The Waves: Been There, Done That
Slate Books
Slate Podcasts
3.8 • 546 Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2022
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science writer and editor Shannon Palus is joined by Popular Science executive editor and author Rachel Feltman to talk about sex, baby. Rachel’s new book, “Been There, Done That” explores the quirky, wild, and often queer side of the history of sex. Shannon and Rachel talk about why animal sex is so relevant to human sex, the “loop-de-loop” of sexual evolution, and they ponder the age old question, “Why are even men?”
In Slate Plus, Rachel talks about why Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) may in some cases not be as terrible as you think.
Recommendations:
Shannon: Spindrift seltzer
Rachel: The horror anthology, Your Body is Not Your Body
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus and Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the waves, a podcast about gender, feminism, and doing it. Each week, you get a pair of feminists to talk about the thing we can knock it off of our minds. And this week, you get a pair of feminists to talk about the thing we can knock it off of our minds. |
| 0:24.1 | And this week, you have me, Shannon Paulus, a senior editor at Slate covering science and health. |
| 0:30.6 | And I'm speaking with Rachel Feldman, who is the executive editor of popular science and the author of the book, Been There, Done That, |
| 0:39.8 | a rousing history of sex. |
| 0:43.7 | If you are feeling down about the world right now, Rachel's book offers an excellent escape. |
| 0:50.8 | It taught me all about why bats go down on each other. |
| 0:55.0 | A funny myth about Cleopatra's alleged masturbation habits? |
| 1:00.8 | Rachel also answers the question, why are even men? |
| 1:05.5 | And she takes us through a thought experiment about how maybe all animal life started out very queer. |
| 1:22.1 | One key thing this conversation gets at is how limited our idea of quote-unquote normal sex is. Flawed, |
| 1:32.0 | not just for cultural reasons, but also scientific ones. I hope you'll stick with us. |
| 1:41.6 | We also have a special announcement about an upcoming Slate Live event. |
| 1:50.0 | If you want to get up to date on everything happening with the Supreme Court right now, come to the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday, June 23rd. |
| 1:59.7 | Our colleagues from Slate will be unpacking all the news, |
| 2:02.8 | and there will be a special slow burn taping. Head to slate.com slash supreme court to get your |
| 2:09.3 | tickets now. So today I'm talking to Rachel Feltman. She is the executive editor of popular science, |
| 2:16.9 | and of course the author of the book, |
| 2:19.7 | Been There, Done That, A Rousing History of Sex. Welcome to the waves, Rachel. Thank you so much for |
| 2:26.6 | having me. So your book features on the cover a pair of human beings having some rather athletic intercourse on the cover. But the history of |
| 2:38.8 | sex that's referenced in the subtitle encompasses both human sex and animal sex. One second in the |
| 2:45.6 | book I'm reading about the myth that Cleopatra used a vibrator full of bees. The next, you're telling me all about |
| 2:52.9 | koala chlamydia. Why did you decide to make this a history of human and animal sex rather |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.