In 1996, Scream taught American teenagers the first rule to surviving a horror movie. Never, ever have sex. Classic slasher movies have their roots in an urban legend we all heard growing up: a guy and a girl are parked on a deserted lover’s lane making out while a hook-handed killer is on the loose. The 2000s gave us urban legends about dangerous teen sex g ... Show More
Jan 26
The Art of (Psychological) War with Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz is the author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, which traces the way disinformation, propaganda, and violent threats have evolved from military weapons deployed against foreign adversaries into tools of domestic culture war. For t ... Show More
1h 19m
Mar 2023
Girlfailures, Sex Scenes, and Puriteens!
<div>In this episode, Mina explores some of the discussions that came up in February and March: aestheticizing failure as a woman, HBO's The Idol, sex scenes in tv shows, and how censorship and AI are affecting society's relationship to sex and companionship.<br>
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Keep up wit ... Show More
56m 45s
Oct 2023
90s Lolitas Volume 3: Wild Things, Cruel Intentions and Britney Spears (Erotic 90’s, Part 19)
If Adrian Lyne’s Lolita became a case study of what Hollywood and America didn’t want to acknowledge about its sexualization of young girls, as the 90s came to a close the culture was full of “acceptable” depictions of teens in heat. Two hit films from 1998 and 1999, Wild Things ... Show More
1h 15m
Sep 2019
How to teach teenagers to think critically about porn | Emily F. Rothman
"The free, online, mainstream pornography that teenagers are most likely to see is a completely terrible form of sex education," says public health researcher Emily F. Rothman. She shares how her mission to end dating and sexual violence led her to create a pornography literacy p ... Show More
15m 13s
Aug 2023
online aesthetics, subcultures, and 'girl' internet (feat. evan collins)
<div>This is an extended version of the aesthetics episode that came out on Monday. Mina addresses your babygirlification concerns, shares audience experiences navigating online aesthetics, and includes insightful commentary from Evan Collins, co-founder of CARI (the Consumer Aes ... Show More
1h 14m