D’oh!

Kink On Tap 30: Anal Sex for God

maymay — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:59:51 +0000

The Olympic Village runs out of condoms, Utah becomes the first U.S. State to criminalize miscarriage, a Virginia lawmaker calls disabled kids god’s punishment for abortion, and Dan Savage shows that NH Representative Nancy Elliot’s reasoning for banning gay marriage is full of excrement. Also, OkCupid unveils stats that show older women are more likely to want sex at least once per day, while Dove launches a new ad campaign after discovering that 1 in 4 men feel misrepresented by advertisements. They needed a study to figure that out?

This week, pansexual, polyamorous, kinky law student Marty Quinones joined us to talk a bit about his work starting MSex, a male sexuality workshop at Brown University, as well as how and why he came out on his college applications! We talk politics, law, and (of course) sex ed! We’re also thrilled to spread the word that KinkForAll San Francisco has been confirmed for March 21^st at the Women’s Building, since we actually met Marty at the most recent KinkForAll unconference, KinkForAll Providence.

Finally, as a reminder, please take the time to help us get 1,000 votes for our SexEdEverywhere IWHC Young Visionaries proposal and help empower young people to share their own sexual health knowledge with a single click! Also with a single click, hop on over to Kink On Tap’s show page on iTunes and give us a rating. Better yet, tell us what you think of the show by writing a short review, and if you have a blog or website of your own, share Kink On Tap with your visitors with our new sidebar promo buttons!

Kink On Tap 29: The Olympics Are Too Sexy For Your iPhone

maymay — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:56:35 +0000

Apple decides iPhone apps featuring speed-skating uniforms are “adult” content, House Republicans get into the business of bullying gay students, a New York City bakery starts selling B-52 flavored cupcakes designed for (manly, manly) men, breeders discover showing porn to Pandas improves their reproductive rates, and new DSM-V revisions turn healthy sex into yet another excuse for pathologization. Thankfully, you can now prove your virginity with a (satirical?) Virginity Certificate! And last but certainly not least, yours truly enter the International Women’s Health Coalition Young Visionaries contest with an entry announcing our new project: SexEdEverywhere.com!

Although Emma and I didn’t have a chance to confirm a guest this week, we were spontaneously joined by Sarah Dopp, creator of the ever-spectacular Genderfork! We’ve both been huge fans of Sarah’s work for a while now, so when she said she’d grab a mic and join us, we jumped at the chance. Naturally, the ensuing conversation was among the most fun we’ve had on the show. :)

Also, as mentioned, Emma and I have begun collaborating on a new project, called SexEdEverywhere.com (“SEE”). It’s our entry into the International Women’s Health Coalition Young Visionaries competition, a contest that we need your votes to win! Emma wrote about SEE on her blog, and so did I. Please vote for us and encourage your friends to do the same!

Kink On Tap 28: A Seminal Moment

Emma — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:41:40 +0000

Christening the just-opened Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health in Pawtucket, RI with a small bottle of champaign, this week we celebrate two auspicious events: Megan Andelloux’s success opening the CSPH, and the resounding success of KinkForAll Providence! And, in a Kink On Tap first, we broadcasted on-location with “Oh” Megan herself, and Aida Manduley, Chair of the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council at Brown University, and co-unorganizer of KinkForAll Providence along with Emma.

Also this week, CBS advertises its own hypocrisy by airing one-sided partisan ads during the Superbowl, Admiral Mullen knows DADT makes men like Senator McCain into mice, Paul Scott thinks discriminating against transgendered people is good for Michigan, the DoD wises up about its female officers’ reproductive rights, and Hallmark tries to buffer rough economic times by sexing up its line of children’s toys.

On a meta note, we had a little bit of trouble with the recording this time because, as you’ll hear, a very loud heater in the ceiling of the CSPH switched on and off during the show. Maymay did his best to remove all the noise that caused, but, being amateurs, we couldn’t get the best audio possible. We hope it still sounds good enough. We had a great time and hope you’ll enjoy listening in, too!

Kink On Tap 27: When France and Britain Fight

maymay — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:50:29 +0000

Obama acknowledges the glass ceiling in his State of the Union address, French researchers dis British sexual culture for saying the g-spot isn’t real, Australian censors call female ejaculation “abhorrent” and ban representatives of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee from appearing in adult content. Meanwhile, Fleshbot wonders if you were about to see any porn on Apple’s new iPad anyway, new studies suggest that sex-negativity, not physiology, is to blame for many womens’ sexual dysfunction, and others suggest that pornography may actually be healthy.

This week, we were delighted to be joined by two of the loveliest ladies we know, Maureen Hanlon and Amber Ying, both of whom have appeared on the show before, to discuss some things politic, some things tech, and lots of things women! Echoing most media’s big news stories this week, we hit on education, jobs, and then Jobs’ new computing device: the iPad. My only disappointment about it was how quickly it spawned feminine hygiene product jokes.

Also, Emma and I have been preparing for KinkForAll Providence! If you’re going to be in Rhode Island on February 6^th, you should come out and join us! KinkForAll Providence is totally free, and features a full day of sexuality discussion and sex-positive education graciously hosted by Brown University thanks to the amazing work of the Chair of the Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council, Aida Manduley. Spread the full KinkForAll Providence press release around, and don’t forget to say hi when when you see us!

Kink On Tap 26: Looking for Dirty Words

maymay — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:53:41 +0000

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks up for Internet freedom, a pleasant surprise considering that a California School District banned dictionaries for containing a reference to ‘oral sex’. Meanwhile, Chinese exporters continue to flood US store shelves with dangerous counterfeit condoms, OKCupid busts 4 myths of Internet dating profile pictures, psychiatrists want the DSM V to label you—yes, even you—mentally ill for your sexual tastes, and bigoted, so-called “men’s rights activists” (MRA) groups call Haiti womens’ relief efforts sexist. Let’s stop calling these people “men’s rights activists” and start calling them what they are: anti-equality activists.

This week, we had the immense pleasure of being joined by the always-thoughtful Viviane, head honcho of Viviane’s Sex Carnival for the third time, as well as the inimitable interviewer and fellow sexuality podcaster Unspeakable Axe, host of the awesome Masocast! If you don’t yet know about it, the Masocast shows up right next to Kink On Tap in iTunes for some searches and features personal interviews with some of New York City’s most colorful characters from its BDSM Scene. In fact, I was on one of the show’s early episodes talking about KinkForAll.

Finally, we want to take a moment to ask: what is Kink On Tap worth to you? If you haven’t yet seen it, please take a look at our new donation options. It’s always difficult for Emma and I to ask for financial contributions from you, and it’s even more difficult what with recent tragic news, but we have to ask anyway. We think we do a good job of explaining why in our blog post. Thank you so much for participating with us, in whatever capacity you can!

Kink On Tap 25: When the Gay Army Shows Up the Straight One

maymay — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:35:44 +0000

The Pentagon thinks segregation is a “practical” way to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, more men are reporting workplace sexual harassment than ever before (no, it has nothing to do with gay people), airport security wants to scan you with the same machines that make child porn, San Francisco’s police chief stupidly thinks publicly shaming sex work customers will reduce crime while the British National Party thinks hitting children at school would take care of that, and that 4 year old boy in Texas is still rocking his locks against the School Board. You go, Tater Tot!

This week, we were joined by the stupendously hard working Assistant Professor of English at Fayetteville State University, founder and president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance, editor and contributor to the newly-released academic book Women Constructing Men: Female Novelists and their Male Characters, and former First Lieutenant in the United States National Guard, Sarah Frantz, as well as the inimitable author of edgy homosexual erotic fiction, independent lawyer, and all around awesome gal James Buchanan. The conversation we had gave us insights into the military and the City Attorney’s office that we couldn’t possibly have gotten anywhere else, and we had a fabulous time the whole way through! Emma and I would both like to extend our sincerest thanks to our amazing guests for putting up with the Skype troubles, and for providing such personal stories of how the United States’s policy on gays in the military is harmful to everyone.

And, on a sobering note, we must mention the terrible earthquake that leveled Port Au Prince, Haiti last Tuesday, leaving perhaps 50,000 dead and nearly 3 million in need of help. We’d like to extend our gratitude to the people who contacted us with information about good ways to help Haiti, and we’d like to share some of the options for giving about which we have heard good things:

AmeriCares.org is a reputable organization with particularly low overhead costs, which can provide a live-saving return on your donation to Haiti.
Visiting StandWithHaiti.org will send you to the donation page of Partners In Health, an amazing organization providing healthcare for the poor in over 10 countries.
Finally, we’re very pleased to see the LGBT community responding to the tragedy in Haiti by rallying behind RainbowFund. Donations to RainbowFund.org will provide much-needed resources like emergency food rations and safe water to the people of Haiti and, best of all, 100% of your donations go towards these and other relief resources.

Especially if you were already considering making a donation to us, this week, please consider donating to Haiti as well or instead of helping us keep Kink On Tap on the Internet.

Kink On Tap 24: You’d Be Amazed What Can Fit

maymay — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:29:42 +0000

Is V Magazine making a fashion mag faux-pas by ghettoizing fat models? Some people think so. Also, sex toy snake oil merchants want women to dye their labia, submissive men struggle against negative stereotypes, the mainstream media wakes up to not-all-that-new “frontiers” of polyamory, and gay marriage is set to become legal in Portugal, while hypocritical conservatives still fight against it in California.

This week, we were again joined by not one, but two of the minds behind Syzygy Magazine, friends of the show Brad Hanon and his photo-taking partner-in-crime Susan Beaver. Additionally, articulate erotic romance e-book author Anne Douglas joins us for the first time to talk about the debut of her latest book, His Intimate Submission, which we discovered is even sexier than it sounds! It was a fantastic conversation that we feel privileged to have been a part of.

We also want to mention a few upcoming events local to each of our coasts: in San Francisco tonight on Tuesday January 12^th, maymay will be co-facilitating the January Deviants Online social media and Internet literacy discussion workshop at the Center for Sex and Culture hosted by Sarah Dopp, an inspirational fan of the show and founder of Genderfork.com. Also on the Left Coast, local rope artist and cycling enthusiast Fivestar is trying to raise at least $5,000 by riding in the AIDS/Lifecycle, a 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA to support the San Francisco Aids Foundation and the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. Help Fivestar help others by sponsoring the ride, or buying one of these sexy bike bondage calendars!

And in Providence, Rhode Island, Emma is part of the team unorganizing the 5^th in the rapidly growing series of KinkForAll unconferences, KinkForAll Providence! Hosted by Brown University on February 6^th, the 100% free event is an ad-hoc gathering for anyone and everyone with something to contribute to discussions about the intersection of sexuality and the rest of life, or with a desire to learn more. Come to KinkForAll Providence and meet us, as well as a number of previous guests, and sign up to meet all the other participants face-to-face!

Phew! We don’t know about you, but we’re certainly amazed how much we could fit! ;)

Kink On Tap 23: A Rainbow of Porn

maymay — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:52:38 +0000

Geneticists inch closer to making sex changes without surgery a reality, prolific sex work blogger Alexa DiCarlo is suspected of being a phony, an enterprising dude creates a color-based pornography search engine, and a national health study reveals that 1 in 4 teen girls in the US have an STI. Let’s thank abstinence-only education, shall we?

In our first netcast of 2010, Emma and I are joined by two amazing people we met at previous KinkForAll events. The inimitable Mr. Jack Stratton, erotic fiction connoisseur and author whose analysis of some of my favorite niche genres like yaoi is always worth a listen, tells us about his new smut fiction curation project, New Vicious Circle. Also, eloquent feederism blogger Molly Ren teaches us a little bit about her particular fetish and describes a little about what it’s like to go from feeling total isolation and hopelessness to the embrace of an open-minded community.

Also, we’ve made some improvements to our own link curation process; now you can see and instantly add links to topics for upcoming shows. Over in the sidebar of KinkOnTap.com, you’ll find a new “Community links feed” section which you can push links to in a variety of ways, or subscribe to it yourself to see what others are suggesting. We also want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for continuing to donate to our budget for the show over the past week to help cover the unexpected costs from the untimely death of May’s laptop, and we hope you continue to donate whatever you can offer. And finally, a quick shout-out to Gnosisseeker for writing the first review of Kink On Tap on iTunes! Thanks for the wonderful review!