The Protagonist of the Erotic

Sure, top floors have a striking erotic connotation; they're also the perfect vantage point to peer into the lives of others. High above Barcelona, yet grounded in sensuality, Huw Lemmey shares his admiration for Nazario Vera, the underground comic artist renowned for his punchy, sharp, and flamboyant portrayals of queer life. A cultural icon throughout the seventies and eighties, Nazario uses his stories to mock conventional sexual morals, especially through his memorable contributions and covers for El Víbora, a periodical that captured daily life, gritty bars with dusty decor, and the eclectic crowd gathered under the crumpled palm trees of Plaza Real. His detective, Anarcoma, endures as a symbol of sexual liberation to this day. Let's soar above Barcelona without delay to listen to Huw Lemmey's top-floor insights.Written by Huw Lemmey. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Credits to Alban Schelbert for the sound clips. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all have notebooks of our own, whatever form they take. Scribbles, words, whispers, desires, rants and erasures may be entered and so the body bounds and extends. Judith Vrancken dog-ears pages, spinning her encounter with the work of the choreographer Alexandra Bachzetsis, and the piece Notebook is, by no coincidence, an exploration of her own biography. How do we choose to present ourselves? And what constitutes the presence of a person? Sincerely and bluntly overturning lust, sexuality, the interplay of power and surrender, what you imagine seeing on stage and what is actually taking place may joyfully intertwine. Expect denim and performative gestures that sketch an intimate archive of bodies and ideas for imagined futures. Or you could get carried away by Alexandra's back muscles telling a story of their own. Written by Judith Vrancken. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Credits to Alban Schelbert for the sound clips. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you're looking to send a poem to your lover or indulge in a moment of self-pleasure, Vladimir Lucien has recently penned a rhythmic and heartfelt ode to intimacy titled "uses of the erotic", published by the Academy of American Poets. It is inspired by Audre Lorde's influential 1978 essay on the erotic as power, where she asserts that "the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing".  If you wish to restore a sense of vitality and joy, amidst the hustle and bustle of adulthood or big city life, this episode is an invitation to rediscover your innate sensuality. Today, Lucien takes us on a journey to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia—his childhood haven nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the northern Atlantic Ocean. Here, amidst this vibrant setting, he reminisces about spontaneous flirtations, nature explorations, and an embrace of life's impermanence. These memories and chat-ups, sometimes lecherous and playful, continue to nourish Lucien's present life in New York City, infusing it with the transformative power of liminality—the spaces of transition and profound change. Written by Vladimir Lucien. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who thinks it's easy to be an ethical slut? Martin Rombouts shakes the sheets, and gossips pour out, wrinkle upside down, and twinkle. Questioning whether love is possible without the fantasy of ownership, Martin recounts the sexual game of calling himself Ken and his lover Barbie. If dolls are meant to project, distort, and sublimate our fantasies, feelings grow up unleashed and raw. This episode shows how Barbie is not solely a movie but a phenomenon that reflects on childhood memories, beauty standards, and perceptions of love. Follow Martin's exploration of dating life, jumping from light-hearted banter and sexy playfulness to exploring love oddities at their very core.Written by Martin Rombouts. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hair grows through the echo of the past and the movement of the future. The hairdresser is a place of transformation, care, and conflict, where feelings weave like curls and rumours spin on the stool. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ delves into the intimate story associated with type 4c hair, the tightest curl pattern variation in black hair. This story unfolds through a series of vivid memories: a wide tooth comb, lotion, car rides, an open-air veranda, and a line of recalcitrant little girls. The hairdresser's tender touch evokes a ritual characterised by both playful pampering and resistance, all accompanied by shared snacks. This intimacy twists an emotional journey from childhood to adolescence, encompassing experiences with hair relaxers, gloves, a bathroom's sink, wigs, and a motorcycle. Have you heard of the legend of the ghost girl? The voice of Ayọ̀bámi sheds light on how this deeply personal aspect of hair is woven into identity, beauty standards, and the most delicate dreams. Written by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the panic of wardrobe choices to the dissolution in between the anonymous bodies, McKenzie layers sensations of lust and fatigue. Droplets of sweat inside the thigh-high boots and hard beats unzip a universe in which dancing can help with the damage or switch on all sorts of futures. “A rave is just a pocket in time in which there's more time, but the pocket closes and spills us out.” In the end, we want to feel hot. And be desired, held, hugged, and crushed by the crowd. Or someone. Yes. So let the demon speakers come out of you; grab, climb, and fuck the decibels through the sonic fishnets. It's not a hole in the stockings that could stop us, right? Written by McKenzie Wark. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The egg is the most naked thing Nina Folkersma has ever seen. Yet, it is magical and mysterious. By stretching the egg's metaphor close to her body, Nina feeds imaginations about motherhood and fertility. Surrealist paintings and writings are explored to meditate on the beauty and awkwardness of sensuality. Find yourself in a former pharmacy on Madison Avenue in New York to listen to the unreleased play of Leonora Carrington. Do you want to know what happens when an old lady – the ex-madam of a brothel – gains possession of the last surviving human egg? Perhaps you fancy some north of Catalonia sun in Salvador Dalí's gardens until the heat makes you hallucinate an egg in the sky. Hold your breath before you shell the egg; it might be a sex toy in your hands. Or is it the female penis of a seahorse? Carrying many eggs in her pockets, Nina makes you spin into the circle of life and talks about the possibility of new beginnings. Ready? Steady? Egg!Written by Nina Folkersma. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anne Carson is a literary superstar. At sixteen years old, she fell in love with the ancient Greek language and pursued her passion by translating Sappho, Sophocles and Euripides. From the end of the 1980s until today, Anne Carson has published a plethora of works that investigate the twists and turns of love, sexual yearning and despair, affirming the tragic beauty of the monstrous and the fury of a desire that transcends all standards. Her radically modern oeuvre wonderfully disturbs categories as it blends poetry, prose, translation and academic thinking. Have you ever heard about brainsex? Lust is a glistening thread not quite taut in our lives; Canan Marasligil tightropes on tiptoes through the worlds of Anne Carson, intimately confessing about her own affective life and translation work. Between the twists of the tongue, Canan takes us on a journey to be displaced, where translating is the ultimate carnal experience, a necessity to grow wings, a desire to turn into desire.Written by Canan Marasligil. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A space of refuge and comfort where, while wrapped in bedlinens or a soft eiderdown quilt, our dreams and fantasies unfold. Under the clouds of the duvet, in the darkness, intimacies are exchanged between bodies, hands searching, flesh tenderly touched. A centrepiece of domesticity, the psychic landscape of the bed belongs to the private sphere. But, according to James Taylor-Foster, its role in contemporary society is far more expansive. On our phones and laptops, reading, texting, exchanging emails and taking meals propped up on pillows, this is where social lives are forged, corporate empires are built and great novels are written. Between the sheets, James speaks to the sensuous connotations of the bed, a piece of furniture which is far more than just a place of rest.Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Many thanks to Michel Banabila for his music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clandestine. Blue. Sparkling and full of promise. The pristine surface of an empty swimming pool is like a sensual invitation. 'Jump into me,' it seems to beg. 'Plunge your body into my depths.' During a summer of heatwaves, writer and artist Lara Haworth found herself at the poolside surrounded by beach towels and bare flesh. Cooling off from the soaring temperatures, she recalls childhood crushes, Deborah Levy's iconic novel Swimming Home, and the watery tumult depicted in the film A Bigger Splash. Following these rivulets of desire, she traces the history of public lidos and a cultural lineage of swimming, wondering how bodies of water seem to suggest the erotic. In these communal spaces, where exposed skin drips, young lovers meet and daredevils leap, anything seems possible. With the scent of chlorine and sunscreen perfuming the air, Lara lines her feet up at the pool's edge and dives in. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Singer. Dancer. Movie star. Activist. Afrofuturist. Android. Janelle Monáe is one of the most iconic pop stars of her generation. Her music is utterly addictive, full of infectious beats, bass-heavy funk, and that unmistakable voice, delicate and breathy, yet full of raw power. The high-concept songstress composes thematic albums, narrated by alter-ego Cindi Mayweather, a robot who dares to desire human love. Scholar Dan Hassler-Forest is unapologetically obsessed, counting himself as a 'Fandroid', the name given to Monáe devotees. Beginning with her chart-topping single, 'Make Me Feel', Dan lovingly extolls Monáe's life and vision, emphasising her ability to challenge the status quo through an ecstatic celebration of sex. In her sensual, sci-fi world, queer cyborg romance flourishes, pink vagina pants blossom and radical refusal gives way to orgasmic release. Following Audre Lorde's seminal essay, The Erotic as Power and José Esteban Muñoz's visionary text Cruising Utopia, Dan reveals how pleasure can be a force for liberation, a libidinous energy rising up to a four-chord climax.Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fizzling on the tongue, sugary sweet and deliciously cool, there's nothing quite like Coca-Cola on a hot day. Cracking open a bottle, Seb Emina takes a long, deep sip. The iconic carbonated soda has been adding flavour to our imaginations for decades. Tall glasses, dripping moisture, their caramel-coloured contents glistening with bubbles and cubes of ice, adorn billboards. Coke is freedom, love, sex, nostalgia, modernity – in essence, just about anything you want it to be. The poet Frank O'Hara built fantastical worlds out of the common commodity, writing lyrical verses on the joy of sharing a glass with his lover, while the Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector ruminated that it is the drink of “Today… The Now.” For Seb, however, Coke conjures past memories. On a sunny afternoon in Paris, he sets off in search of the beverage. While on the hunt for a retro glass bottle – a rarity amongst the plastic and can varieties – he recollects a teenage crush, holidays to a Greek island and the youthful desire to get a taste of adulthood. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Are you in a serious relationship with your smartphone?' The question headlines long-form news articles warning of the dour effects of incessant usage and screen addiction. Yet, for Nadine Botha, the intimacy we share with our handheld devices may be far more peculiar than we think. After all, it serves us both the overstimulation of the 24-7 office and the delicious jolts of adrenaline from text messages sent by lovers. In such exchanges, the vibrancy of electric connection transcends planetary locations and timezones. Scrolling, searching and seducing one another, constant connectivity permeates every aspect of our daily existence, from the way we find love to navigating unfamiliar city streets. Evoking philosophers, artists and designers, Nadine delivers an intoxicating account of the smartphone as a fetish object; a techno-sexual prosthetic, extending our bodies and selves in unfathomable ways.This episode includes interviews with Chen Yu Wang, Jan Schulz and Ginevra Petrozzi, who also shared a recording of her project Digital Esotericism (2021). Great thanks to Kluster5 for contributing passages of Perceived Reality (2022) – a record exploring the construction of identity. The first half of the visual album – Elevation of Self-Validation – is about a young woman who loses herself to social media. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roasted with a splash of olive oil, a twist of garlic or dash of hot chilli, aubergines are sensuously salivating. The vegetables are immediately recognisable by their iconic phallic or bulbous breast-like shape, coated in a layer of waxy, deep purple skin and tender white flesh, spongy to the touch. Narrating her own culinary heritage and nostalgic memories of plates of steaming curry, baba ghanoush and succulent vegetarian schnitzel, Nat Muller lovingly traces the erotic connotations of the plants. Encompassing the kitchen-sink poetry of Erica Jong, an innuendo-laden exchange of emojis and the invigorating history of aubergine aphrodisiacs, Nat serves up a ravenously raunchy tale of the eggplant or brinjal. From an inaugural romantic dinner gone wrong to her husband's sure-handed slicing, she uncovers aubergines as a love language, one that speaks across continents and generations.Many thanks to Krishna Sutedja for his composition, performed by Gamelan Mudrasvara in Ubud, Bali and to the WNYC Archives for the 1971 interview with poet and novelist Erica Jong. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the beating heart of Berlin, Defne Ayas finds herself surrounded by a cast of endlessly invigorating neighbours. ‘Kiez' is the Berliner word for a city neighbourhood, a relatively small community encompassed by the sprawling city. Originally heralding from Istanbul, but shaped by New York and Shanghai, Defne is more than at home in unfamiliar places. Sipping steaming mugs of ceremonial grade cacao, she sets off in search of warmth and a touch of erotica, encountering filmmakers and theorists, DJs powering peak-of-the-night climaxes, salacious journalists and inspiring artists, who have found a haven in Berlin. There are pilates instructors, kundalini breath coaches and, in the waiting room of the nearby medical practice – run by a pair of twin doctors named Minks – is Vaginal Davis, the internationally revered doyenne and performance artist. Against the backdrop of the pandemic and despair-inducing current events, Defne uncovers a radical sensuality harbouring in enlightening and tender minds.Tremendous gratitude to AA Bronson, for his reading of Love Letter to Berlin, and Ayumi Paul for a clip of her stunning work, Eternal Love, recorded on the abandoned tennis courts in the Woga-Komplex. Part of an ensemble of buildings designed by the architect Erich Mendelssohn, the courts are a former neighbourhood hub, a popular and affordable meeting point that, since the land has been sold to a private investor, are closed to the public. And great thanks to Vaginal Davis for an excerpt of an audio work from her 2021 exhibition, The Wicked Pavilion. The excerpt appears courtesy of the artist and Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there any relationship more proverbial than the one between a writer and their desk? The location of laboured love, where words, dreams and fantasies flow from the tip of a pen or tap of a keyboard. Sitting down at his beloved desk, essayist Emmanuel Iduma contemplates the smooth wooden surface, his altar for creating stories. He remembers past kitchen tables, dusty library corners and even, as a child, working atop a collapsible ironing board. From Charlotte Brontë's mahogany davenport to Chinua Achebe's modest bureau, the desks of inspiring authors and poets are uncovered and, in between sentences, the rituals of writing arise. Waking in the early morning, Emmanuel walks through the streets of Lagos, stares longingly out of the window, daydreams and brews coffee before returning once again to his intimate workspace.Tremendous appreciation to Sara Serpa for the track from her album Intimate Strangers, which draws inspiration from Emmanuel Iduma's book, A Stranger's Pose (2018). Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nestled between wedge heels, cosy slippers and patent brogues on your shoe rack, there are most likely a pair of sneakers – Converse with unravelling laces, scuffed Reebok running trainers or stylish Adidas Gazelles. Discovering a pair of discarded Nikes at the back of her closet – an impulse buy off the high street – Anja Aronowsky Cronberg details how the everyday sportswear became a treasured travel companion, carrying her from Paris to London, eventually bringing her to one of the most intimate moments of her life. From a conversation with a friend – a self-confessed sneaker devotee who covets a pair of Air Jordan 1's – to the documentary

Botanical philosopher Norbert Peeters finds the lives of plants endlessly invigorating. Deep in the undergrowth of his local urban hothouse, surrounded by chirping insects and fern fronds, a gigantic inflorescence is unfurling. Colloquially known as 'the penis flower,' the

Beyond sexuality, beyond sex, beyond gender – for Nicholas Elliott, the films of David Cronenberg are about pure transcendence, in a way that opens up the horizon to imagine a queer future. From the merging of steely chromium and pale, fishnetted thighs in Crash to fantastical dancing typewriters in Naked Lunch, Nicholas charts his love affair with the director, a romance which began during his early teenage years.Many thanks to British Film Institute for audio clips, editing and sound design by Tobias Withers, introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash, soundscapes by The God in Hackney. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

A hearing aid. Perhaps not the most obvious choice for an erotic item. Yet, as Fatoş Üstek finds, deep listening is essential to unlocking the full potential of our carnal selves. After all, the ears are said to be among the most sensitive of the erogenous zones. Turning her high-tech prosthetic off, Fatoş' protagonist – our sensual narrator of this auditory realm – discovers she can hear hallucinations: spectral, sonic apparitions emerging from the noiselessness. Immersed in silence, she contemplates neurology and physics – the fact that the universe, like sound waves, is composed entirely of vibrations. Electrified by this cosmic energy, we begin to sense each other differently, newly attentive to the liveliness of connective matter. Many thanks to Wellcome Collection, London, Mark Watts of alanwatts.org for the archival material of the writer and theologian Alan Watts, and Jonie for her autonomous sensory meridian response recording. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the inaugural episode, curator and writer James Taylor-Foster explores the idea of an island. Thrusting up amidst bodies of water, these liminal spaces glimmer with possibility. Recovering from a long illness that left him bedbound for weeks, he navigates the urban island of Långholmen. Located in Sweden's capital and known to be a historical cruising site, the rugged landscape of Långholmen brims with desire. The first instalment of our series belongs not only to Stockholm but also to another archipelago city – Venice. There, accompanied by the ebb and flow of the crowd, we are reminded of Luchino Visconti's iconic 1971 film, Death in Venice. Between these two islands, rock formations transform into interlocking figures pleasuring each other, the surroundings becoming charged with erotic potential.Featuring excerpts of Thomas Mann's 1912 novella, upon which Visconti's film is based, read aloud by Cat Winter. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having ingested a hearty dose of psychoactive magic mushrooms, Adam Kleinman roams through the streets of a nocturnal New York. The City That Never Sleeps is hauntingly silent during the early months of the pandemic and, gazing out of his taxi cab window, Adam envisions the ghosts of its past zooming by. Summers of love and hurricanes; long gone poets, activists, clubs and storefronts, all now part of its enduring urban mythology. High on New Yorkian folklore, we encounter a fantastical vision of the metropolis known as The Capital of the World or, perhaps more aptly, The City of Dreams.With great thanks to Timothy “Speed” Levitch and Annika Svendsen Finne for their narrative contributions. Extra Extra is also grateful to Concordia University, Fonds 10086 – Department of English fonds, SpokenWeb and Spokane Public Radio's Poetry Moment for the Muriel Rukeyser readings. With additional appreciation to the New York Public Library and Marc Dingman of Neuroscientifically Challenged. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.