Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Go to https://zen.ai/twobiguys0 and fill out the contact information so Zencastr can help you bring your business story to life.

It's the Two Bi Guys Season Four Finale and it's jam-packed with bi science, bi history, bi culture, bi politics, and of course bi puns! We are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Julia Shaw, psycholoical scientist at University College London, founder of the Bisexual Research Group, and author of multiple best-selling books -- including her new book "Bi: The Hidden Culture, History, and Science of Bisexuality", coming out June 28 in the US!

We chatted about Dr. Shaw's bi identity and how a lack of research about bisexuality led to her exploring on her own and coming out, why bisexual people frequently "want more" (and deserve more!), the privilege of being in a place and position where coming out is safe (and the responsibility that comes with it), why psychological research has often marginalized fluid sexuality and why the field of "positive psychology" offers new promise, how traditional evolutionary theory comes up short in its explanation of queerness and why multi-spectrum attraction is not only natural but likely evolutionarily advantageous, the deep and often-invisible cultural bias toward heterosexuality that most of us grew up with, how positive Bi+ & queer representation in media can contribute to meaningful, real-world political change, Dr. Shaw's six stages of "bidentity" development (spoiler: it begins with loneliness but ends with peace!), and the importance of Bi+ spaces and BI PRIDE!

Thank you all for listening to another season of Two Bi Guys! Happy Pride and we'll be back soon!

Dr. Shaw's website: https://www.drjuliashaw.com/

Order Dr. Shaw's book! (and find Bi+ events w/ Dr. Shaw): https://linktr.ee/drjuliashaw

The Bisexual Research Group: https://www.bisexualresearch.com/

Follow Dr. Shaw on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drjuliashaw

Follow Dr. Shaw on IG: https://www.instagram.com/drjuliashaw

Follow the Bisexual Research Group on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bisexualscience

Follow the Bisexual Research Group on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bisexualresearch/

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Made on Zencastr #MadeOnZencastr

You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Go to https://zen.ai/twobiguys0 and fill out the contact information so Zencastr can help you bring your business story to life.

This week Rob sat down with Lydia Green, a bisexual Jewish organizer and Democratic party activist currently running for District Leader of NYC Assembly District 52 in Brooklyn. We chatted about her bisexual journey; the intersectin of her sexuality with her gender, Judaism, and disability; how her identity affected her interest in politics, and specifically how her bisexuality informs her campaign for District Leader and her goals if elected; how local government bureaucracy ends up benefitting incumbents, maintaining the status quo, and keeping out fresh voices and progressive ideas; why it's important to elect more queer representatives across the country; how to hold the Democratic party accountable; and much more!

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Made on Zencastr #MadeOnZencastr

You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

This week Rob chatted with a fellow Bi+ podcaster all the way from Melbourne, Ruby Susan Mountford, and we covered... um, everything?Literally. Take the list of topics from all our other episode descriptions and re-read those, because Ruby -- co-host of the TripleBiPass podcast -- touched on all of that.But seriously, we focused on how being autistic and non-binary intersects with Ruby's bisexuality (often in joyous ways), the coming-out and community-building process among those identities, the necessity of labels while injustice exists, what it's like to host a bisexual podcast that's actually a LIVE radio show (and how doing it gave Ruby confidence in their Bi+ identity), radical progressive Bi+ politics and Shiri Eisner's influence (yes, again), Ruby's disability activism and how it relates to their Bi+ activism, addressing negative Bi+ health outcomes by (perhaps counterintuitively) talking more about bipohbia, creating maintaining queer community spaces without organizer burnout, and, as usual, MUCH MORE.

Interested in sponsoring this show or podcast ads for your business? Go to https://zen.ai/twobiguys0 and fill out the contact information so Zencastr can help you bring your business story to life.

Alex is back to co-host! In this episode he and Rob have a free-flowing discussion touching on their recent dating and sex lives, how their bi identities continue evolving and expanding, other parts of sexuality that are just as important as gender preference or identity (sometimes more important!), demisexuality and how it can relate to trauma and boundaries (trigger warning: sexual assault), and the wonderful world of alt-Twitter. We also got political and discussed Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law -- as well as other anti-queer and especially anti-trans legislation being passed all over the country -- the stupidity and harm of Lauren Boebert and other fundamentalist politicians targeting queer kids and teachers, the continued damage being done by She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named with her unwarranted anti-trans rhetoric, and how to fight back against all this with radical acceptance and authenticity. Plus a bit about bisexuality in media, touching on the 2019 movie "Straight Up".

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Made on Zencastr #MadeOnZencastr

You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

Follow Mark Wilkinson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkJoseph_82

Follow Mark Wilkinson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markjoseph82/

Mark's "Bisexual Oysters" paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1750481318817624

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

We're back with part 2 of our interview with Mark Wilkinson, a PhD candidate at Lancaster University studying media representation of the LGBT+ community, and we pick right up where we left off, analyzing the use of the word "bisexual" in the British press during the 80s, 90s, and through 2017. Mark discusses how the term became much more widely used during the AIDS/HIV crisis and the implications of that association, as well as how it shifted to becoming more of an identity in the 2000s as opposed to a word describing behavior or sexual activity.

We also chatted about changes happening just in the last few years, like the rise of the term "pansexual" and a push for more "queer" spaces. Then we talked about challenging basic assumptions about sexuality, like the fact that gender is the basis for most labels, as opposed to, for example, what sexual acts turn you on or your preferred relationship structure. Finally we touched on queer politics and the power of linguistics to both divide and unite.

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Made on Zencastr #MadeOnZencastr

Follow Mark Wilkinson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkJoseph_82

Follow Mark Wilkinson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markjoseph82/

Mark's "Bisexual Oysters" paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1750481318817624

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

This episode is also sponsored by Vinovest. Discover wine investing with Vinovest -- get 2 months of fee-free wine investing with this offer link: zen.ai/twobiguys

Though the bisexual/fluid community has always existed, the word "bisexual" has evolved significantly in popular usage over the last 60 years. Mark Wilkinson, a PhD candidate at Lancaster University, has been studying media representation of the LGBT+ community and the discursive construction of identity & community, using linguistics to understand how queer people identify themselves over the years -- and how others identify our community in the press.

In part one of this two part interview, we discussed Mark's paper, "Bisexual Oysters", which analyzes how the word "bisexual" was used in The Times (of London) over the past six decades. In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, it was not used nearly as much as today, and it often did not describe sexuality but rather other aspects of gender or presentation, as well as androgyny, "co-ed" spaces, or "unisex" objects. Mark also discusses the prevalence of fictional characters as opposed to real people being described as "bisexual", contributing to bi erasure and invisibility. We also chatted about when and why these semantics are important -- especially to unite in solidarity for political purposes -- and when and why it's important to remember that "bisexuality" is not a universal identity across time and space, but rather a discursive construction that emerged at a particular time, location, and moment in our culture.

Stay tuned for part two which continues tracking the use of the word "bisexual" in the 1980s through 2017, how the word grew in usage during the HIV/AIDS epidemic (with unfortunate consequences), and some history of the term "LGBT" and how the B has historically fit in (or not).

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Follow Benjamin Perry on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FaithfullyBP

Some queer theological resources recommended by Benjamin Perry:

1. Radical Love by Patrick Cheng

2. Indecent Theology by Marcella Althaus-Reid

3. The Black Trans Prayer Book ed. by Dane Figueroa Edidi & J Mase III

4. Bad Theology Kills by Kevin Garcia

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

This episode is also sponsored by Vinovest. Discover wine investing with Vinovest -- get 2 months of fee-free wine investing with this offer link: zen.ai/twobiguys

It's about time for modern religion to not just accept queerness but to celebrate it -- and that's exactly what Benjamin Perry, a Bi+ Minister as Middle Church in New York City, is doing. In this episode we chatted about Benjamin's journey toward a bisexual identity, opening up to his wife and the experience of being married and bi, how he found his calling in theology and began to blend it with his burgeoning queerness, coming out in a religious community (a surprisingly positive experience for him), and the inclusive mission of Middle Church and how it reflects God's queerness. We also discussed the possibility that Jesus and his disciples were bisexual/fluid/queer, what the backlash to this "controversial" idea tells us about religious fundamentalism, and why queerness should not just be "acceptable" among the faithful but why it's actually vital to understanding God's love, community, and compassion.

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

Follow Dr. Herukhuti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drherukhuti

Follow Dr. Herukhuti on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_herukhuti/

Buy "Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men": https://www.amazon.com/Recognize-Editors-Robyn-Sharif-Williams/dp/0965388174

Bodeme in Harlem: An African Diasporic Autoethnography: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233134389_Bodeme_in_Harlem_An_African_Diasporic_Autoethnography

Center for Culture, Sexuality and Spirituality: https://sacredsexualities.org/

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

This week I had the privilege of speaking with another bi-con, H. Sharif Williams, also known as Dr. Herukhuti -- he is an artist, sexologist, social entrepreneur, educator, and activist whose work operates at the intersection of race, culture, sexuality and spirituality. (FYI: there was an audio issue when he begins speaking, but we fixed it after a couple minutes!)

We chatted about the book he edited with Robyn Ochs, "Recognize: The Voices of Bisexual Men"; his "bodeme" identity and how & when he chooses to use labels like "bisexual"; intersectionality and marginalization within minority communities; how love is commodified under capitalism and how he recognized himself as polyamorous as a result; the holiness of sex and what it means to be a "sacred whore"; American cheese as a metaphor for being racialized as "white" in America; Dr. Herukhuti's artwork and mission behind it; his documentary "No Homo No Hetero"; and much more.

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

We are also sponsored by Manscaped! Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code TWOBIGUYS at MANSCAPED.com!

Follow Court Vox on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtvox/?hl=en

The Body Vox: https://thebodyvox.com/

Squirm: (Objects for Sensory Experiences) www.EverybodySquirm.com

Two Bi Guys is produced and edited by Rob Cohen

Created by Rob Cohen and Alex Boyd

Logo art by Kaitlin Weinman

Music by Ross Mintzer

We are supported by The Gotham

We've talked a lot about fluidity among straight-identified people in the past -- this season, we're interviewing multiple gay-identified men who experience sexual fluidity or who are breaking down the gender binary within the gay community. This week, we chatted with Court Vox, a somatic wellness coach and surrogate intimacy partner, who identifies as queer in addition to gay. We discussed the fluidity that has long-existed in parts of the gay community, why queer people are often most attracted to other queer people, what it's like to be a "surrogate partner" and work with clients on practicing intimacy, how to explore pleasure in your body in nuanced ways and without the pressure to "perform", how accepting yourself and your desires allows you to show up for your partner(s), and how to break free from the narratives that we're taught are acceptable and reclaim your own authentic narrative. And remember to always ask for consent before peeing in someone's Cheerios!

Two Bi Guys is now sponsored by Zencastr! You can get 30% off Zencastr for 3 months with promo code: twobiguys -- or just click this link: https://zencastr.com/pricing?coupon=twobiguys&fpr=ex42o. Start recording your own podcast or meetings today!

We are also sponsored by Manscaped! Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code TWOBIGUYS at MANSCAPED.com!

Follow our guest Anna (@BiandPrejudice) on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biandprejudice/

Buy Anna's book, "Bi & Prejudice": https://www.debutbooks.com.au/bookshop/p/bi-prejudice-by-anna-kochetkova

Learn more about Anna's work: https://goodsocialonly.com/

Season 4 has arrived! We're kicking things off with Anna Kochetkova, a Russian-born Australian author, poetess, and Bi+ activist based in Sydney. Anna's book, "Bi & Prejudice", a memoir about her bisexual journey, was recently published by Debut Books, and she also runs the "Bi & Prejudice" Instagram space.

Anna's story is both specific and universal -- her multiple identities affected her experience in a unique way, but her Bi+ journey hits a lot of common themes that many of us have experienced. We chatted about her book and Instagram space, how growing up in a conservative & pro-authoritarian family affected her identity and allowed her to repress her bisexuality for a long time, how moving to Sydney opened her up to new people and experiences, the ways that all her relationships have "queered" since coming out (not just romantic relationships), her experience with fluid sexuality while identifying as "straight", why she chose to come out to her friends when she did but has not yet come out to her parents (although she has "tested the waters"), why she set an intention to attend more play parties and meet queer & poly people in a sex-positive space, how her queerness affects her poetry -- and vice versa -- and much more!