The psychology of masturbation
All In The Mind
ABC Australia
4.5 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we're talking about something intimate… and sometimes taboo: masturbation.
From self-love, to disordered behaviour and back again, we explore how our perceptions of masturbation have changed over the course of history and why it's still linked to shame and confusion for some.
Also, why do humans (and other animals) masturbate in the first place?
Just a heads up, if the topic didn't give it away, this episode may not be suitable for little ones.
You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode first aired in September 2024.
Guests:
Esme Louise JamesPhD candidate, University of MelbourneContent creator and author of Kinky History
Dr Vijayasarathi RamanathanClinical sexologistSenior Lecturer of Sexual Health (Sexology) at Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney
Dr Ann JonesHost, What the Duck?!
Dr Matilda BrindleEvolutionary biologistUniversity of Oxford
Credits:
- Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar
- Senior producer: James Bullen
- Producer: Rose Kerr
- Sound engineer: Beth Stewart
More information:
Sex is Weird | What the Duck?!
To find the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music, and more. |
| 0:07.6 | This episode is one from our archives. |
| 0:10.7 | Just a heads up, today's episode deals with a lot of sexual content. |
| 0:15.5 | Specifically, we're talking about masturbation. |
| 0:18.2 | So if you have little ones listening in, proceed with caution. |
| 0:25.7 | You know, corn flakes, the breakfast cereal, plain, crunchy. You wouldn't call it delicious |
| 0:32.7 | exactly, or something you're likely to crave, but you know, they're perfectly nice and unremarkable. |
| 0:41.0 | All of these qualities, they are very much the point of cornflakes. They're by design. |
| 0:46.7 | And you'll understand why, once you learn about the bizarre beliefs of one of its co-creators. |
| 0:54.5 | It is such an incredible story and one that is such a good icebreaker at a party. |
| 1:00.7 | Now, Kellogg was a seventh-day Adventist. |
| 1:04.0 | Kellogg being Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. |
| 1:06.8 | He and his brother founded the Kellogg's Breakfast Company. |
| 1:09.4 | He had this idea of bodily pleasure being connected to sin. |
| 1:14.3 | And so one of his theories was that sugary, tasty food increased one's libido and made one quite horny and in need of sexy hand. |
| 1:26.9 | Just so we're clear, sexy hand as in masturbation. |
| 1:30.7 | She means masturbation. |
| 1:33.0 | Foods that were bland on the other hand. |
| 1:35.2 | Unintentional pun. |
| 1:36.3 | Could quench your need for sexual reprieve. |
| 1:40.7 | And was this based on any evidence at all? |
| 1:43.0 | Absolutely not. |
... |
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