Sexted: Authoring Your Own Erotica

By Paige Perez,

Anita Rao, Amanda Magnus

Published June 30, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT

An illustration featuring several different phones floating on a multicolor background. Out of one phone screen is a giant eggplant emoji. Out of another is a peach emoji. And out of a third is a femme-presenting person in a larger body in a bikini top from the waist up, taking a picture of herself on her phone. The word “Sexted” appears between some of the phone screens.

Anita is a bashful sexter, and she's ready to get over her insecurities. A pleasure enthusiast advises her on the art of a good sext; a sexting expert traces the short and spicy history of sexting in this country; and a high schooler breaks down the relationship between sexting and consent.

Meet the guests:

Penda N’diaye, founder and CEO of Pro Hoe and pleasure enthusiast, shares tips to help Anita get more comfortable with sexting and outlines the importance of consent
Amy Hasinoff, associate professor in the communication department at the University of Colorado Denver, breaks down the legal landscape of sexting and puts the moral panic over this kind of communication into historical context
Aaliyah, graduating high school senior and peer educator, explains the role of sexting in her and her peers' relationships and talks about how she's navigated sexting

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Paige Perez

Paige Perez (she/her) is a Caribbean-American audio and photojournalist born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Her work covering sexual and reproductive health, the climate crisis, and racial inequity is published in The Guardian, HuffPost Voices, and Bronx Times. Paige is a recent graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, where she concentrated in health/science reporting and specialized in audio and video. When she is not reporting and producing, she is probably visiting local art spaces or making images.

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Anita Rao

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.

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Amanda Magnus

Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.

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