Category: Sexuality & Desire

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How Female Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution June 4, 2013

Category: Sexuality & Desire, The Mind & Neuroscience

Female orgasm, concealed ovulation, and the biology of attraction get a lively treatment as Armand DiMele revisits recorded programs made with co-presenter Roberta Ati. Drawing on evolutionary biology and anthropology, they walk through three competing theories of why human females experience orgasm and how women hiding estrus may have saved the species.

Why We Search for Mother and Father in Sex March 14, 2012

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Identity & The Self, Sexuality & Desire

Armand DiMele argues that compulsive sexual behavior in both men and women is really a search for a missing parent: women seeking the nurturing of an absent mother, men seeking the masculine affirmation of an absent father. Callers push back, share personal stories, and probe the theory’s limits.

The Antidepressant Effects of Semen December 2, 2010

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Depression & Mood, Sexuality & Desire

Research by evolutionary psychologists Gordon Gallup and Rebecca Baruch reveals that semen contains over 50 compounds including cortisol, serotonin, oxytocin, and prolactin. Armand DiMele walks through studies showing women who have condomless sex report significantly lower depression and suicide rates, and considers the ethical weight of publicizing the findings.

The Science of Kissing February 6, 2008

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Sexuality & Desire, The Mind & Neuroscience

Kissing is far more than romance. Armand DiMele unpacks the neuroscience and evolutionary biology behind kissing, covering pheromones, genetic compatibility signals, oxytocin, and why a single kiss can determine whether a relationship has a future.

Mating in Captivity with Esther Perel December 6, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Esther Perel
Category: Love & Romantic Relationships, Sexuality & Desire

Can you want what you already have? Esther Perel, MA, LMFT, psychotherapist and author, joins Armand to argue that domestic equality and child-centered parenting quietly drain erotic energy from long-term relationships, and that reviving desire requires a different set of rules for the bedroom than for the kitchen.

Mating in Captivity with Esther Perel November 21, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Esther Perel
Category: Love & Romantic Relationships, Sexuality & Desire

Too much closeness can kill desire. Esther Perel, MA, LMFT, Psychotherapist and Author of “Mating in Captivity,” joins Armand to argue that intimacy and eroticism often work against each other, and that passion depends on mystery, uncertainty, and the space to want.

Sleep Sex and Human Difference September 6, 2007

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Sexuality & Desire, The Mind & Neuroscience

Every person’s inner life is radically different, and sleep is where that strangeness shows most clearly. Armand DiMele moves from the diversity of human experience into the territory of sexomnia, narcoleptic false memories of childhood assault, and Ambien’s surprising links to hypersexuality and compulsive night eating.

Desire and Intimacy in Long Term Relationships with Esther Perel February 8, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Esther Perel
Category: Love & Romantic Relationships, Sexuality & Desire

Passion thrives on uncertainty, and too much closeness can kill it. Esther Perel, MA, LMFT, psychotherapist and author of “Mating in Captivity,” joins Armand to explore why desire needs distance, how fantasy differs from perversion, and what surrender, dominance, and the body’s hormonal rhythms reveal about erotic life.

Why Breasts Captivate Us September 20, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Identity & The Self, Sexuality & Desire

Why did breasts become so central to human attraction? Armand and his co-host trace the evolutionary argument that breasts function as a permanent frontal fertility signal, then connect breast implants and body obsession to deeper anxieties about aging, control, and early maternal bonds.

The Masculine and Feminine Sides of Men August 17, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Identity & The Self, Sexuality & Desire

Every man carries a feminine side and every woman a masculine one, and denying that hidden half drives attraction, obsession, and heartbreak. Armand DiMele draws on Jung’s concept of the anima and animus to explain why we fall hard for people who embody what we repress in ourselves, and how reclaiming that lost half is the real work of intimacy.