Normalizing Non-Monogamy - Personal Stories of Polyamory, Swinging, and Beyond

Sarah and George are back after more than two years! The first time they came on was on episode 169  under the pseudonyms Alice and Sam. But, never fear... You don't HAVE to go listen to that episode in order to get a ton out of this powerful conversation. They've been living together for over seven years and their relationship was open from the beginning. Non-monogamy was new to George when Sarah...

Jo and her husband have been together for 18 years and have been exploring swinging for 17 of those years. They initially opened their relationship as a way for Jo to explore her bisexuality and things evolved from there. They're primarily exploring the swinging lifestyle and yet, swinging has always been about way more than just sex for them. We love this conversation for a few reasons... The fir...

This interview with Beth and Mark is such a delight! They met in college on a blind date and have now been married for over 30 years! They decided to open their marriage about five years ago, but it wasn't a fast or easy process. During our conversation they take us inside their process in a really vulnerable way. They share openly about what they wish they had done different and how they worked t...

Meshai and Fin team up together to answer amazing listener questions every fourth Friday of each month!   Today's questions are about advice for someone who's transitioning from only exploring non-monogamy within couple to exploring as a solo person after ending a partnership AND what do we do when our metamours aren't treating our partners the way we think they should be.   If YOU have a question...

Today's interview with Adam is best summarized as an unforgettable, powerful, and transformative adventure. He describes it better than we ever could on the website for his new book "Seek The Risk" and so, we got permission to adapt his description slightly: Adam has spent most of his life pursuing adventure—climbing some of the world’s steepest mountains, snowboarding dangerous backcountry terrai...

Tasha and David have been married for about five years and have been together for about a decade. They've had variations of an open relationship (primarily swinging) from the beginning and have done a lot of work to learn and grow together.   Tasha and David dive into how the 26 year age difference between them has impacted their relationship and how they view love and sex. David came out of a lon...

Mariana is a wonderful 31 year old polyamorous woman in Portugal who is in a mono-poly dynamic with her partner of five years and an additional partner of about a year. Consensual non-monogamy is a relatively new concept in her life but she has been pushing back against societal norms and scripts since she was a teenager.   She shares with us her beautiful and powerful journey of hitting rock-bott...

Jessica and David have been in many different iterations of relationship together for over twenty years... They were friends, they dated, they were friends again, they dated again, they got married, they had a child, they divorced, they became friends again, and now they're nesting co-parents who refer to themselves as "poly intimates" and life partners. This interview is a beautiful and vulnerabl...

Meshai and Fin team up together to answer amazing listener questions every fourth Friday of each month!   Today's questions are about how to determine the difference between a personal boundary and an opportunity for growth AND two questions about group play.   If YOU have a question, we'd love to hear it! Please, ask us anything by clicking here !   You likely know me (Fin) from over 300 episodes...

Rachel's first appearance on the podcast was over 300 episodes, and five years ago. She originally shared her story on episode 8 with her partner and used a pseudonym. A lot has changed since then.   Rachel has been exploring non-monogamy for close to a decade. Initially, she and her partner were in a hierarchical relationship where they explored swinging, dating as a couple, and a bit of polyamor...

This conversation is beyond powerful. We say that often and we always mean it. This is no exception to the rule.   About a year ago Anna and Andy opened up their relationship after being together for over 30 years. They'd talked about it for a long time, and finally did it. They even had a plan and lots of agreements. And then, the first person they met was J! J has been exploring non-monogamy for...

This is such a deep, vulnerable, and beautiful conversation. Orit and her husband discussed opening their relationship fairly early on. However, personal history and trauma made the conversations scary and triggering for Orit.   She shares with us her powerful journey of healing over the last decade and how she and her husband currently explore polyamory together. She speaks elegantly about her pa...

"You have to do the work..." gets thrown around all the time these days in love and relationships. Never before have we heard a more powerful discussion of what "the work" is than this one with Bru and Mark. They talk through the raw and beautiful work they have both done individually, and together, to get to where they are today.   They're both in their mid-thirties and are high school sweetheart...

Rachel Lark is a bisexual, kinky, polyamorous, cis female musician, performer, and writer. And that's all before she's had her morning coffee! Raised by two sex-positive philosophers, Rachel tends to question most things, rather than blindly following the herd. In a similar fashion, this is one of our more philosophical interviews about non-monogamy. We absolutely love it and hope you do as well....

Quick episode announcing the our new Ask Us Anything episodes!   Fin is teaming up with Meshai from Expansive Connection coaching to answer all of your non-monogamy related questions!   Click here to record and submit a question!   Your question will be played on the podcast. Keep your question to 2 minutes or less. Do not use names or identifying information about people. Please be in a quiet pla...

  This is one of those interviews you'll listen to over and over... Chaneé is absolutely full of incredible experience and wisdom. She is a 36 year old, black, pansexual, polyamorous mom, wife, partner, event planner, coach, and educator. She grew up in an evangelical Christian family and ultimately started questioning who she wanted to be in the world around the time she was 19.   Fast forward a...

Lauren and Lars have been together for about 20 years and decided to open their marriage about five years ago. They initially opened slowly at a pace they both felt safe with. They used their weekly date nights to read and study The Ethical Slut and they got super intentional about their relationship and getting connected before they dove in. And then... Dive right in, they did!   Lauren and Lars...

Natalie and her husband have been exploring non-monogamy for over 25 years. They initially opened their marriage as they were redesigning it after it was rocked by an infidelity. For about the first decade they explored swinging and dating together. When her husband got deployed, they decided to give polyamory a try and it opened a whole new world for both of them.   Natalie shares honestly and vu...

We absolutely love this conversation! So much of this episode is about the never ending journey of trying to figure out how to embrace who you truly are and how to love others for who they are.   As Casey was growing up, she often had different interests than many of her friends and people around her. She learned quickly to stuff those desires down and developed a lot of shame around who she was....

Bree is a queer, polyamorous, Chicana in her mid-thirties who is also a mother of two toddlers and has been married about a decade. Oh! And, she also has a boyfriend of almost two years. She's had a non-monogamous approach to relating as long as she can remember, but started being intentional about how she approached it when she met her now-husband in college.   Bree and her husband slowly opened...

  Jeannie's story is an absolutely beautiful one. She had what she felt was an "average" or "normal" sex life until she was in her mid-twenties and then she felt her libido shut down. It became really apparent to her when she moved in with her boyfriend (now husband).   This set her off on a journey of trying to reclaim and unlock the sexual person she felt she was. We are so grateful for her vuln...

We are incredibly grateful and delighted to have Chloe and Drew back on the show for a third time. This conversation is so powerful and we know you'll get so much out of it, even without listening to their previous two episodes ( Ep 89 and Ep 156 ).   Chloe and Drew met in high school, got married shortly after graduating, and then had to grow up fast when their daughter passed away. Sadly, the gr...

Nikki and Michael have known each other since they were teenagers, have been together 27 years, and married for 20. They've also both been in the performing arts community for over 30 years. Their initial exposure a few years ago to exploring sexuality and connection outside of their relationship came through incidental and even some accidental experiences they had as part of that community.   We...

  Fernanda grew up in Mexico and moved to the US in 2016. She knew about the concept of non-monogamy before that, but her first real-life exposure came when she met someone at the airport when she landed in New York City and lost her wallet. They became friends and he introduced her to his Burning Man community, many of whom are non-monogamous. She spent a few years exploring variations of non-mon...

Katie and Beau have an incredibly beautiful story and they are some of the most kind and loving people we've come across. This interview is truly a delight!   These two grew up near one another but never met until a mutual friend set them up on sort of a blind date while they happened to both be in Ireland many years later. Let's just say the first date went well and they essentially moved in toge...