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Sex

Cultural Comment

“Challengers” Is Essentially a Well-Shot Commercial

Because the film has so little to say, viewers are free to simply focus on the vibes—which happen to be the area where Luca Guadagnino, its director, has most distinguished himself.
This Week in Fiction

Bryan Washington on Queer Friendship and Intimacy

The author discusses his new novella, “Server.”
Annals of Education

The Debate Over Muslim College Students Getting Secret Marriages

Scholars, students, and campus leaders are rethinking how young Muslims should navigate the world of intimacy.
Culture Desk

What Happened When I Stopped Drinking

I put down the bottle and picked up everything else. 
Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon: Monday, July 25th

“So . . . what was all that ‘Yes, Chef’ stuff about?”
A Reporter at Large

The Fight to Hold Pornhub Accountable

For years, nonconsensual videos flourished on the Internet. How have adult sites been reined in?
Books

How Everyone Got So Lonely

The recent decline in rates of sexual activity has been attributed variously to sexism, neoliberalism, and women’s increased economic independence. How fair are those claims—and will we be saved by the advent of the sex robot?
On Television

The Splendid Uncoolness of “Sex, Love & Goop”

Gwyneth Paltrow’s new Netflix series, which follows couples who are struggling with sexual dysfunction, is unexpectedly real, and genuinely moving.
Books

We’re Shaped by Our Sexual Desires. Can We Shape Them?

What we want may be more socially conditioned than we realize.
Q. & A.

The Meaning of California’s Bill Against Nonconsensual Condom Removal

The civil-rights attorney Alexandra Brodsky discusses how legislation banning so-called stealthing could expand understandings of sexual assault.
Books

The Radical Women Who Paved the Way for Free Speech and Free Love

Anthony Comstock’s crusade against vice constrained the lives of ordinary Americans. His antagonists opened up history for feminists and other activists.
Under Review

The Politics of Bad Sex

A new book argues that current standards of affirmative consent place too much emphasis on knowing what we want.
Page-Turner

“Kink” Confronts the Challenge of Turning Sex Into Literature

In this ambitious anthology, short stories sit at various intersections of smolder and technical accomplishment.
Shouts & Murmurs

Spicy Sex Tips for the Couple Spending Every Waking Second Together

Stay up all night debating whether you should splurge on a BritBox subscription or explore sadomasochism by downloading Quibi.
Novellas

“Many a Little Makes”

“Why was Bree the bad apple? The one needing to be banished? How could a girl of fourteen be the one held responsible?”
Books

A Memoirist Who Mistrusts Her Own Memories

In the course of twenty books, Annie Ernaux has devoted herself to the excavation of her own life.
Shouts & Murmurs

Some Very Dirty Produce

A selection of salacious fruits and vegetables.
Under Review

Can a Novel Capture the Contradictions of Female Desire?

Miranda Popkey’s début explores the paradox of longing to assert control and longing to lose it.
Shouts & Murmurs

Sexual Fantasies of Everyday New Yorkers

“My greatest sexual fantasy is just to have regular sex in my own apartment. But, in my fantasy, my apartment has a washing machine and a dryer.”
Watch

Jacqueline Novak Chews Over the Blow Job in Her One-Woman Show “Get on Your Knees”

The show goes deep on the semantics of the male member and the vulnerable male ego, and Novak hilariously breaks down the things that women do to accommodate male comfort.