New Books in Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work

New Books Network

Sexuality

Gender Studies

Queer Theory

Sexuality Studies

Sex Work

Human Trafficking

Psychoanalysis

Jane Austen

Colonialism

Feminism

Reproductive Rights

Soft-Porn Cinema

Virginity

Early Christianity

Marilyn Chambers

Pornography

Trans Studies

Prostitution

Radical Acts

Sexual Violence

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

14 ratings

Publishes	Twice weekly	Episodes	514	Founded	5 years ago
Number of Listeners		Categories	Social SciencesBooksArtsScience

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Guests Hosts Reviews Charts Talking Points

Latest Episodes

Jay Szpilka, "BDSM Practices in Contemporary Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

In BDSM Practices in Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), cultural anthropologist and cultural

studies scholar Jay Szpilka analyzes the way that BDSM is practiced in

contemporary Pola... more

7 Jul 2026 • 1 hr 8 min

Rosa Campbell, "The Book That Taught the World to Orgasm and Then Disappeared: Shere Hite and the Hite Report" (Melville House, 2026)

Despite being one of the leading thinkers of the second wave feminist movement, today Shere Hite is little known, little written about, and, unsurprisingly, little read. Her groundbreaking book, The Hite Report, was the first feminist exploration of ... more

2 Jul 2026 • 41 min

Michelle Chase and Isabella Cosse eds., "The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family" (U Florida Press, 2026)

Understanding overlooked dimensions of the Cuban Revolution and its

impact on the global left in the 1960s and beyond. This volume, The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family (University of Flor... more

25 Jun 2026 • 42 min

Karl Whittington, "Queer Making: On Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025)

Karl Whittington joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, Queer Making: On Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe (Pennsylvania State University Press,

2025). What role does desire play in the making of art objects? Art

historians typically answ... more

15 Jun 2026 • 1 hr 26 min

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Recent Guests

Jay Szpilka

Assistant professor, Department of Humanities, SWPS University

SWPS University

Episode: Jay Szpilka, "BDSM Practices in Contemporary Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

Michelle Chase

Associate Professor of History at Pace University

Pace University

Episode: Michelle Chase and Isabella Cosse eds., "The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family" (U Florida Press, 2026)

Isabella Cosse

Professor of History at Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina

Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Episode: Michelle Chase and Isabella Cosse eds., "The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family" (U Florida Press, 2026)

Karl Whittington

Professor and Chair of Art History at The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University

Episode: Karl Whittington, "Queer Making: On Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025)

Dr. Stephanie Coontz

Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Professor Emerita at the Evergreen State College

Council on Contemporary Families; Evergreen State College

Episode: Stephanie Coontz, "For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage" (Viking, 2026)

David Petruccelli

Author, A Scourge of Humanity

Dartmouth College

Episode: David Petruccelli, "A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe" (Oxford UP, 2025)

Jonatan Leer

Professor of Culinary Arts and Meal Science at Örebro University

Örebro University

Episode: Jonatan Leer and Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager, "Food Porn: Food Aesthetics in a Digital Age" (Bristol UP, 2026)

Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager

Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Communication, Örebro University

Örebro University

Episode: Jonatan Leer and Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager, "Food Porn: Food Aesthetics in a Digital Age" (Bristol UP, 2026)

Janet Hinson Shope

Sociologist and co-author of Campus Whisper Networks, Knowing with Sexual Assault Survivors

Rutgers University

Episode: Janet Hinson Shope and Richard Pringle, "Campus Whisper Networks: Knowing with Sexual Assault Survivors" (Rutgers UP, 2026)

Hosts

Dr. Miranda Melcher

Host and interviewer across multiple episodes; central facilitator of scholarly dialogue

Alex Weiser

Director of Public Programs; co-host and guide for interviews

Elaine Leeder

Scholar and co-host providing scholarly context and framing

Rinvith

Host of New Books Network Human Rights Channel; contributes to interview flow

Donna Doan Anderson

Host and contributor with or without co-hosting duties, depending on episode

Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars from 14 ratings

Nope
I really liked some episodes which had some interviews with researchers and sex workers, but with the May 2023 episode with Mary Eberstadt, I’ve learned this podcast series is just as bad as the mainstream media
There is no sex worker solidarity without solidarity for trans people. If you’re reading this and thinking “well not everything is black and white, you just don’t want people to express their opinions freely”, please go educate yourself with some recent research on the current statistic... more
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TinaDeutschland
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Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Guests are often university-affiliated scholars offering archival and historical insights.

Some episodes receive pushback for perspectives on sexuality and representation, indicating engaged and opinionated audiences.

Listeners value rigorous, source-driven scholarship with accessible explanations.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts	#164	United States/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#39	United Kingdom/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#223	Canada/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#241	United Kingdom/Science
Apple Podcasts	#98	Australia/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#235	France/Science/Social Sciences

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Stephanie Coontz, "For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage" (Viking, 2026)

Q: Can you walk us through what the concept of emotional earworms refers to and how it has evolved over time?

Coontz explains that emotional earworms are durable cultural beliefs about marriage that persist across eras, shaping expectations even as societies modernize, and she argues for recognizing these myths while exploring more flexible, egalitarian possibilities.

Janet Hinson Shope and Richard Pringle, "Campus Whisper Networks: Knowing with Sexual Assault Survivors" (Rutgers UP, 2026)

Q: How do your relational knowing scales help us understand campus dynamics?

The scales quantify where students sit on a spectrum of awareness within Whisper Networks, linking their position to beliefs about campus safety and the institutional response, thus revealing patterns not visible through traditional surveys.

Janet Hinson Shope and Richard Pringle, "Campus Whisper Networks: Knowing with Sexual Assault Survivors" (Rutgers UP, 2026)

Q: What motivated you to shift from studying prevalence to focusing on who tells and who hears?

We found that most disclosures happen within intimate networks and that the official reporting path to Title IX often strips away crucial context, so we redirected to understand how knowledge is produced and circulated within communities.

Jewish Anarchist Women 1920–1950: The Politics of Sexuality

Q: To what extent did these women speak Yiddish, and what did the Yiddish-speaking milieu mean for their organizing?

They all spoke Yiddish as a common language of organizing in Jewish worker communities, and Yiddish culture and labor organizations provided a shared linguistic and cultural framework that supported collective activism across industries.

Jewish Anarchist Women 1920–1950: The Politics of Sexuality

Q: What is the significance of Sacco and Vanzetti for the anarchist movement and for these women?

Sacco and Vanzetti's case became a symbolic turning point that exposed class tensions and anti-immigrant sentiment, reinforcing the movement's public visibility and its image as a persecuted, principled faction even as some factual details remain debated.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Scholarly conversations explore how sexuality, gender, race, and empire shape social life, culture, and policy across historical and contemporary contexts. Episodes center book-focused discussions with university-press authors and researchers, spanning topics from sexual politics in the modern West to colonial regimes, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ history. Guests bring archival research, theoretical frameworks, and cross-disciplinary methods, often linking intimate, everyday experiences to larger systems of power. A notable strength is the breadth of historical periods and the emphasis on how documents, artifacts, and cultural practices illuminate contested norms around sex, gender, and society. Potential listeners may find rigorous acad... more

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1. New Books in Psychoanalysis
2. Ordinary Unhappiness
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this podcast launched 5 years ago and published 514 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Jay Szpilka
2. Michelle Chase
3. Isabella Cosse
4. Karl Whittington
5. Dr. Stephanie Coontz
6. David Petruccelli
7. Jonatan Leer
8. Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager

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