Intimate Interactions

We’ve all probably heard the phrase “new normal” multiple times with respect to COVID-19. It can be daunting, upsetting, and even panic inducing. Adapting to a new normal is something that many chronically ill or disabled folks already understand though. The knowledge is out there in how to care for yourself and how to support yourself and build connected networks of folks who can support one anot...

Jazz Goldman is currently living in Mexico during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. They are saving rent money, getting more sun to help with mental health, and staying further away from folks than they could do in New York. So it’s having physical, mental, and financial health benefits. Of course, depression is still hard to kick for most of us during this pandemic; and it’s always hard to be a refu...

Kathy from the podcast Friends in Your Ears talks about why she got into podcasting. We had a fun diversion about small, fuzzy animals.

Accessing healthcare can be a challenge if you don’t have a condition that fits neatly into a box. You can be accused of being drug seeking, especially common if you’re a BIPOC person. Doctors often don’t know what to do with you and bounce you around to other professionals hoping they’ll figure it out instead. It’s helpful to have an advocate and super important to stay organized and be the coord...

Welcome to the two and a half year celebration of Intimate Interactions. We’ve been around almost three years now! Wow! I couldn’t have imagined this. Thank you for all your support on Patreon! We often think about friends and family during the cold and dark winter months, focusing on what we can control over what we can’t. We organize celebrations that hold rituals of significance for us. However...

When I say dominatrix, what’s the first thing you think of? In my experiences, dominatrices are just people. Most of the ones I know are moms, for example. Many have partners. Many have partners. Sure, sometimes those partners are sexually submissive but not always. Most of the ones I know are fun people to hang out with.  Some are married to cis men and some are queer. We chat about how domi...

Sapphire is a non binary friend who has cancer. They have four children and a husband, and are kind enough to give us their time to chat about their experience in the medical system as well as their experiences beating thyroid cancer and what treatment for that was like as well as their effective treatment so far with triple negative breast cancer. I learned stuff and hope you will as well. Conten...

Today, my guest Intimacy con Amore, discusses what it was like spending years building her professional speaking business only to have it damaged by COVID-19.

What’s it like as a polyamorous parent during COVID? Have you ever had another set of parents with kids about your age and shared parenting responsibilities like having them look after your kids while you were out for a bit? Imagine living with another parent and their kid. Robin doesn’t need to imagine any of that as she literally lives that life. Join us for a conversation on polyamory, parentin...

Billie is back to chat about friendships, having fun, pushing your body, and other concerns with chronic pain and chronic illness when it comes to friendship activities. It’s a good session and not as heavy as some of the others. Speaking of friendships, Billie is kind enough to offer me some criticism and praise near the end around how I used to be fatphobic. Billie is kind enough to offer me the...

Vivica, a sex worker who strips and pole dances to earn money chats with us about Imposter Syndrome. We talk about intensity, anxiety, self-compassion, and covid. These times have been hard on all of us, but sex workers have been hit really hard by covid. Vivica brings a casual and informative presence to the show, and I look forward to recording more with her in future. Enjoy!

Tillie is back to talk queer bodies, reproduction, fertility, endometriosis, having kids, adoption, fears of reproducing disability or mental illness, cannabis use, STIs, and more. As usual, we have a great time in this content packed session.

Usually the acquiring and losing of skills and abilities is compressed towards learning when you’re younger and losing when you’re older. In some ways, chronic illness and loss of ability is like aging in super speed with your body fighting back to retain what it can. While we often think of people as how they lived, not how they died; so too do I see among the loss and death of things in chronic...

Dating can be a fun, connective adventure. Or you could be doing it during a pandemic. Robin Beatch is back today to talk about dating as a polyamorous person and how COVID has impacted her and her polycule. We share strategies on risk profiling and figuring out what you want, who in your life is most vulnerable, and what is a boundary for you. Robin also talks about her longest sexual dry spell....

Tillie and I talk about job loss, home-schooling, latchkey kids, pets, and intensity as coping for chronic pain. Mostly we talk about COVID: our fears, our hopes, and our coping strategies. At least COVID hasn’t slowed down my content generation. Stay safe out there, everyone.

Billie, a lifetime EDS ( Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ) veteran with ten years of actively seeking help in the healthcare system, guides us through some basics of surviving severe sickness and loss of ability be it temporary or permanently. Content warning: this content might be hard for some folks, so please give yourself permission to turn it off or take some space from it for a while. We talk about l...

This session, Robin and I reminisce fondly about an intimate moment from the past. After waiting years for a certain queer experience, Robin finally got the birthday present she wanted. Afterward we talk about fluid exchange hierarchies and polyamory risk profiles. Remember, Robin’s second book Polyglamorous: a Queer mom’s misadventures and lessons in non monogamy is available if you want more con...

We form opinions of people piece by piece. First, Robin was a stripper. She took off her clothes as a house girl, but it was offering lap dances to men in the clubs where she earned most of her money. She needed that money to get through nursing school where she went on to become a psychiatric nurse. She also made money pro domming men. Is any one of those professions more a sale of her body than...

Billie is back with more hard hitting content. Her dark humour and our ability to laugh with each other about our situations and at ourselves is especially impressive in her case since she’s a lifetime EDS ( Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ) veteran, braving hospitals actively for ten years. With accessory conditions like POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), Billie talks about her chronic illn...

Yana Skorstengaard, a graduate student with ADHD, chats about the pros and cons of having ADHD and the strategies folks can use to offset the negatives and maximize the positives.

Gloria’s back to finish talking about anti-blackness and racism like the way the police raise guns towards children more often when they’re Black in the US. Gloria and I talk about hard shit today. As a content warning - though let’s be honest, my introductions have turned into giant content warnings - near the end, we talk about Gloria’s breast cancer diagnosis - don’t worry, she’s in remission -...

This session, we talk about Orcas in the Pacific Northwest. Billie tells us anecdotes about the largest dolphin and we talk about different kinds. It’s a much needed and appreciated break for me from all the super heavy content I’ve been recording with Billie that’ll be coming out over the coming few months. Expect more sessions about chronic illness, disability, chronic pain, and ableism. Through...

How is ADHD a positive? Provided you have strategies and can compensate for thinking differently than others expect, ADHD can actually be quite a positive. Today I talk with Yana Skorstengaard, a graduate student with ADHD, about how she and I have worked with our brains to become academically accomplished. For me, that was achieving two full time science semesters on the Dean’s List (more than an...

From Gloria’s history in Portland in the 70s to Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver, we talk about anti-Blackness and how it has shaped the world we live in. Gloria once joined a cult, and she opens up about this experience today. Despite everything different about the cult, spoilers: it was also racist and prohibited miscegenation or interracial relationships. I really appreciate my friendship with Gloria...

Billie, an EDS ( Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome ) veteran of ten years with other conditions like POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) talks about her chronic illnesses and the challenges she’s had having her pain or condition taken seriously. Content warning: this might get graphic. Billie brings a refreshing and positive perspective around not diminishing your experience or comparing yoursel...