It’s a boy/girl party in my best friend’s basement. There are about 10 of us there. Fleetwood Mac, Rumors is playing non-stop on the record player. The lights are low. The air is filled with equal parts anticipation and terror. Someone suggests we play a game called 7 Minutes in Heaven.
The voice you’re about to hear belongs to someone who was also at that party. We eventually lost touch with each other when I moved to the big city in 8th grade, but we recently reconnected. When I asked him if he’d be interested in being interviewed as part of the Under Covers series he graciously agreed.
I have no nostalgia for my middle school years. I always felt like a misfit and a weirdo back then. Probably because I was a misfit and a weirdo back then. I never had the right clothes or the right shoes or the right anything. I was frequently bullied and take joy in knowing that my biggest bully married into what’s been described as an extremist religious cult. She is now is required to wear a wig and obey her husband at all times.
Meanwhile, I do whatever the fuck I want and eat all the bacon I desire. Bwahahahaha!
Yep, I’m a little triggered by all of this episode but the truth is, this episode ain’t about me.
Three years ago on this podcast, I began asking women I’d never met a series of questions about the most intimate details of their lives. I called the interviews Under Covers and you can find all of them here.
All of the women were asked indentical questions about their sexual awakenings, sex education, partners, early experiences and long term relationships, with the hope that my listeners could find healing in discovering how much we all share.
This season, I’ve flipped the script. I’m taking the exact questions I asked women, and I’m asking them to men.
Last week I interviewed “David.” A married, gay man, his answers to my questions were incredibly honest, revealing and often hilarious.
In this Under Covers episode I speak with someone I’m calling “Josh.”
All you need to know is that “Josh” has been divorced twice, identifies as very heterosexual, and once spent 7 Minutes in Heaven with me in my best friend’s basement.
