30. Filling the Hole: Sex, Love and What Lies Beneath

“I Regret Being a Slut” is the provocative title of an essay published this week by writer and podcaster Bridget Phetasy, who writes, of her earlier sexual adventurism:

“At the time, I would have told you I was ‘liberated’ even while I tried to drink away the sick feeling of rejection when my most recent hook-up didn’t call me back. At the time, I would have said one-night stands made me feel “emboldened.” But in reality, I was using sex like a drug; trying unsuccessfully to fill a hole inside me with men. (Pun intended.)”

Nancy and Sarah agree that random hook-ups can be the junk food of sex, if not exactly what drove each of them to try to do her own filling up. They do agree on how that worked out: kinda meh. They also agree that the recent spate of doomsday articles about the sexual revolution ain’t exactly bringing back the joy.

Speaking of the joy of sex, two of America’s biggest movie stars could not apparently keep their hands off each other; had two doors on their bedroom to keep out little children’s prying eyes, and at one point built a fuck hut. But all was not romance or as it seemed, according to Sarah, who’s seen all six episodes of “The Last Movie Stars,” the docu-series that chronicles the decades-long careers and marriage of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Nancy wonders if Ethan Hawke, who directed the series, is mining the complicated marriage of others’ in order to figure out his own former union with actress Uma Thurman. Spoiler alert from Sarah: May-be.

Hat tips to authors Stephen King and Richard Ford, curiosity about whether safe-guarding anxiety works out in the long run, and fresh-and-toasty offerings from the Hot Box!

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