Pillow Talking

20: Water in the desert

Wed, 17 May 2023 08:00:00 +1000

In these four stories, the pillow talkers cross deserts of emotional and sexual intimacy; of abuse; of neglect and resentment; and… an actual literal desert, not quite Lawrence of Arabia style. These conversations all happened in the intimacy of the bedroom.

Read the show notes and contribute a story on the Pillow Talking website.

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Join me on the Wisdom App for insights and storytelling and writing live talks every Wednesday.

19: I remember

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 23:00:00 +1100

Remembering is an act of storytelling. And if remembering is an act of storytelling, what are the stories we tell each other about the us? Are they stories of love? Stories of war? Stories of the mundane? These stories are all about remembrance of things past – and loved.

18: Twenty-one

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 07:00:00 +1100

On the twenty-first episode of Pillow Talking, we do a little celebrating by revising some favourite stories: favourites of yours, and favourites of Violeta's. Ranging in theme from the heartfelt, to the heart wrenching, to the cringey, the stories in this bumper ep will remind you of the depth and breadth that our bedroom conversations can cover.

Holiday bonus: Epiphany

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 16:00:00 +1100

Our traditions aren't just about keeping customs alive: they're about recapturing something. Maybe a feeling. Or a hope. Or a value. And sometimes, when the stars – or maybe a single, bright star – align, what we recapture can help us find more than we intended.

Happy holidays, Pillow Talkers! See you all in February 2023 for the continuation of Season 2.

17: Sanctuary

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 20:00:00 +1100

Our bedroom sanctuaries are places where we can feel safe. Share our dreams with a special other and come up with new dreams for both. Embrace vulnerability and share our deepest thoughts, feelings, and secrets. These bedroom conversations remind us that the bedroom can be a place that the outside world doesn’t touch.

16: Who do you think you are?

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 20:00:00 +1100

It’s one thing to ponder your identity while looking in the mirror, but another thing altogether to ponder it while looking into your partner’s eyes. Who are you with that person? Who are you to that person? Who are you after that person? These four bedroom conversations are all about how identity and relationships intertwine.

15: Suddenly, strangers

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +1100

Imagine the person you are most intimate with, the one you have entrusted with your vulnerability, suddenly acting like a complete stranger. Join me for four stories about times when the other became a stranger, disappearing in the flesh or emotionally, or revealing themselves in a whole new way, sometimes leaving questions, and always changing things so they can never be the same.

14: Blue

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +1000

These bedroom conversations are on the theme of Blue: a colour that can be sad or peaceful, cool or deep, innocent or world-weary, as wide as the sky or as focused as someone’s eyes.

13: An unguarded moment

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 06:00:00 +1000

Welcome to Season 2 of Pillow Talking! These 6 stories – kicking off with a bumper episode – all feature unguarded moments: times when people were completely open and raw and real. Sometimes by choice, sometimes by a complete lack of choice, and sometimes because the moment has taken them completely by surprise. Ssshhh. Let's listen.

BONUS EPISODE: Love letters

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +1100

New beginnings, revisiting the past, stories, and Joe Strummer: it’s all about the stories we tell ourselves.

BONUS EPISODE: A message from Story Street/Hey, Boo

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +1000

This isn’t the in-between season bonus I had in mind, and it won’t be what you’re expecting, either. But it’s important, so I trust you’ll stick with me as I get the most personal I've ever got on Pillow Talking.

12: A bag of mixed lollies

Wed, 26 May 2021 00:00:00 +1000

On the last episode of Season 1 of Pillow Talking, no theme, just an assortment. And because life is like a bag of mixed lollies, each story is its own little surprise. There’s five in all, ranging from the impossible sweetness of first love, to the burn and spice of last goodbyes.

11: Ritual

Tue, 11 May 2021 19:00:00 +1000

These four bedroom conversations show that rituals aren’t necessarily mindless habits: they can be mindful, or facilitate mindfulness. And sometimes the mindfulness can bring realisations about the relationship – for better or worse.

10: Far away... so close!

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 23:00:00 +1000

Distance can even make relationships seem more real, the feelings more intense – and the pillow talking follows.

9: That... is ill advised

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 07:00:00 +1000

You and your ill-advised relationships, or ill-advised things you do: do you care what people think?

BONUS EPISODE: Welcome to my cataclysm

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +1100

In which I explain what happened a couple days ago and miraculously refrain from crying or throwing up.

WARNING: Contains a capella singing and references to farting.

8: The third person

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 18:00:00 +1100

The third person can be a real person – invited or uninvited – and it can also be the spectre of someone who is absent yet somehow there, casting a shadow or influencing what we do, say or feel. These stories feature that third person: sometimes there, sometimes imagined, sometimes not quite human.

7: It's the wrong time, and the wrong place

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 18:00:00 +1100

It’s something that people often say when a relationship fails: “It was just the wrong time”. But is there such a thing as the wrong time, or is it an excuse? And does the wrong time always bring heartache, or can it also bring gifts?

6: Red

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:00:00 +1100

What does the color red mean to you? This episode features red both as a color and a symbol: it’s there in rich velvet and sexy lingerie, and also as a warning, and in heat and anger. The conversations in these stories all happened in the intimacy of the bedroom.

5: Not the person I thought I knew

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 07:00:00 +1100

People change because they have either undergone a change or because they seem different to us, like when they are suddenly revealed to us in new and unexpected ways. And sometimes, like in these four stories, this happens in the bedroom.

Read the show notes and submit your story at https://pillowtalkingproject.com/

4: Reading in bed

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 07:00:00 +1100

For many of us, reading was the first relationship we ever took to bed, often way before we took another human. So what happens when reading and our intimate relationships come together in the bedroom?

Featuring some special guests: insane parrots.

Read the show notes and submit your story at https://pillowtalkingproject.com/

3: Kissy boys

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 16:00:00 +1100

Is it more socially acceptable for men to share a bed when they're gay, or when they're straight? This episode explores men's need for affection and what it means both inside and outside the bedroom.

Read the show notes and submit your story at https://pillowtalkingproject.com/

2: That’s not what I was expecting

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 16:00:00 +1100

The bedroom tends to be a place of expectedness. Perhaps this is what makes the unexpected, when it happens in the bedroom, so striking – and sometimes, like in one of these featured stories, devastating.

Read the show notes and submit your story at https://pillowtalkingproject.com/

1: Striking a bargain

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 16:00:00 +1100

Ever struck a deal in the bedroom? The people in these four stories have. And found that bargains can do anything from making you laugh until you cry, to changing your life.

Read the show notes and submit your story at https://pillowtalkingproject.com/

Coming soon: Pillow Talking

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 18:00:00 +1100

The conversations we have in the bedroom are unlike the conversations we have with each other anywhere else. What exactly do they reveal?

Each episode of Pillow Talking explores a theme through real-life stories sent in the listeners and pillow talkers. Each story takes place in the privacy of the bedroom. Each one gives us not just an insight into other people’s relationships, but an insight into our own. Find out more at https://pillowtalkingproject.com