Episode 450: The Weird History Of Masturbation

Nov 18, 2025

Join Dr. Eric Sprankle, an Associate Professor and co-director of the Sexuality Studies program, as he unpacks the fascinating and often bizarre history of masturbation. He explores how views about self-pleasure shifted from normalcy to sinfulness, influenced by religious narratives. Discover the origins of social media backlash against masturbation and how misinformation perpetuates anxiety. Eric highlights the need for better sex education to counteract shame and misconceptions—an enlightening dive into a topic that remains highly relevant today!

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INSIGHT

Modern Fad Has Deep Historical Roots

No Nut November taps into a centuries-old, complicated relationship humans have with masturbation.
Historical shifts turned a private act into moral and public-health concerns that still shape views today.

ANECDOTE

Social Media Sparked The Book

Eric Sprankle started researching because social media commenters angrily claimed masturbation destroyed bodies and souls.
He wanted to trace where those beliefs came from and test them against science.

INSIGHT

Why Religions Condemn Masturbation

Major Abrahamic religions label masturbation as sinful because it falls outside procreative marital sex.
Solitary sexual acts get special attention because they're easily and frequently done alone.

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It’s November again, and that means a bunch of people on the internet are giving up masturbation for the month. While “No Nut November” is a relatively recent phenomenon, it actually has deep roots and reflects humans’ longstanding and very complicated relationship with self-pleasure. In this show, we’re talking about the history of masturbation and why people are so conflicted over it.

My guest is Dr. Eric Sprankle, an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and the co-director of the Sexuality Studies program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He’s also a licensed clinical psychologist and AASECT-certified sex therapist affiliated with the Minnesota Sexual Health Institute. His latest book is DIY: The Wonderfully Weird History and Science of Masturbation.

Some of the specific topics we explore in this episode include:

Where does the idea of masturbation as sinful originate?
Historically, how have religious and political figures dissuaded people from masturbating?
When did masturbation start to become a public health concern?
How has the rise of social media coincided with the rise of negative views of masturbation?

You can visit Eric’s website to learn more about his work.

Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.

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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.