Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan

We range from Moby's birthday party, the perks of minor-league fame, the upside of living in LA, being up to my neck in salmon mucus, the secret to Playboy centerfolds, and requests for sperm donation. Just your average conversation, in other words. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

If there's anything sweeter than finding a new friend, it's becoming friends with two guys who go way back. Joe and Duncan are old pals, and I'm honored to have joined the crew. Duncan got me started on this podcasting thing (and coined my moniker: The Shame Exorcist), and Joe's generosity helped get it off the ground. I love these guys. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

As a 17 year-old, Bruce was sent to prison, convicted of murdering his mother. But he was innocent; something the state of California finally acknowledged over 26 years later. What more can I say? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

To call this conversation with Sex Nerd Sandra "wide-ranging" would be like calling Nepal "hilly." We talk about being hit by lightning, how to use lube on your laptop, the truth about female ejaculation, women who name their sex toys, and whether romantic love is a human universal. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Jason G. Goldman is a cognitive scientist and science writer based in Los Angeles. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, where he conducted research at the intersection of developmental psychology and animal cognition. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Dr. Stanton Peele is a prominent, outspoken critic of the disease model of addiction and the author of over a dozen books (most recently, Recover!: Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The PERFECT Program). Join us for a very personal conversation about addiction, the treatment industrial complex, and the dubious joys of writing for a living. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Join me in conversation with one of the most interesting guys I know. Writer, musician, director, Chris Jaymes opens up and shares amazing stories from his life, ranging from being strapped to a gurney in Boston, to meeting his mother's new boyfriend (surprise!), to digging up the bodies of tsunami victims in Thailand. This guy is LIVING. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Betty Dodson is a well-known pioneer in women's sexual liberation, having sold more than 1 million copies of her first book, Sex for One. Much of her fame has come from her work not only advocating masturbation, but conducting workshops for more than 30 years in which groups of about 10 or more women (and at least once a group of men) would talk, explore their own bodies, and masturbate together. She is a founder of the pro-sex feminist movement, having left behind the more traditional feminist movement because she considered it banal, antisexual and over-politicized. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

Thad is the author of "A Renegade History of the United States," and teaches at Occidental College. He's also a very smart guy, full of surprises, with whom I don't always agree—but with whom I always enjoy debating! If you don't find yourself shaking your head in amazement at some of the things Thad says in this one, you get your money back. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe

In which I introduce the series, talk about why I’m telling these stories, and lay out the ground rules I’ve set for myself. Then, I get into the first story, which covers my last two years of high school in Fairfield, CT and Cazenovia, NY. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chrisryan.substack.com/subscribe