The Heart

Latest Episodes:

Beauty Is Pain Feb 03, 2015

Show notes

It’s fun to try to be beautiful when people are giving you positive attention for it. It hurts if you’re not meeting that standard and people treat you like you aren’t even there. You watch the people who are getting a lot of positive attention for being that certain kind of beautiful and you are made to feel invisible.

Or worse, people go out of their way to make you feel bad.

It’s hard to be a woman, yes. It’s a lot harder to be a woman who’s hairier, wider, bigger, taller, square instead of round, straight up and down instead of curvy, big hands, big feet, no vagina and maybe no breasts either. A woman who isn’t quite looking like what some people think a woman should look like. But who is finding her way.

To these women, the world can be downright cruel. More than cruel, violent. Harassment often escalates into assault, and more often than you would like to hear, escalates into full on homicide.

For these women, being womanly in the way we are told we have to is sometimes about more than beauty. It’s about survival. This episode is about the story of one woman’s quest for beauty.

It was a collaboration with badass poet and radio maker, Julia Alsop. After we finished production we invited Zil Goldstein into my walk-in closet magic sound booth to talk through some of the blind spots in the story. Zil is a nurse practitioner, working specifically to help medical providers be more LGBT aware.

If you are interested in learning more about the disproportionate amount of violence that trans women face theNational Coalition Against Violence Project puts out a yearly report.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

And 27 Other Firsts Jan 20, 2015

Show notes

Short and Sweet:
Mid month we bring you something short. Whitney Jones (producer at PITCH) tells us about his first love, and 27 other firsts in chronological order. Originally produced on Cowbird. You will also hear some previews of first kisses, which we’ll be sharing at our Launch Party.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

First Jan 06, 2015

Show notes

When we do something for the first time, we enter into a world with new rules. It’s the creation of a new path, a new possibility. We meet this threshold with no knowledge of what will happen, how we or the world will react.

Once the rules of the game change, once we do something that we’ve never done before, the question of how to navigate the new world is what comes next. What do we do after the first kiss? Will it give way to the first holding of hands, the first public display of affection, the first sex, the first week sleeping in someone else’s bed every night? Or will it be the first, but also — the last?

This is a story featuring Drew Denny, a singer, songwriter, filmmaker and artist. You can check out her first feature film here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Welcome to the Heart Dec 01, 2014

Show notes

A radio show is born. Again. We all go through phases and have an identity crisis or three. Audio Smut started as an hour long broadcast radio show at CKUT in Montreal, and has transformed into a delicately crafted podcast now part of PRX’s Radiotopia network. We cordially welcome you to The Heart.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mouthwash Sep 16, 2014

Show notes

An Interlude.

This is an interview about necking (or lack thereof). A kiss over time: at the beginning, in the middle, at the end. If you don’t like how somebody kisses, can you grow into it? Samara’s Grandma tells us her story.

This episode is part of our kissing series. If you want to hear more, go here: http://audiosmut.tumblr.com/

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last Aug 20, 2014

Show notes

Episode Twelve.

Kaitlin and Kyle. They met at a kissing booth. On their first date they went on a recording adventure (for one of the early Audio Smut documentaries about the Drag Queens). They became obsessed with each other. They ended up making audio recordings of a lot of almost everything that happened between them.

This is the last episode of the season. It is also the last episode of Audio Smut. Don’t cry! We will be starting something new in a few months, better and more beautiful than ever before.

Winner of the Hearsay International Audio Festival GOLD AWARD for best documentary.

Tip the show and its creators. This audio magic wouldn't exist without the generous donations of its fans. Thank you!

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Movies In Your Head Jun 23, 2014

Show notes

Episode Eleven.

Audio Smut presents: a radio play. This episode was a documentary experiment, produced in collaboration with composer Shani Aviram. We set out asking questions about how perception is altered in early romantic relationships. How does your sense of reality fail you when you’re falling in love? After months of research and 17 interviews, we decided to write a single narrative encompassing the experiences and facts we unearthed.

Winner of the Prix Italia Gold Award for New Formats.

Tip the show and its creators. This audio magic wouldn't exist without the generous donations of its fans. Thank you!

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

My Natural Pocket Jun 08, 2014

Show notes

A Quickie.

Behold the almighty power of the V. Vaginas can hold the largest and smallest of objects with barely the slightest uncomfort. So it just makes sense to stash your weed in there. Star reporter, Ruth Eddy tells us how she came to use her natural pocket.

Tip the show and its creators. This audio magic wouldn't exist without the generous donations of its fans. Thank you!

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Coming Of Age May 12, 2014

Show notes

Episode Ten.

This episode is about growing up, becoming an adult, entering a stage of independence: shaving cream, tampons, driving, voting, doing your own dishes, doing your own taxes and sex. This episode will take you on a path of rituals, formal or otherwise.

Tip the show and its creators. This audio magic wouldn't exist without the generous donations of its fans. Thank you!

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Love Letters Apr 02, 2014

Show notes

Episode Nine.

The written word: a way to fuel a romance, a way to capture someone’s attention, a way to break up. We read people’s most private letters, and tell the story of the relationships that were made and broken by them.

Tip the show and its creators. This audio magic wouldn't exist without the generous donations of its fans. Thank you!

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected