The Hotbed

Good sex starts with doing the recycling, Anniki Sommerville and Lisa Williams have always maintained. To develop this thought, they discuss what socialist ideals – more free childcare, laundry and food services - would lead them to having better sex, prompted by Lisa reading Professor Kristen R Ghodsee’s book Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism. Lisa then speaks to Prof Ghodsee about what we can learn from socialism, what th...

Anniki Sommerville and Lisa Williams record a special socially-distanced episode to talk about the lives under lockdown, the BBC Three adaptation of Sally Rooney's Normal People, and how they're feeling about their lockdown looks. There's also a guest spot by Dr Karen Gurney, giving advice on living such at close quarters with your partner, why this time has been make or break for some couples, and what to do when you're feeling th...

Jacqueline Gold CBE is the chief executive of Ann Summers and estimated to be the UK’s 16th richest woman. She talks to Cherry Healey and Anniki Sommerville about the sex toy made famous by Sex in the City, how she turned the chain around to make it more welcoming for women, and her experience of sex and body image after cancer.

This episode is kindly sponsored by Mooncup, the original silicone reusable menstrual cup. Go to...

Cherry Healey and Anniki Sommerville are back with the first episode of the sixth series! Recorded in COVID-19 free times, this is stress-free listening that may be particularly appropriate now we’re living in lockdown. If you’re in a long-term relationship and struggle sometimes, you will love listening to their interview with Cat Sims, the blogger behind 'Not So Smug Now', who reveals all about marriage counselling and the strate...

Hosted on A...

In this the finale episode in the series, ‘The Hotbed’ trio are reunited: with Lisa, Anniki and

Cherry taking on Camp Bestival in a special LIVE podcast also starring Carrie Anne AKA

@mre.soeur and Kate from @lesbemums. They discuss why relationships are so hard after

kids, how communication can be reduced to who defrosted what for dinner and the

importance of talking about the ‘emotional load’ and finding ways to divvy up tasks. The

sh...

Cherry Healey talks to ‘the fit feminist’ Shona Vertue about the many reasons to be fit and strong (none of which

are to look a certain way), they talk about Cherry has been doing her pelvic floor squeezes all wrong until now,

and Shona answers some listeners’ questions about diastasis recti and getting into fitness at an older age. In the

studio, Lisa Williams talk about the Nike mannequin, body positivity and Lisa reviews Wuka perio...

Hotbedder-at-large Cherry Healey is back in the fold for this episode, which centres on sex and ageing, and what that can mean for a relationship, the stairpile and your orgasm rate. She interviews comedian Tova Leigh about the midlife crisis which led to her rediscovering her sexuality, confidence and personality, and about how, when your partner has a lower sex drive than you, you have to take matters into your own hands. Meanwhi...

How do we resist the pressure to get 'beach body ready' as summer holiday season approaches? Lisa Williams quizzes Natalie Lee, AKA Style Me Sunday, about how to be a warrior woman on the beach and by the pool, how being a midwife helped her become body positive, and how body positivity compares to body neutrality. They also discuss their favourite sex toys and how some self love helps sleep and mood, and how self-image can affect ...

In this week's episode The Hotbed talk frankly about what they’ve been up to since season 4

ended (for a start they’ve got a BOOK coming out called ‘More Orgasms Please,’). They also

discuss Love Island, and what their favourite sexual position is (as an ode to More

magazine’s 'Position of The Fortnight') . Anniki interviews the lovely Lisa Smosarski, Stylist

magazine editor and they talk about sex, relationships and how on earth you e...

*Trigger warning: This episode makes references to self-harm and suicide** To round off the fourth series we interview a MAN for the first time on the podcast! Buck Angel is an LA-based activist who is known in the trans community as ’Tranpa’ because he enjoys teaching and preaching about self-acceptance and love. He tells Lisa Williams about his journey to transition, what it’s like to live as a man versus as someone with a female...

In this episode Anniki and Lisa discuss what happens to your relationship after you have kids. Why is it that we often get locked into the same arguments and are there any strategies to break free? Why do some new mothers resent their partner when they try to help and then hate them when they don’t? They also discuss the joys of Lidl and why it's often Anniki's friends want to talk about. There’s also an interview with US author- J...

Our lives are getting increasingly stressful and the overwhelm is real, so how do we carve out time for self-love and what does it look like? For this special live episode, recorded at White City House, we explore self-love in all its forms. Co-hosts Lisa Williams and Anniki Sommerville haven’t had much time for self-love recently, hear about their paltry efforts. Dr Karen Gurney answers the question, ‘If you don’t love yourself, c...

*Trigger warning: This episode contains mild references to consent* Anniki Sommerville and Lisa Williams were over the moon to host Charmed and Grindhouse star Rose McGowan in the Hotbed. She talks about the male gaze, the #MeToo the movement, growing up in a cult and her book Brave, her frank evisceration of what she calls ‘the cult of Hollywood’. Also, big news, people, the Hotbed Collective have a book out this July! It’s being ...