Dirty Dancing with Steph Herold: Rom-Com Vom

In Dirty Dancing, Baby Houseman heads to the Catskills for some good old-fashioned family bonding and accidentally ends up in the arms of a sexy dance instructor—and in the middle of a very real conversation about class, abortion, and rebellion.

This week, we had the time of our LIFE with Steph Herold—repro researcher, cultural critic, and abortion advocate—talking class politics, Penny’s storyline, and why Dirty Dancing is secretly a movie about choosing community over cool guys (even if the cool guy looks like Patrick Swayze ;).

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GUEST DETAILS Steph Herold is a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, where she leads the Abortion Onscreen project, studying how abortion is depicted on U.S. television and film. Steph has worked at abortion clinics, abortion funds, and in abortion policy, and has co-authored both peer-reviewed papers grey literature papers on abortion stigma, abortion storytelling, and abortion in popular culture. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The American Prospect, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and many other outlets. 

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ABOUT THE SHOW Sex Ed with DB is your go-to podcast for smart, science-backed sex education—delivering trusted insights from top experts on sex, sexuality, and pleasure. Empowering, inclusive, and grounded in real science, it’s the sex ed you’ve always wanted.

SEASON 11 TEAM Creator, Host & Executive Producer: Danielle Bezalel (DB) Producer: Sadie Lidji Communications Lead: Cathren Cohen Growth Marketing Manager: Wil Williams Logo Design: Evie Plumb (@cliterallythebest)