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Doing Sex

Doing Sex

By: Vespucci
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 Hosted by award-winning journalist Sahar Zand (@saharzand5) and produced by Vespucci (@vespuccigroup), Doing Sex peels back the layers of what we think we know about intimacy and identity. Part confessional, part investigative, part therapy, and entirely honest, Sahar will be turning the lens inward — exploring desire, shame, and silence through her own story and those of others daring to talk about how we “do sex.” Hygiene & Healthy Living Relationships Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary
Episodes
  • From Forced Marriage to Sexual Liberation: Payzee’s Story

    From Forced Marriage to Sexual Liberation: Payzee’s Story
    Nov 20 2025
    How do you reclaim your sexual freedom in a world that’s tried to take it from you through trauma, culture, or even motherhood? In this episode of Doing Sex, Sahar speaks with activist and campaigner Payzee Mahmod, whose life is a powerful story of survival and reclamation. Born in Iraqi Kurdistan, Payzee is a survivor of FGM, child marriage, and devastating loss. Her sister, Banaz Mahmod, was murdered in an honour killing — a tragedy that shaped Payzee’s fight to change the law on child marriage in England and Wales. Now an activist at the Obama Foundation, Payzee opens up about the intersections of trauma, identity, and desire — and how she rebuilt her relationship with her own body and sexuality. From confronting shame to rediscovering pleasure, this is a conversation about healing, agency, and what sexual freedom really means. Doing Sex: https://www.instagram.com/doing____sex/?hl=en Sahar Zand: https://www.instagram.com/saharzand5/?hl=en Payzee Mahmod: https://www.instagram.com/payzeespeaks/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Love vs Lust: Inside an Open Marriage Without Sex

    Love vs Lust: Inside an Open Marriage Without Sex
    Nov 6 2025
    They’ve been married for seven years — but haven’t had sex in six. For Gus and his husband, it’s not a sign of failure, it’s just part of how their open marriage works. In this episode of Doing Sex, Sahar talks to her good friend Gus, a gay man whose relationship flips almost every traditional idea of love and desire on its head. He’s deeply in love with his husband, but their sex life exists entirely elsewhere. For Gus, the colder and more transactional the encounter, the better. Sex, he says, is easy. Love is what takes work. Gus talks about what happens when sex and love start living in different places, how jealousy really works inside an open marriage, and brutal honesty is the only way forward. He's hilarious, candid, and uncomfortably honest — a story about freedom, intimacy, and what it takes to stay connected when the rules of love are rewritten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Is Monogamy Toxic — Or Are We Just Bad at Talking About Sex? (With Feeld CEO Ana Kirova)

    Is Monogamy Toxic — Or Are We Just Bad at Talking About Sex? (With Feeld CEO Ana Kirova)
    Oct 20 2025
    These days, it feels like everyone is talking about open relationships—whether as a fix, an experiment, or a new kind of freedom. But can they actually work? And can they really improve your sex life? In this episode of Doing Sex, Sahar sits down with Ana Kirova, CEO of Feeld, the app that’s helped redefine modern intimacy and champion ethical non-monogamy.Ana shares what open relationships have taught her about communication, lessons grounded in freedom, honesty, choice, and kindness. She talks about what led to her opening her relationship with her partner, Dimo, who was so inspired by their experience, he built an app to help others do the same. That idea became Feeld, a space for exploring love, sexuality, and connection beyond traditional rules.The conversation covers jealousy, honesty, emotional safety, and how to unlearn the relationship scripts many of us grew up with. Whether you’re monogamous, curious, or somewhere in between, this episode will challenge what you think you know about sex, commitment, and what it really means to “go open.” Chapters 00:00 Intro 05:43 What an open relationship really is & The myth of the perfect monogamous relationship 09:12 Is monogamy toxic? 10:58 Facing our fears makes us stronger. 14:54 Ana's journey into ethical non-monogamy. 29:35 Does everyone have the emotional capacity for an open relationship? 32:04 Boundaries, mistakes and jealousy. . 41:05 19:05 How Feeld changed modern dating, what they've discovered about our desires. Doing Sex: https://www.instagram.com/doing____sex/?hl=en Sahar Zand: https://www.instagram.com/saharzand5/?hl=en Feeld: https://www.instagram.com/feeldco/?hl=en Ana Kirova: https://www.instagram.com/ana__kirova/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    51 mins
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