Episode 460: Why People Have More Sex Around the Holidays

Dec 23, 2025

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If you’re feeling hornier than usual right now, it’s not just you! The winter holidays are a time of year when sexual interest and behavior reliably increase. We see this in everything from a spike in condom sales to an increase in sexual injuries to a peak in STD rates early in the new year. So why is that? That’s what we’re going to explore in today’s episode.

Some of the specific topics we’re discussing include:

How (and why) does sexual behavior change with the seasons?
Why is Santa such a popular sex symbol at this time of year?
How do you prevent holiday stress from spoiling the mood?

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. Holiday photo by Arthur Brognoli on Unsplash.