Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work

Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work

episodes

Interviews with scholars of sex, sexuality and sex work about their new books.

Timothy McCall, "Making the Renaissance Man: Masculinity in the Courts of Renaissance Italy" (Reaktion Books, 2023)

May 25, 2026

Making the Renaissance Man

Timothy McCall
Hosted by Jana Byars

Looking beyond the marble elegance of Michelangelo's David, the pugnacious, passionate, and--crucially--important story of Renaissance manhood. Timo…

Eloise Moss, "The Secret Life of the Hotel: Sex, Crime and Protest in British Guesthouses Since 1918" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

May 17, 2026

The Secret Life of the Hotel

Eloise Moss
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Hotels represent nations, hosting visiting monarchs, politicians, and diplomats. Hotels underpin global networks of travel and communication, on which…

Jewish Anarchist Women 1920–1950: The Politics of Sexuality

May 8, 2026

Jewish Anarchist Women 1920–1950

Hosted by YIVO Institute

Anarchist theory includes the belief in freedom for all - that no one person, nor group of people, should have power over any others; that individuals…

Max Morris, "Not Sex Work: Queer Intimacy, Post-identity, and Incidental Encounters in the Digital Era" (Routledge, 2025)

May 6, 2026

Not Sex Work

Max Morris
Hosted by Rine Vieth

Max Morris's Not Sex Work: Queer Intimacy, Post-identity, and Incidental Encounters in the Digital Era (Routledge, 2025) brings together feminist theo…

Sophie Rose, "Intimacy and Social (Dis)Order in Dutch Colonial Expansion: Regulating Sex, Marriage, and Family Life, 1600–1800" (Brill, 2025)

May 4, 2026

Intimacy and Social (Dis)Order in Dutch Colonial Expansion

Sophie Rose
Hosted by Lewis Wade

Explosive sexual scandals, bitter domestic conflicts, and dramatic changes in fortune. Sex, marriage, and family life were matters of enormous consequ…

Katie Batza, "AIDS in the Heartland: How Unlikely Coalitions Created a Blueprint for LGBTQ Politics" (UNC Press, 2025)

May 2, 2026

AIDS in the Heartland

Katie Batza
Hosted by Donna Anderson

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Katie Batza on their recently published book, AIDS in the Heartland: How Unlikely Coalitions Created a B…

Samira K. Mehta, "God Bless the Pill: The Surprising History of Contraception and Sexuality in American Religion" (UNC Press, 2026)

April 30, 2026

God Bless the Pill

Samira K. Mehta
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Most people today understand contraception as central to women’s liberation, and when the birth control pill arrived in 1960, the media thought it wou…

Abigail Ocobock, "Marriage Material: How an Enduring Institution Is Changing Same-Sex Relationships" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

April 21, 2026

Marriage Material

Abigail Ocobock
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

It is no secret that marriage rates in the United States are at an all-time low. Despite this significant decline, the institution of marriage endures…

Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" (Oxford UP, 2025)

April 16, 2026

Rape Fantasies

Alisa Kessel

Political theorist Alisa Kessel (University of Puget Sound) has an important and impressive new book, Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence…

Daphne A. Brooks, "Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince" (Duke UP, 2026)

April 14, 2026

Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign

Daphne A. Brooks
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince (Duke UP, 2026) is the first critical anthology dedicated to exp…

Leslie Barnes, "Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)

April 7, 2026

Sex Work in Southeast Asia

Leslie Barnes
Hosted by Michael Vann

In Sex Work in Southeast Asia: Scenes of Ambivalence in Literature and Film (Edinburgh UP, 2025), Leslie Barnes examines the ambivalences that mark So…

Isabelle Held, "Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies" (Duke UP, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Atomic Bombshells

Isabelle Held
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Bullet bras, bazookas, bombshells, bikinis. In Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies (Duke UP, 2026), Dr. Isabelle Held challenges the…

Satya Shikha Chakraborty, "Colonial Caregivers: Ayahs and the Gendered History of Race and Caste in British India" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

March 25, 2026

Colonial Caregivers

Satya Shikha Chakraborty
Hosted by Saumya Dadoo

Colonial Caregivers: Ayahs and the Gendered History of Race and Caste in British India (Cambridge UP, 2025) offers a compelling cultural and social hi…

Maud Anne Bracke, "Reproductive Rights in Modern France: Reproductive Rights in Modern France: Feminism, Contraception, and Abortion, 1950-1980 (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 9, 2026

Reproductive Rights in Modern France

Maud Anne Bracke
Hosted by Gina Stamm

The introduction of the principle of women's reproductive liberty in France, tentatively by the family planning movement after 1960 and explicitly by …

Mattie Armstrong-Price, "Respectability on the Line: Gender, Race, and Labor along British and Colonial Indian Railways" (U California Press, 2026)

March 7, 2026

Respectability on the Line

Mattie Armstrong-Price
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Respectability on the Line: Gender, Race, and Labor along British and Colonial Indian Railways (U California Press, 2026) by Dr. Mattie Armstrong-Pric…

Daniel Brook, "The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin" (W. W. Norton & Co, 2025)

March 5, 2026

The Einstein of Sex

Daniel Brook
Hosted by Deep Acharya

More than a century ago, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, dubbed the "Einstein of Sex," grew famous (and infamous) for his liberating theory of sexual relativit…

Clarissa E. Francis, "Black Women's Bodily Autonomy, Sexual Freedom, and Pleasure: Explorations of the Hot Girl Movement" (Routledge, 2025)

February 28, 2026

Black Women's Bodily Autonomy, Sexual Freedom, and Pleasure

Clarissa E. Francis

Black Women's Bodily Autonomy, Sexual Freedom, and Pleasure: Explorations of the Hot Girl Movement (Routledge, 2025) explores scholarship, practice, a…

Mark D. Steinberg, "Moral Storytelling in 1920s New York, Odessa, and Bombay: Sex, Crime, Violence, and Nightlife in the Modern City" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

February 21, 2026

Moral Storytelling in 1920s New York, Odessa, and Bombay

Mark D. Steinberg
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Using public storytelling as a driving force, Moral Storytelling in 1920s New York, Odessa, and Bombay: Sex, Crime, Violence, and Nightlife in the Mod…

Mark Gallagher, "Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, and Male Sex Appeal" (U Texas Press, 2025)

January 30, 2026

Cosmosexuals

Mark Gallagher
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, and Male Sex Appeal (U Texas Press, 2025), Dr. Mark Gallagher presents an examination of male screen sex appe…

Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer, "By the Power Vested in Me: How Experts Shape Same-Sex Marriage Debates" (Columbia UP, 2025)

January 30, 2026

By the Power Vested in Me

Michael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer
Hosted by Michael Johnston

In both the United States and France, each side of the legal battle over same-sex marriage and parenthood relied heavily on experts. Despite the simil…