The Protagonist of the Erotic

Sure, top floors have a striking erotic connotation; they're also the perfect vantage point to peer into the lives of others. High above Barcelona, yet grounded in sensuality, Huw Lemmey shares his admiration for Nazario Vera, the underground comic artist renowned for his punchy, sharp, and flamboyant portrayals of queer life. A cultural icon throughout the seventies and eighties, Nazario uses his stories to mock conventional sexual morals, especially through his memorable contributions and covers for El Víbora, a periodical that captured daily life, gritty bars with dusty decor, and the eclectic crowd gathered under the crumpled palm trees of Plaza Real. His detective, Anarcoma, endures as a symbol of sexual liberation to this day. Let's soar above Barcelona without delay to listen to Huw Lemmey's top-floor insights.Written by Huw Lemmey. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Credits to Alban Schelbert for the sound clips. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. 

We all have notebooks of our own, whatever form they take. Scribbles, words, whispers, desires, rants and erasures may be entered and so the body bounds and extends. Judith Vrancken dog-ears pages, spinning her encounter with the work of the choreographer Alexandra Bachzetsis, and the piece Notebook is, by no coincidence, an exploration of her own biography. How do we choose to present ourselves? And what constitutes the presence of a person? Sincerely and bluntly overturning lust, sexuality, the interplay of power and surrender, what you imagine seeing on stage and what is actually taking place may joyfully intertwine. Expect denim and performative gestures that sketch an intimate archive of bodies and ideas for imagined futures. Or you could get carried away by Alexandra's back muscles telling a story of their own.   Written by Judith Vrancken. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Credits to Alban Schelbert for the sound clips. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. 

Whether you're looking to send a poem to your lover or indulge in a moment of self-pleasure, Vladimir Lucien has recently penned a rhythmic and heartfelt ode to intimacy titled "uses of the erotic", published by the Academy of American Poets. It is inspired by Audre Lorde's influential 1978 essay on the erotic as power, where she asserts that "the erotic is not a question only of what we do; it is a question of how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing".  If you wish to restore a sense of vitality and joy, amidst the hustle and bustle of adulthood or big city life, this episode is an invitation to rediscover your innate sensuality. Today, Lucien takes us on a journey to Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia—his childhood haven nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the northern Atlantic Ocean. Here, amidst this vibrant setting, he reminisces about spontaneous flirtations, nature explorations, and an embrace of life's impermanence. These memories and chat-ups, sometimes lecherous and playful, continue to nourish Lucien's present life in New York City, infusing it with the transformative power of liminality—the spaces of transition and profound change. Written by Vladimir Lucien. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. 

Who thinks it’s easy to be an ethical slut? Martin Rombouts shakes the sheets, and gossips pour out, wrinkle upside down, and twinkle. Questioning whether love is possible without the fantasy of ownership, Martin recounts the sexual game of calling himself Ken and his lover Barbie. If dolls are meant to project, distort, and sublimate our fantasies, feelings grow up unleashed and raw. This episode shows how Barbie is not solely a movie but a phenomenon that reflects on childhood memories, beauty standards, and perceptions of love. Follow Martin’s exploration of dating life, jumping from light-hearted banter and sexy playfulness to exploring love oddities at their very core.Written by Martin Rombouts. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team.

Hair grows through the echo of the past and the movement of the future. The hairdresser is a place of transformation, care, and conflict, where feelings weave like curls and rumours spin on the stool. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ delves into the intimate story associated with type 4c hair, the tightest curl pattern variation in black hair. This story unfolds through a series of vivid memories: a wide tooth comb, lotion, car rides, an open-air veranda, and a line of recalcitrant little girls. The hairdresser's tender touch evokes a ritual characterised by both playful pampering and resistance, all accompanied by shared snacks. This intimacy twists an emotional journey from childhood to adolescence, encompassing experiences with hair relaxers, gloves, a bathroom's sink, wigs, and a motorcycle. Have you heard of the legend of the ghost girl? The voice of Ayọ̀bámi sheds light on how this deeply personal aspect of hair is woven into identity, beauty standards, and the most delicate dreams.  Written by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team. 

From the panic of wardrobe choices to the dissolution in between the anonymous bodies, McKenzie layers sensations of lust and fatigue. Droplets of sweat inside the thigh-high boots and hard beats unzip a universe in which dancing can help with the damage or switch on all sorts of futures. “A rave is just a pocket in time in which there's more time, but the pocket closes and spills us out.” In the end, we want to feel hot. And be desired, held, hugged, and crushed by the crowd. Or someone. Yes. So let the demon speakers come out of you; grab, climb, and fuck the decibels through the sonic fishnets. It’s not a hole in the stockings that could stop us, right? Written by McKenzie Wark. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team.

The egg is the most naked thing Nina Folkersma has ever seen. Yet, it is magical and mysterious. By stretching the egg’s metaphor close to her body, Nina feeds imaginations about motherhood and fertility. Surrealist paintings and writings are explored to meditate on the beauty and awkwardness of sensuality. Find yourself in a former pharmacy on Madison Avenue in New York to listen to the unreleased play of Leonora Carrington. Do you want to know what happens when an old lady – the ex-madam of a brothel – gains possession of the last surviving human egg? Perhaps you fancy some north of Catalonia sun in Salvador Dalí’s gardens until the heat makes you hallucinate an egg in the sky. Hold your breath before you shell the egg; it might be a sex toy in your hands. Or is it the female penis of a seahorse? Carrying many eggs in her pockets, Nina makes you spin into the circle of life and talks about the possibility of new beginnings. Ready? Steady? Egg!Written by Nina Folkersma. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team.

Anne Carson is a literary superstar. At sixteen years old, she fell in love with the ancient Greek language and pursued her passion by translating Sappho, Sophocles and Euripides. From the end of the 1980s until today, Anne Carson has published a plethora of works that investigate the twists and turns of love, sexual yearning and despair, affirming the tragic beauty of the monstrous and the fury of a desire that transcends all standards. Her radically modern oeuvre wonderfully disturbs categories as it blends poetry, prose, translation and academic thinking. Have you ever heard about brainsex? Lust is a glistening thread not quite taut in our lives; Canan Marasligil tightropes on tiptoes through the worlds of Anne Carson, intimately confessing about her own affective life and translation work. Between the twists of the tongue, Canan takes us on a journey to be displaced, where translating is the ultimate carnal experience, a necessity to grow wings, a desire to turn into desire.Written by Canan Marasligil. Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Additional soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Curated by Justine Gensse. Produced by the Extra Extra team.

A space of refuge and comfort where, while wrapped in bedlinens or a soft eiderdown quilt, our dreams and fantasies unfold. Under the clouds of the duvet, in the darkness, intimacies are exchanged between bodies, hands searching, flesh tenderly touched. A centrepiece of domesticity, the psychic landscape of the bed belongs to the private sphere. But, according to James Taylor-Foster, its role in contemporary society is far more expansive. On our phones and laptops, reading, texting, exchanging emails and taking meals propped up on pillows, this is where social lives are forged, corporate empires are built and great novels are written. Between the sheets, James speaks to the sensuous connotations of the bed, a piece of furniture which is far more than just a place of rest.Introduction and outro voiced by Johnny Vivash. Editing and sound design by Tobias Withers. Soundscape by The God in Hackney. Artwork by Karel Martens. Produced by the Extra Extra team. Many thanks to Michel Banabila for his music.