Repost: Sex & Aging

Dear Sugars

WBUR

Dear, Steve Almond, Society & Culture, Wbur, Cheryl Strayed, Sugar, Boston, Advice

4.5 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode was originally released on May 25th, 2018.

When two women in their sixties start losing interest in sex, their sex-starved partners become increasingly frustrated. Both women blame old age for their waning libidos. But is their diminished sex drive because of age or something else?

The erotic lives of senior citizens are typically made invisible by our culture, which can lead to confusion and misinformation. Dr. Pepper Schwartz, the love and relationship columnist for AARP, joins the Sugars to dispel certain myths about sex and aging: Do libidos change after menopause? How does the aging body affect the way we feel about sex? Should medical interventions be considered for a declining sex drive?

Dr. Schwartz is a professor of sociology at the University of Washington and has written more than 25 books on love and sexuality. She’s also an on-air expert for Lifetime TV’s “Married at First Sight.”

The Sugars Recommend

“Our Souls at Night,” by Kent Haruf

“Scary Old Sex,” by Arlene Heyman

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for WBUR comes from MathWorks,
0:03.2	creator of MATLAB and Simulink Software
0:05.6	for Technical Computing and Model-Based Design.
0:09.0	MathWorks, accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science.
0:13.7	Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:16.2	Now, are all the traitors present?
0:18.7	Let's get started, shall we?
0:20.7	From rags to riches.
0:22.0	I'm so sick of this.
0:23.2	Working like a dog and being treated worse.
0:25.3	Yorkshire to New York.
0:26.9	Poor climbers, you and me.
0:28.6	A life dedicated to revenge.
0:30.5	Let's make this an occasion to remember.
0:33.2	A Woman of Substance on Channel 4.
0:35.4	Stream now.
0:37.3	WBUR Podcasts, Boston. Woman of Substance on Channel 4, stream now.
0:40.5	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:54.3	The universe has good news for the lost, lonely, and heart sick.
0:58.3	The sugars are here, speaking straight into your ears.
0:59.4	I'm Steve Alman.
1:00.7	I'm Cheryl Strayed.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.