We are back after missing last weeks episode, Pixie was sick but she feels much better now.
If you remember we covered when Tumblr decided it didn't like smut on it's platform any more and has been systematically removing it. The large community that has grown around Tumblr thanks to it's open policies has left in droves thanks to it's decision to "clean up" it's platform.
Turns out the plan hasn't worked out so well and this week it was sold to the company that owns WordPress. It sold for $3 Million. Down from it's valuation a few years ago of $11 billion.
This week there was a great talk at DefCon about how easy it is to hack a connected buttplug. Not only hacking the plug itself but every aspect of the product from the client that ran on the computer, to the network it used to talk to other people, to even being able to update the hardware in the plug itself and install other software.
Songs of Praise. A show running in the UK for 58 years shows it's first gay wedding.
A baker who refused to make a cake for a gay man becuase he disagreed with the message on the cake is going to the European Court of Justice after a UK court rulled it wasn't discrimination to deny the man the cake.
Trigger warning: This weeks episode is talking about rape and the laws around it. Please don't listen if you are affected by such things.
As we have previously talked about the Theranos court case starts next year and it is going to be very interesting to see how that plays out.
The Chatholic church is helping out victims of abuse even when their cases are out the normal window for being taken to court. Sounds wonderful only it is being used to save the church hundreds of millions in damages and as a way to silence its victims.
As we have previously talked about there was a blow up when one of the winners from this years CES was disqualified because it was a sex toy. CES seems to have seen the error of their ways and will be allowing sex toys as a category at next years event.
Did you know what in the UK a man being forced to have sex with a woman isn't classed as rape? A new study highlights the real problem that affects hundreds of men in the UK and the shocking revelation that it isn't classed as rape.
We missed last week simply because we did the interview then I forgot to record an intro. Work got in the way then before you know it it's the weekend again.
Sluts & Scholars is a sex education podcast where they talk to amazing people from all over the spectrum about sex and life. They have some amazing interviews and you need to check them out.
Find them:
We talk about how they got de-platformed from Apple. For anyone who doesn't know Apple is the main index for all podcasts. If you are not on there chances are no one is going to find you.
Getting de-platformed means they won't appear on peoples devices so how will they find new listeners?
After a fight they were eventually able to talk to someone and it turned out Apple didn't like that they had used rude words in their titles and descriptions. After making changes to all their posts and trying multiple times to get someone to look at it again they were finally able to get back onto the platform.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is happening all the time and companies like Apple are able to effectively silence things they don't like for any reason they want.
We missed last week because we were at Pride, but this week we are back.
We missed last weeks episode because we were at Pride with Puppy Pride and Pups Out. They invited us along to their event so we could run the mini-flogger workshop for the pups. Loads made their own mini-flogger and I think they ended up being used for crowd control.
It was a lot of fun.
Who does New Zealand think it is charging an entry fee to come into the country.. outragious.
An Ice Creme truck has started charging inflencers double for their Ice Creme. They are sick of these so called "Influencers" asking for free ice creme they have decided to take a stand.
This week it was reveled that one of the post credit scenes from Toy Story 2 has been removed from the film. The scene features one of the characters talking to a pair of Barby dolls and suggesting that if they come back to his trailer he can get them a part in the next film.
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So this has sparked a discussion, is it OK to earse parts of the past you now find offensive?
I have been watching a lot of the old Rodger Moore ear James Bond and there is a lot there that is very hard to watch now. So should those parts be cut out or are they a look into the views of the time?
Two highly controveral figures who no matter what you think of them in real life have made ground breaking and important films. Should those films be scrubbed from history because the people who made them are problematic?
This week it is hot here in the UK, we are baking and if we can complain about it we can.
Want to get us to talk about something all you have to do is ask. This morning @DomSigns asked us to talk about pork bellies so happy to oblige. Turns out there are serious cases of swine flu in China and it looks like port prices are going to rise 40% soon and continue well into 2020.
Get your money in now if ou are an investor, if you love bacon.. sorry but it is going to get much more expensive.
The amazing Sparkling Queens of Drag are being attacked by a Christian group for holding fund raising bingo events in the US. The group which holds charity fund raising events at local community run fire houses has raised huge amounts of cash. But the Christian group doesn't like
The US is considering outlawing end-to-end encryption applications like WhatsApp and iMessage because they are proving too hard for police forces to deal with. The move would be a huge blow for public privacy.
What do you know about how pride started? A great article on the BBC has made us think about how pride got started and the effect it has had on the world. Most recently there has been questions about how large companies have started to co-opt the event to advertise themselves while not actually giving back anything to the community.
We are going to be at London Pride by supporting the Pride Pup Party. Book your tickets to what is going to be a super fun event at Draft House, Chancery in London.
We will be running our mini-flogger workshop from 9am - 1:30pm. Totally free, anyone can come along and make their own mini flogger. Then stick around and play with the pups.
Everything in the UK seems to be falling apart so we are going to do our best to fix that... well, talk about it at least.
The UK has delayed it's roll out of age verification checks for an unknown amount of time. There has been no word on what is actually going on, only that it is going to be delayed for some time. Who knows how much. If they can't sort this out how the hell are they going to deal with Brexit. 76% of people in the UK still don't know it could even happen.
Since 2016 your ISP is collecting every website you go to and storing it to be reported back to the government if they ask for it. Doesn't matter what you have done they collect it. If you are not using a VPN to protect your web browsing you are Internetting wrong in the 21st century.
MP Mark Field is shown in a video assaulting a peaceful protestor. Pushing against an pillar then grabbing her by the neck and frog marching her out of the room. There was no cause to do this and he should be fired from his job.
An inquiry into the cover up of pedophile priests by the Catholic church has found that they did it systematically for years with their only concern being how they would be seen by the public.
Sex toy company Dame is suing the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) over it's refusal to run ads on the network. The company claims the MTA's view are victorian. Digging a little deeper reveals the MTA doesn't allow any company to run ads for sex toys and never has. It will only run ads for FDA approved medicines and medial devices.
The great podcast LovingBDSM are back on the air and well worth listening too. They have some great kink puns. This weeks episode was all about playing when you have no privacy.
US embassy's have been banned from flying the pride flag this year. But it isn't as effective as the Trump government wanted.
A roman catholic bishop says catholics shouldn't support pride because it is harmful to children.
Show some love for the people making some of our kinky paracord items. @Curious_Kitt and @Beacon_ropes made some amazing things, check them out. If you want to make your own kinky things check out or YouTube page and start making. I will be adding the next course soon.
Check out @Curious_Kitt's own podcast @TrySexuals.
This week I have been listening to "Against the rules with Michael Lewis" podcast, really interesting and well worth a listen.
RFU player Israel Folau put out a post this week saying all gay people should go to hell. Our question is why does this person still have a job?
The govenment has put out a white paper looking to create a watchdog in the UK what will police the Internet and bring companies that promote "harmful" material will be punished, including jail time for directors if needed.
New research from The Journal of Sex Medicine indicates that people who practice BDSM are more open and able to talk to their partner about their sexual health. This leads to more satisfaction and less dysfunction.
A company has come up with the design of a condom that requires four hands to open the packaging. Namely the man and the woman to agree to open the package. Completely missing the point that consent comes from discussion and is flexible.
Check out the new podcast by @GGGBPodcast on the 9th April. All about spanking, and who doesn't love that.
A teenager was fat-shamed as she went into a bakery, her solution to the fat shaming was to bu every cake in the bakery. As she went into the bakery we hear voices behind her say "Let's hope this fat bitch doesn't buy all the cupcakes". So rather than buy the 6 she planned she bought every one in the shop.
The US is forcing a Chinese company to sell the American made Grindr app on national security grounds. It seems that based on the information Grindr collects from it's users it is possible to identify not only the individuals but where they work. From that they were able to identify secret military outposts around the world.
A series has aired on UK TV about a group of mums who didn't like the port that was available on the Internet as they felt it didn't show anything close to realistic. So they set out to film their own porn. View it on Channel 4
The Sultan of Brunei is imposing more strict sharia laws around all sorts of things in the country. Including amputating hands and feet for theft and stoning to death for anyone engaging in gay sex.
Sign the petition to revoke the Sultan of Brunei's honorary degree
A primary school in Birmingham is in the middle of a row with parents over its teaching them about LGBT rights. Protestors were concerned about the "No Outsiders Programme" which taught children about diversity and quality.
Lead campaigner Amir Ahmed says "morally, homosexuality is not a valid sexual relationship".
No time for pleasantries this week, we have a lot to cover. A shout out to Beacon_ropes, someone I talk to often they have just been invited to their first event and they are over the moon. Check them out on Instagram, they are from the homeland so Pixie is happy.
In the news this week there was a lot of discussion about the all female spacewalk that got cancelled. With the fingers pointing back at NASA saying it isn't right that there isn't enough equipment up there for the astronauts. But the actual story of the spacesuits and why they couldn't be used is a lot more interesting.
Check out this article where they discuss the EMU (spacesuits), when they were made, and what they were really for.
The obscenity law in the UK used to be ridicules. To the point where you could film yourself doing certain acts then possession of that video of yourself was a crime. The acts included spanking, face sitting, female ejaculation.
Fortunately after a lot of work the law has been changed to allow any act between consenting adults, where no serious harm occurs, or where no other criminal act happens, and as long as the intended audience is not under 18. This opens up the UK law to basically allow anything between consenting adults. A much better stance and a win for freedom of speech and expression.
The UK is about to bring into force a new law that will stop anyone in the UK looking at porn unless they can prove their age. This will affect any site on the Internet that can be viewed in the UK. The government will be able to instruct ISP's to block the site so it cannot be accessed.
In order to prove your age you will need to supply either:
Only 76% of the country know this happening, of the people who say they use porn sites 53% know nothing about it.
We have just finished another Eroticon and being around so many creative fun people makes it hard not to want to be doing something with them again. So while it is still really hard to find the time we do want to bring back the podcast because there is so much to talk about.
Our thoughts go out to everyone involved in the violence that has happened in New Zealand.
Another year and Eroticon has come and gone, and it was as much fun as ever. Though next time we have to stay in a better hotel. It was great to see a lot of new faces at the event. We have been going for the last 5 years and while there are so many amazing people who go it's fantastic to see new people finding the event as well.
The beauty of Eroticon is you can do it how you want to, if you are a quiet person then you can sit and take it all in at your own pace. But if you need some help you can always talk to one of the ambassadors. This year they were CandySnatch and SubBee.
One of the problems with loving working at Eroticon is you miss all the amazing talks that are going on. We missed CandySnatch talking about the crazy things she has had to deal with, we missed @KaylaLords doing what was an amazing talk (in her awesome accent). Bianca from @HelensToyBox. So many more.
Then there was a really sad blog post from @LovingBDSM about what happened when they got back from Eroticon. No one deserves to be treated like that, especially a couple who are so nice and caring.
Here is the actual twitter post from the Mistress in question taking her sub out in London. I think the British public can take this in their stride, it is just a shame the laws are not as forgiving.
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