In the lead-up to the publication of Touched Out nearly two years ago, the part of book promotion that made me the most anxious was talking. Talking to hosts I had never met on podcasts, to my literary idols at events, to readers in bookstores. Why did writers have to do so much talking, when what we were really good at was writing?
Sure, I had once loved talking about big ideas and important questions in rooms full of people, but as I planned my book tour, the influence of the pandemic, early motherhood and marriage on my public life felt heavy. I had stopped teaching in person as colleges shut down in-person instruction and my friendships had been slowly eroded by my commitments to family. I was beginning to understand that heterosexual life was organized to make women more isolated, private, and quiet.
And as terrified as I was of going so… public, I also craved connection. So I reached out to writers I admired and asked them to talk with me in rooms and bookshops, real and virtual.
One of the writers I reached out to was
, who I found on this very platform, and who miraculously said yes when I asked her to chat with me at Green Apple Books in San Francisco for my launch. I had felt instantly connected to Tracy’s essays when I first found them online— to the questions she asked, to the thoughtful approach she takes to everything she studies. We were always thinking similarly about similar things, but I also learned something every time I read her work. She had published a gorgeously written and ruthlessly smart memoir, had written for Jezebel, and, what was this, she lived so close me!We had a lively conversation in San Francisco about 2000s hookup culture and motherhood. She even helped me fix my makeup in the green room. Afterward, we stayed in touch and began discussing the idea of a podcast about sex, culture, feminism, all the stuff on our minds. Increasingly we saw, too, that straight people were not doing so well (!), and we kept finding ourselves talking about just how many of today’s cultural and political wars are waged in the realms of gender, sexuality, the family, dating, and marriage. We had so much to discuss.
Which is why I’m so excited that, after many months of scheming and planning, today I get to announce that we’re launching Dire Straights, a feminist podcast critiquing heterosexual love, sex, politics, and culture. Our show is a skewering of straight existence—but it’s also an exercise in imagining new possibilities.
We’ll cover urgent and timely subjects like:
Couples therapy
Dating apps
Sex strikes
Monogamy
Age-gap romances
Cries of “but what about men?”
The orgasm gap
Antifeminist “feminism”
Sex positivity™
The manosphere
Decentering men
Pro-natalism
“Dark feminine” influencers
Together, we’ll wade into questions about sex and dating alongside those about marriage, divorce, and the relentlessly unequal realm of hetero parenting and the nuclear family. We’ll also consider celebrities and politicians as case studies. Tech bros, tradwives, and TERFs will also be up for examination.
Along the way, we’ll turn to beloved feminist scholarship, call on radical contemporary thinkers, and share our own personal stories, as we try to sketch out more hopeful visions of love, sex, relationships, and romance. This isn’t just a podcast for straight people. It’s for anyone who understands that none of us are OK, and who wants better for us all.
Give a listen to the pod trailer above—and then stay tuned for our first episode, dropping tomorrow.
If you subscribe to either of our newsletters—TCF Emails or Mad Woman—you’ll be automatically added to the Dire Straights list for free. (You can unsubscribe anytime with one click, but we really hope you’ll stay. It’s gonna be big.)
Tomorrow morning, you’ll get an email sent from
with our first free episode—if you don’t, make sure to check your Promotions and Spam folders.Most important, WE REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
Tracy and I have already spent countless hours researching, writing, recording, editing, and producing some incredible episodes for you. We’re not messing around. Collectively, we have over thirty years of experience as journalists, essayists, critics, authors, and feminist scholars.
This is a 100% scrappy, aging-millennial feminist operation coming to you at exactly the right time in history. We’re not financially dependent on corporate media or advertisers. If we had normal day jobs, this podcast would probably get us fired from them.
A paid subscription to
is the best way to support us. And if you’re already a paid subscriber to Mad Woman, you get a 20% discount on Dire Straights. (Paid subscribers will find their discount link at the bottom of this email.)Free subscribers get:
One full episode and one paywalled episode every month.
Paid subscribers get:
Two full episodes a month. No paywalls, ever.
Access to the
community via chats and episode comment threads.A growing list of fun extras, including advice and bonus discussions.
Founding subscribers get:
Everything that comes with a basic paid subscription.
To support the hell out of independent feminist media.
Full paid access to both TCF Emails and
at a steep discount—you save $50 for going all in on us.
If you’re interested in supporting us more deeply in the long term, please get in touch at direstraightspod@gmail.com.
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