Our Better Half

Our guest today is Nomi Ellenson, a boudoir photographer in New York City who is helping women reclaim the conversation about beauty in our culture. Nomi spoke about her own work , which is stunning and mentioned Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith , an artist, writer, and healer living with ALS. Join us for a fascinating discussion! We recorded this interview back in the winter of 2019 BC (before COVID). Li...

Great news! Our podcast has been picked up for Season Six! That means we are coming back very soon with a whole slew of great guests, surprises, and new ideas about sex and aging, so stay tuned. We'll be back in September with a great new episode. If you like our show or if you have questions, contact us here. And if you'd like to find some of our earlier shows, visit our website . Please subscrib...

Summer's really here and that means it's hot! It's also the end of this season of Our Better Half. Today, Rosara and Jane reminisce about some great moments this season.  While our hosts are taking some time off from the show to get rejuvenated, refreshed, and relaxed (as much as anyone can be during a pandemic), we hope you can do the same.  If you like our show or if you have questions, contact...

Happy Pride Month! Our guest today is the wonderful Tim Johnston, Senior Director of National Projects at SAGE, a terrific national organization dedicated to our elders in LGBTQ communities. Tim just published his second book, Welcoming LGBT Residents: A Practical Guide for Senior Living Staff, which is the first comprehensive book on how to create a positive and safer experience for LGBT older ad...

Today we are bringing back Dr. Sabitha Pillai-Friedman, a well-respected clinician, researcher, and professor. She'll be explaining her groundbreaking model on sexual loss. And her hopes for the future. She has so much to offer older adults and we adore her. Please join us!  If you like our show or if you have questions, contact us here at our website . Please subscribe ! We love our listeners and...

Our guest this week, Ignacio Rivera, is an individual truly committed to sexual healing. ​ Ignacio is a Queer, Trans, Two-Spirit, Black, Boricua, Taíno who prefers the gender-neutral pronoun "they." Ignacio's work focuses specifically on queer, trans, kink, and sexual liberation. Along with Aredvi Azad, Ignacio is a co-manager of The Heal Project, which has incredible resources on sex and sexualit...

Our guest today is Dr. Melanie Davis , from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Most recently, she authored Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Older Adults . Join us for a spirited conversation! If you like our show or if you have questions, write to us at this address . You can subscribe to our podcast by sending us your email (or whatever way you subscribe to podcasts). We love our list...

Our guest today is Dr. Joe Kort, a social worker and certified sex therapist who specializes in queer affirmative therapy, Out-of-Control Sexual Behaviors, relationship problems, marital conflict, and sexual identity concerns. Join us for our conversation and if you like his work, you can also find him on his own podcast, Smart Sex Smart Love. If you like our show or if you have questions, write t...

This week's guest is Dr. Joli Hamilton, talking about jealousy, compersion, and polyamory. Give a listen! You can find Joli online here .  If you like our show or if you have questions, contact us here at our website. You can subscribe to our podcast by sending us your email (or whatever way you subscribe to podcasts). We love our listeners and welcome your feedback. Please like us and rate us and...

​On today's show, we welcome back Dr. Phil Rutter. You may remember that he's been on our show before. We couldn't wait to get him back on! On this show, we talk more informally with Phil about some of the trends he's seeing in his practice with older adults. You can reach him on Facebook or his website   or you can email him at Drphilrutter@gmail.com .   If you like our show or if you have questi...

This Valentine's Day, Rosara takes Jane on a sensory mindfulness adventure with chocolate. Rosara and Jane offer tips to make this Valentine's day a lot more fun.  If you like our show or if you have questions, contact us here at our website. You can subscribe to our podcast by sending us your email (or whatever way you subscribe to podcasts). We love our listeners and welcome your feedback.  Plea...

Show Notes: Intersectionality and Sexuality Our guest this week is the award-winning Dalychia Saah, Co-founder and creator of Afrosexology. She is a sexuality writer, educator, and speaker who facilitates space for people (especially people of color) to connect more deeply with their desires for their body, life, relationships, and the world. She is passionate about helping people unlearn oppressi...

Our guest today is Dr. Robert Heasley . In addition to being a psychotherapist in private practice, he is an adjunct professor at Widener University's Center for Human Sexuality Studies and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is the co-director and board president of the Men's Center for Growth and Change in Philadelphia and an internationall...

Intersecting Race and Sexual Diversity Our guest this week is Dr. James Wadley, Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Human Services program at The Lincoln University. He's the founding editor of The Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships and the founder of the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians.   His most recent book, co-authored with Dr. Richard Siegel, The Art of...

Our guest this week is Dr. Sarah Jen, Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. Her research focuses on older adults' -- and especially older women's -- experiences of sex and sexual identities as well as the experiences of bisexual-, and other non-monosexual-identified individuals over the life course and in later life. Her work is inspired and informed by her prio...

This week, we say goodbye to our beloved co-host Dr. Ashley Mader and welcome Dr. Rosara Torrisi to the OBH team.

This week's guest is Elizabeth Wood, author, scholar, strategist. Elizabeth's new book is a beautiful memoir, a tribute to her mother, and an exceptionally vivid and beautiful account of a mother-daughter relationship. It's called Bound: A Daughter, a Domme, and an End-of-Life Story , published by She Writes Press. She's a Professor of Sociology at Nassau Community College and Senior Strategist fo...

We're taking a break until September, until then, you can reach us at ourbetterhalf.net !

As our season comes to an end, listeners, you are in for a treat. Our guest is the invincible Dr. Holly Herman, who's spent 43 years as a physical therapist, an AASECT Certified Sexuality Counselor, and one of four physical therapists in the world certified as a Women's Health Sexuality Fellow by the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH). She has been a pioneer in t...

Today we are talking about ED. Erectile Dysfunction or Erection Defection. We also highlighted new research on older adults' sexual expression and improved well-being.   Smith, L., Yang, L., Veronese, N., Soysal, P., Stubbs, B., and Jackson, S. (2019). Sexual Activity is Associated with Greater Enjoyment of Life in Older Adults , Journal of Sexual Medicine, (7) 1, 11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.esxm.2018.1...

Today we are talking with Dr. Rosara Torrisi, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist who practices on Long Island. She's one of the few AASECT certified sex therapists in that area. She founded the Long Island Institute of Sex Therapy, a clinical practice with a team of clinicians. We talked with her about erectile dysfunction, sex toys, sexual functioning for lesbian survivors of breast cancer, and Ou...

Dr. Betsy Crane, an award-winning educator committed to bringing human sexuality studies to a new level, is our guest on this episode. She talks about pre-patriarchy, gendered sexuality, somatic sexuality, and getting back to the body. Here are some of her publications and a website she refers to on the show. Crane, B., Towne, A. & Crane-Seeber, J. (2013). The four boxes of gendered sexuality: A f...

This week Ashley and Jane interviewed Dr. Robin Goldberg-Glen who they both know from Widener University. During the interview Dr. Goldberg-Glen spoke on how the field of aging has evolved and what is on the horizon for her. She also spoke about the death of Peggy Brick and her contributions in the field of sex and aging. So check out the show. We love our listeners and welcome your feedback.  Ple...

This week, we visited Gazebo Intimates, for a conversation with Donna McNeight, Co-Owner and Licensed Mastectomy Fitter, and Certified Post-Mastectomy Fitter, Linda Lawton-Jacobson. Both work to support clients of all ages and experiences with breast cancer.  You can get in touch with Gazebo by visiting  http://www.the-gazebo.com/  or calling (413) 584-6673.

On today's show, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sabitha Pillai-Friedman, a couples and sex therapist, an Associate Professor at the Center for Human Sexuality Studies at Widener University, and the lead author of two recent journal articles you might like. The first is on becoming a kink-aware sexuality professional and the other is about women and breast cancer survivorship: Pillai-Friedman, S.,...