What does it mean to be Two-Spirit? The film The Miseducation of Cameron Post likens it to being a "Native American David Bowie," but that's a far cry. What does it really mean? And what is the Two-Spirit tradition of the Lakota, the winkte? Episode theme music courtesy of the The Eagle and the Raven Band, featuring Ki' Earth Spirit. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Did you know that Europe had its own third gender tradition, which arose, flourished, and then disappeared over the span of a few centuries? In the Byzantine Empire, this third gender was called a eunuch. They began as exotic imports from abroad, but quickly became a local tradition both feared and respected, reviled and adored, devilish and angelic. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

19th-century writers called Lakota women virtually enslaved to their husbands, but were they? Or were they skilled artisans, valued by the community, and empowered within their marriages? It turns out the working woman of the modern West owes much to the skilled craftswoman of the Great Plains. Special thanks to Dr. Jon Cleland Host for help in the preparation of this episode. Episode theme music courtesy of the The Eagle and the Raven Band, featuring Ki' Earth Spirit. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

If you had to choose between giving up your way of life or facing the death of your people, what would you do? What if it meant having to give up ever feeling like a man, a woman, or your authentic self again? Lakota historian Jeff Means is here to helps us understand that question.

After hunting bison for centuries, the Lakota suddenly switched to cattle in the late 19th century. Why did they hunt cattle? Why was it crucial to maintaining the gender norms of Lakota men, women, and those Two-Spirit folk called the winkte? And why was the cattle hunt their last best hope for survival?   Special thanks to Dr. Jeff Means, Dr. Jon Cleland Host, and Neil McKay for help in the preparation of this series. Episode theme music courtesy of the Battling Sioux Singers.   Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Today, female toplessness is taboo in Western culture, but did you know that until quite recently indeed, showing nip was normal? Not only was it normal, but it was often the height of fashion. Noble women and even queens all sported this particular wardrobe choice. So, when did this begin, and how did it come to be taboo? We find out in this showcase episode from Dead Ideas. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

What would it be like to live through almost the entire recent history of the transgender movement, from near-complete marginalization in the 1960s to glimmers of mainstream acceptance in the present? Alexandra Billings, who plays Davina on the hit TV show Transparent, did just that. We talk to her about her new memoir This Time For Me, which tells one person’s experiences from the 60s through today. Featuring a rendition of "Over the Rainbow" by pianist Christopher-Joel Carter, IV. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Were there queer folks in the Wild West? We address comments made by actor Sam Elliot about the "evisceration of the American myth" by the new Western film The Power of the Dog, and take a look at the hard evidence for queer folks on the frontier.   Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Is it just me, or does the image of the cowboy feel Whiter than White? Yet, in actual history, 1 out of 4 cowboys was Black. The Wild West was surprisingly welcoming in some ways to African Americans, except when it came to interracial sex. And sex may be why it now feels like cowboys were all one skin tone. How did fears of miscegenation ultimately lead to the whitewashing of the Western genre? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Calamity Jane, Little Joe Monahan, and Mrs. Nash... What was life like for those who dared to cross-dress in the Wild West? Why were their stories twisted to fit an emerging American mythos in the 20th century? And what does that say about how we view cross-dressing today? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

So uh... 2021, huh folks? What can I say, well... at least it was better than 2020, right? And actually it was a pretty decent year for us as a show, with some significant milestones. Come celebrate with us with a retrospective of all the skits from this year, plus a new one as a special treat just for you. Thank you to Myuu for this episode's theme music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_quOg7tQQ Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

If your sexuality had a superpower, what would it be? That's kind of an odd question, so let me go first. For Jen Winston, author of the new book Greedy, their bisexuality's superpower is a kind of vision, vision that allows a person to see things that other folks may struggle to see. Jen is here to tell you all about that, and a whole lot more as well. Featuring the song "Gettin' Bi" by Peter Haydon and James J. Dominguez. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

What was life like in the Wild West for women? As it turns out, it was a surprisingly progressive place in terms of women's rights. Women could divorce more easily, own property, claim a homestead, open a business, and in some territories even vote. So how did it get to be as progressive as it was? Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

At the heart of American masculinity lies the cowboy, a loner heartthrob who pulls himself up by his own bootstraps, rides off into the sunset, and don't need no help from nobody. Except he wasn't. Actual historical cowboys were nothing like that. So what were they really like? Special thanks to Gregory Hinton of the Out West exhibit and the Autry Museum of the American West for help in researching this series. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Today's showcase episode traces the evolution of obscenity laws and the struggles of a community to obtain the kind of sex-positive, identity-affirming erotic material that most of us today of all orientations pretty much take for granted. Well, it wasn’t always that way, especially for gays. In fact, it was a long and tumultuous road, involving some deliciously back-alley twists and turns. Stuart of The History of Gay Sex will tell you all about it. Find The History of Gay Sex on your favorite podcast platform or on Instagram at @historyofgaysex. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

We've looked at sex and gender all across history, but what about me? What's my sex and gender? How do I attempt to live out a non-toxic straight male masculinity in the modern era? It's an exclusive tell-all exposé today as we celebrate 100,000 downloads.   Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

The seiðmaðr was a male witch, and when you think of witches as women, that’s how the Norse thought of them too. These men defied their culture’s gender norms, and for it they received ridicule, not unlike the phenomenon today of bronies – you know, guys who are really into My Little Pony. What was it like for these gender-defiant Norse spell-slingers? Were they essentially the bronies of the Viking world?   This episode is sponsored by Manscaped.   Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

The Sacred Band of Thebes, comprised entirely of gay male lovers, was Ancient Greece’s original response to the gays in the military question. What was that like? How did it function? And what was its lasting legacy? That’s what we’re going to find out today, just in time for Pride Month. Here to help us do it is classicist James Romm, author of The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers Fighting to Save Greek Freedom. By the way, the New Yorker article referenced in the episode is "Ancient Greece's Army of Lovers" by Daniel Mendelsohn. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg and get a hand-drawn portrait. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

We all know the Victorians were notorious prudes about sex, right? But was that really true? Well, yes and no. The truth is, they were both prudish and prurient. The age of Victoria was bursting at the seams with variety as people coped with a new, massively urbanized world. Much of the consternation about sex was a reaction to the changes brought about by the that urbanization. This episode is sponsored by MANSCAPED. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.

Viking warrior women were not common, but they did probably exist. And they went against the gender norms of their day. Such brave swordswomen were, in fact, gender benders. And perhaps some of them may even have been what we would today call transgender. These warriors rocked the longboat of their day’s norms. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/btnewberg. Research, writing, editing, and production by B. T. Newberg. Logo Design by Rachel Westhoff. Animation by Maxeem Konrardy. Additional credits, references, and more at www.historyofsexpod.com.