Secular Sexuality

The Atheist Community of Austin Holiday Trivia Challenge - Preliminaries - Year End SpecialWe are pre-recording this challenge so that we could give you something interesting to watch over the holidays, but also give our hard working hosts and crew some time off to spend with their family and friends.This will be a 5 part series, with one episode appearing on each of our AEN Network shows. The schedule is as follows:The preliminary rounds will consist of 5 questions each, and will be shown on the Secular Sexuality channel on Thursday, December 23rd at 7pm Central: http://tiny.cc/ytssThe first two Quarter Final rounds will consist of 7 questions each, and will be shown on the Truth Wanted channel on Friday, December 24th at 7pm Central: http://tiny.cc/yttwThe second two Quarter Final rounds will consist of 7 questions each, and will be shown on Talk Heathen on Sunday, December 26th at 1pm Central: http://tiny.cc/ytthThe two Semi-final rounds will consist of 7 questions each, and will be shown on The Non-Proph

Each and every week we end by reminding you to take a quiet moment to yourself and show yourself some love, so it should come as no surprise that self-compassion is big in our book. After being told that you were born into sin and that your every thought should be held captive it makes sense that self-criticism and self-flagellation are part and parcel of our culture, something new research suggests compassion based therapies can do something about. This week Licensed Professional Counselor Callye Lawrence joins the show to teach Christy how self-compassion can help us better connect to our partners, our lovers and ourselves. Mindful Self-Compassion, your calls and questions and what’s turning us on this week on SecX! ► Dive deeper into the episode and find what’s turning us on this week at https://www.vcatx.com/media/mscintro ► Dive deeper into the episode and find what’s turning us on this week at https://www.vcatx.com/media/appreciation

Sexualization, objectification, fetishization, dehumanization? Oh my. It’s tricky to know where appreciation ends and obsession begins- throw in a dash of marketing and pinch of patriarchy and we have a capitalistic conundrum for the ages. Resident sex-work royals Sinn Sage and Arden Hart join Christy in a conversation about sex worker’s rights, trans bodies and the tricks of the trade, plus your calls and questions and of course, what’s turning us on this week on SecX! ► Dive deeper into the episode and find what’s turning us on this week at https://www.vcatx.com/media/appreciation If you'd like to be on the show, use your phone ☎ and call 1-512-991-9242 or use a computer

So much of what we take as biological fact is actually just culture, and I’m tired of pretending it’s not. But if cultures are like families- you’re stuck with the one you’re born with until you build another, then why not get to work? Laura Magee returns to the show to look around the world with Nate and Christy in search of myths, metaphors and metaanalysis so we can cherry pick the best ingredients and add some flavor to our extra virgin purity culture. Our thoughts and conversation, your calls and questions plus what’s turning us on this week on SecX! Dive deeper into the episode and find what’s turning us on this week at https://www.vcatx.com/media/Culturallybound

In the 3 and a half years since the ACA began production on Secular Sexuality we’ve had some incredible experiences. Like the time we had the world’s #1 legal escort and #1 phone sex operator in back to back weeks, or the time we recorded a live concert with Shelley Segal. Or the time a catholic guest walked off set 30 minutes into the interview. Good times all but none of them compare to the holiday magic of this years’ Thanksgiving episode, recorded entirely on set of a steamy Sinn Sage production. Watch this VERY SPECIAL episode where Christy interviews Sinn Sage and crew in between takes and catches as much of the action as YouTube will allow. It’s an early Christmas Miracle and a Sinnful delight on this week’s holiday SecX!

Everyone’s got a story to tell and for all the troll-y haterade the internet offers us, the democratizing megaphone is in safe hands here. Phoebe J. Rose holds such a microphone for trans folx of all stripes as they document and declare their own history to a world short on trans stories. Join P*ck and Nate as they explore their own stories and the power of sharing and caring for ourselves and our community. Trans story time with Phoebe Rose, your calls and questions and what’s turning us on this week on tonight’s SecX!

Nothing says ‘the holidays are here’ like your parents scratched up DVD of Christmas Vacation or awkwardly squirming in your seat during the more sexist parts of Miracle on 34th St. In hopes that we can offer an alternative this holiday season we’ve invited writer, researcher and friend of the show Dianna Anderson to join Christy in a conversation about sex positive and feminist film so that the only thing problematic about your tv viewing will be trying to convince your family and friends to start a new tradition. Our top picks plus your calls and questions and of course what’s turning us on this week on this pre-holiday SecX! Dive deeper into the episode and find what’s turning us on this week at https://www.vcatx.com/media/sexpositivemovies Secular Sexuality show is LIVE every Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30pm Central Time.

You may love your pet, and you may pet your love, but have you ever asked your lover to be your pet? After all, we ain’t nothing but mammals (who do it like they do it on the discovery channel), so why not take a walk on the wild side and let out our animal instincts? Join the show as Shade Wolf of Pet-Play Pride TX takes Christy and P*ck to obedience school so we can bone-up on tails of animal lust and learn a few tricks ourselves. All that plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week on SecX!

The modern polyamory movement can readily trace it’s ties back to the feminist and counter-cultural movements of the 60’s and 70’s. Fueled by a willingness to question convention and a mandate to empower women, it’s no wonder polyamory would eagerly distance itself from the historical (and not so historical) polygamy of The Church of Latter Day Saints. How different are these approaches, really, and how does the ghost of Mormon plural marriage hang over modern ideas of ethical non-monogamy? Find out as Dan Beecher of the Thank God I’m Atheist podcast joins P*ck and Christy in an exploration of consent, coercion and copious copulation, plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week!

The world is opening back up and the internet’s hottest club has everything- sexy kinksters, a Montero aesthetic and a clunky graphic interface from circa 2007. At FetLife dot com you can explore new and exciting sexualities- meet cougars, bears, bunnies and possibly predators all while navigating a naked MySpace-inspired fever dream. This week web-hostess with the mostess Tanjil Wright joins Nate and Christy in navigating the dated digital landscape of one of the internet’s most perplexing pervy parties plus your calls and questions and what’s turning us on this week!

If you grew up believing that you were inherently sinful and had fallen short of the glory of god or were told that your thoughts were disgustingly perverted you are, among many other things, the perfect SecX fan. Still no one could blame you for wanting to keep some of that in the dark no matter how sex positive you’ve worked to be. Learning to accept our shadow self is at the heart of Jungian psychology, but what can that seemingly mystical science of the last century offer us today? Andy Lane returns to the show to teach Christy about the mysteries of sex and shadow, plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week! - Find what’s turning us on and more shownotes at https://www.vcatx.com/media/shadow

Contrary to message boards and drunk uncles everywhere trans identities have always been baked into our DNA and present in our society. Revisionist histories and burned books have often failed to highlight these stories which is why it is such a privilege to have the opportunity to host the ACA’s own Stephanie Helms. Join Nate and Arden as we explore the personal and the passionate in Stephanie’s life as a preacher's kid, a sailor and an athlete while navigating a world of bigotry and confusion. Her story plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week!

If there’s a more pure pleasure then loving, touching and squeezing research scientists and ancient mystics have yet to find it. Such a foundational, basic human desire surely needs no introduction, and yet for something so truly important we lack even the most basic training or professional expertise. Maybe that’s why paid cuddle parties and professional cuddlists are popping up everywhere- but what can we really learn about our most primitive language? Sundeep Arole joins Christy and Nate to discuss the life and times of a professional cuddle artist, plus your calls and what’s turning us on this week!

Brains are weird, even and especially the good ones. And while we learn more about them every day, perhaps the greatest insight of the last generation is the idea that there aren’t any bad ones, just different types of weird and good, typical and queer. Whether your brain is perfectly conventional or remarkably Abby Normal join us as Miss O Kissed takes us on a journey about neuroqueering and divergence from the pathology model- all that plus your calls and of course what’s turning us on this week!

I mean, I get it. If there wasn’t something kind of magical about looking deeply into the eyes of someone you love or hearing them shout “oh GOD” at just the right moment, none of us would bother talking about love and sex and god for an hour and a half every week. For literally thousands of years people have insisted that there’s something not just profound, not just spiritual or even transcendent but actually divine about the love we make and share. Psychotherapist and writer Melissa Hargrave returns to the show to teach Christy about the history of these mystical practices and to join a skeptical conversation about the wonder and power of love, all that plus what’s turning us on this week and your calls!

“Put your feet up and slide down the table” types and “turn your head and cough” people clearly have different medical needs. And since no matter how you experience or present your gender the basic biological hardware generally comes in two fashions, it stands to reason that a two check box system would have our medical forms covered. How well those boxes capture the beauty of human beings and the latest buzz in non-binary healthcare brings writer and researcher Dianna Anderson back to the show to take your calls and talk about what’s turning us on this week.

If there’s anything the internet is good for it’s nuanced political discussions about which lives matter and responsibly teaching your children about sexuality. But since PewdiePie can’t do all the heavy lifting and we have no idea how to use TikTok we thought we’d go in a slightly less men’s rights direction for ways to talk to kids about birds, bees, bears, otters, twinks and the nature of sex. This week Christy Powell is joined by Laura Magee and Helen Greene for a conversation about parenting beyond belief and talking to your kids about (secular) sexuality, plus what’s turning us on this week and your calls!

Like VHS and the internet before it, Only Fans was pioneered by the hard working lunch-pail no-collar mentality of dedicated performers and artisans. Considering our politicians and culture struggle to understand the goods and services this under-studied industry sector entails, SecX decided to go a little deeper with one of our favorite sinners. P*ck and Christy celebrate adult studio owner and performer Sinn Sage’s return to the show to talk to fans and skeptics alike about the ins and outs of porn production, plus your calls!

It’s no small feat to stare down thousands of years of human culture and perhaps a lifetime of Sunday School before proudly declaring “There Is No GOD.” Whether you’ve taken that step or not it’s an entirely different thing to look at your marriage and accept “they are not my soulmate” or “no amount of sex is going to fundamentally change me as a human” or perhaps harder still “my relationship ended- and it still mattered.” The trappings of purity culture and a christian worldview don’t always die easy and that’s okay- healing is an aspiration, not a destination. Here to help us on our journey is Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Emily Maynard, joining Christy in taking your calls and deconstructing the myths, assumptions and expectations of a dated worldview. Catch the episode live and be sure to call in for a purity culture deconstruction deep dive on August 19th’s SecX!

This may not shock you but after 3 years of taking calls about sex from the internet, we’ve heard a thing or two. Is this okay? Is this normal? Is this weird, but like in a good way? In all that time our #1 question is usually some form of “I just found out I’m X… how do I tell Y?” Noah Garcia of the NextQuest Podcast is a psychotherapist and transition mentor with more than a little insight on the matter. Catch the episode as he joins Nate and Christy in cleaning out the closet and staying safe in a tangled world of complicated adjectives, public bathrooms and family prayers. All that plus your calls on tonight’s Secular Sexuality!Need more SecX on Coming Out?Unpacking Your Kinks (https://www.vcatx.com/media/unpackingkink)Dating (As) An Atheist Activist (https://www.vcatx.com/media/atheistdating)