This conversation was a real helter-skelter hodgepodge of sex topics, all of which stemmed from one initial thought: men deserve to feel wanted just as much as women do. More specifically, Riley and I addressed a pretty huge imbalance in our sex life, and our relationship as a whole: namely, that he dotes on me nonstop, and is always the one to initiate sex, whereas I pretty much NEVER hit on him or make an active effort to make him feel wanted. We actually did our homework this time, and reference a number of studies that have been done on the topic of biological/cultural differences with sex roles. Studies that force us to ask questions like this: do people have a higher sex drive BECAUSE they masturbate more frequently, or do they masturbate more BECAUSE they have a higher sex drive? Real hard hitting stuff, I know, which translates to this conundrum: how do I overcome the thousands of years of training that tells me NOT to hit on Riley, and how does Riley learn how to overcome his own training and say, “Please make me feel wanted?” And if we can overcome this, does it mean our kids will be more likely to bypass all of this bull-hoonanny. This conversation also includes brief forays into: the field of epigenetics, taboo sex fantasies, and us speaking into mics with pretty significant head colds.

• The University of Michigan study on testosterone, cortisol (stress), and masturbation relative to sex drive (https://bit.ly/2VEiBV7)
• More Pyschology Today links, but they're not so bad when it's research recaps vs. op-ed pieces... Here's a version of the study addressing rape fantasies we mentioned (https://bit.ly/3angE4R).
• The bit on epigenetics in action in mice (https://go.nature.com/2ypbRCE)

Thanks for listening, hushpuppies!

- Wayne Gretzky (Michael Scott) ((Caro Bambino))

Acknowledgments

Thanks as always to our wonderful family and friends who have helped along the way. Specifically, our muse @floriandelomme for his generosity in allowing us the use of his Tulum sunset in our cover art; @anka1027 for her knowledge of all things podcasting; her renaissance husband @gnarliehewson for our highly rad intro music; and, of course, @mollylophotography and @edwardslater, whose empathy and talent are on display in every photo of our wedding (and could be for yours—message them directly or visit their website).