Emily Nagoski Phd Pleasure Is The Measure How To Have Sex...

Why is it so hard to talk about sex? How can we be a better friend and lover for our partner? What’s the secret to maintaining “the magic” that first brought us together? Acclaimed sex educator and New York Times bestselling author Emily Nagoski views these questions through a unique lens that centers pleasure—not desire—in her counseling work with struggling couples.

In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Emily about the empowering insights in her newest book, Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections. Listen now to their conversation on: breaking free from the desire imperative; the groundbreaking work of Helen Singer Kaplan; the dual control model of sexual response and the analogy of brakes and accelerators; “turning on the ons and turning off the offs”; reducing your stressors as a key aspect of centering pleasure in your life; friendship and admiration: two essentials for long-term relationships; trust, vulnerability, and emotional accessibility; creativity, play, and freedom; following your own rules; talking about sex; the fear of rejection; how “good communication gets you good sex; great communication gets you great sex”; incompatibility; the interplay of attraction and self-worth; body acceptance; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

nico and devon hase: Buddhist Volcanoes In Love

— May 19, 2026

What if everything you believed about a healthy relationship—the harmony, the peace, the perfectly matched wheels—was the very thing getting in the way?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with nico and devon hase—married Buddhist teachers, longtime meditation practitioners, and co-authors of the new Sounds True book This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership—about what it actually takes to build a partnership that transforms rather than just endures.

Join Tami, nico, and devon to explore:

Why relationships are inherently rough—and why accepting that is the first act of real intimacy
The three conflict styles (volcanoes, diplomats, and dodgers) and how to work skillfully with your own
The tightrope principle: why lasting partnership means always finding your balance, never holding it
The daily check-in practice nico and devon discovered during three years of solitary retreat—and why it’s deceptively powerful
How death contemplation can dissolve petty resentments and bring fierce clarity to what actually matters
The “third space” in relationship: listening to the partnership itself as its own living being
Body shame, shifting desire, and sexuality as an awakening path—from devon’s own retreat discoveries
Why bodhichitta—the awakened heart of service—might be the most honest metric for whether a relationship is worth tending

Whether you’re navigating a decades-long partnership or wondering if intimacy and spiritual depth can coexist at all, nico and devon offer both radical honesty and genuine hope.

Listen now →

This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

This episode is sponsored by Omega Institute, a global gathering hub for lifelong learning and spiritual exploration. Located in upstate New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, Omega offers weekend workshops, special events, rest and rejuvenation retreats, professional trainings, online learning, and more. Discover what calls to you at eomega.org/true.

Geneen Roth: It’s Not About Your Mother—Finding Lo...

— May 7, 2026

What if the relationship you’ve been trying to fix your whole life isn’t actually broken in the way you think?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Geneen Roth—author of 11 books including the New York Times bestseller Women, Food, and God—about her newest and most personal book yet: Love Finally: Untangling the Knot Between Mothers, Daughters, and Food. After 70 years of carrying wounds she believed came directly from her mother, Roth stumbled into a teaching that cracked everything open: the pain isn’t about your mother. It’s about what you concluded about yourself.

Join Tami and Geneen to explore:

Why the most painful legacy of childhood wounds isn’t what was done to us—but the lies we decided were true about ourselves
The six steps to freedom that Geneen learned from her mentor Coco, and how to begin working with them
How self-rejection—not the original wound—is what keeps us trapped, and how awareness dissolves it
Why affirmations and forgiveness meditations don’t work—and what actually does
The surprising transformation of Geneen’s relationship with her 97-year-old mother, and what it reveals about how we change
A candid revisiting of Geneen’s foundational teachings on intuitive eating—and what she’s learned to say differently now
What it means to be “the one you’ve been waiting for”—and why that’s not a platitude but a practice

Whether your relationship with your mother is tender, complicated, estranged, or something in between, this conversation offers a genuinely new way to understand where the real work lives—and why it might finally be possible to do it.

Listen now. →

Darnell Lamont Walker: Listen to a Death Doula: This I...

“This is sometimes what love looks like. People want to love you—let people love you.”

It’s a phrase death doula Darnell Lamont Walker has spoken countless times at bedsides, to those who feel ashamed of being seen in their vulnerability, those who don’t want to be a burden, those who have spent a lifetime giving but struggle to receive. What he’s discovered is that the end of life has a way of revealing what love actually is—and it often looks nothing like we expected.

An Emmy-nominated children’s television writer, documentary filmmaker, and death doula, Darnell has accompanied people through life’s final transition since he was a teenager. In this deeply moving conversation, he shares the profound lessons about love and connection he’s gathered from decades of this sacred work.

Join Tami and Darnell as they explore:

Why letting ourselves be loved—especially when we feel most vulnerable—is one of life’s hardest and most important lessons
“Grief is the sequel to love”—reframing loss as a testament to how deeply we’ve connected
The stories people most need to tell before they die, and how sharing them becomes an act of love
How spirits and ancestors return for the dying—and what this reveals about love’s continuity
The surprising joy that emerges from death work
What it means to “die empty” and leave nothing unloved or unexpressed

Whether you’ve supported someone through dying or are simply longing to love and be loved more fully, Darnell offers wisdom that will stay with you long after the conversation ends.