Smut Talks by Bothered Stories

Smut & Romance Tropes 101

Friends to Lovers, Grumpy Sunshine, Himbo, Black Cat. . . what are all these reading tropes and why do we love them? First Dates and Soulmates podcast hosts and verified

Why Ethical Porn and Sex Worker Rights Matter

Reed Amber is a trailblazing force in sex worker advocacy, sex education, and ethical porn. She’s co-creator of the multi-award winning podcast Come Curious, and she brin

Desire, Trauma & the Nervous System: Smut as a Healing Tool

Sexologist Chloé Ellert joins us to talk about the nervous system, arousal, recovering from sexual trauma and how smut can play a role. Creator of the Smut-Scent Method a

Non-Monogamy 101: Debunking Myths & Rewriting Relationships

Danielle from Openly Committed joins us to explore non-monogamy, including her own 16-year journey in an open relationship and what alternative relationship structures ca

How Burlesque Subverts What Is Sexy

Why does burlesque matter? In this episode, burlesque performers and hosts Diva Darling and Mx. Eden dive deep into their craft, unpacking the ways burlesque subverts pat

Healing Grape Culture: How 2 Performers Use Comedy and Somatics to Dismantle Systems of Oppression

Toni Nagy and Seraphina Supernova are touring the world with Grape Culture, a groundbreaking tragic comedy show that forces the audience to reckon with what they’ve coine

Smut, Search Algorithms and Queer Joy: Gabrielle Kassel on Sex Education Today

As part of our Pride series, queer sex educator and journalist Gabrielle Kassel shares how sex education has evolved in the last decade, how it shapes our understanding o

How MM Romance Went from Niche to Viral

Why are readers obsessed with MM romance? Beloved authors Lucy Lennox and Clare London join us to explore the genre’s rising popularity and why gay romance resonates so d

Hot Takes on Hot Writing: Behind the Scenes at Bothered Stories

What actually goes into creating great erotica? In this behind-the-scenes episode, we sit down with the Chief Editor of Bothered Stories to unpack the full journey—from

Smut as Resistance: Writing Latinx Love Stories

Angelina M. Lopez, bestselling author of After Hours on Milagro Street, joins us to talk about the impact of “ferocious love stories”—her emotionally rich, deeply sexy ro

Heated Rivalry: Desire, Tension, and the Romance We Crave––a Roundtable Conversation

What makes Heated Rivalry work so well—and why has it resonated so deeply with audiences? In this roundtable discussion, we dig into the cultural, emotional, and narrativ

Introducing this podcast & Bothered Stories

Hear our founder's take on what you can expect from this podcast and Bothered Stories. We'll be bringing on leading voices to dive into smut, desire, the patriarchy--aka