7. the perfect lover: horizontal with an intimacy start-up founder

In this episode, I lie down with Philip Stehlik, of the sex-positive venture Cambyo.

Cambyo is designed to help people develop their intimate lives. Through their online publication, research, community building, and in-person events, such as a sort of salon / meeting in which people are invited to share their experiences around intimacy, sexuality, and relationships in semi-public, Cambyo aims to cultivate a safer space for people to discuss. On Medium, they publish real stories about people’s intimate lives. If you want to contribute a story of your own to the ongoing, destigmatizing dialogue, please reach out to them!

I first met Philip at a small cocktail party in the West Village - Philip and Cambyo co-founder Matt Hunter were in town for just a few days, and by the strength of their charisma alone, and also a little nudge from Bryony Cole, host of the fabulous sex tech podcast “The Future of Sex,” they gathered a mix of sex tech entrepreneurs, educators, activists, and therapists together for a night of conversation. Philip is German, and now based in San Francisco’s sex-positive nexus. He’s an excellent communicator, a world-class hugger, and somehow his presence simultaneously both calms and excites me  - I wish he lived in New York!

This episode, as an experiment, was recorded in the basement event space at Hacienda Villa, called Hacienda Studio. It’s roomy and echo-y, we’re marooned on a little island of a mattress with a purple sheet in the middle of a huge space that spans almost the entirety of the brownstone, and the house itself makes some noise, as if it wants to be a third character in our conversation - but it was worth the experiment.

In the first part of our conversation, we talk about the lack of proper sex ed, the book that taught Philip about being a good lover, condoms, and VR porn. The second half has been released separately, by popular demand.

Won’t you please...come lie down with us.

More horizontality, please:

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Credit where credit is:

Horizontal’s badass theme music was created by Alan Markley, on Instagram as plasticcannons.

It’s saucy cover art was designed and illustrated by Shana Shay. Hire Shana for character illustration and graphic design through 99designs.

Horizontal was mixed and mastered by Owen Muir of Self-Disclosure productions, right here in Brooklyn, New York. Stay tuned for Owen’s own podcast, Self-Disclosure, a show where people talk openly for the first time about their experiences with mental health. Coming in August 2017 @psychdisclosure

To sign up for the horizontal show notes, exclusive subscriber content, and sensual horizontal photos, head to horizontalwithlila.com