Episode 43: Sex Work and Podcasting: A Conversation with Vanessa Carlisle, Siouxsie Q and Kaytlin Bailey

Here’s to another week and another episode How Do You Like it So Far? fans! We have a two-part series for you where Colin and Henry welcome Lauren Levitt, a Ph.D. Candidate in Communications at USC Annenberg and a former student of Henry’s as a guest interviewer for a special sex workers and podcasting episode. In Part One, Lauren interviews Siouxsie Q, a sex worker, a policy advocate and organizer for the ACLU Southern California, and co-host of the podcast Ill-Repute, along with Vanessa Carlisle, a Professor of Queer Studies at California State University, Northridge and creator of the On the Dresser podcast. They unravel common misconceptions about sex work and the complicated relationship between feminism and the sex workers rights movement. They weigh in on the current policies, such as SESTA/FOSTA, and their attempt to dismantle the industry and endanger the safety of sex workers. In Part Two, Lauren speaks to Kaytlin Bailey, the creator of The Oldest Profession Podcast, a stand up comic and the Director of Communications for Decriminalize Sex Work. They discuss the difference between sex work and human trafficking and the law enforcement mindset of rescuing sex workers from their professions. They also examine the role of sex work in popular culture from HBO’s The Deuce TV show to the recent release of mega-hit Hustlers. Listen in as Lauren, Colin and Henry speak to these extraordinary women about their work and the importance of sex workers claiming their own narratives in popular culture.