Our Better Half

This was a wild show.  In addition to getting lube all over Ashley’s arms and hands, we had three exciting segments.    For our research segment, we discussed Barry McCarthy’s research on sexual satisfaction with older adults and the concept of Good Enough Sex for older adults.  Yes, the article is cisgender and yes, it is heteronormative.  However, we found that many of the concepts McCarthy and colleagues used would be quite useful to all types of sexual beings over 60.    For our tips segment,

We’re not going to lie, this episode started out with Ashley and Jane taking the whole idea of sensuality to a new level, dipping fruit into warm chocolate sauce with sea salt.  That got them thinking about all the ways food can enrich and enliven your sexual life.  They started with the ABC’s of erotic foods but got sidetracked as the chocolate sauce started dripping.  Before they lost consciousness, they started with some of the latest research on sex and aging.   NEW RESEARCH.  Your sex life is

​This episode is dedicated to that old faithful term, the Golden Age, which was often use to refer to seniors.  Jane remembers taking one of those Zumba classes a few years ago that was called Zumba Gold, and noticed after it began that, not only could she do all the dance steps but she was also one of the youngest members of the class.  She also remembered her grandmother going to the Golden Age Club and wondered what it was they talked about while they were knitting and crocheting.   We got

The title of our show begins with dandies, a term used in the late 19th century referring to men wearing women's or effeminate clothing.  Most of Oscar Wilde’s male protagonists were considered dandies and some of them were also gay.  We think the term is similar to the term, metrosexual.  And we connected this to Jane’s latest research on older adults in same-sex relationships countering previous misconceptions about older LGBTQ adults and their sexual satisfaction.  Not only is there very little

We spoke about a most spectacular day for all who believe in freedom, January 21, 2017.  Ashley and Jane were both in Washington, DC.  The women’s march occurred literally all over the world and has been deemed the largest crowd of any march in the history of the U.S.  Latest estimates indicate there were over 600 sister marches involving almost 5 million marchers on every continent in every part of the world.  Photos of some of these historic moments of resistance can be found here.   One of our

In honor of the Women's March and doomsday (AKA the Inauguration), Jane and Ashley get into cats, pussyhats, and the ACA. Here are this episode's sources, as well as some helpful links: Baun, MM., Bergstrom, N., Langston, NF., Thoma, L. Physiological effect of human/companion animal bonding Nurs Res. 1984 May-Jun;33(3):126-9. Animal companions and one-year survival of patients after discharge from a coronary care unit. Public Health Rep. 1980 Jul-Aug; 95(4): 307–312. Friedmann, E., Katcher, A.H.,

Jane and Ashley get into hormones, orgasms, and and obscenity laws in this super sciencey episode of Our Better Half!

If you’d like to read more about the issues that Jane and Ashley talked about on this podcast, here’s some great links for you: Yana Tallon-Hicks is a terrific sexuality educator and you can learn more about her and see her amazing TED Talk at http://yanatallonhicks.com/ Al Vernaccio’s book is called For Goodness Sake and you can find it here https://alvernacchio.com/for-goodness-sex/ Peggy Orenstein’s book is called Girls and Sex: Navigating the New Landscape and you can find it