Do We Know Things?
71 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsI’m Dr. Lisa Dawn Hamilton. By day, I’m a sex researcher and psychology professor who teaches about sex.
In this podcast I explore the things we think we know about sex by delving into the research surrounding common beliefs about sex and relationships. I want to know how we know what we know.
If you are a sex geek like me or if you just want to know things, subscribe to listen to me question everything you thought you knew about sex!
Sex and Relationships! What do we know? Do we know things? Let’s find out!
Music and production by Jeremy Dahl at palebluedot
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episodes
19 - Awkward Questions from Confused Guys
August 03, 2020 12:00 - 36 minutes - 50.3 MBSo much of sex advice and information is targeted to straight, cisgender women, except, of course, for penis enlargement and boner pills. That is just spammed in a constant stream at anyone who might have a penis. online, most of the sex educators with big youtube channels and Instagram followings are mostly women with mostly women following them. Today I am joined by resident man, Matt Tunnacliffe who is going ask a bunch of questions that many confused straight guys might want to know abou...
18 - Let's talk about shame
July 20, 2020 12:00 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBShame is one of my favourite things to talk about. Seriously! It is the worst thing to experience, but because of its power over so much of our lives, I find it endlessly fascinating. Shame is my explanation for basically everything. And the more I learn about it, the more I think I am right! Well maybe not shame, specifically, but the things we do to cover up shame. We drown it in alcohol, smother it with sex, cloak it with rage and defensiveness. On this episode, I am joined by clinical p...
18 - Let's Talk About Shame
July 20, 2020 12:00 - 35 minutes - 48.8 MBShame is one of my favourite things to talk about. Seriously! It is the worst thing to experience, but because of its power over so much of our lives, I find it endlessly fascinating. Shame is my explanation for basically everything. And the more I learn about it, the more I think I am right! Well maybe not shame, specifically, but the things we do to cover up shame. We drown it in alcohol, smother it with sex, cloak it with rage and defensiveness. On this episode, I am joined by clinical p...
17 - HPV: Fear and Misunderstanding
July 06, 2020 12:00 - 32 minutes - 45.2 MBDo you remember when there was a media frenzy about oral sex and cancer after actor Michael Douglas said his oral cancer was caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV) that he contracted from cunnilingus? Is it true that oral sex causes cancer? I am joined today by Julia Kaufmann, a Mount Allison University Bell Scholar Intern who is working with me this summer. She dug up all the dirt on the Michael Douglas drama. After we get to the gossip, I will also get into the research to cover the inf...
16 - Rethinking Justice for Sexual Assault
June 22, 2020 12:00 - 57 minutes - 78.5 MBOften when someone is victimized in some way, we hear cries for justice. In some cases, and for some people, the legal system will work for them. For many, many people, the criminal justice system does not feel just at all. While the problems with the system are pervasive and affect many people in negative ways, for this episode, I am focused on survivors of sexual assault and abuse. This is the third episode in the three-part series on sexual assault. The way the legal system is designed a...
15 - Consent and Rejection
June 08, 2020 12:00 - 38 minutes - 53 MBThese days, talk of consent and consent education is increasingly common. I would argue that it is the most important part of school-based sex education, even though it is still not explicitly included as part of some provinces’ curricula. Of course, it’s one thing to tell people that they need to get consent about sexual activity, but having conversations about sex is hard! Kids and adults often don’t know how to have conversations about sex, or they are afraid that asking for consent just ...
14 - Sexual Assault: Stats and Stories
May 25, 2020 16:00 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBSexual assault is a highly charged topic of discussion. With the popularization of the #MeToo movement, these discussions and arguments are happening more publicly with increased polarization. One of the things people argue about are the statistics around how many women are sexually assaulted, with common estimates being 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted. When I started this episode, I thought I could dig into the numbers and come up with irrefutable evidence that sexual as...
13 - Random Topics for Strange Times
May 12, 2020 00:15 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBIt is such a weird time in the world, and I don’t know about you, but I am definitely having challenges with concentration. So in that spirit, something a little different this week. Instead my usual deep-dive into a single subject, this episode will focus on three separate questions that don’t require a whole show to answer, but are still topics I wanted to investigate. First, I talk about the rumour I first heard as a teenager that a sneeze is 1/10 of an orgasm. In researching this topic,...
12 - The History and Mystery of IUDs
April 27, 2020 13:40 - 31 minutes - 29 MBIntrauterine Devices (IUDs) are the greatest thing ever created, according to Lisa Dawn Hamilton. It is the most effective method of preventing pregnancy that has ever been created, and it lasts up to 10 years! It’s amazing! But the IUD was not always held in such high esteem. There was a period of time in the in the U.S. and Canada, when they were not so great. Have you heard the rumors about the dangers of the IUD? They fell out of favour in the 70s, and I wanted to find out what actually ...
11 - To Pee or Not to Pee
April 13, 2020 12:00 - 17 minutes - 23.5 MBYet another episode on messages women get from the media! This time I am looking at whether or not people with vaginas need to pee after sex to prevent urinary tract/bladder infections. Most people I know are aware of the peeing-after-sex rule for the care and keeping of the urinary tract. But, is this true? Does peeing actually help stave off the agonizing hell of a UTI? If you have ever read any sort of media targeted at women, you will definitely think the answer is yes! But what does the...
10 - COVID-19, Sex, & Relationships
March 30, 2020 12:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBIt seems like all anyone can talk about these days is the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. One way I thought I could add a voice of reason to the discussions about COVID-19 is to talk about some of the information about COVID-19, sex and relationships that I have seen circulating around on the internet. Like things about sex boosing your immune function. Spoiler alert, we don't actually know! I will also talk about New York City’s safer sex memo, and some research on relationships and on lonelin...
9 - What's a Kegel Anyway?
March 16, 2020 14:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBMedia targeted at women, including magazines, YouTube channels, and TV shows, seem to regularly trumpet the importance of doing Kegel exercises. Raise your hand if you have been told to or felt like you should do Kegels at some point in your life! Kegel exercises are the flexing and releasing of the muscles a specific set of muscles in your pelvic region. These exercises are supposed to strengthen the area around the vagina so you don’t pee when your sneeze, so your uterus doesn’t fall out ...
8 - Abortion Feelings
March 02, 2020 20:21 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBWhat are the feelings people have after having an abortion? In the sex education field, we say that abortion is part of mental health care and that most people are relieved after the have an abortion. Anti-choice groups want us to think that abortions are psychologically harmful. It is important that the misinformation be addressed with the actual research with actual people. On this episode of “Do We Know Things?” I will dig into the data of some well-designed studies that address feelings ...
7 – What Do You Need to Know about Abortion?
February 17, 2020 13:00 - 47 minutes - 65.6 MBAbortion is a part of reproductive healthcare. As a sex educator and a feminist, I know how important it is for people to be able to control their reproductive lives. I often talk about sex being a taboo topic that people avoid discussing, but abortion is talked about even less! This leads to misunderstandings, misconceptions, and stigma around abortion. We'll talk access, politics and the law concerning your right to choose with Tasia Alexopolous, who will take us through a crash course in ...
6 – Who Wants Sex More?
February 03, 2020 15:36 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBDo men really want sex more than women? It's a widely-endorsed stereotype that you'll find everywhere from great literature to teen romantic comedies. Men of all sexual orientations being complete lust monsters that can't control themselves while women are vanguards of purity blocking men's advances or tragically succumbing to lesbian bed death. Of course the reality is much more complicated than horny dudes and prudish women. On this episode we'll dive into the research on gender and lust...
5 – Does Testosterone Make You Horny?
January 20, 2020 13:00 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBTestosterone. Even the mention of the word conjures up images both good and bad: From the chisel-jawed, muscled-up action hero to the dude with the pickup truck doing donuts in the parking lot at 3 in the morning. It's such a mythical hormone. We ascribe to it virtually everything that has to do with masculinity. It makes men strong, hairy…and virile, but actually, everyone has testosterone coursing through their blood stream. Yes, it is linked with physical markers of masculinity, like low...
4 – Depression, Anti-depressants, and Sex
January 07, 2020 00:33 - 27 minutes - 25 MBIn this episode we'll sift through the research to find out what actually happens to our sexual function when we take antidepressants. Roughly 7% of Canadians and 12% of Americans are taking antidepressant meds like Prozac or Zoloft. While anti-depressant medication lifts millions out of the gloom, there's also the side effects. There are a range of possible side effects including dry mouth, intense dreams, and upset stomachs, but in this episode, we are talking about the sexual side effe...
3 – Herpes, Herpes Everywhere
December 23, 2019 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBOn this episode, we are talking about herpes. Specifically, does EVERYONE have herpes? So many sex educators seem to think that most people on this planet have herpes. I have often thought that this stat couldn’t be true, but somehow have never actually looked into it. In this episode we'll crunch the numbers, to try and sort fact from hyperbole. We'll also talk about what herpes is, the stigma associated with sexually transmitted infections, and what you need to know to battle herpes' sti...
2 - Part 2: Orgasms from PVI – The Why
December 09, 2019 12:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBOn this episode, I delve into WHY some women might have orgasms from PVI while some don’t. And also, why it shouldn’t matter! The episode features a strange story about clitoral surgeries and a researcher/princess who, according to Wikipedia, is the great grand-niece of Napoleon Bonaparte. I will also have some feedback from some of the researchers featured on the last episode: Dr. Debby Herbenick and Dr. Elisabeth Lloyd. Listen to find out if we know things about about orgasms. Find the s...
1 - Orgasms from PVI
November 25, 2019 11:54 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBMedia depictions of heterosexual sex are all about penile-vaginal-intercourse (PVI), which always seems to lead to mind-blowing orgasms for women. Sex educators say only about 25% of women have orgasms from PVI, though. Where does that number come from? Is it accurate? Listen to find out if we know things about about orgasms. Find the script for this episode with notes and references at www.doweknowthings.com Music and editing Jeremy Dahl www.palebluedot.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast....
Introducing: Do We Know Things?
November 08, 2019 19:50 - 1 minute - 1.09 MBI’m Dr. Lisa Dawn Hamilton. By day, I’m a sex researcher and psychology professor who teaches about sex. If you are a sex geek like me or if you just want to know things, subscribe to listen to me question everything you thought you knew about sex! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.