In 2000, Sigrid Wade began writing to people on death row to express her solidarity against that kind of punishment; she never thought she’d end up marrying one of them and having a child. But that’s exactly what happened between her and Alan Wade. Meet a sociologist who studies relationships like theirs, and hear directly from Sigrid and Alan about love, family, worthiness, and trust. GUESTS:  Megan Comfort: Senior research sociologist in Research Triangle Institute’s Transformative Research Unit for Equity. She is also affiliated faculty in the Division of Prevention Science at the University of California, San Francisco, and she works with the non-profit, UnCommon Law Sigrid Wade: Originally from France, now living in Florida, she met Alan Wade in 2014 via a pen pal program when he was on death row. They have been married for seven years, and they have a three year-old son. She's the co-founder of Wire of Hope's Prison Pen Pal Program Alan Wade: Currently serving life without the possibility of parole in a Florida prison

Last time, we did an episode about dominants in the world of BDSM and kink, and now? It’s time for the submissives to take center-stage. Learn the difference between “submissive” and “slave”, and four people’s interpretations of what it means to obey, serve, and play. GUESTS:  Kate Kinsey: Author ofHow to be a Healthy and Happy Submissive: A Practical Guide to Making Your Fantasies a Reality, and What Submissives Want to Know: Real Questions, Real Answers Kim Debron: A collared slave and writer living in rural Australia. She has been in a relationship with Master Joe for 18 years. Her fiction books are Souls in Chains, and Broken Links Chastity Slave: A Connecticut-based man in a polyamorous relationship with his master Blyss: A Maryland woman who identifies as a slave 

Meet a world-renowned expert on kink who will explain exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about dominants. And you’ll meet three very different kinds of dominants in the BDSM world: One who is particularly sensual, one whose power lies in money, and one whose disability is just another component of his power. This is the first of two episodes about kink. Tune in next week, when we meet four submissives, three of which refer to themselves as “slaves”, including a Black woman. GUESTS:  Midori: An international educator and author about sexuality, personal fulfillment, and kink. She is the author of many books, including Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink Food Fetish: A Findomme (Financial Dominant) based in Canada, and the author of The Virtual Findom(me) - Your Beginner’s Guide to Helping You Find A Paypig Jade Desires: Massachusetts-based Professional Mistress and BDSM consultant with a passion for dominance and sensuality Raven Kaldera: Author of Hell on Wheels: Disabled Dominants. He is based out of central Massachusetts and is joined by his slaveboy, Joshua Tenpenny

When I say, “The Sugar Lifestyle”, I'm not talking about the typical high-fructose, American diet. I’m talking about the often financially-centered lifestyle of sugar daddies and sugar babies. On this episode, you’ll hear from one sugar baby who teaches women how to “embrace their inner sugar”, and from a sugar daddy who talks with us about the ways in which meeting women this way has changed his life. A researcher will give you a lay of the land, and you’ll hear stories about what it’s like being a sugar baby with absolutely no expectation of sex. GUESTS:  Srushti Upadhyay: a Graduate Instructor at SUNY Buffalo's Department of Sociology. Her research, titled, “Sugaring: Understanding the World of Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies” was published in the Journal of Sex Research in January, 2021 Kerry: from New York, NY, and in 2008, she had an ongoing, non-sexual relationship with a sugar daddy Marcus (pseudonym): Host of the podcast, Secrets of a Sugar Daddy. He found the lifestyle after the divorce of his 16-year marriage. He joined us from Arizona Taylor B. Jones: Author of The Sugar Daddy Formula: A Sugar Baby's Ultimate Guide to Finding a Wealthy Sugar Daddy and host of The Sugar Daddy Formula Podcast

When you hear the words, “cuddle party”, what do you picture? Something playful? Something salacious? Something… else? When your culture equates affection with attraction, how does it feel to challenge that connection? And to what degree can affection be healing when it isn't necessarily connected with sex? Join Chion as she ponders all this during her experience one-on-one with a professional cuddlist, and then as she attends a 25-person-strong cuddle party. GUESTS:  Amanda Ananda: Professional cuddlist and cuddle party facilitator Isaac Paulman: Cuddle party facilitator-in-training 

Think about your BFF (that’s Best Friend For Life). Now, imagine if that “for life” part was a deliberate, co-creative commitment. You’re free to date other people if you’re into that kinda thing, but you put each other down as your emergency contact, you live together, you may even raise kids together. On this episode, you’ll meet people who are in what’s called Platonic Life Partnerships, or PLP’s. GUESTS:  Rhaina Cohen: producer and editor for NPR’s Enterprise Storytelling Unit. She talked about it in her Atlantic article from October of 2020, “What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?” April Lee and Renee Wong: PLPs living in Los Angeles, CA John Carroll and Joe Rivera: PLPs living in Austin, TX

When I say, “sex doll”, do you imagine creativity? Improvisation? Self-love? Find out why these synthetic companions can address more than just physical pleasure. Plus, get a history of where these dolls came from, and a peek at what they might be like in the future. On the podcast feed, you can hear a bonus conversation with Courtney Webb, who is just a few months into life with her doll, Dahlia Muriel Hollifield. GUESTS:  Anthony Ferguson is the author of The Sex Doll: A History Davecat is an idollator and a robosexual with four synthetic partners: Sidore, Elena, Miss Winter, and Dyanne Bailey

On past episodes of our Audacious Love series, we’ve talked with people who’ve been married for over 50 years, people who’ve fallen in love with synthetic companions, people who’ve fallen love with objects, and today, you’ll meet four people who are married to spirits, ancestors, or gods. GUESTS:  Dr. Megan Rose: An initiated ceremonial magician, a Shakta Tantric practitioner, and the author of Spirit Marriage: Intimate Relationships with Otherworldly Beings. She serves as an ordained interfaith minister and psycho-spiritual counselor and is the executive director of the Entheosis Institute Caroline Kenner: A professional Witch and Tarotiste, a teacher of visionary healing methods, and a spiritual healer also known as the Washington Witchdoctor. Caroline is a founder of The Fool's Dog, a Tarot app publishing company.  She is married to multiple spirits Dr. Monica Mody: A transdisciplinary poet, writer, educator and spiritual practitioner whose border-crossing praxis lives at the intersections of earth-based wisdom, whole person philosophy, and embodied regenerative consciousness Orion Foxwood: A traditional witch, conjure-man, "Eco-Magical Activist", faery seer; author of The Faery Teachings, The Tree of Enchantment, Mountain Conjure and Southern Rootwork and The Flame in the Cauldron. He is the founder of the House of Brigh Faery Seership Institute, a co-founder of Conjure-Craft, and Witches in the Woods gatherings in California

Many of us know what it feels like to fall in love. The attraction, the chemistry, the excitement! But what’s it like to fall in love with an ashtray?Or a chandelier? Hear what love is like for people who identify as Objectum Sexual. Plus, hear from a sexologist on what the rest of us get wrong about them. GUESTS:  Amy Marsh is a sexologist who specializes in understanding and counseling people who are objectum sexuals Yuri Tolochko is an LGBTQIA+ activist living in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. He is also an objectum-sexual Amanda Liberty is a resident of the United Kingdom who is an objectum sexual. She has had relationships with the statue of liberty and a chandelier named Lumiere

Fill in the blank: Love is… Patient. Kind. Love is Work. Hard to find. But if you wanna put your finger on what makes up “long-lasting love”, you’re gonna need some wisdom to fill in those blanks. So today, meet three couples who’ve been together for over 50 years. GUESTS: Angela and Grant Loavenbruck of Rockport, Maine, have been married for 55 years Emery Austin Smith and Vivian Ashton Smith of the Blue Hills neighborhood in Hartford have been married for 65 years Shirley and Seymour Reitman of Bloomfield, Connecticut, have been married for over 70 years Photo:  Harli Marten / Unsplash 

Ah, Craigslist’s Missed Connections. Where else can you find that attractive guy you saw at that concert? Or the lady in the laundromat who held your gaze? Or reconnect with your long lost hairstylist? Hear those stories, plus what a researcher learned from studying over 10,000 posts. And what does it sound like when two Tony-nominated songwriters take Missed Connection posts and turn them into songs? GUESTS:  Ilia Blindermanis a Sr. Journalist-Engineer at The Pudding. In 2015, he studied data from over 10,000 Craigslist Missed Connections ads Anthony King is a Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer, producer and performer Scott Brown is a WGA-award-winning, Emmy-, Tony- and Drama Desk-nominated writer of theater, television and criticism Vinz Clortho (a pseudonym) is a Colchester resident who posted on Missed Connections after an encounter at a laundromat  Allison Holst-Grubbe is a Manchester resident who found a long-lost beloved hairstylist via Missed Connections Alex Ferrante (a pseudonym) lives in the Washington, DC metro area, and posted to Missed Connections after an encounter in an Aldi grocery store Erin and Dan Kottke from MN, re-met through missed connections. They are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in March, and have two children. Photo: Westend61/Getty Images