Keep Them Coming with Kristen Thomas

Ep. 118 - Period poverty and the pink tax with Strawberry Week Founder Micheala Miller

My friend Micheala Miller from Strawberry Week joined me on this episode to tell us all about her new nonprofit that has spun off from Barrier Babes. Micheala has been on the podcast before (Ep. 42).As things grew, she realized she really needed to focus exclusively on fighting period poverty, so Strawberry Week was born beginning of 2022. Micheala told me about some of the work that she's doing to make sure people have access to period products.She also recently testified at the Kansas State Legislature about the elimination of sales tax on period products and other goods. Strawberry Week works on both sides of the state line, so if you've got a business or organization that would like to help gather supplies, or you would like to be one of the ones who are helping distribute supplies to people who are in need, you can reach out to micheala@strawberryweek.org

Ep. 117 - Making dildos with Twisted Mountain

I can add a dildo maker to my collection of interesting friends in this life! Mountain of Twisted Mountain Toys joined me on to tell me the story of how he become a sex toy maker. Necessity breeds invention, and he found a need as a bigger bodied person for a better butt plug. Mountain plans to expand his line of toys, keeping a wide range of bodies, abilities, genders, and queerness in mind. Check out twistedmountaintoys.com or visit his Etsy page. He is entirely word of mouth right now, so let's support this Kansas City maker!

Ep. 116 - Plan Your Pause with Shalese Clay

Community advocate Shalese Clay joined me on KTC to share ways she and others are working in the city to help ensure infant and maternal health through Cradle KC and Every Baby To 1. She taught me the ABC's of safe sleep and we discussed the importance of planning a pause between children. In fact, the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County's 'Plan Your Pause' campaign has a goal to educate mothers and families about how good it is for her health and the baby's health to wait around 18 months between pregnancies. It's the start of Black History Month, and we kicked it off by having real talk about the disparities in medical care for black and BIPOC patients. If black women are much more likely to die during pregnancy and post-partum in the US, and black babies are more likely to survive infancy if they had a black doctor, only one thing is responsible for it - racism. Systemic racism, direct racism, doesn't matter. There's no reason beyond racism that can explain away why black and brown mothers and babies are dying disproportionately in this country.

Ep. 115 - The Dignified Hedonist with Sarah Martin

Fellow SCU Alum Sarah Martin, The Dignified Hedonist, joined me on Keep Them Coming to help us all understand more about the online Manosphere. She has extensively researched Pick Up Artistry (PUA) and some of the leaders in this subculture. We discussed how dehumanizing to men ideologies like red pill, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), and PUA can be. Her approach to helping men leave behind these thoughts and ways is to teach them to be dignified hedonists - Sarah helps horny people get laid with dignity. It was intriguing to hear all about her deep dive into these subcultures!Mentioned in the episode: Models by Mark Manson. Visit Sarah's website at dignifiedhedonist.com

Ep. 114 - Don’t resolve to punish yourself with Cassie Willnauer, LPC

My interview with Cassie Willnauer is a dash of talking about New Year's resolutions, a bit of how to talk to your kids about sex, and a hint of purity culture talk as well. I called this episode don't resolve to punish yourself because it's January and a lot of people are setting those New Year's resolutions. I explained why I'm not really a fan of them, often because of the way we're setting our intention for them. For many, it's less about trying to grow and learn, and often times more rooted in punishing oneself, so we talked about ways to switch your mindset in the new year. We also discussed what sex can look like if there's no penetration, and an online phenomenon some of y'all might have seen - jump humping in Mormonism. She's a mom of two littles, so we discussed what are age appropriate ways to educate your kids about sex and bodies. Biggest takeaway there was just be cool! Don't freak out when they say or do things. We also discussed the infamous drip sticks.Find Cassie via her website, Instagram, or TikTok. You can also listen to her podcast Sexy At Every Size anywhere you're listening to this show!

Ep. 113 - Rotten Foods with Jared Horman

My guest on Keep Them Coming today is a queer artist, designer, and a community minded person, Jared Horman. I saw him create a mural live at the Queer Narratives Festival over the summer, and you may recognize some of his work around Kansas City. He's painted murals for KC Care Clinic and Gael's Public House. It was some naughty, naughty asparagus in his Rotten Foods series that really caught my attention! I'm definitely going to have to get a print of the asparagus on a leash for my office titled "Urine for a good time".Find Jared and Rotten Foods on Instagram @jaredhorman or jaredhorman.com.

Ep. 112 - Toys for Cocks with Kincaid McMinn

The Royal Love Coach Kincaid McMinn joined me for this final episode of 2021. He gave me the lowdown on some of his favorite and most highly recommended sex toys for penis owners. He also addressed bad dating advice, semen retention and No Fap November, and much more. Find him on Instagram and Twitter @RoyalLoveCoachJoin me for my virtual workshop series Better Sex - A six week course to awaken the better lover in you January 25th- March 1st, 2022. You can try Uvee for yourself by going to http://uveeclean.com and using the code COACHKRISTEN5 for a discount.

Ep. 111 - My sexuality wasn’t mine with Risa Pinkerton

Today's guest is used to being in front of the camera rather than a microphone, but model and movement teacher Marisa Pinkerton, or Risa as you'll find her online, did great on her first podcast interview. Risa opened up about dating, dancing, modeling, and Only Fans. Turning ourselves into a brand and managing the entrepreneur side is a challenge, but one Risa is learning to navigate well, as evidence by her growing modeling portfolio. She shared her lessons learned about her sexuality during the pandemic, including realizing she isn't straight and she isn't monogamous. Risa realized how much of what she practiced was socialized, and that her sexuality was not really hers, so she had to do the work to claim it authentically. I also finally got the low down on KC Bodycasting and what it's like to have a plaster cast made of your nude body. Find Risa online @RisaPink93 on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Her DM's are open for bookings!

Ep. 110 - I survived...now what? with Michaela Martinez

Michaela Martinez joined me on this episode of Keep Them Coming to talk about sex, disability and chronic illness. Michaela was an open book about some of her experiences that she's had with the medical field and dating as someone who's had two open-heart surgeries. She's experienced a lot of shaming and stigma from doctors and received little to no information when it came to sex and pleasure. Couple that with the complex world of dating, and we had a lot to discuss.

Ep. 109 - Godly...But Gay with Joel Barrett

Back for another interview on Keep Them Coming is my friend and my business mentor Joel Barrett. Joel is an LGBTQ writer, speaker and gatherer who has his own company called Joel Speaks Out. He published his memoir recently, so I wanted to have him back on to tell me all about Godly...But Gay. He was a Baptist minister, was married and has four children. We discussed cruising, figuring your shit out, how a pattern of shame and then compulsive behavior can develop when we are repressing ourselves. He also discussed some of his experience with Exodus international, which you may know from the Netflix special Pray Away.Really what I hope we highlighted on this episode was when we're not being authentic, it is easy to fall into a pattern of behavior that feels outside of ourselves. Find Joel JoelSpeaksOut.com and @joelspeaksout on all social channels. Find Godly...But Gay on his website.