Longform

Sex

The Best of "What It's Like"

A few of our favorites from Science of Us’s ongoing interview series about unusual conditions and relationships.

  1. What It's Like to Date Your Dad

    Consensual incest between fathers and their daughters remains the least reported and perhaps the most taboo sort of relationship. Here’s the story of one girl, now 18, who plans to marry her father.

  2. What It’s Like to Be a 58-Year-Old Virgin

    Social and cultural norms attach a lot of stigma to a first sexual experience, meaning that honest discussions about being a virgin rarely happen. Here, a 58-year-old man describes living as a virgin for almost 60 years.

  3. What It's Like to Slowly Lose Your Eyesight

    Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of eye diseases that cause retinal degeneration. The condition usually first manifests as a loss of night vision, followed by diminished periphery eyesight and, eventually, blindness. It’s slow-moving, so an early diagnosis can mean years of uncertainty.

  4. What It’s Like to Have a Micropenis

    Heterosexual men who have penises less than three inches long share common strands of despair: a scarring first sexual encounter; paralyzing fears of intimacy; confusing ideas of normality gained from porn; resentment toward women; and desperate attempts to enlarge using painful pumps, expensive pills, or alternative medicine (none of which work).

  5. What It's Like to Date a Horse

    Zoophiles—those attracted to animals—can form deep, loving, and very nurturing relationships with their animal partners.

Alexa Tsoulis-Reay New York Nov 2014 – Jan 2015 1h25min Permalink

Alex Blumberg

Podcast

Longform Podcast #124: Alex Blumberg

Play in New Window
Download

Alex Blumberg is a former producer for This American Life and Planet Money. Last year he founded Gimlet Media, a podcast network, and hosts its first show, StartUp.

“When someone starts talking about something difficult, when they get unexpectedly emotional, your normal human reaction is to sort of comfort and steer away. To say, ‘Oh I’m sorry, let’s move on.’ What you need to do, if you want good tape, is to say, ‘Talk more about how you’re feeling right now.’ It feels like a horrible question to ask. It feels like you're going against your every instinct as a decent human being to go toward the pain that this person is experiencing.”

Thanks to TinyLetter, Lynda and Alarm Grid for sponsoring this week's episode.

Jan 2015 Permalink