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The Making Of Great Erotica

Illustration of 16 different erotic symbols in purples and pinks arranged in a grid on top of a purple and white textured background. The symbols are: a biting lip, a corset, furry handcuffs, a stiletto, a computer, a candle, a mask, a journal, a microphone, a bed with a heart over it, a pair of underwear, a pencil writing a heart, a bottle of lube, a v*brator, a whip, a block of cheese.
Charnel Hunter

It’s easy to recognize great erotica when you come across it — the reactions are physical and palpable. Embodied goes behind the scenes to learn how the steamiest of sex scenes get made.

From self-published anthologies exploring unique aspects of pleasure and sensation to the wildly popular erotic romances sold on bookstore shelves, erotica — in all its forms — is art intended to arouse.

It can be easy to spot erotica that falls flat in its depictions of sex and desire, but what can be harder is identifying exactly what makes the good stuff good.

Anita dives into the art of creating erotica with two prolific author-editors. Rachel Kramer Bussel has been published in more than 100 erotica anthologies and edited at least 70 others. She is the author of “How To Write Erotica” and teaches erotica writing classes. Cecilia Tan has written science fiction and fantasy erotica for 30 years and is the founder of the publishing company Circlet Press.

Anita also gets a look into the creation of audio erotica with Selene Ross, a former audio producer for the popular audio erotica app Dipsea. Selene takes Anita into the art of coaching voice actors and the tricky process of making a butt slap sound like a butt slap. Selene is an artist and a musician with an MFA in fiction from Oregon State University, where she teaches podcast storytelling and writing.

Special thanks to Megan Hart and Lee Suksi for contributing to this episode!

Read the transcript

Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
Amanda Magnus is the executive producer of Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships and health. She has also worked on other WUNC shows including Tested and CREEP.